Page 191 of The Throne Seeker
To defeat the Blood King, of course,the snawfus said.
There was that name again.
A frost-biting burn spread through her veins to her heart, stopping it mid-beat.Who is he?
A dark, powerful entity born centuries ago. He must be destroyed, or every human and creature that roam these lands will be nothing but ash. A whisper of a memory. He’s creating an army so strong and vast, no human will be able to stop it.
But what can I do?Rose asked, resentful of how everyone seemed to know the answers but her.I’m no one.
That is precisely why you are the one.
She grew frustrated.You’re speaking in riddles.
A sudden loud snap in the forest trees made the snawfus’s ears twitch, alerting it to something nearby.
We’re short on time. I can’t tell you everything. You must seek the answers out for yourself. Start with your mother. She’ll tell you what you need to know.Next, finish your quest and find the men you were searching for. You’ll meet your destiny with them. However, there’s one thing I can do to help. I’m going to give you the most precious thing I can to help you defeat him.
What’s that?
Me,it said simply.
Her brow furrowed, not understanding.
The snawfus lowered its large head, resting its forehead against hers.I willingly give myself over.I live on in you.
The last thing Rose remembered was a flash of blinding white light as she crumpled to the forest floor.
The next thing Rose knew, she was waking up in Roman’s bedroom, her head pounding with a headache as she came to.
“Rose?” a worried voice said. She knew that voice as well as her own. “Rose? Dammit, Rose, can you hear me?” Roman’s panic-stricken voice rang out, jerking her body—bringing her back to the world.
But she wasn’t the same.
Something foreign stirred deep within her consciousness, breathing the same air, moving in the same body, thinking the same thoughts—interwoven with every fiber, every vein, every strand of hair.
She’d felt the dormant creature before. Only she didn’t know it then. But now… now the deep magical force quaked with power. She was forced to embrace the hibernated presence that was now undeniably…alive.
She knew exactly what it was.
It was her siren.
Herself.
She felt Roman’s fear.Feltit. Like the emotion was her own.
The sensation made her recoil at once, feeling as though she was touching something she shouldn’t.
Her eyes fluttered open. The world around her was clearer than she remembered, sharpened to lethal perfection. She peered up to find Roman’s astonished eyes, anxiousness pouring from them.
“Roman?” she mumbled.
His shoulders relaxed as he looked up to the heavens. “Thank the gods.” He pressed a firm kiss to her forehead.
“What happened?” she asked, searching her memories. “How’d I get here? Did you see the snawfus?”
“What snawfus? Is that what did this to you?”
“Did what to me?”
