Page 117 of Royal Captive
Sound ceased to exist.
Everything went white.
The only thing left was falling, falling, falling.
Arms around me squeezed tightly.
Someone cried. Several someones. All around me was an endless chorus of sobs and howls.
Smoke was everywhere, curling into my lungs and invading my senses. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t—
A cool cloth fell over my face, wiping the soot from my cheek and allowing me to breathe through the wet fabric over my lips, but it didn’t feel like my lips. Something was wrong with my teeth. Something was wrong with my body.
Soothing words fell into my ear, and my body relaxed.
I felt … consumed. Large.
Sleep. Time to Sleep.
Thirty-Seven
EVE
My world exploded with magick, and my first reaction was fear. I’d seen what he’d done to the tavern in the village back home. I’d seen him kill, and I’d seen the magick overtake him; I knew what it could do. And yet, I trusted him. He would never hurt me.
I swallowed my fear and reached out, holding onto him for dear life.
The force of it all threw us high, high into the air. Goosebumps erupted on my flesh, and the unpleasant sensation of insects crawling over my skin invaded my body. We flew for an eternity. Or were we falling?
Something hit me in my neck, sending liquid fire burning across my throat as it seared my skin.
I couldn’t tell what was up and what was down.
Ellis was changing, even though he was limp and unresponsive. Another burst of magick shot through him, jolting me hard enough that I let go. He changed and shifted, and I finally hit the ground, and it was hard enough that I blacked out.
“What a fucking mess. A nice birthday present, wouldn’t you say? Just fucking great. At least I got cake.”
Cake.Cake?
I was so fucking hungry.
My eyes opened to bright, airy light and Viana sitting in a chair next to me eating a piece of pink cake with purple icing. She froze as my gaze snapped to the fork in her hand, halfway to her mouth. We stayed like that for several long seconds. The fork waved and pointed out toward me.
“Want some?”
I couldn’t help it. Seeing her here, finally, after everything we’d gone through broke me. Even though I hated her and she’d been the one to send us there, I laughed so hard that I cried, or was I crying so hard I had to laugh? It didn’t matter. I was home.
Pain assaulted my neck, bringing a fast end to my outburst. My fingers found a thick, white bandage wrapped around my throat.
“Yeah, nasty business. Know what got you?”
I blinked, trying to recall the details. The explosion. Clutching Ellis to me. Feyanna’s crazed expression. Her knife.
“Some bitch,” I rasped, because it was the truth.
Viana’s fork clattered to the floor, cake flying from her mouth as she laughed.
Just remembering Feyanna sent a bolt of fear through my veins. I sat straight up, and immediately regretted it as a wave of dizziness nearly knocked my ass back out.
