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Blowing out a tense breath, I flipped the blade in my hands and sawed at the rope. Oberon took a step closer to his horse. The first strands of the rope broke in two. He took another step and determined tears burned my eyes. More of the rope split apart. I kept sawing and Oberon kept walking, and I ground my teeth so hard that my jaw ached.

Snap.At last, the final remnants of the rope released me, just as Oberon reached the leather satchel strapped to his horse’s back. He reached into a pocket. With a speed I did not know I had, I ran up behind him and put the blade to his neck.

“Don’t move,” I hissed into his ear.

Forty-Seven

Tessa

This close, I could see the beads of sweat on the back of Oberon’s neck. He swallowed against the blade.

“Take your hand out of the satchel,” I commanded.

To my surprise, he actually listened. Carefully, he pulled his fingers out of his bag and dropped them to his side. “You have become quieter than a mortal. You know what that means, don’t you?”

“It means nothing. You’re just too weak to hear me.”

“I wonder, do you have the strength yet to kill me with that thing? I doubt it.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Well, then perhaps I should try.”

“Listen to yourself. All that rage.” He let out a bitter laugh. “You think I’m the dangerous one, and yet you have the blood of a god running through your veins. The God of Death.”

I shifted on my feet. “I know what you’re trying to do—distract me long enough to think of a way to disarm me. That must mean you’re more afraid of me than you care to admit.”

I pushed the blade harder against his throat. Blood outlined the edge of the steel. I could stab him now, but this blade wouldn’t kill him, and I needed to find out where he’d hidden the necklace. If it fell into the wrong hands, the world would be doomed.

Oberon held up his hands and slowly turned to face me. I ground my teeth, keeping my blade pressed tightly against his skin, but the gleam in his eyes unnerved me.

“Lower the weapon, Tessa Baran,” he said calmly, as if we were discussing nothing more than the morning’s sun.

“Where’s the necklace?”

“What necklace?”

“You know which one. The one that holds the god’s power.”

He arched his brow. “And if I tell you that, you’ll take this blade off my throat?”

I frowned. He’d chosen a pointed question with a yes or no answer. If I lied, he’d know. Damn him.

“Of course you won’t,” he said. “At least you’ve learned that lying to me is pointless.”

“Where is the necklace?”

“Do you really think, after everything I’ve done, that I would tellyou, of all people?”

“Fine. You don’t have to tell me where it is as long as you vow to destroy it. You’ve had four hundred years with your love. Isn’t that enough?” I asked. “The necklace isn’t as safe as it was before, and I can tell by the look in your eye that you know it. It holds full power now. Lifeanddeath. And if you aren’t careful, she will trick you into releasing her. Youcannotuse it again.”

I wasn’t entirely sure why I was appealing to him. I should just cut his throat, or at least try to, but…I’d seen him in those visions from the former Mortal Queen. The Oberon of four hundred years ago wanted to protect this world. Hecared. And even as the power had tried its best to corrupt him—andoh it had—he’d still resisted the one temptation that mattered the most.

He never released the god’s power, not even to give his love an immortal body. It did not matter how many times the god had asked. Oberon always held tight to his resolve.

Somewhere behind those hollow eyes, the old Oberon was listening to me.

He let out an eerie laugh. “Do you think I’m that stupid? You just want it for yourself.You’llrelease the god.”

I shook my head. “Are you out of your mind? That’s the last thing I want.”