Page 99 of Bound to the Shadow Queen
Tension emanated from her, a stark contrast to the rare bit of calm we had carved out. She turned to face me just as the feeling intensified, a razorblade dancing along the edge of the wards.
Then slicing straight through them.
Frosted Hells.
Everly let loose a string of curses that made mine look tame, shooting upward in the bed. I was already moving on instinct honed by every last shards-damned monster attack that had torn me from my life these past ten years.
I tried not to think that this one felt different, and not just because of the wards.
“Did it break through?” she asked quietly as I was throwing my clothes on.
“Not yet,” I answered her. There wouldn’t have been room for anything to move through a slice that small.
But I wasn’t foolish enough to think that luck would hold. What would happen to the palace when the monster broke through the wards—assuming it even was a monster.
“The wolves will stay with you,” I told her.
She nodded, her wings emerging as she stood up from the bed, like she was preparing herself for a battle.
Aurora lights danced over her pale skin, highlighting every perfect inch of her, from the swell of her breasts to the tips of the shimmering wings I had been too stubborn to appreciate while we had the illusion of time.
I could have spent the rest of the night giving her body the worship it deserved after a lifetime of torture and pain, but now… I had the ominous feeling that our time had run out. This monster already felt more powerful than any I had encountered, and was clearly smart enough to hide itself.
What came after? How many more would be at its back, and now we had no end in sight. I refused to consider the possibility of losing Everly.
All along, I had thought she was chosen as a cruel joke by the Shard Mother. Maybe that was still true, sent to make me care just long enough to rip her away. The kingdom could burn before I let that happen.
Pulling on my boots, I cursed the monster and the Shard Mother herself for taking this single shred of peace that I had wrangled amidst a decade of destruction and death.
Instead of getting dressed, Everly stood with her fists clenched, eyes straining out the window as though she could see through the trees that separated this side of the castle from the wards.
Panic flared through the bond, suffocating in its intensity.
Striding over to her, I placed my hands gently over hers, prying her talons from where they were piercing into her skin.
“I’ll be back soon,” I told her evenly.
She looked at her ring, forcing in a shaky breath when it didn’t vibrate.
“All right.”
The wards trembled again with another sharp stab, and I knew we were out of time. I pressed my lips to hers for a second that was far too brief, then I stepped backward and disappeared into the ice.
I was far from the hero of anyone’s story, but I despised liars. Everly and I had been too many terrible things to one another, and still, I had promised myself that lying was one line I would never cross with her, even if the rings had allowed it.
When I told her I would be back soon, I had been telling the truth.
But the moment my feet touched the ground, and I saw the malevolent frostbeast that had finally decided to show itself, I knew that despite my best intentions, the words might still prove to be a lie.
Everly
My fingers trembledas I clumsily laced my corset after Draven left.
He was so confident that he would be fine, but there was something off about all of this. This monster waswrongand more powerful than it should be.
And Draven was going to fight it alone.
No.Like hells he was.
