“Mm. What was she wearing? Paint me a picture.”

Unbidden, the memory of the princess surges to the surface. Perched astride my hips in nothing but that bloodstained nightgown. Luminous skin and tousled hair and eyes bright with murderous intent. For a few minutes, I let myself forget all the reasons I should hate her.

“White silk,” I rasp out. “Hardly covered all the interesting bits. It looked even better soaked through red.”

He growls, a burst of breath shuddering against me, and his hands dig into my shoulders, demanding. Asserting his claim even as he makes me recount how I defied him. Still fucking with me.

“Tell me about your game.” He grazes his teeth down my neck, ending the movement in a kiss. “What did you play?”

I know what he’s doing; he’s reminding me that I let a Devaliant walk away. That I had my knife against her heart and chose entertainment over duty. He’s playing with me the way I played with her.

But I’m not a pretty little Anchor on your altar.

“A game where she cuts me open,” I say roughly. I tip my head back, baring more of my throat to his mouth. A silent fuck you. “And I take her measure. Decide if she’s amusing enough to keep around for another night before finishing the job.”

“Was she?” he asks, kissing along my collarbone. “Amusing?”

“Vicious. Spitting mad. The kind of girl who goes straight for the throat and shakes until something snaps. Prettiest damn thing I’ve seen in centuries.”

Intended to provoke. To irritate.

His lips skim the shell of my ear. “Did you beg her to hurt you a little deeper?”

And a little harder.

“I enjoy seeing how violence brings out the beast in sweet things. I decided she deserved an encore performance before her final bow.”

For a few moments, cradled between my body and the blade, the princess had burned incandescent. She’d wanted to make someone—anyone—choke on her agony. A girl like that, with a mouth made for sin and a heart like a black hole…

I’d wanted to see how far she went until she broke.

Alexios chuckles and presses his lips hard to mine again, whispering, “I hope your little indulgence was worth it.”

Then his power lashes and clamps tightly around my throat. Crushing. Choking. Dark spots swarm my vision, my lungs burn, and my senses dull until the roaring tide of my pulse drowns out all else.

“I warned you that if you disappointed me again, I’d remind you what happens when my leash becomes a noose.” He skims his thumb over my cheekbone. “Disobedient subordinates get put down. And liars? Liars get their tongues ripped out.”

His grip tightens as he forces my head back. His other hand digs between my lips and pries my jaw wide. Then he pins my tongue between his fingers.

And draws his dagger.

I feel the sharp edge of the Turpori steel, the blooming sting as he cuts off my tongue. I taste metal and blood as it gushes over my chin. The pain is distant, drowned out by the thunder of my heartbeat and the throbbing pressure of the king’s power.

He shoves my severed tongue down my throat and slaps his palm over my mouth.

“Swallow it,” he hisses against my cheek.

Fuck you.

I glare up at him even as black spots crowd my vision, my bones creaking beneath the crush of his will.

“Swallow. It.”

Alexios’ collar keeps my strength leashed to half what it is naturally—without it, we’d be equals. One day, I’ll sever it. And when I do, it’s not bones I’ll settle for breaking. It’s the base of his fucking spine.

But today isn’t that day.

So I swallow.

Alexios releases me, and I crumple to my knees.

“By the time that tongue grows back,” he says coldly, “I hope you’ll learn to use it more wisely. I’d hate to take your wings next.”

OceanofPDF.com

11

BRYONY

YOU’RE ALIVE.” A woman’s voice cuts through the static. Gentle but firm. “Just breathe through it.”

I try to focus on her, but everything feels distant and hazy as if I’m deep underwater. My body hurts. The sort of pain that makes you wish for death—except I was dead. Wasn’t I?

My fingers move on instinct, shoving past the cloak to trace the scars on my inner elbow. Each one is a tether pulling me back from the brink.

I feel for the first notch. Breathe. You’re breathing.

Two notches. Feel the jagged rock beneath you, the bite of the cold.

Three. Your name is Bryony Devaliant.

Four. You’re on the Duehavn Ridge, where your uncle tried to kill you.

Five. This is real. You survived when you shouldn’t have.

I crack my eyes open. Blurry wings fill my vision, charcoal dark feathers with violet undertones that shimmer in the light. A demigoddess stares down at me with pale irises that are almost colorless save for the darker flecks of blue. She’s slender and fine-boned, with a heart-shaped face and shoulder-length lavender-colored hair. Her lips press into a line as she looks me over.

“I spotted you when I was flying over the Osbu Sea.” She lightly taps my stomach, where bandages peek out from under the cloak. “Good thing I know some field medicine because you were dead for about half a minute there.”

“Thank you,” I say hoarsely.

“Don’t thank me yet. You’re still pretty fucked up.” She tugs my cloak tighter around my nakedness. She’s brusque but gentle with me, the way you get when you’re used to handling broken things. “I noticed an oathbreaker’s mark on your wrist before the Void took you. This an Enforcer’s work? They usually go for cleaner kills.”

My heart stops when I see my bare wrist. Alexios’ Claim is gone, with no sign of his judgment. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen my skin there without the glow of his symbol. I’m Unclaimed now, defenseless—anyone’s for the taking.

“It was my uncle,” I manage. “Emperor Idris. An offering to the Eternal.”

She snorts. “Never seen a precious Royal of the Blood marked for death.” Rising, she stretches those massive wings. “We need to get you somewhere warm before shock sets in. Can you stand?”

The world slips and slides, refusing to stay put. My vision won’t settle. “No.”

With an exasperated sigh, she unbuckles her belt and loops it around my cloak, cinching the fabric tight over the bandages. “There. That ought to keep you decent for the trip. One of my wings is weaker than the other, so it won’t be a smooth ride carrying you. If you throw up on me, I’m dropping you into the sea. Are we clear?”

I give a feeble nod, lacking the energy to say anything else.

She leans down and gathers me into her arms, and then we’re airborne. The ground falls away with dizzying speed. My stomach lurches as she banks hard left to avoid a jagged outcropping. I feel the strain in her shoulders, the flex and bunch of muscles working to hold us aloft.

I make the mistake of glancing down and immediately slam my eyes shut again. Blackness drags me down and pulls me under.

This time, I let it sweep me into the dark.

*   *   *

“Hey. Wake up. We’re here.”

I open my heavy eyelids to find the demigoddess looking me over, her pale purple hair dancing along her cheek. Past her is an arch of trees. A hot breeze rustles the leaves, thick and humid, prickling my skin with an unfamiliar energy.

“Where?” I manage.

“Somewhere I figured could handle the mess you’re in.”

I turn my head and blink to clear my vision. There’s nothing but a misty forest extending in all directions, not a trace of civilization in sight—until a dark shape emerges from the fog.