Page 37

I shook my head, my mind clearing, and withdrew my hand from his grasp.

“Yes.” I stiffened my spine. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

My cheeks heated. I didn’t like that he’d seen me so vulnerable. After all, I was a powerful sorceress. Conjurer of nightmares. Leader of the notorious Blood River Bandits.

I lifted my chin, ignoring the tear in the shoulder of my tunic. “Where were you, anyway?”

He studied my face, seeming to see through my posturing. “Gathering intel.”

“And what, pray tell, did you discover?” While I fought formy life. Alone. Something deep within my core howled, insisting that this male in particular shouldn’t have abandoned me.

His tawny brow furrowed. “I discovered I need you.”

I swallowed with an audiblegulp. Perhaps the sun really had frozen over.

Chapter Twelve

VICTOR

Rage pounded in my veins,the burn a wildfire I fought to contain. I struggled with the need to fight, to smash, to hurt, to kill. When I’d returned and found Runa pinned beneath three males, a crimson haze filled my vision.

This wasn’t me.

In my world, I was known for being cool and collected, completely in control at all times. It was possible something in this kingdom was affecting me—causing me to react this way.

The fire burning in my gut wasn’t run-of-the-mill anger. No. This was something deeper—darker. More explosive. Like some part of me had cracked, allowing something new to escape. What? I didn’t know. All I’d known for certain was those males had needed to die for touching her.

All except one.

The last was a gift.

Watching Runa end the bastard, how she took a moment to toy with the prick before taking her revenge, that dark piece of me had taken notice. Afterward, I’d been unable to resist tastingher. That simple taste might have been my undoing because even with my latest windfall of blood, I hungered.

Once I’d tossed the males out beside the garbage, making sure to snap the neck of the last, I sat on my cot. Leaning back against the wall, I propped my foot on the miserable excuse for a mattress and rested my elbow on my knee. It was a sad attempt on my part to appear at ease when everything inside twisted into knots. Still, it was important that Runa not know she might very well hold my future in her hands.

“Okay, Custodis.” Runa rested on her cot with her head propped on her hand. Lavender tendrils spilled down her arm in a becoming display. “Tell me. Why do you need me?”

“The king’s former seer claims your sister can open a portal to the mortal realm. Is this true?”

Runa’s eyes hardened. “Raelynn is no longer my sister.”

“Fine, then. Regardless of your familial ties, the queen has portal magic.”

“Yes. Her magic is the reason the false king has access to Carcerem’s power. Raelynn ripped a gateway between the two, forcing the connection. Taking something the realm was unwilling to give.”

Like the bastards who’d attacked her. Darkness swelled at the reminder, and I took a deep breath to cool my rising anger.

“And you.” I managed to say in a steady voice. “Do you share that power?”

Her dark brow furrowed. “It’s an ability that’s passed down through the females in my bloodline. Though I’ve never attempted to use it. For…” She hesitated, eyes darkening. “Many reasons. One being that it requires a significant amount of magic, forcing the caster to draw deeply from Carcerem’s reserves of obsidian. Too deeply.” She rubbed her fingers together.

“But it could be done.”

She chewed her lip, growing more discomfited. “In theory.Also, a sacrifice is needed. A life freely given. Idris must have done the same to claim Carcerem’s power.”

The seer had said as much. So, I’d have to convince some simpleton to offer up their life. It was a minor detail.

“Perhaps we could work together.”