Page 93 of A Tale of Treachery

Really?

His footsteps crunched along scorched earth and his eyes were backlit with silver fury. He grabbed my jaw and tilted my head back with a punishing grip as he stared down at me.

“You would try to harm me?” His face was tight with anger and something close to anguish. I didn’t understand why he looked so pained. Not until he spoke his next words.

“You would try to kill your own mate?”

CHAPTER34

Mate.The word echoed in my head. It all finally made sense: the twisted tie of silver and gold that lay between us and bound us together was the mating bond. Still, I didn’t understand how a fae king could be mated with something like me, or how something like me could be mated to someone so…horrible.

I knelt silently, staring at him, my eyes blazing with anger. He’d known we were mates but said nothing. He’d known and had condemned my friends—my family—without a second thought. If only he’d known that he had condemned me by freeing the otherworld. It wouldn’t be long now before Malachi came searching for me.

I laughed at the ridiculousness of it all, and he flinched as if he’d been slapped.

A loud, blaring noise echoed off the portal, and my gaze whipped in that direction. I tried to stand, ready to face off with my enemies. This situation with Ryken could be dealt with later.

But his grip on my jaw was unyielding, and he refused to shift his attention, instead pushing me back until I was pressed to the ground, his body pinning me down. I slapped and kicked, but he spread his legs out over mine and gathered my wrists in his hand, holding them above my head.

“Ryken…” I warned, trying but failing to free myself of his hold. There wasn’t time for this.

His eyes searched mine, something soft and broken in his gaze. Vulnerability flashed across his face for the briefest moment, but then his jaw tightened and his eyes hardened. “You would. You would kill your mate,” he accused.

I rolled my eyes, still trying to knock him off me. “No, I wouldn’t. I was trying tostopyou.” I gave up on freeing myself and collapsed on the ground. “You don’t know what you’ve done,” I said, looking up at him pleadingly.

A dark chuckle rolled from his lips, and he smiled, his sharp canines pointed and on display. “I did what I had to. But you…you don’t know what you’ve done. You’ve made an enemy out of me. I should reject you. I should reject our bond, but that might kill you, and even I’m not that heartless.” His lips twisted into a wicked sneer, and I knew I wouldn’t like whatever he did next. “But I will leave you with a parting gift to remember me by…something that will make you feel and understand the pain that you’ve put me through.”

And before I could process his words or understand what he was implying, his teeth dug into my neck. His bite was painful and harder than necessary, and it felt like my neck was being torn in two. My body flushed as if on fire, sharp needles jabbing into my skin repeatedly. He opened his jaw wide to leave his mark.

A mark of ownership.

I panicked and fought against him, but it was useless. To bite a mate and claim ownership meant something soul altering. To bite and claim a mate, then leave them was a devastating move and just what he’d planned. It would feel nearly as soul-shredding as a rejection, but it wouldn’t kill me.

I melted into the ground, worn out and dejected from the events of the night. My eyes glazed over as he pulled away, his lips and chin covered with blood.

I felt my heart crack in two.

“Why? How could you do this? How could you leave all these people defenseless?”

“Because I made an oath!” he roared. “I made a vow to my friends. To Faerie. My kingdom hasn’t been the same since my brother took power. Faerie has been in turmoil, and I can’t let it stay that way.” His hand caressed the side of my face, and he touched my forehead with his. “I know you’re angry. I know you’re scared. But come with me, and you’ll be safe.”

“No,” I whispered.

“If you come with me, I promise that once my duty is fulfilled, I will come back and save your lands. I vow it.”

I shook my head. It didn’t matter if he made an oath to save my realm. Everyone would be long gone before he managed to return. “Please, Ryken…you can’t leave me. You can’t leave your mate.”

He let go of my face, and my head dropped to the ground. His expression was dead serious and lacked the usual arrogant smirk as he backed up. “I can and I will, little mate. You’re on your own.”

Then he sifted away into the night and left me on my own.

My hand clawed against my chest, and I tried to tear out the burning sensation that had bored its way in there. Heaving sobs wracked my body. My mate had claimed me, then abandoned me. I was the only thing that stood between this world and the otherworld, the one left to pick up the brittle pieces of what he’d broken. My attention whipped to the portal. It stretched and boiled as if endless nightmares were trying to claw their way out and destroy.

But I didn’t have the energy to stop them. My magic was exhausted, and so was I.

The portal vibrated and screamed, and I forced myself to my feet, ready to run from whatever would come next, but it was too late. By the time I’d risen, the portal had burst open, releasing an endless stream of shadows and terrors that dampened the sunrise and made it appear nearly night.

I tried to escape, my legs stiff and sore as I limped through the canyon. Shadow-like birds flew past me, their misty feathers blowing against my hair as they released ear-shattering caws. Something dark and unrecognizable pushed by, knocking me to my hands and knees. I looked around but was unable to see through the mist.

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