Page 5 of A Bond so Fierce and Fragile

Only now, those eyes were a few shades darker, the golden-brown hair more auburn in the flickering light of the sun.

“Rioner.” Lessia clenched her fists when the king met her glare head-on. “So you dare meet my eyes now?”

The cool laugh he let out should have made goose bumps rise across her skin.

But she was done being afraid of him.

Absolutely fucking done.

Merrick had trained her for this.

She’d decided to walk this path.

To save their realm, whatever the cost might be.

And the king was terrified of her.

She could see it in the slight creases around his eyes—the twitch of the palms hanging by his sides.

He was terrified of the curse and her magic.

A corner of her mouth lifted.

He should be the one to cower now.

Wiping the straggling tears, she let the magic sizzling under her skin burst out of her eyes as she stepped toward him.

The Fae king didn’t move as she locked eyes with him and purred, “Don’t look away.”

“I won’t.” Rioner’s mouth twisted into a cold smile. “But you realize this cellar is filled with guards, don’t you? They’ll kill you before you have time to take a breath if you so much as threaten to stain my robe.”

She made herself smile back at him, trying to get the smell of iron that still filled her nostrils to fade.

It wasn’t real. Nothing of what had just happened had been real.

“See, I don’t think they will. They know of the curse, I assume?” Lessia cocked her head. “I’ve understood you can’t kill me yourself. Perhaps not even order it.”

Rioner’s brows popped up for the smallest of seconds before he caught himself. “I thought your mind was clear. The guards told me you hadn’t broken yet.” He began turning away, his eyes still meeting hers over his shoulder. “They must have been mistaken. I’ll need to find another to help with this mission.”

“Don’t turn your fucking back on me!” Lessia nearly tripped over an uneven stone as she followed him. “Where are you going?”

Rioner halted. “You’re demanding to know where your king is going?”

Something like unease coiled deep within Lessia’s gut. “Stop playing coy. We’re past that point, aren’t we,uncle?”

A shocked laugh escaped Rioner. “Uncle? That’s a new one.” He waved to someone she couldn’t see. “Her mind has gone. Please take care of her.”

The salty breeze shifted into a worryingly familiar one, and Lessia’s magic faded away with every whiff of iron-tinged stale air.

Sounds she never wanted to hear again drowned all others.

And then… the darkness.

Darkness that engulfed everything—that nearly swallowed the king as he walked toward a thick stone door.

Her eyes widened.

Not to get used to the shadows that danced all around her but because she recognized that door.