Page 148 of Of Blood and Banes
“She’s not here to speak!”
I burst into the hatching grounds before screeching to a halt. Vue’s scales gleam white against the shadowy cavern, his head low and teeth bared as his black eyes are narrowed at the woman standing several feet before him, her hand pointing a jagged blade straight at him.
Avice.
She slingshots forward, swiping the blade out as Vue dodges left. Her blade grazes Vue’s tail, and he roars again. Black blood trickles out of the wound, and the sword flares blue.
Dragonblade.
“Avice!” I cry. Gathering my skirts, I race into the icy-cold pool separating me from the two of them. “Stop this! Stop this now!”
Mercifully, Vue listens. He could easily demolish her with a swipe of his claws alone. But instead, he slips farther back into the cavern. Avice affords me a glare and spits in my direction before she chases after him. Just as I climb up out of the water onto the rocky, black shore, Avice advances on Vue who’s cornered. She swipes again, and Vue ducks out of the way, barely in time from getting sliced in the throat.
“Avice! Please, let us talk!” I cry, clambering across the hatching ground in a wet, heavy dress.
“We have nothing to talk about!” she screams back. “A life for a life. It is as fair as any!”
I race forward, pushing through the pounding in my head and all the whispers telling me to stop. Time slows, and I manage to clear the space between Avice and me as she lifts the dagger again, aiming for Vue. On her downward swing, I snatch her forearm, squeezing it tight and bracing all of my strength into stopping her. The raw power beneath our feet, vibrating in the walls around us, hums to me. Whispering to let it free.
Avice’s hateful stare turns from Vue to me, setting fire to something inside of me. She redirects the blade toward me, its menacing tip dipping lower and lower toward my throat.
I’m weak. Far too weak. I haven’t been able to keep much food down for the last several months. Haven’t been able to sleep with the stress, nor my niece’s haunting death. Deteriorating my health even further. And I can’t pull with the Bone Ring, either.
She throws her weight entirely into me and knocks me back onto the ground. My breath saws out of my lungs, and a sting like live fire splits through my chest.
Vue roars with everything he is and snaps forward, knocking Avice clear off me and onto the ground. But I can’t breathe around the blade in my chest. Everything is on fire, and despite my multiple gasps, I can’t pull in a solid breath.
The two of them turn into fighting spins of flesh versus scales until Vue swipes a taloned paw toward her, knocking her off her feet. Before she can escape, he pins her down and snaps his mighty jaws around her head before ripping it clean off her body. My slight relief is drowned out by despair.
Oh, Gods, Aaric. Aaric won’t survive this?—
“V-vue!” I manage to gurgle aloud.
“No!” my brother’s scream ricochets throughout the cavernous expanse, breaking into a thousand pained echoes, followed by his hurried footsteps somewhere off behind me.
Vue slinks over to me, his black eyes filling my vision.“I shouldn’t have listened to you...I should have killed her quicker. This would have never happened.”
The bond between us begins to thin as it tightens, like a thread being stretched near the point of breaking. One of Vue’s front legs buckles before he straightens back up with trembling effort. His eyes lock onto something in the distance with a growl, and black blood seeps from the corner of his maw.
My vision grows dark at the corners, and the heat in my chest constricts.“Break the bond…save yourself.”
“Never. There is no me without you.”
I reach out for him. Longing to brush my hand across his warm, brilliant-white scales one last time. My own breath comes shallower and quicker with a spidering numbness crawling throughout my extremities.
It’ll only be moments now.
“Tell Aaric to save the baby.”I slip the Bone Ring off my finger, smearing blood across my hand. “Break the bond, and give the babe your blood.”
Vue swings his attention down to me at the mention of the one I carry.“You trust your brother to keep it safe?”
“Wait! I still need him!” Aaric’s cry is loud. Close. Though, he won’t be quick enough to save either of us.
Before Vue can respond, a single tear slips as I say, “I love you.”
The bond between us snaps to an endless void as everything fades to black. And then…white.
CHAPTER 46
