Page 20 of The Coveted
“You two,” Lucius said, gesturing in our direction. He smiled, but it was cold and calculated. “Come with me.”
The girl still squirmed on the floor like she was being consumed from the inside out, her once beautiful skin now covered in the snaking black veins of this hex. As Lucius stormed past us, anger rolling off him in waves, the elite dispersed. Sebastian cast a curious glance my way before turning on his heel. Just before I moved to follow Lucius, I whispered a spell to take away the girl’s pain. I felt it pass from my lips and out into my energy, snaking its way toward her shuddering body. Daelon tugged gently on my arm, and I watched as her body stilled in her final breaths.
I’m sorry.I had no idea if she heard me. Soon my thoughts transformed to anger as we followed Lucius in a new direction.
I hated him. I hated him with so much intensity I couldn’t breathe without feeling the heat of it burning my lungs.
Daelon’s thumb traced a circle on my wrist, and I knew it was the best he could do in this circumstance. Soon, we were inside lavish living quarters, with dark, sleek décor that was devoid of character. I assumed it was Lucius’s. The fact that we weren’t too far from my own was more than a little concerning. Daelon’s rooms were a bit farther away. My chamber was a hell of a lot smaller than either of theirs, which spoke to this space’s enormity.
There was a long dining table off past a kitchen before tall windows, and as I glanced around, I noticed there weren’t any plates or evidence that anyone used the amenities. Did Lucius even eat? I couldn’t imagine him having normal human—or witch—functions. Whatever he did, I’m sure it was catered to him on a golden platter, served by people like the woman he just killed. I didn’t even get a chance to dwell on whatever her strange message meant.
“Sit,” he commanded, gesturing to the comfortable-looking tall gray chairs around the dining table. He took a seat across from me, and Daelon sat next to him. Daelon clasped his hands under his chin, his fingers steepled at his lips. I could tell he was tense even as he fought hard to look comfortable. Lucius’s eyes burned into mine. “What the fuck was that?” He said it with a smile that was devoid of real humor.
When I didn’t answer immediately, I felt a pressure against my windpipe. I couldn’t block out his icy energy from my perception any longer. My body rejected it, waves of nausea moving through me as my breathing became shallow and labored. “I don’t know,” I gasped. “She just grabbed me and read my energy.”
“An energy reader?” Lucius shifted his gaze to Daelon, barely reacting to my air being cut off. “How did we not know about this?” He released the pressure on my throat finally with a lazy flick of his wrist.
“I’m not sure. She must’ve found a way to conceal it.”
I started to wonder why her gift was so important, but soon I realized the obviousness of it. Lucius didn’t want anyone seeing the true nature of his power. Yet another reason why I should probably be dead.
“Amos is wrong.” Lucius spoke to Daelon as if I wasn’t there. “She is not the Universe’s push for balance or whatever the fuck. She’s a weapon crafted by our enemies. I can feel it, and the heretics lurking in the shadows of this castle can feel it too.”
I could nearly see flames in his icy blue eyes.
“And do not tell me I am being paranoid, brother,” Lucius continued. “Did you not hear what the servant girl said? It wasn’t a nonexistent goddess who sent her here, and she sure as hell isn’t anyone’shope.”
“I think she saw what she wanted to see in her,” Daelon said, his tone level. “It was just a reaction to her power, what little she has in comparison to your own, nothing more.”
“Herpower,” Lucius scoffed, his gaze returning to mine. “You’re someone’s pitiful attempt to dethrone me, but all you really are is an annoyance. Whatever power you had has wilted and dried up in my Kingdom, and I think you know that. What are you hiding, little witch?” His eyes narrowed in on me, as dark as his putrid energy.
I fought to keep calm, but his use of Daelon’s pet name for me sent another round of anger shooting through my blood. “Which is it, Lucius? Am I so weak that I’m just a nuisance, or am I so powerful that you think I’m hiding something that could destroy you?”
Daelon glared in my direction, and by the look on both of their faces, I could tell I’d stepped firmly over the line. I was having a hard time caring at the moment, the vision of another witch dead by Lucius’s hand still vivid in my mind.
I braced myself as Lucius shot up from the table. Daelon tensed. I tried to fight hard against my distracting anger so I could build up a magickal defense around my body, and Daelon reached out between us to help. But as Lucius stormed at me, I struggled against the force that slammed into my body. I gripped the table and my hair whipped all around me, but I held his gaze. I would not let him intimidate me.
“You will refer to me as your King. Tomorrow you will get up in front of everyone and bow before me, in a public apology for your little stunt.” He smiled, his loose black curls shifting as an unnatural wind whipped around us. “Practice for me now.”
Daelon’s voice sounded in my mind.Áine, please, he begged. You’re not stronger than him right now, not when you’re unprepared and on his home turf, without help. I can’t watch him hurt you.
“Now,” Lucius repeated. His power broke through my barrier swiftly and brutally, sending me flying out of the chair and onto the carpet. I caught myself on my forearms.
I gritted my teeth, collecting myself and pushing up onto my knees. I was punished for my hesitation, and soon I felt an icy hex around me. It felt like I was suffocating on shards of ice. I knew that I was hurting Daelon now too. I couldn’t risk him intervening and blowing everything up. I ignored every single urge within me to fight back, and it was the hardest thing I’d done so far.
I bowed. My eyes were level with Lucius’s sleek black boots.
“Good girl. See, that wasn’t so hard, was it? I sort of wish you’d fought back more. I get such pleasure from your pain.”
Ew?What kind of creepy ass shit wasthat?I didn’t need to glance in Daelon’s direction to know he was fuming inside right along with me.
“Are we done here?” I asked bitterly. Humiliation burned on my cheeks as I raised my head.
“Try again.”
“Are we done here,my King.” I wanted to hurl all over his shoes.
“No. I want to try something.”
