Page 163 of A Crown of Lies

Ieduin lunged with the broken arrow. Divina smirked and quickly took two steps back. He missed and lost his balance, pain shooting through his arm when he overextended. The agony brought him to his knees.

Divina’s whip snapped out, wrapping around his broken arm. He gasped as she pulled it tight and stepped in, placing a boot against his chest. “I knew I’d get you on your knees for me eventually, fuckboy.”

Thoughts pounded against his brain, but he was in too much pain to pay them any mind. He heard the words, heard what he’d been hearing all his life. That he wasn’t good enough. That nobody loved him. That he was just a stupid whore and that everything he touched died. It was all background noise against the throb of pain in his arm. He could feel the despair leaking in, but it was a slow takeover, and he wrestled with it, knowing that it wasn’t real. That didn’t stop it fromfeelingreal.

He grunted as she put more pressure on his chest. “I don’t plan on letting you die, you know. I plan on making you into my new pet and parading you around like the dog you are. I have a chain just for you, and a nice, tiny little cage for you to sleep in.”

Her words sent him spiraling into an old, unpleasant memory and he suddenly felt the walls of his old cage at the Jotki hideout closing in. He heard Durlan laughing, smelled his putrid breath, felt his disgusting, unwanted hands on him…

Something white darted between the trees behind her. Ieduin’s eyes snapped to it, following the strange white figure as it floated between the boughs.I’m hallucinating. I’m fucking seeing ghosts now?

The apparition drifted closer as Divina tightened her whip around Ieduin’s arm. He squeezed his eyes closed and screamed in pain.

Divina laughed. “If you think that hurts, just wait until we play forreal.”

Ieduin forced his eyes to stay open, tears running down his face. His fist closed so tightly around the broken arrow that his bones ached. The ghost was right behind Divina now, so close Ieduin could make out her drawn features and her pale face. She was dressed in a white sleeping gown, the same type Rixxis wore, and she might’ve been beautiful in life. Now, she looked like a worn hag with long, scraggly locks of silver hair, her flesh thin, eyes black.

She floated up behind Divina and let out an ear-splitting scream.

Divina gave a surprised shout and released her hold on the whip to throw both hands over her ears, blocking out the sound.

Now’s my chance! Ieduin found his feet and lunged forward, burying the arrow in Divina’s neck.

Her eyes flared wide, blood pumping around the arrowhead.

“There is only one person in this world I will ever kneel for,” Ieduin spat. “And that’s because he earned it!” He yanked the arrow out of her neck.

Blood spurted like a fountain, and she fell to her knees, hands pawing at the hole he’d left, desperately trying to stem the tide of her own death. It was a pointless effort. He’d stabbed her right in the jugular.

He yanked the whip free of his arm, gasping in relief as the vice around his brain finally let up. Then he turned to the apparition, who remained nearby, watching him. “Thanks for the assist.”

She tilted her head as if acknowledging his words before vanishing.

Ieduin sighed. He could still hear the sounds of battle in the other direction, but he’d be no good in the fight. Not with a broken arm. He needed to find a healer.

He turned and found Lord Arington behind him. Something cold passed through his gut and his body jerked. He looked down in time to see Arington’s sword come out of his stomach. Blood poured out after it, spilling onto the ground.

“Ieduin! No!”

Steel sang, and then Arington’s head went one way while his body fell the other way, revealing Rowan standing behind him.

“I… I think… I’ve been stabbed,” Ieduin said as if it weren’t obvious, and his legs gave out.

Rowan caught him before he hit the ground, lowering him gently. “No, no, no!” He turned his head screaming, “Healer! I need a healer!”

“We did it,” Ieduin said. His fingers were cold, and his body was light, almost as if he could float away. “We won.”

“Don’t talk. Save your strength.” Rowan’s brows pinched together, and his eyes were wet as he pushed Ieduin’s hair back from his face. “A healer will be here soon, and you’ll be fine.”

Ieduin swallowed, his tongue like sandpaper. It was a lie. He knew it. Rowan knew it. Even if the healer was already there, it was too late. Arington’s sword had hit something important, and he was bleeding out too fast. Nothing could stop it now.

A sudden spike of fear surged in Ieduin’s chest when Rowan twisted as if he might leave to go find help. His hand shot out and closed on Rowan’s, chest heaving. “Stay with me. I don’t want to die alone.”

Rowan’s chin quivered, but he nodded.

“Ieduin!” Rixxis dropped to her knees on the other side of him. Her face paled. “Oh, Mother have mercy!”

“You’re not allowed to die!” Rowan growled. “I forbid it!”

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