Page 35 of Beneath the Flames
He clicked his tongue, a sneer splitting his lips.“You’re no fun, Rhydian.Don’t you feel like sharing?”His mouth split into the most menacing smile I’d ever seen.I was kind of surprised his teeth weren’t razor sharp.“You’ve done it before.”
Done it before?
A scary thought wriggled into my mind.Was he talking about the other humans Rhydian had brought to Eroth?Had he given them over to Carrow?Had he let this terrifying prince hurt them?Instinctively, I took a step backward.Rhydian might have been a dangerous Fae, but surely he wouldn’t hand me over to Carrow.Not when he’d done so much to protect me already.
If I thought Rhydian was in a foul mood before, it had nothing on the way his features darkened then.Gold lightappeared in his palms, though he made no move to use it.
Would he kill the prince like he had my kidnapper?I was no advocate of murder, but if he was going to kill someone, a gut feeling told me it should be this guy.There was something about him—something bad.Evil.I didn’t know what it was, but every instinct made me want to run far, far away.
Prince Carrow looked unimpressed at Rhydian’s golden death rays.
“Is that all you can muster these days, Rhydian?How sad for you.”
All he could muster?What did that mean?Was there something wrong with his magic?
Rhydian’s hands curled into fists, the golden light disappearing, but he remained silent to Carrow’s taunting.Instead, he said, “You’ve seen her, now get out.”The words came out as a growl.
“I could snap her neck, sever her spine, suck every ounce of life out of her before you could even lift a finger to stop me, Rhydian.I suggest you be careful how you speak to me.”
Rhydian’s golden skin paled, and my own stomach twisted at the threat.To speak so casually about murdering me…and in such disturbing ways…
I tried to swallow, but my mouth had gone dry as cotton.Clearly my gut feeling about him being evil wasn’t unfounded.
“You forget that you are inmydomain,” Rhydian replied.
“A domain that’s crumbling.”
“No thanks to you.”
Prince Carrow looked far too pleased by those words.Did he have something to do with the way this place was falling apart?And why Rhydian and Nico were stuck here in Eroth?
Just who was this guy?
“I won’t tell you again, Carrow.You’re not welcome here.”
Prince Carrow put a hand to his heart, sticking out hislower lip, pretending to be wounded by Rhydian’s words.“Your hospitality needs some work.”
“So does your ego,” Rhydian retorted.
Prince Carrow smiled then—a truly wicked thing straight out of a little kid’s nightmares—before he looked at me.
I was grateful I didn’t have to use the bathroom because I might have had a little accident right there in the hallway as those silver eyes bored into mine.
“You’ll have a choice soon, pet.I’ll be back.”
And then he disappeared.
One moment, he was standing there and the next, a flash of purple engulfed him and he was gone.
“What?”I couldn’t keep from saying as I stared at the empty space he used to occupy.“How did he—”
Rhydian waved a dismissive hand.“It’s called Flashing.Most Fae can do it.Don’t look so impressed.”
“Can you do it?”
He hesitated for a second too long.“I used to.”
I glanced at Nico.“Can you?”
