Sitting on the stone slab with my arms curled around my stomach, I shivered as I stared at the floor. I’d come to a little while ago, having no idea how much time had passed, only knowing that it felt like it took longer for me to remember…
Remember who I was and how I was here, why my body was covered in slices and bruises and why one eye didn’t open all the way, but I…I didn’t feel right. I ached all over like I was coming down with the flu, and my stomach churned like a ceiling fan on low speed.
And I couldn’t recall exactly why I was wearing this silvery dress. I had a vague idea that it was for something important.
There was something I needed to remember, but I knew what I needed to do.
Standing, I bent down and found my rock. My eyes crawled over the marks in the stone as I counted them. Forty-seven.
My skin turned clammy as I worked at the next mark, scratching in number forty-eight. Resting my forehead against the cool stone as a sudden knot settled in my stomach, I dropped the shard. I focused on taking slow, even breaths as I tilted my head to the side—
Then I saw it.
Memories slammed into me with the force of a freight train. The dagger. I was going to kill Aric with the blade when he returned—
Pushing back from the stone, I rose as my stomach shifted violently. I spun, careening wildly toward one of the walls. My stomach contracted and then heaved as I went down to my knees, my hands digging into the vines. Everything I ate and then nothing at all came up, and the retching was painful against my ribs and stomach.
Only when I thought I was done, did I move. Rocking back onto my ass, I dragged the back of my hand across my mouth. The taste of bile threatened another round of vomiting, but after a couple of moments, the nausea eased off enough that I was able to push myself back up.
The dagger.
I needed to get the weapon.
Staggering over to the slab, I knelt down and grabbed the grip of the blade. The bitter taste in my mouth increased when I saw the dried blood.
My blood.
I needed a plan.
Turning to the closed door, I sucked in a reedy breath as I struggled to pull my fleeting thoughts together. All I knew was that I needed the element of surprise, and that I needed to be fast with a perfect strike. My gaze dropped to the dagger as my pulse pitched. I’d only have one chance. One. And if I failed?
He’d kill me.
I need you alive.
Aric’s words were a jolt to the brain. I was important to him. It had to do with this dress and with…Caden. Aric was going to use me for something, but what that was, existed outside my grasp.
I had no idea what Aric thought I was to Caden, or how he imagined he could use me. The King… I doubted he wished me harm, but he didn’t care—not enough to come for me, and surely not enough for me to be used as leverage against him.
None of that mattered. Aric could show at any moment, and I needed to be ready. I needed to kill him. And afterward? I dragged the chain over my shoulder as I climbed back onto the stone and lay on my side, hiding the dagger in the folds of the dress. I wasn’t sure if I had realized this when I discovered the dagger, but there was no after once I killed Aric. I rested my heated cheek on the stone, my eyes glued to the door.
I’d promised myself over and over that I would not die by Aric’s hand, that I would not die in this tomb. One of those promises I could not keep.
I would kill Aric, but I would not leave this crypt. This was where I’d die, either by the hands of the other fae when they discovered what I’d done, or by starvation. The only chance I had was if Aric took me outside. But he’d stopped doing that many days ago, bringing in some kind of pot for me to use instead. It was unlikely that he’d release me from the bonds, and it was too much of a risk to wait and see if that would happen.
Part of me hoped it was the former, because lingering any longer than I already had was just too much to bear.
But I would have the satisfaction of Aric’s death. I couldn’t allow any other thought to creep in.
My grip on the dagger didn’t loosen for even a second as I waited for the moment. And then it came. The sound of footsteps could be heard. I remained still even as my heart pounded as if it were going to explode out of my chest.
The door opened, and through the thin slit of my one good eye, I saw only one pair of legs enter the room before the door closed.
Silence filled the space between us, and the seconds ticked by. Every sense of my being became hyper-aware of where Aric stood just inside the chamber. Why wasn’t he saying anything? Or coming forward? Paranoia sank its claws into me. Did he know what I had planned? Impossible, unless he realized he’d lost the dagger.
Then he moved.
Aric quietly crossed the chamber, stopping beside me. My heart rate skyrocketed. “Why do you lay so still, my pet?” he asked, touching my cheek with icy fingers.
A sensation surfaced, one of his cold fingers elsewhere.
“Are you unwell?”
Knowing if I didn’t answer, he would become suspicious, I said, “I…I don’t feel well, no.”
That was not a lie.
“Hmm.” His fingers caught strands of my hair, lifting them from my cheek. He tucked them behind my ear as a lover would. “Well, that’s a shame.”
Wait, I told myself.
“Perhaps I took too much from you,” he remarked. His fingers drifted back to my face, tracing the line of my jaw. It took everything in me to hold still. “All of this has taken a toll, hasn’t it?”
He almost sounded genuine. His tone was right, as were the words, but I knew better. There was nothing kind or gentle about Aric.
I sank into myself, cowering so that I could draw the dagger upward, keeping it hidden.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said, lowering his head toward mine as he brought his fingers down over the band circling my throat. “At least, not right now.”
Wait.
“Later,” he mused. “Well, we’ll have to see about that, won’t we?”
Wait.
“I suppose it will all depend on how you behave.” His head tilted to the side, and I felt the brush of his cold lips against my cheek. I opened my eye. “How long it takes you to pull yourself together now, for example.”
Wait.
“Admittedly, I have no patience for invalids or those who—”
Jerking upright, I swung out with the dagger and slammed it into the side of his throat. Warm liquid sprayed against my hand and face, telling me that I had struck true.
Aric roared, rearing back, but I followed, scrambling off the slab as he tore his head to the side, free of the dagger. I latched on to him, my knees clamped to his hips as he wheeled backward.
“You fucking bitch!” Blood and spittle hit my face. “You stupid, fucking bitch!”
His fist connected with the side of my head as I swung the dagger again, missing his neck but hitting his cheek. He shouted and went down as I tore the dagger free from his flesh. He hit the floor on his back, and my knees cracked off the floor. I slammed my other hand into his forehead, forcing his neck back and holding it there with everything—
His head snapped up, breaking my hold. His teeth caught my forearm, ripping through flesh. I screamed, my body spasming as he rolled me. He tore his mouth free, spitting in my face as he gripped my neck, digging his fingers into my windpipe. I felt the air charge around us, and I knew he was about to use abilities I couldn’t fight.