“No, I won’t,” Knox snarled as his eyes returned obsidian, then black sludge ran as if someone had turned on a faucet. I studied the tension on his face, the contorting over the soldier's features before his hands rose, forcing me to hastily defend against the onslaught he unleashed.
I’d assumed he’d be powerful. What I hadn’t counted on was that he had actively begun gathering it when he’d arrived. I also hadn’t realized he’d be using my fucking magic, either. He’d more than likely began storing it as he drove the group of corpses back here. The moment our magic connected, violet light exploded in the courtyard, blinding all within it.
Knox’s magic slammed against my body, then sent me flying backward through the air. I connected with the stone wall surrounding the courtyard. My skull hit against the rocks, forcing both sparks and black dots to burst into my vision.
Instinctively, I grabbed the side of my head as a surge of splitting pain pounded within. Ringing blared in my head. The second pulse of power connected beside me, forcing me to roll, turning onto the ground before pushing myself upright. Nausea swirled through my stomach, even as bile burned against my throat.
On my feet again, I swayed, then whirled around in a circle, scouring for any sign of the others. Blinking to clear the blurriness in my eyes, I continually searched for those who’d been close enough to be hurt in the blast radius of his magic.
Turning back around at the sound of footsteps, I struggled against the nausea, still trying to escape my throat while teetering on uneven ground. The warrior Knox had been speaking from was the only one still on its feet. A cruel smile twisted his mouth as he sauntered his way toward me.
“You look so much better broken, my pretty little prey.” His words sent warning bells off in my head, even as groans began issuing around us. “I promised her I’d make it hurt.”
“You promised you wouldn’t break my heart again. I guess we’re both liars now,” I whispered through the tightness in my chest. “When you’re buried balls-deep in that whore? I hope you see me, and wish it were me instead.” His hands firmly grasped the bodice of the gown I wore, yanking me against the corpse’s frame.
“I always see your face. Every thrust into her cunt? I dream about you, and doing this,” he rasped, then wrapped his hands around my throat. “When you get to your next life, I’ll be there too, waiting to end it as well. Tell our baby girls, daddy says ‘hi’，” he murmured before his lips skimmed over my forehead, and his hands sealed around my throat.
Knox’s hands were merciless. Just as they’d always been. Light exploded in my vision, blinding me. Pain shot through my entire frame as a sadistic laugh burst from my lips, wrong, yet unmistakably loud enough to ensure he heard it. What he didn’t hear was the blade slicing through the air behind him, which removed both of our heads.
Dropping the blade, I rubbed my fingers over the handprints left over my throat. The body on the ground I’d created from magic gradually began to vanish, leaving only the warrior’s corpse, and decapitated head, which was still grinning. Bending down, I gripped it by the hair, holding it up.
“You don’t know all my tricks, Knox. I’ve learned a lot of things since I’ve been gone. And you don’t get to call me your Little Monster while you’re standing beside that whore. I’m coming to get you back. Sometimes, it’s the dragon who needs a queen to save him. Fuck being a princess when you can be a queen who creates such beautiful chaos. I hope your girlfriend is ready for me. Because I am,” I hissed before tossing the head into the air, as the world flashed to white as lightning struck the skull, as it shattered into tiny pieces of grizzled, charred flesh and bone.
Peering through the cloud of smoke, I caught sight of Killian, speckled with brain matter. I winced and offered him an apologetic smile. Thunder cracked above our heads, resoundingly. Forcing him to flinch, then tip his head back to scan the cloudless autumn sky.
“How the fuck did you do that?” Zyion’s garbled words forced my eyes to his bloodied face. His turquoise eyes darted between the dull image I’d crafted from magic, to me, then back again. “You don’t think you should tell us your plans?”
“I am not allowing mistakes to happen. It’s Knox, and whatever it takes, I’m getting him back. If you expect me to tell you all my secrets, you’re about to be disappointed, Zyion. A girl doesn’t indulge others with her secrets. It would be a tragic miscalculation to assume I would do so.” His face tightened, then he jerked his head once, showing me that he could live with it. “Now, we have to figure out how to get him back, and undo whatever the hell damage she’s done to him.”
“You don’t think we haven’t scoured the entire library for answers on how to remove the shit oozing from his eye sockets?” Brander’s words were laced with anger, but identifying Knox’s voice from a corpse had been a challenge for those who’d known him. At my narrowed stare, he shook his head, then planted his palms on his hips and bent forward, breathing shallow. “That may have been him merely driving someone else? But he has the same shit running down from his eyes, nose, and occasionally, his lips.”
My stomach somersaulted at his words. I’d tried once to remove that toxic sludge, but they’d killed the witch before I could know if it had worked. I didn’t know if I could remove it while leaving the person alive. Of course, if they were dead, I wouldn’t be able to save them regardless of removing the sludge.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Aria
The funnel of power Knox unleashed through the corpse caused an influx of wounded people in the library. Bitterness adhered to my tongue like the nauseating taste of poison. It felt like a blade was continuously being stabbed into my chest, puncturing my lungs. Air refused to fill them, which made it impossible to breathe. No matter how much I wanted otherwise, emotions clawed their way free, ripping through me until they dove into the cavernous, hollow void of misery which had replaced my heart.
It had been one thing to be told Knox was beneath Hecate’s control. It was wholly another thing to see it with my own eyes. Knox’s comments about our daughters, or any child I’d have, thoroughly left me shaken and disturbed. The glimpses of him I’d caught throughout the exchange shouldn’t have torn me asunder, but it would be a lie to say they hadn’t.
My gaze roamed around the room, noting the small groups huddled together. Brander and Basilius, who both were close in age, sat across from one another. Esme stood behind Brander, sewing the gashes of flesh back together that he’d received from Knox’s attack. It showed that even he couldn’t mend everything without a little help.
Basilius, on the other hand, glared at Esme over the top of Brander’s head. A murderous rage simmered over his face, thickening the air with tension. Esme, on the other hand, appeared unaffected by the daggers being thrown her way, even as she sewed Brander’s back with tight, clean stitches.
Eva was tending to Zyion as she spoke to him in hushed tones. His eyes flicked to me and then slid back to Eva’s face. It told me I was more than likely the topic of conversation. They hadn’t resolved whatever was between them. Eva’s attraction to him had not diminished, even after she had accused him of being a traitor. Her head lifted once more, this time worry tightened her lips into a hard, white line. For someone who hated him so much, she sure spent a lot of time pining after her traitor.