Page 43 of A Fate of Ice and Lies (Fated #1)

Chapter

Sixteen

ELIAS

The scent of fear made my nostrils flare.

I glared back at every human and fae who were part of my region, then I took in the fae who knelt before me, heads bowed with one fisted hand on the snowy ground. Humans stood motionless, barely breathing as if they were scared to draw my attention.

But Teddy, whose fear I smelled the strongest; her face was as white as the snow surrounding us. Her breath rasped out in quick succession. Her heart beat hard and loud and made me want to rip my own heart out.

Take it! I wanted to shout at her. It’s yours anyway.

She held Javier’s hand though, angling her body in such a way I believed she’d attack anyone who tried to harm the boy.

Using the back of my hand, I wiped the blood from my mouth. My stomach already revolted at tasting another fae’s blood. While fae bit in battle to kill or force another fae into submission, our bodies despised the taste of blood that didn’t belong to our mate.

On the ground, the fae I’d forced into submission whimpered. Not so mighty when facing a male who was his superior in every way.

I huffed out a dry laugh, which only made Teddy take another step back, away from me.

Her head whirled to my cottage, and after a glance at everyone around her, she ran toward the house, making sure to take Javier with her.

Still, her scent lingered.

Still, everyone remained silent, bearing witness to the consequences of my transgressions.

At the front of my house, Teddy took Victoria into her arms. Even with the distance between us, I heard the way she tried to convince Javier to take the girls to her house.

Rightfully, she didn’t trust me with him, but he refused, insisting he was fine staying the night with us as originally planned.

He wasn’t afraid of us, but only because I’d deceived him into trusting me.

She looked back at him regretfully and with Ryenne beside her and Victoria in her arms, she ran away.

Away from me. The one she’d called a monster.

Liquid fire burned through my veins, setting everything inside me ablaze. It didn’t stop Teddy from making her great escape.

Her departing back grew smaller and smaller until I couldn’t see her anymore.

She was gone. Not just from my home but truly lost to me.

It was what I deserved.

From above, Nalari flew behind them. Circling them and watching over them to make sure they got back to Teddy’s safely.

The first human stupid or brave enough to approach me was Donnie. Nate followed close beside him. They both held their hands up as if they posed any sort of threat to me. The idea was laughable.

I pulled my lips back in a snarl.

“Look, man,” Donnie started.

“I am no man,” I hissed out.

“Elias,” he tried again.

I stalked toward them. Circling them, I sniffed the air and smelled the tension that vibrated off them. They held themselves still aside from their heads that followed my every movement.

All the while, my fae stayed on their knees, as motionless as stone carvings.

The bitter scent of Donnie’s and Nate’s fear suffocated me. The way their hearts pounded felt like explosions in my throbbing head.

I wanted them gone. I needed to leave. Get away from everything that reminded me of my mate.

Pain lanced through my heart. I let it tear the remains of that vulnerable organ apart until I felt nothing.

“We will discuss tonight another time,” I told them, my tone brittle.

“Elias, I think?—”

“I care little of what you think, human,” I growled at Donnie. “Go.” I spoke this to everyone, releasing the fae from my hold on them.

When they lingered, I let out a blaring roar from deep within my cracked chest. I opened myself to my wrath and let it consume me.

My friends were the first to jump to their feet, their eyes searching mine. Whatever they saw made them race toward me .

I angled my face to the sky and sniffed. Satisfied, I grinned when I found the scent I hunted for.

George opened his mouth with a hand toward me, probably about to tell me to wait. I bent through space again before he or any of my friends reached me.

While I’d never traveled to my uncle’s region, my senses led me exactly where I needed to be.

Tall buildings surrounded an otherwise desolate street, where lights blinked from poles high in the air.

While the smell differed from my region, the starry black sky above remained familiar.

There was an eerie quietness to the place, with only the sound of the wind gusting through the buildings and the creaking of street signs.

Always, there was noise in my region. Whether it was from people talking or children shouting, it was never quiet. Not like this.

I followed my uncle’s scent to a large manor. While it was much smaller than the castle my parents called home, it was larger than his home back in Niev. Larger than the house or cottage I shared with my friends.

I didn’t bother with the niceties of knocking but instead prowled into his home unwelcome and unannounced.

I bared my teeth at a human servant who tried to stop me.

Letting my senses guide me, I followed the wide stairs to the second floor.

More human servants scurried past me, each of them wise enough not to speak to me.

I threw his bedroom door open and slammed it shut hard enough to make the walls shake. Something that hung on the wall fell, and shattered pieces of glass spread everywhere.

Two women leaped off his bed. I didn’t hear whatever they or my uncle shouted and ignored them as they hurried off with blankets covering their naked bodies .

I edged closer toward my uncle. His eyes widened and, in an instant, turned black. It was a stark contrast to the ashen gray of his complexion.

His canines grew while he scooted back until he was propped against the bed’s headboard. With careful, deliberate steps, I stalked toward him.

“You will calm yourself at once,” he said, pulling out his dagger.

The scent of his fear was enthralling. Intoxicating. And I wondered how much terror I could bleed from him.

I ran my tongue over my teeth and smiled. “Will I now?”

I pounced. His knife sliced my right cheek, but I felt nothing.

I was nothing.

I wasn’t sure if I was breathing. If I was still alive.

I felt hollow. Like everything that mattered inside me had seeped out. I was certain that if someone were to wrench my chest apart, all they’d see was the black nothingness that remained.

Uncle Hudson and I fought. Although it wasn’t really me fighting. Once Teddy had fled, I’d ceased to exist. I had handed over the reins of who I was and let my primal instincts take over.

I barely noticed the blood that poured from me. The blood I spilled from my uncle.

It wasn’t until he pleaded that I peered over the heavy fog pressed against my mind.

“Have mercy, Elias,” Uncle Hudson said, his desperation filling my nostrils.

I breathed it in so that it spread through my lungs too.

I dragged myself up, away from his neck where I’d bitten him. Blood coated my tongue. It was the wrong blood, though. Tasted sour. Tasted wrong.

Because it wasn’t hers.

I dipped my head low so I was a breath away from his ear.

“You will stay out of my region,” I said, my voice low and lethal. “I will rule my people the way I see fit.”

I pinned him down and waited for his reply.

On a hard swallow, he nodded.

It wasn’t enough.

“Do I make myself clear, Commander?” I demanded.

I pulled from the power I was born into and had been my right since birth. I let him feel that power, enjoying the way it made him shiver. Just before I forced his head down to a bow, something like hate swam behind his eyes.

Good, let him hate me.

“Yes, Your Highness,” he said, low and full of contempt.

Let them all hate me.