Page 17 of A Queen’s Betrayal (Legends of Worldbinders #1)

“Unexplained things happened as years passed. Flames burned brighter when you were near, fireplaces grew warmer, even the sun seemed to shine stronger under your touch.” His hands disappeared into his pockets. “It’s a shame Faylen had to die to reveal your powers, but it was necessary.”

Her eyes burned. The sound of Faylen’s name on his lips, spoken so casually was like a blade to her chest. “What did you say?”

“I’m sorry about your sister, Arenna. But I needed to draw that power from you, and it seemed the only way.”

Her blood ran cold as she began to shake. “You killed her,” Arenna breathed. “Without knowing if I could summon?”

“I did.”

Arenna shoved him, fury tightening her chest. “And what if I couldn’t? Faylen would be dead—for what ? To be just another one of your failed experiments?”

“Let’s thank the Seven it didn’t turn out that way.”

“You bastard!” she screamed, running her hands through her midnight hair.

She began pacing, trying to calm the fire raging in her chest. “Where is she buried?” She wasn’t sure she wanted the answer, wasn’t sure she could handle it.

Their mother hadn’t had a chance for a proper burial, and the guilt still tore at her.

Jaksen grinned. “There was nothing left to bury.”

Red exploded before her vision.

Arenna didn’t think before she lunged, slamming the pointed end of her shears into his shoulder, nearly choking on her rage. “You’re a monster!” she yelled, half sobbing.

Jaksen growled—actually growled, as if he were part of the druque, possessing some of their animalistic traits.

He pulled the shears from his shoulder as Arenna backed away.

“I tried everything to break you free from your power. To expose it to me. I tried harming you, loving you, breaking you just to rebuild you, all for a hint of the power I hoped you possessed.”

She stilled, her knees shaking. Arenna shook her head as tears ran down her cheeks, unable to handle the weight of his confession.

Jaksen placed his hand over his still-oozing wound, red smoke swirling around it. Within seconds, the wound healed. Arenna could only stare, trembling. He said with a eerie calm, “I hurt you in hopes that it would reveal your power.”

Dizziness washed over her. Arenna stumbled, smacking into the slab behind her. The walls of the laboratory started to close in; she felt small, pathetic. Everything she had endured, survived—it was all a test.

He had never been a good or kind man; he never loved her.

Jaksen only wanted to use her, to exploit the power she hadn’t even known she carried.

Tears blurred her vision, staining her cheeks and salting her mouth. Arenna swore to herself she would never let Jaksen see her like this again, but she couldn’t stop the shattering of her very soul. “Why did it continue if it never pulled my power from me?”

He sighed, watching her for a few breathless moments before he answered.

“At some point, it started to feel necessary. I saw how you responded, saw it change you, and I decided to mold you into the woman I know you can be. The queen I need you to be to eventually rejoin the continents and rule over both humans and Fae by my side.”

Arenna wobbled.

Jaksen ran his knuckles down her cheek. He whispered in an eerie tone, “I will do what is best for my people. I will save them from damnation, no matter the cost.” He pulled her hands into his own. “There is no king without his queen. I need you, Arenna.”

Her husband had broken her skin, ripped her flesh, and drawn her blood. But he had finally succeeded in obliterating her soul, the very foundation of her being. She was nothing. No one . Just a broken woman with a power she didn’t understand, and a husband who wanted that power as his own.

“Show me your fire, Dove. I worked hard to unleash it; now let me play with it.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Arenna was hot again, her rage intensifying with every breath, stoking her fire until she could feel it burning in her core.

Fight it . Do not let him see .

“I will never forget the sounds you made when you watched Faylen’s body rip in half,” Jaksen whispered against her ear. “It was thrilling. Intoxicating.”

She closed her eyes, slapped her hands over her ears as if it could stop his voice from penetrating her mind.

He knows what he’s doing.

And to her horror, it worked.

Whatever final dam within her broke, allowing Arenna’s power to surge free. It seared from her palms, ripped from her chest, reaching out and wrapping around Jaksen in such a violent storm that he stumbled backward.

Arenna wanted him dead. Burned.

She wanted his body to be nothing more than a pile of ash on the floor.

Through gaps in her embers, she realized Jaksen was no longer in front of her. She spun, frantically searching, somehow reining her flames back in.

“Beautiful. Your power is beyond what I imagined.” His voice floated in the air—or maybe in her head. She couldn’t see him, couldn’t feel him, but his words rang through her. “Now I will show you what I can do.”

Before she had the chance to turn around, Arenna was suffocating. There were no hands around her throat, nothing she could see or feel forcing the air from her lungs, but still, her breath vanished.

Her feet no longer touched the floor as she spun slowly midair until she faced Jaksen.

Through the dots overtaking her vision, the sight before her was more terrifying than anything she had ever witnessed. Crimson smoke poured from his open palms, slithering like serpents across the floor and coiling around Arenna’s throat.

He was choking her without touching her.

Blood magic.

Her eyes burned from not blinking, her throat tight, strangled. Her lungs were completely empty, and her vision burst into a thousand blinding dots.

Arenna believed this was the end. Her body seized with panic, every muscle screaming for air that wouldn’t come. Her thoughts spiraled—wild, fragmented, full of dread.

Alone. Powerless. Nothing left but the darkness pressing in.

Her chest ached. Her limbs went numb. Her mind quieted in surrender. Even the newfound fire in her body was dormant.

And then—air.

It surged back into her lungs in a violent rush, dragging her from the brink. She collapsed to the floor, gasping, clutching her chest as in agony.

Jaksen once again knelt by her side, letting his power whisper from his fingertips and run along her face, wiping away the tears that fell.

“You are a gift, Arenna. I will not subdue you unless it is needed,” he explained.

“Your power is rare. Coveted. Worshiped . You cannot even begin to understand how pure you are.” He scooped her up from the floor and laid her against the concrete table.

She let him. And hated herself for it.

Running a cold finger along her arm, he whispered, “And I will stop at nothing until this power runs through my own veins.”

The laboratory doors burst open, armed soldiers flooding into the room. His magic kept her pinned to the slab, and she knew whatever was coming would be the worst she had ever endured. Jaksen’s power whipped around the room, illuminating the lanterns on the wall.

Hands grabbed at her arms and held her in place. Arenna’s emerald gaze fell to the closest soldier’s hand, where a small vial of red liquid rested. Her chest tightened, her limbs screaming to defend herself.

“Get away from me,” she grunted, thrashing beneath their strength. “Please,” she begged, looking at her husband. “ Please , stop them.”

“Give it to her,” Jaksen instructed over his shoulder, already slipping out of the room. A sob racked her throat as one of the men forced her mouth open and poured the liquid in.

Whatever she had been given worked instantaneously. Arenna’s limbs grew numb, a tingling sensation spreading through her torso, arms, and legs. Her vision faded, and the room quieted.

And then, oblivion.