Page 12 of Song of Night

Either option is safer than I am.

It’s not just that I’m still angry with her. It’s this hunger inside of me, howling like a wolf. It’d come back the second I saw her this morning. The times I drank from her before it seemed to sustain me longer, but now it seems to have the opposite effect. It seems being in her presence only increases my hunger.

Ellielle knows she sent Zara to her death. Was it merely to get rid of the competition?

Not that Ellielle is any competition for my feelings for Zara—the feelings I used to have for Zara.

I gallop my horse until his breathing is labored and he’s flecked with sweat and foam from his mouth. It’s not far enough, but I’m not going to kill my horse. This whole mission relies on us reaching Vyrin’s castle by sundown, and my horse isn’t some sort of magical creature that can cover the distance their horses can in such a small amount of time.

When I bring my gelding to a walk, it’s not long before I hear hoofbeats announcing Zara’s horse coming up behind me. Anger flashes in my belly. She’d admitted she once loved Kieran. Any small hope of gaining my forgiveness had been shattered with those words. I can’t believe I once trusted her so blindly. It was Night that made me so foolish, the connection we shared through our magic.

Maybe it’s for the best that magic is now gone.

I’d rather live my whole life without an ounce of power than feel connected like that to Zara again.

But when she pulls her horse up beside me, the beast inside surges toward her, having no such hatred. I want her, more than anything in this cursed world, and I hate myself for it. A growl rises through my core and I stare steadfastly ahead, hoping for some sign that we’re reaching the end of this journey. All I see, however, is the rift. Miles and miles and miles of it, straight as an arrow through the roiling fog.

“It’s ironic you’re so angry about my past feelings for Kieran when you struck up with Ellielle hours after asking me to rule by your side,” Zara says by way of greeting.

White-hot rage simmers through my veins. “It is not wise to speak to me right now, Zara.”

“The way I see it, I have nothing to lose,” she snaps, pinning her purple gaze on mine. “You clearly hate me for something that isn’t my fault and can never be changed.”

“You are extremely mistaken about what you could and could not lose.” My hands grip the reins so tightly the leather cracks beneath my fingers and my horse prances, sensing the dark fury within me.

“I don’t have to pretend to work for you anymore. Or obey you.” She lifts her chin, the tendons in her neck tight, the column of her neck so pretty it makes my chest throb.

“You are in danger right now. Do you understand that?” My voice is shadow and flame, my inner demon so close to the surface my vision is turning red again. I may not have magic, but I’m still a predator. A predator with deadly instincts and abilities.

“I’m tired of your threats, Asher,” Zara snarls. “If you drain me here in the Waste, you’re not going to make it to Vyrin to negotiate a treaty. Ellielle was right about one thing—you need me.”

My eyes cut to hers. “You mistakenly assume that I have any control over my hunger right now.”

Zara’s eyes flicker, doubt entering them for the first time.

“If you had any sense, you would leave now. Go far, far away from me and remain so for the rest of your life.” And I mean it. I want her to leave. I may hate her, but I don’t want her to suffer the fate that awaits us ahead. If she survives the next five minutes.

“I do have sense,” she growls, “Which is why I’m going to make sure we make it across the Waste so our people have some small chance of survival.”

“We aren’t going to negotiate anything with Vyrin. He’s cruel and sadistic, and this whole thing is one big game to him.” I look over and lock eyes with her. “You wanted me dead for so long. Now you’re going to get your wish.”

“Asher,” she says, her eyes turning stormy and her lips trembling. “I—”

But I don’t get a chance to hear what she has to say, because at that moment something leaps from the bank of fog to my left and knocks me off my horse.

It is a creature from the darkest of nightmares, a thing of coils and tentacles and fangs. Serpent-like and twice the size of my gelding, gray like the mist around us, except for its eyes. Its eyes glow an orange-blue like the heart of a flame, shifting and flickering like one, too. No legs or arms, just one long body with writhing, barbed appendages sprouting the length of it.

Before I even hit the ground it has those tentacles around me, crushing my chest like a vice. It lifts me, coiling its body, and moves me toward its open maw. A wave of putrid breath burns my eyes, and its teeth shine as if covered in venom. I struggle as my death stares me in the face from inches away.

And then the thing jerks back, letting out a hiss. Zara spins, withdrawing a dagger, and darts in again. She’s nearly as fast as the monster, moving with a lithe grace, her face expressionless, devoid of fear.

The creature’s grip loosens and I pull the sword at my belt, one of the weapons I’d brought since I have no magic. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to use such a thing. Adrenaline rushing through my veins, I swing the blade down across the monster’s middle, slicing it in half.

It screams and flails, but it doesn’t die.

Where I’d chopped it, more tentacles spring out and it grows in length again, the end with the head lunging for Zara. The other piece of the thing disintegrates in a cloud of red-tinged toxic gas. I’m too close to get away in time and the stuff wafts over me, burning my skin and eyes. I let out a yell and stagger backward, partially blinded.

The battle comes in choppy flashes as I blink to regain my sight.

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