Page 43 of Courting Envy
Because I did want to break the curse, but not like this.
Not with him.
"You could have just talked to me, instead of this." I gestured to the room, to the demons around the edges, toward the corridor and the rest of the castle.
"You really think Lucien would have allowed that?" Ragnar stalked closer, his nostrils flaring as if he were inhaling my scent. "You think that pissant of a prince would really let me get this close to you? You are the queen here, and he is nothing without you."
My blood ran cold as the reality crashed in on me. Ragnar didn't give a shit about my need to see my sister; he'd just been using it as an excuse to get me alone. In fact, maybe he'd even planned this whole thing.
He was a demon. A thing I kept forgetting. The longer I was here, the more like them I became.
Ragnar had other motives. Lucien had warned me and I’d thought I knew better.
I wasn't safe with him. I had to play along though, play for time, and hope that my loves could get here to save me before it was too late. I reached out to my magic and felt a slight current of it traveling under the surface, but there wasn't enough there. I was still recovering from my trip through the portal and the way it had stripped all my magic from me.
I needed time.
I needed out of here.
Ragnar reached out to me and ran a claw-tipped finger down my cheek. "You look worried."
"Of course, I'm worried! My sister might be dying in a hospital, and I'm trapped here." I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to trap in the warmth. It was so cold in this room and only seemed to be getting colder. My breath misted in the air between us.
"So, let's begin. The quicker we break the curse, the sooner you can go and see her." He moved past me to a table and picked up a mug. I couldn't tell what was inside, even when he passed it to me. It was thick and green and smelled like the swamp.
"What is this?" I asked.
"It will help loosen the bonds you have to the mortal world. Drink up."
"Wait," I said, shaking my head. "How do you know this will work? If Lucien doesn't know how to break the curse, then how can you possibly?"
Ragnar shook his head slowly, a pitying expression on his face. "We have to try something, Rava. The land is being destroyed, the edges fraying into oblivion, the people starving more than they need to. This place needs you, needs your power."
I glanced into the mug again, knowing full well that I didn't want to consume whatever was in there. I didn't trust him one bit, and the longer I was in his company, the sicker I felt that I had ever confided in him.
I reached out again for a glimmer of my magic.Envy, don't fail me now.There was a tingle there and I hoped it would be enough.
"No," I said, trying to keep my words firm. Strong. I had to be strong, for me and for Marie. Hell, even for Envy. "This isn't right."
He spun towards me, the rage on his face evidence enough that I’d been right not to trust him. I threw the contents of the mug in his face, and then the mug itself before pushing out with my magic and slamming him against the wall. It felt so good, but I knew that I was done for as my magic dried up, my limbs feeling suddenly weak.
Fuck.
He was pinned there, arms flailing for all of ten seconds before the robed demons came to grip my arms and clamp them in cold steel. Ragnar shoved off the wall and then put a hand on my chest, his fingers trying to find the edges of the gem melded into my skin. His claws traced the edge, sliced into the top layer of my epidermis and I winced, clamping my jaw shut on a squeal.
"You are a fool if you thought I'd let this go wrong. Lucien might underestimate me, but I thought perhaps you would understand that I should be the ruler here. Maybe if we'd had more time..." He shoved me back so that I hit the seat in the middle of the circle.
His minions clamped me to it so that I couldn't move, hands and ankles securely positioned. I managed to get a few good kicks in but they were stronger than me now, and I'd blown the last of my magic on a futile reaction.
Ragnar's fingers dug into my skin. The pain was excruciating, shooting from the center of my chest towards my extremities, as if every part of my body was unwilling to let that damn crystal go.
I didn't even want it! It wasn't like I'd asked for this.
Any of it.
But I was here and I was part of this place now.
"Just stop!" I yelled through clenched teeth. "It's not going to work. It's Lucien's blood."
