Page 178 of Daughter of the Serpent

The words hit like lightning.

Her eyes flew open.

The vision shattered. The warmth vanished.

And only then did she feel it -

Two hands wrapped around her neck.

Chapter Twenty-Six

“You’remine, serpent’s daughter.”

The voice clawed through the fog in her head, distant and dreamlike, but growing louder. The edges of her vision pulsed black as consciousness struggled to return. A crushing weight bore down on her chest - Bjorn’s grip like iron claws coiled around her throat, squeezing the breath from her lungs.

No.

No.

No.

She writhed beneath him, wriggling like a fish pulled from the sea. Her arms flailed, slamming against slabs of flesh and bone - unyielding muscle she knew too well. He’d been forged for this. War. Destruction.

“I told you I would come for you.”

Panic seized, and her body could sense it - she was losing, and she wasn’t sure if she would be able to fight her way out.

“Hurry up,Bjorn!” another voice snapped behind him. “We don’t know how long till her dog comessniffing back!”

Axel.

Gods, where was he?

“I won’t leave until I see the light leave her eyes!”

The words pierced her like cold steel.

A jolt of pure survival ripped through her body, white - hot and wild. Her heart pounded a violent rhythm against her ribs.

How did she not see this coming?

She should have known Bjorn, Rederick - any of them would rather die before she got her chance.

Bjorn’s grip tightened.

Her lungs burned. Her mouth opened but no sound came. Just a ragged rasp.

She would not die here.

She would not die like this.

Then she felt it -

A vibration against her thigh. Like a heartbeat. A low hum, barely audible, like the whisper of something old and waiting.

“Take his blood.”

The voice slid into her bones, into her bloodstream.

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