Page 134 of Lore of the Tides

She was leaving her here. Lore’s vision spun, Coretha turning her back on her on the ship, and again, now, in the throne room. Only this time, she was taking her hope.

—The king gripped the halfling’s sword by the blade; the metal, even being of siren make, was not sharp enough to cut him. The king ripped the blade from the halfling’s grip. It was then easy to wrap his razor-sharp claws around his throat. To haul the struggling male up until his boots lifted off the road. Finndryl’s eyes were wide with fear. The king used his power to shoot that same viscous substance from his free hand into the halfling’s mouth. He guided it, pushing more and more into the halfling’s lungs—

She had to save him. This couldn’t be happening, this couldn’t be. Lore wept as she burst the blood vessels in her eyes trying to claw free of the king’s control. She choked on bile that mixed with blood as she gnashed her broken jaws together, fighting with everything she had to—

—A sick squelch ricocheted through her mind—the sound of Finndryl’s lungs bursting—

Lore’s mind splintered.

—The king smiled when Grey found him. He elongated a single claw and—Lore’s mind couldn’t process what she was seeing. Grey’s head was too far away from his body. Her mind shuttered, trying to protect her, but it was no match for the king. He demanded she watch, so she was forced to watch. Next, Eshe and Salim, but who to kill first? Which would hurt who more? For Eshe to see Salim die, or Salim to see Eshe die? He decided onEshe first. A stab through the throat; then, he waited a beat to make sure Salim saw his wife die before he sliced in through the heart. Lore watched, her mind frozen with shock; it stuttered, it stopped, it started again, as though it had forgotten how to be. It was nothing for the demon to leap into the air and fly to Duskmere. Minutes. It took minutes and then he was there, with the children. They screamed and screamed—

Lore vomited.

—Lex, almost nineteen, first. Silvia, Katu—

She was choking on bile and blood because she couldn’t move.

—Milo—

There was no one left.

Surely, he would come for her next.

Please. Let her be next.

Again?chimed the cruel voice in her mind.

The vision assaulted her mind again.

It started with Syrelle.

It ended with Milo.

Over and over, Lore watched them be cut down until she lost the ability to plead, to weep, until she lost their memories, their names.

All she knew was the weight of his violence, the insatiable hunger.

It consumed her.

Chapter 46

She had to call for her books, because they would come to her, wouldn’t they? When she called them? They would be disappeared and reappear in her hands, and she could burn this place to the ground... She had tried that last night. And again, this morning. She had practiced it, just in case they took them from her... Finndryl had even run, so fast, he was so fast, and beautiful, he’d run with her books to the other side of the village, and they had still come when she called them.

But Finndryl was dead, wasn’t he?

She’d seen him die.

He’d been in pain... so much pain... His lungs had burst, frothy blood had spilled out of his mouth and nose, it had splattered onto Grey’s face; Grey was screaming, screaming, he was screamingsoloud.Please stop screaming, Lore wanted to say.It hurts, she tried to say, but she couldn’t say it because it was she who was screaming. She was clawing at her skin, clutching her hair, pounding on her head with her fists; she needed these memories out of her head. She would do anything not to see them anymore...

The books, her books. She called out for them. She had to save them. She had to save them all. She called them. She didn’t feel that pull, that tug that had been so easy to gather into herself until herbooks appeared right there in her hands like they had been there all along. Milo had been laughing, delighted at her display of magic. Poor Milo, he had... he had...

She was moaning into the floor, no, she was screaming again, her body racked with sobs. The screams were being torn from her throat. They would never stop... until the sound finally did, cut off as she coughed, hacking, until she vomited onto the floor.

Chapter 47

Oh, Arelas, I do believe the human’s strength is giving out. Disappointing. I was led to believe that she was special, but she’s just like the others, isn’t she?”

Ahummof agreement. “She doesn’t have long left.”