Page 31 of Of Vows and War: Special Edition
“I can do a siphon spell with some runes. It won’t take long, but it will hurt.” Shrugging, she stood and walked past me towards my desk, opening up every drawer until she found a pot of ink stashed in the bottom one. I tried not to growl in frustration at the way she left each of them open. With that, she snatched my old glass of water, drank it in one long gulp, and then threw it in the trash. The sound of it smashing really did pull the sound of irritation out of me then. “Down dog, it was an ugly glass anyways. Remind me to teach you taste if we all survive this. Now, lay back, take off your shirt, and prepare yourself. This is only going to be entertaining for one of us, and it isn’t you.”
Laying back, I watched as she dipped her finger into the ink. With a final glare, I unbuttoned the black tunic I was wearing but left it on my arms. That must have been enough skin, because she only whistled and smirked before bringing her finger to my stomach. Which runes she was drawing across my skin, I did not know. I only knew a few from what I had learned of the gods, which must have been what she was using. I stayed silent as she worked, slowly covering my body in the ink.
“This won’t take the magic from your veins, by the way. In case you were worried about losing that little bit of Stella’s essence,” she whispered, moving to make a mark on my forehead. I blinked up at her, surprised by the words.
“Why would that worry me? I would be lucky to be rid of it. All it serves is to bring me that much closer to death.” If what I said surprised her, she did not show it. She just stared at her finger while she worked and furrowed her brow.
“You’re lucky to be gifted something as eternal as Moon magic. Stella came from a long line of conquerors. Her magic was made for a throne. Even if you were clearly not given it the right way, it’s still a gift.” As her finger ran across my cheek, a soft sigh left her mouth. “Regardless, there’s only one way to get it out of your system now that you have been given it, and that’s death.”
“Old news,” I whispered. She paused for a second, as if she somehow could see my death too. Just as promptly as she had stopped, she started once more, painting me in magic that made my hairs rise and bumps spread across my bare skin.
“So, lover boy, tell me, how did Asher get taken on your watch again? You’re oh for two right now.” Lover boy? What was wrong with this female?
I was the ocean. I was unmovable, unforgiving, a tempest.
Breathe.
She was no more than a ship at my mercy. Her words meant nothing.
The rage disagreed as it rolled within me like a hurricane, disrupting the ocean of tranquility that I claimed myself to be.
“What did you do to get cast away? Did you upset your leader? Did you throw a tantrum? You seem so very levelheaded with your drunken idiocy and your inability to shut the fuck up,” I hissed. With eerie speed, Anastasia reached up and snapped my nose, the crunch so loud it seemed to echo in my ears.
I cried out, rolling away from her and grabbing at my face. Blood poured freely from my nose and coated my hands. It was so much sexier when Ash did it.
With a deep breath, I released my nose and flashed her my middle finger, hoping it translated to whatever underworld forsaken hole she crawled out of.
“You’re nothing but a little bitch who can’t see past his own wants and needs. Now tell me what exactly happened to Asherwhile I fix your nose,” she hissed.I rolled back towards her, ignoring her quip in favor of lifting my nose towards her. A flash of bright pink smoke appeared around my face, and then the pain was gone. It did not hurt like Ranbir’s power. Instead, it was an instantaneous burst of magic that came and went like a whisper in the wind. Before I could answer her, she mumbled, “Mortals as stupid as you shouldn’t be so attractive.”
“That was the worst compliment I have ever received,” I grumbled, wiping the blood off my nose with my sleeve. She merely offered me a look of disinterest before once more dipping her finger into the ink and painting my skin. “As I was trying to say, Asher was taken by the fae king and queen. They raised her, and they were determined to get her back. She…sacrificedherself for me.”
“Well that’s unfortunate.” With that she swiped her finger across my collar bone, then pressed down. “Brace yourself.”
The pain was excruciating. It felt like my very soul was being cleaved from within me. As if the high demon were digging it out with her pink claws. A scream slipped from between my lips, and I wondered how long the agony would last. Just as I thought it, the pain dissipated.
“Gods, that hurt,” I groaned, pushing myself up to a sitting position. “Did it work?”
“How would I know? You’re the one with magic attacking your concerningly nice body,” she retorted.
“Even if I did not have Asher, I still would not want you anywhere near my obviously amazing body. Also, it is my head that her magic affects,” I added with a wave of my hand. With that in mind, I decided there was no time like the horrifying present to test out the success of the runes.
Asher. Perhaps I could portal there, storm the palace made of gold and heartbreak. I could get her. Save her. Bring herhome.
“I feel…nothing. There is no pain,” I whispered, the disbelief—thejoy—bringing tears to my eyes. “Anastasia, I—I do not know how to thank you. You might be annoying and rude, but you just changed my life.”
I could go get her. I could kill them all. I could—
“Don’t thank me yet, pretty boy. You owe me some labor before you go off and whisk your princess away.” My head whipped towards her, watching as she smirked and wiped her hand on my red quilt, staining it with the black ink. “You can call me Stassi, by the way. It seems like we are about to become reluctant allies.”
Chapter Sixteen
Asher
Every breath of Nicola’s floral scent was a relief to my system. Peace in the eye of a storm.
“Asher, you need to breathe,” she said into my hair. What did she mean? I was breathing. Desperately so. Maybe too quickly, actually. “You are going to have a panic attack if you do not take a moment to settle yourself.”
Oh gods, she was right. It hit me then, how my gasping heaves of air and the tears running down my cheeks must look. She likely thought I was insane.
