Page 73 of The King of Frost and Shadows

After all this, he thought I’d lie here and allow him to kill me?

I glanced at Eldrin to see if he would intervene, but he only smiled.

Lorne leaned forward, extending his hands toward me, and I clutched a handful of dirt, ready to throw it in his face.

Then, he did something I never expected him to do.

24

TAVISH

In my entire existence, I’d never struggled with self-control until I brought Lira back into our realm. Watching her in this blasted game was excruciating. I’d almost interfered with the trial multiple times, and had it not been for Finnian holding me back and her sprouting wings to save herself, I would have rescued her.

Of course, the man who’d risen against me was the one she was chained to and whom she’d saved time and time again. Another dig toward me by Eldrin, no doubt. Eldrin hadn’t expected them to succeed.

Eldrin finished his speech, indicating that if the prisoners couldn’t make it through the doors back to the prison, they didn’t officially survive the game, which had my frozen blood thawing. Caelan’s head minutely tipped back with surprise. That hadn’t been the plan. Eldrin must have made the change because Lira was completely exhausted.

I hated the debt I owed to Eldrin. Being around him now made me want to cloak him in darkness and strangle him slowly for what he continued to do to Lira. But myhands were tied, and I couldn’t help her to the doors since he hadn’t officially ended the game, just the fighting.

Lira’s face was strained, and her head lifted as she tried to get up.

Something in my chest ached.

My breath caught, the sensation overwhelming, reminding me of the moment I’d stirred back to consciousness to find my parents dead at the feet of five Seelie soldiers after they’d taken Dunscaith Castle by surprise.

The Seelie had frozen my heart solid by killing my parents. Of course, their princess would warm it back up to ache once more. The bitter irony filled my mouth with the taste of copper.

I stood, ready to push another vision into her head. I wasn’t sure what she’d seen, but whatever image I’d prompted had inspired her to continue. And … she knew it had been me.

Lorne closed the distance between them, causing all three types of my magic to pulse. Somehow, the wildling was moving better than he had when the trial started, and I wondered if his injuries had been an act to wear Lira down so he could ultimately be the one to kill her.

I couldn’t do a damn thing unless he tried something that went against the gauntlet rules, but my hands tensed, ready for the moment my sword could slice through his neck. Every one of them would die after the games concluded because each person had tried to harm her. I just had to wait until the end and dream of all the ways I would destroy them and make them suffer twice as much as Lira.

My wings spread as Lorne reached down. I made sure to watch every movement he made, knowing how smart the wildling could be. He’d had me fooled for a few months while he and Eldrin had tried to turn my people against me.Lorne got to be a prisoner for life, and I made Eldrin pay as much as I could with the debt still hanging over my head. Thankfully, he’d fallen in line these past eleven years and had helped me take back control because losing him at my side would further fracture our people’s trust.

Lorne touched Lira, and primal rage ripped through my body. I flew upward, ready to attack, when he stood, lifting her in his arms.

I froze, waiting for the first sign of her distress, but he cradled her to him and headed toward the prison door.

My heart pounded, and my hands clenched as my vision tunneled. The rest of the world faded from view except for the way he held her against his chest, cradling her the way only I was allowed to do. The fact that I couldn’t kill him turned my vision red, and I readied to swoop down there and rip her from his arms as soon as they reached the door.

“What is he doing?” Eldrin grumbled below. “He should be dragging her,nothelping her.”

My focus on Lorne touching Lira was the only thing that kept me from killing Eldrin. He purposely set her up to die, and I wasn’t certain how she hadn’t. Worse, her heart beating comforted me more than it should.

She deserved a happy life. I should never have brought her here.

My breathing seized as the magnitude of what I’d thought crashed over me.No. I couldn’t think that way. Bringing her here had been my only option. If we didn’t strike the Seelie hard and fast like they’d done to us, my people would die, andthatwas unacceptable. It was one life for thousands, and we needed her blood to take down the veil protecting the Seelie from us.

Finnian chuckled, pulling my attention from thedangerous thought I’d had moments ago. He said, “I think you underestimate the Seelie princess, Eldrin. The fact that she doesn’t act like the monster we’ve painted her kind as may be impacting the Unseelie more than you anticipated. She is strong, only defends herself, and keeps rising above the occasion despite not having her memories.”

The admiration coming from the mouth of one of my best friends had me snapping my head in his direction. Finnian was used to getting any woman he wanted, but Lira wasn’t one he could take to bed. The thought alone had me wanting to stab his eyes out so he could never look her way again.

Something was horribly wrong with me.

“King Tavish, is something bothering you?” Caelan asked, his brows furrowing as he scanned my face.

“Oh, that’s putting it mildly.” Finnian grinned and placed his hands behind his head as he leaned back. “I believe irritation would be an understatement as well.”

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