Page 146 of A Fate of Blood and Magic
His jaw ticked. “The children were never part of our deal.” He narrowed his eyes at the male standing beside me. “They betrayed me, so I punished them.”
“The humans?”
“I gutted them while they were still alive and let them feel the pain our young warriors felt when they burned them.”
“You betrayed our people.” I tasted blood, and when I spat, it came out red.
“It wasn’t them I meant to betray, only you.”
“Why?” I asked again.
Anger crossed his sharp features as his narrowed stare flared. I didn’t back away when his flames twined around my hand, burning my skin as it traveled across my arm to my shoulder and upper chest. I held myself still, wanting his focus and magic on me rather than Teddy. The fire died for a few beats, and I almost sighed in relief before it flamed again. I bit the inside of my cheek, tasting more blood but refusing to let on how much pain I was in.
I gritted my teeth, my pulse slamming hard as the fire rose, and just as it reached my neck, Pietro called it back. It fanned toward him, the embers dying with the exertion. He gripped Teddy’s and my arms, digging hisfingers against the burns on my skin, while the human male touched his shoulder. He bent space and took us somewhere deep in the woods. Black charred my skin where my leather had melted, and while I expected to feel unfathomable pain, the true pain only lived deep inside my chest.
How long had Pietro been working with the humans? Yes, the list of my sins was long, but what had driven Pietro to this?
“Why should I answer you,Your Highness?” Pietro scowled. “You are not worthy to lead Niev. You are not a king I will ever bow down to. Without magic, you are no longer fae.”
At that, he spat on my boots before stomping away.
My breaths came out shallow, either from the injuries I’d incurred or the fury that flamed inside me. My vision blurred through the blazing haze. Each heartbeat felt like an inferno wrapped around my soul.
Only the human male watched us. Pietro knew my wounds were severe...and untreatable.Teddy came beside me, her fingers trembling inches away from my burned hand while my other hand held the open wound in my stomach.
“Can you help me get this off?” I asked, trying to slide the iron net off.
Teddy gripped the net and pulled it off while it seemed to fight against her to press against my skin. My vision blurred once we finally took it off.
“You’re bleeding.”
Teddy pulled my hand out of the way where blood pumped from the deep gash and soaked my leathers. I fought back a groan when she pressed her hand against the wound, and blood quickly covered her. When she removed her hand, I held mine to my stomach, pain coursing through me asquickly as the blood that ran from the gaping hole and through my fingers.
With hasty movements, she pulled off her long-sleeved shirt so that she only wore a formfitting tank top. She pushed her shirt against my wound and looked around us for . . . something, but all that could be seen were the unfamiliar tall trees that boxed us in.
“Sit,” she said, her voice shaky.
With her help, I did, groaning at the pain that sliced across my back. I took in her worried expression, her pretty blue eyes coming in and out of focus. I tried to say something to ease her concern, but couldn’t think beyond the overwhelming scent of my blood. Once I settled on the snow, she took her time looking at my back. Her palm pressed against me, and I hissed.
She sighed, looking at her bloodied hand.
“Another stab wound?” I meant for my words to come out light, but I heard the anguish that tainted them.
“Elias.” My name trembled from her lips.
An agony-ridden groan escaped before I could hold it in. Despite the torment, I forced my limbs to move. I needed to soothe her, to ease her worries. I cupped her cheek, leaving a bloody handprint on her face. “You’re going to be okay,mo elma.”
I wasn’t sure how, but I’d somehow make sure she and our babes came out of this okay.
“You don’t have your healing magic.”
I traced my thumb over her cheek, but the gesture cost me. I licked my lips at the rising nausea, and when my vision grew black, I lay my misery-soaked body on the ground, where I couldn’t even feel the cold of the snow.
That fury that had flamed insideme a few beats ago retreated, the embers dying with the fatigue that took me. The wind whipped around me, its sharp shards cutting into my skin. With my anger gone, a bitter void filled me.
“I have you,” I said. “What else could I need?”
That temporary adrenaline and fury had seared and exhausted my soul. The inevitability of my death broke my heart, leaving me with a flood of cold emptiness.
