Here, on the ground in front of the fae queen, I thought of Ness. I wondered if Ness’s commands were strong enough to break Beryl’s pact. I missed the little hound. I wanted to hear her voice again. If only I could feel her hands on my back, I felt as though this pain might lessen.
“Are you done fighting me?” Beryl asked, her voice sweeter than berries. “Are you done putting up a fight? You could have had treasures and all the wine in the world, but you had to be a defiant little brat. I’m beginning to doubt that you deserve anything at all.”
With a snarl on my lips, I pulled myself together and pushed myself upright. My knees trembled as I stood, but at least I was standing again. I glared down at Beryl.
“I’m not your tool,” I growled.
She stood and rose to her full height. As the illusion of humanity peeled away, Beryl grew and grew until she towered over me. Her limbs lengthened, cheekbones sharpened, and her eyes hollowed until they were nothing but voids with sharp points of light deep within them.
“You will be whatever I tell you to be so long as you are in my service, Ryder of Thunder Pass. You are the outcast of your clan, a storm dragon with no home, and apawnin my hands.”
“No.” The one syllable word was enough to make the light in her void-like eyes flare hot.
Beryl’s lip curled. She strode forward, her dress billowing around her like red silk batwings. She would have been frightening to anyone else. I was too tired to be afraid anymore. I’d come close to dying recently. It’d been painful and terrifying until Ness had given me something to hold onto.
Her.
The back of my hand warmed. A soft light glowed between Beryl and myself. I didn’t want to look down at the mark that bound me to Ness, but I almost couldn’t help myself.
The illusion slipped over Beryl again. More human than fae now, she peered curiously down at my hand. Her lips formed an O of soft surprise as she took my hand in hers. I pulled back, but her grip was like iron.
“You and the Barghest have a bond,” she said, a tone in her voice that I did not like.
“If you try to use her the way you’re using me, then I will make sure your court knows no peace. I will bring destruction here and level your court.”
The corner of Beryl’s mouth lifted in a sly smile. She bit the tip of her tongue between sharp teeth. Her grip on my hand tightened, almost painfully. It was nothing compared to the heat of the medallion, though. Still, my heart thundered.
“Don’t you dare,” I growled.
Beryl lifted both brows, that sly grin still on her lips. “Oh? Why not? What does the Barghest mean to you? She asked you to kill for her, did she not? You detest killers. I can see the simmering hatred in your eyes. Why forgive her? Why not make her suffer for what she asked of you.”
“If you lay a hand on her…” My voice rose and echoed off the walls of the earthen court.
Still, Beryl smiled. I hated how unwavering it was. She knew she had all the power in this situation. Or, at least, that was what she believed.
My breath shuddered out of me. My will threatened to break. Thoughts of Ness, bleeding and hurt, filled my mind. My beast thrashed as the smell of blood filled my nose. She could die here. The beast wouldn’t allow it. It would not let her get hurt ever again.
I should have hated her. I should have run as far away from her as possible. Yet, here I was. I doubted that I would be able to leave Ness, even if Beryl hadn’t trapped me here.
“Go,” Beryl commanded. “Go, kill Harvey Combs for me.”
I didn’t want to do as she said, but Beryl had figured out that Ness meant more to me than I’d let on. If I didn’t at least make an attempt, then Beryl would go after Ness. The little hound shifter didn’t need more trouble.
My beast snarled and stamped its feet, shaking my bones. I turned and staggered toward the exit. A glass of wine and a piece of half-eaten fruit caught my eye. Both glittered in the pale light coming in through the underwater window. My mouth watered.
Only a taste, I told myself.A single taste, just to take the edge off.
My beast growled, low and threatening. I ignored the sound humming inside my chest. The pact, Ness’s bond, the duties placed upon my shoulders by everyone who couldn’t bring themselves to act, all of it was too much to bear.
I craved the taste of oblivion, just enough to clear my head of these worries.
I was halfway to the table, arm extended, before I dug in my heels. No. I couldn’t do this again. Running a hand over my face, I sucked in a deep breath and tried to get ahold of myself.
What would Bri think? I imagined her tear-filled eyes as Beryl had taken me away from the rental apartment. Bri’s disappointment was inescapable. My stomach tightened with hunger. A thirst I could not slate made my tongue dry.
No. I wouldn’t become the slave to faery wine that Beryl wanted me to be.
Think of Ness, my beast whispered.