Queen of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms, #5)(105)

“I’m not done yet! You stupid, selfish cunt,” I roared, kicking him in the balls. A strangled scream of thunderous rage burst from his lips.

My hair slid from his grip, and I landed hard on the ground, but there was nothing left of the fight within me. A tormented cry of infuriation tore from my lungs, even as he rushed toward me as I clumsily attempted to stagger back to my feet. Strong hands locked around my upper arm, then plucked me from the ground, forcefully shoving my spine achingly against the hard trunk of a nearby tree.

“Fucking bitch,” he hissed as his mouth lowered against mine. My eyes fluttered close seconds before it drifted against mine, his heated lips touching mine with the softest kiss. A ravenous, whimpered whisper of grief and longing vibrated from my lips, devoured voraciously from his. “I hate you for letting that bastard touch what is only mine to know.” His teeth captured my lip, applying enough pressure that I gasped from the burning pain. “Fight me all you like, Aria. I am your jury, judge and executioner.” His tongue delved between my lips, finding mine, then kissed me until I felt myself steadily falling down into the endless well of despair.

He’d kissed me. Fucking kissed me with the same lips he’d touched motionlessly against Hecate’s. But where he’d failed to return or join in her kiss, he’d devoured mine as if he were starving for more. Just as he’d told me, he was my jury, judge and executioner.

Knox drew back at the sound of feet thrashing over the ground, reverberated around us. His dismal obsidian pools drifted from the men rushing toward us, then slid back to lock with mine. A wicked chuckle exited his lips, turning menacing, sinister.

“I’m going to need to borrow some of that vast magic you house. Don’t worry, I don’t intend to give it back. Let’s be honest here, you no longer need it because you’re fucking dead. You just haven’t caught up to that idea, yet.” Knox’s lips parted, then pressed against mine as his arm extended, aimed his palm at the men charging toward us. Then a spasm shot through me as he began sucking the magic directly from my soul. The agony cruelly tore through every inch of my body, sparing nothing as it pushed through me.

Fear, failure and grief settled within me, weighing against my chest. He’d ripped my power straight from my lips. He consumed it aggressively, unconcerned with how it ripped me asunder. My feet had left the soil before I realized he’d collared my throat, fingers digging into my jaw as he lifted me.

The men collided against a barrier Knox had erected. Ice shot through my veins, as surely as if he’d injected it there himself. He’d siphoned too much magic, draining me to the point I felt nullified.

“No!” Esme’s horrified shriek forced my eyes to flutter closed. “Aria, fight him!”

“She can’t,” Knox purred, his nose rubbing against my cheek. “This is your savior? How pathetic.” Knox cruelly gripped my arm, then gripped a merciless hold on my throat. He continued, lifting me until my feet dangled, searching for the ground. “Are you ready to sing for me? I bet you’ll sing so fucking pretty when I rip your heart out.” He tossed me to the ground, which sent the air from my lungs in a whoosh of sound.

“Fight me, motherfucker!” Esme snarled, as her eyes flooded with tears streaming freely down her cheeks. “Fucking fight, Aria. Please. Oh, gods, please get up! I fucking need you. Do you hear me? Fight him!”

“Aria, do it,” Killian demanded, his voice strained. “Knox wouldn’t want you to be a fucking martyr. Fight. Do what you do best and kill him!”

I couldn’t fight against him even if I wanted to do so. He’d taken all of my reserved magic, draining me until only a tiny whisper of it remained tethered in my center.

“Aria,” Siobhan whispered, kneeling down at eye level with me. “Bring it down. Remove the shield so we can do what you cannot bring yourself to do. Without you, everything is lost. We lose you. There’s no reason to keep fighting. Don’t let her take that from us. We need you as much as he does.”

Crawling over the wet, rain-soaked floor of the forest, I moaned as his booted foot slid beneath my belly, rolling me onto my back. Staring into the sightless, murky eyes, I exhaled, knowing it was coming. My chest rose and fell with the strenuous, quick gasps fighting to bring enough air into my lungs to form words.

“Knox, it’s Aria!” Killian cried, his hands singing against the barrier preventing him from intervening.

“Get up, Aria,” Zyion demanded. “Get the fuck up. You’re stronger than this. I know you are. Now fight back, damn it.”

It was better that way. Even better if he’d block them all from witnessing what he intended to do to me. Not that I’d get so lucky. He wasn’t fighting against Hecate’s control, not that I could tell through the blurriness of my vision. A shuddered breath left my lips, sending bubbled blood speckling against the pale flesh of my skin.

“I know who the fuck she is. Don’t worry, Killian. Once I’m done removing her heart, I’m coming for yours next. And you?” Knox pointed his finger toward Zyion. “You, I’m going to rip apart piece by fucking piece for touching her. She is mine.”

“I didn’t touch her!” he snarled, his eyes wide with helplessness as he watched Knox tipping his head back, smiling.

“Even so, you’ll both die screaming for me,” he purred in a raspy tenor.