Page 110 of A Vow of Shadow and Blood

I march over to the bed and drag the sheets onto the floor. We may have to share a room, but we are not sleeping in the same bed.

Someone’s in my room. I sit up and find eyes watching me through the darkness. Footsteps sound against the wooden flooring, and I press my back into the wall behind me. The figure steps out of the darkness, and a familiar smile twists his face.

“How did you get in here?”

He tilts his head in fascination as his eyes scan every inch of me. I pull the covers up, hiding what I can from his sight, but the move only seems to amuse him.

“I have missed you, Adina. So very much.” He moves closer, and my eyes track his every move. “Why do you cower? You know I will never hurt you.” His voice is strange, so unlike the last time I heard it. It slithers off his tongue like liquid, and there is something so familiar about it.

“Where’s Willow?” I ask.

He blinks as though trying to remember exactly who I’m talking about.

“She is safe…for now. Why is the prince still alive?”

My heart thunders inside my chest. I cannot tell him the truth. If he knew, then he would kill me right here, right now.

“He was too strong.”

He tsks. “Do not lie to me. I always know when you’re lying.”

“It’s the truth. My blood would not kill him.”

He watches me for a beat and then turns away, walking back toward the shadows he came from.

“Please,” I beg. I scramble from beneath the sheets to my feet. I move forward, but not too close to him. “I will do anything, please just let her go.”

“Let who go?”

He watches me curiously, and something about his stare is so invasive that I wrap my hands around my middle. His eyes fall down to the movement, and his tongue flicks out to wet his lips. He closes his eyes and scents the air like an animal.

“I can feel how much he wants you, you know. It is unnatural. I wonder if he will keep you after the worlds have been destroyed.”

“What?” The word falls out as fear wraps itself around me at the thought that he may know about our bond.

He smiles.

“You are untouchable, that is why it is so hard. He will not allow a finger to be laid upon you. His want is so potent I can almost taste it. It is so sweet.” He flicks out his tongue as if to prove a point, and I cringe.

“Where is my sister?” I demand.

He dips his hand into the shadows and drags a person from the darkness.Willow.I take a step forward, but he wags his finger in the air.

Willow cries out, her face filled with bruises and cuts. The sight brings bile to my mouth.

“Adina,” She cries out, but he shakes her, and she falls silent once more.

“You will get her when the deal is done.”

“I will do what you want, just give her back to me.”

His face turns stony then.

“You do not demand of me, girl. You will get what I give when I see fit to give it.”

He wraps his hand around her neck and then squeezes. She cries out.

“Ok, please. Anything. I will do anything.”