Page 112 of Fury of the Bound
Vespera didn’t give a fuck about my mother.
“Why not?” she taunts. “She was my daughter, after all.”
That’s it.
I reach inward, grasping the silver thread that connects me to Xarothar, and I pull—hard. A surge of power escapes from the locked chamber within me, deep, buried, and restless. It seeps through the cracks like a shadow slipping away from fading light. The lights flicker around us, and something dark stirs in the corner.
She hums, low and satisfied, as the guards behind her shift uneasily, their hands twitching toward their weapons they won’t live long enough to draw. I sink deeper into the power inside me, gripping it tight. Thunder cracks overhead, causing the floor to shake.
She glances behind me to where Ronan is still
“You’re far more powerful than Selene ever was.” She pauses, and I didn’t notice it before, but the very rock I saw her use to kill the dragons sits around her neck.
“I’ve found the stone.”
“What stone, Raven?”
“The stone that wiped out your kind.”
I need it away from her.
“She was a disappointment.”
The lights above us stutter, reacting to my mood, and I’m pissed that she would call my mother weak. She went to hell and back, and she survived everything that was thrown at her, even enduring a poisonous bitch of a mother like Vespera.
One of the guards crept along the far wall—slow, subtle, like I wouldn’t see him moving towards Ronan.
But I see everything.
I reach for the air around him, it’s thin and invisible, but I can feel it. My magic wraps around him, crushing his throat before he can take his next breath. His hands fly up, clawing at nothing. I hold him there, feeling the pressure tighten with every frantic gasp. Then, with a flick of thought, I whip the air around him like a snapping wire.
He slams into the wall with a crack of bone and plaster, but I don't take my eyes off Vespera for a second.
“One more step toward Ronan or Kieran, and I’ll kill every last one of you.” The thunder outside cracks like a warning shot.
But Vespera laughs, a gleam in her eye like she’s enjoying this.
“Let’s skip the performance, shall we? Answer my question, and I’ll grant you and the hunters who broke my laws a quick death.” She looks me over. “Refuse… and I’ll make you watch me peel them apart in front of you. Piece by piece. I’ll make sure their screams are the last thing you ever hear.”
The dark magic around her thickens—twisting, restless—like it's eager to start.
“Temptress.” Kieran’s voice is pained, and when I look down, I see him clutching his chest, white-knuckled. Her magic is hurting him.
I look back up. “Stop it.”
Vespera steps forward, her panther doing the same. Its massive paws press softly against the floor, but I know how easily it could tear me apart.
“Will you answer?”
I hold myself still. “That depends on the question.”
Her eyes narrow. “Why is King Draeven after you?”
“I have no idea what you mean.”
She clicks her tongue. Kieran curses, pain raw in his voice.
“Last chance,” she says. “Answer me, or I will break him.”
