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“We’ll see,” I smirked.

Jeb charged at me with a small dagger, swinging it in quick, violent jabs. It was easy to dodge as I stepped aside and kicked him in the back, sending him crashing into the wall. He turned quickly, expecting me to approach him, but I was content to draw it out. He slid down the wall, dazed.

“Tell me,” I demanded.

He shook his head, so I walked over to where he was slumped against the wall and stabbed his thigh. Jeb’s painful yell echoed in the small space.

“They don’t want you to break your curse,” he gasped, breathing heavily.

“Why?”

Instead of answering, Jeb stood and readied himself for a fight. If he wanted to do this the hard way, so be it. I moved forward quickly and swung my daggers at him. Jeb managed to keep up with my swings, even nicking my forearm in the process. However, his movements were slowing due to his wound.

I punched him in the face as he swung and missed, sending him stumbling back into the wall with a groan.

“Why!”

“Because you would run to Cassius,” he breathed heavily. “You would never choose us.”

My red eyes narrowed on him.

“So Cassius didn’t kill me?”

“No, he did,” Jeb groaned. I walked forward and stabbed Jeb’s other thigh, frustrated by his vague answers. “He killed you!”

“There’s something I’m not understanding about all of this, and I know you know what it is, so start fucking talking.”

Jeb shook his head.

“You can kill me, but I’m not betraying my kingdom,” he said, sliding down the wall in defeat.

“I was hoping you’d put up a better fight,” I replied, kneeling out of his reach just in case he tried anything. “It won’t matter, Jeb, because I know enough. I will be killing my family and Jesper. Cerithia will crumble, and when it does, your honor will die with it.”

Jeb’s nostrils flared as he glared at me. I stood and glanced down at him.

“Look at how pathetic you are,” I sneered. My darkness wanted out, and I finally let it free. “I barely lifted a finger to overpower you. I didn’t even need my magic.”

My darkness crept toward Jeb, unseen, wrapping around him. I heard the sickening sound of bones breaking as he cried out for help.

“I feel a little bad that you’ll miss me destroying this kingdom and killing my father. You’re going to miss quite the show when I fulfill the prophecy.”

Jeb tried to speak, but my darkness was squeezing him too tightly. I forced it to ease up.

“You’ll never win. You and your precious Cassius will both fucking die!” He spat blood toward me, causing my gaze to flick up to him.

“My precious Cassius.” I nodded, acknowledging that Cassius had always been the right choice for me, despite him killing me. “Thank you for confirming that he means something to me.”

“I hope your death is slow and painful, you stupid fucking bitch!” Jeb’s attempt to appear fearless only highlighted his terror.

“How long until you’re begging me for death?” I purred, leaning down to see how mangled his hands were from my darkness.

His jaw clenched, signaling that he was done talking. I lifted him with my darkness and set him down in the chair.

“Unfortunately for you, Jeb, you’re the first one I’ve gotten my hands on to kill, and I have a lot of anger built up inside me.”

That was the last thing I said to him as I stepped forward and stabbed him in the stomach, twisting the blade before pulling it out. My darkness crushed the bones in his legs and arms, causing him to cry out. I cut off his fingers, one at a time. It only took two before he begged me to kill him, but I ignored his pleas and finished with all ten. Blood pooled beneath him in the chair.Fuck, he was losing a lot of blood. I summoned my fire magic and burned his finger wounds shut. Jeb was sobbing.

“Have at it,” I told my darkness, which lashed out and crushed Jeb’s whole body painfully slow. The sound of his bones breaking was absolutely disgusting. I flinched as my darkness drew it out. A moment later, it dropped Jeb to the floor, leaving a jumbled mess of his body. Dead. My darkness swarmed around me in a frenzied joy. I considered burning down his home but decided instead to make sure my father knew how painful Jeb’s death was. With one last glance at Jeb, I left his home and headed to the castle.