Ryder
The room vanished.Beryl’s court materialized around me. I wasted no time in flipping the first table I could see. It crashed against the far wall and sent fae fleeing in every direction. The courtiers rushed toward the exits.
In the center of the chaos, Beryl stood with her chin held high. Her passive, blank expression enraged me. I wanted to wipe it off her smug face. She need only come a little closer and I would make sure that she never looked at anyone like that ever again.
“Keep trying my patience, Beryl,” I snarled.
I stalked towards the next table and grabbed it by the edge. She narrowed her eyes at me, but did nothing. I flung the table against the earthen wall. A chair quickly followed. The sound as they shattered would have been satisfying if my dragon hadn’t been in a rage.
The beast within me thrashed. I had been so close.
I shouldn’t want her. Ness would never be mine. I couldn’t afford to stay because it would only put her in danger, and she didn’t deserve that. Still, that did nothing to stop my beast from yearning.
“What do you want from me this time?”
Beryl’s lips split into a wide grin, revealing tiny yet sharp incisors. “You’re going to kill someone for me.”
Rage hit my gut like gasoline on a fire. A roar clawed its way out of my throat.
“Like hell will I ever do anything like that for you.”
Beryl rolled her eyes, her smile still bemused as she approached me. “You don’t have a choice in this.” She tapped the medallion around my neck. “You asked for power and protection, and I gave it to you. Now, it is my time to call in those favors. You shall do as I ask, or you will never escape me. Lakesedge will devour you, sending you sinking further and further while you struggle. Is that what you want? Or, would you like the freedom you keep desperately grasping for?”
A growl rumbled deep inside me. The dragon told me to fight, to pin her down and tear her open because she was a danger. I restrained myself, though. Beryl was not like him. She had her wits about her. This was not a manic fervor that needed to be squashed. Beryl was, simply put, devious as all hell.
“I won’t do it.” I clenched my fists at my side.
She could ask me to do anything else, and I would do it in a heartbeat just to escape her clutches. Murder was too far. I wouldn’t do it for Ness. I won’t do it for Beryl. She could keep me in these shackles as long as she wanted.
When Morgan came and destroyed her court just to get to me, then she would reap what she had sown. I wouldn’t have an ounce of pity for her then.
Beryl narrowed her eyes and looked me up and down. I wondered if she could read my thoughts through her pact, but it was likely my face that had given me away. I wasn’t going to budge on this.
When she lifted her hand and snapped her fingers, that gaunt butler strode forward and handed her a wineglass of glistening liquid.
My stomach tightened. Hunger rolled over me and wiped away my resolution. My mouth filled with saliva. I realized, too late, that I’d leaned into her and given away my appetite for her enchanted wares.
I bit down hard on my lip, hard enough that blood coated my tongue. The iron in it washed away my hunger. I sucked in a deep breath and staggered back.
“I won’t be your fool,” I told her.
She stuck a finger into the wine glass and twirled it around. The gold-tinted wine dripped from her finger when she raised her hand. The taste of blood on my tongue vanished. Pain pinched my stomach. I lurched forward, even though I knew this was a bad idea.
Could I draw more blood to stop myself?
Did I even want to? The call of the blissful void tugged at me. It begged me to set everything aside.
This was how she’d done it last time. Beryl had sidled up to me with a slice of fruit between her fingers. She’d taken a bite, her eyes rolling back. When she leaned in and pressed the other half of the fruit slice to my lips, I’d thought nothing of it. Beryl had always been flirtatious in her own way.
That fruit stole every ounce of reason from me. The moment it’d hit my tongue, my mind left me. All the rage and fury and fear that had been driving me for months vanished without a trace.
Now, Beryl ran her finger along my lower lip. I kept myself together, but only barely. The smell of the wine entranced me. My mouth salivated. I wanted to lick my lips and get a droplet of that sweet liquid.
The beast reminded me that I’d been close to something good earlier, too. I could almost feel the weight of Ness in my hands once more. The thought of her lips pulled me out of my enchantment.
Beryl huffed. “You’re defiant to the end, but you will break eventually.”
Her voice tugged at me. I wasn’t back at the rental with Ness. I was here, in the earthen Unseelie court. The smell of dirt and fresh water and fruit swirled around me. Though I wanted to remember Ness, I couldn’t hold onto the sensations much longer.