Page 129 of Daughter of the Dark Sea

Grass writhed around her knees, clutching her leathers. The forest wasalive.

“Run,”the voice pierced through the cries and groans. “Run now, get away from him!”

“I can’t!” Kora cried as her body seized.

She collapsed on her side, her skin tightening, and when she looked down at her hands . . . her body waswithering. Her fingers rapidly decayed until they were just skin on bone, and her throat burned, her insides turning dry and hollow. The pain was immeasurable.

The groans increased, and tree roots shot up from the ground, breaking the surface in human-like clawed grips. She was turning into a corpse. The forest was claiming her.

“You need to get out now!”the voice was panicked. “Use your magic, you’re going to die!”

“I can’t!” she repeated, whimpering, her voice hoarse and cracked. Her lips sagged around her mouth, bloodied teeth falling onto the ground. “Help me!” she begged the voice.

“I can’t. . .”the mirrored words were so painful to hear. “I can’t do anything!”It was full of despair.

Blake crouched, his brow furrowing as he swept her thinning hair away from her face. “Who are you talking to?” he asked curiously, studying her calmly, with no shock or surprise that she wasdesiccating.

“Did you . . .” Kora coughed out the words, her mouth like sandpaper. “Bring me here . . . on . . .”

“Purpose?” Blake cocked his head like a predator. “Yes.”

Death was so near. She could feel its cold, numb embrace waiting for her. She commenced her prayers to Thanos in her mind, readying herself to be spirited to Umbra.Sweet, dark relief.

“Myasterya. I would have followed you to the ends of the earth. I would have made you my queen. If you won’t do as I say . . . perhaps the forest can change your mind to stay with me. All you have to do, is ask.”

She whispered her final word. “Bree.”

Fuck you.He’d tricked her. Those apologies and kisses had been double edged, laced in beautiful, deadly lies. He’d distracted her, just as he always had. And Bree wouldn’t be in love with him, proposingmarriageto him, for no reason. He would have done something to make her think she had a chance.

He sighed. “You need to let this obsession with Bree go. She’s nothing compared to you. You’re special, Kora. As I said, Iwantyouby my side—not her. She’s just a diversion until we win the war. Then there will be no obstacles between us. Just ask me. Ask me to stay. Ask me to be your everything again.”

As Kora’s last kernel of life held on, her body so dry and tight, a shell of what she once was, she released a puff of a scream as her skin sagged, entering the stages of decomposing. She’d rather die than submit herself to another second with him.

The earth beneath her cracked open.

Blake sprinted back with a surprised yell as a wide tunnel of water shot up from the ground, cracking the boulder and enveloping Kora. She gulped it down as it cocooned her, soaking into her crusted, withered pores. The small kernel in her chest exploded into a river of power as her water beast returned in full force. In the process, somethingsnappedwithin her mind, and silence wrapped around her skull.

She emerged from the shooting vat of water, to discover Blake with a toxic smile and a knowing glint in his eyes. Her body was invigorated, her life restored, as well as all her injuries healed. She was distantly aware of her hair floating, as if she were submerged in water. Her hands glowed blue as she raised them.

“This war isn’t happening. You lied to me about Bree, I know you did.”

“You also lied,” he gestured to her glowing form. “Don’t forget that,asterya.” He paused, observing her power. “You don’t recognise me.”

“Don’t call me that,” she snapped. “I don’t know you anymore. You’re a stranger to me now.”

Shooting a line of sharp water, it sliced his shoulder and he fell, blood gushing from the wound. Her heart lurched and she hurried towards him, her hands hovering over his shoulder.He was going to bleed out.No, no, no.She couldn’t have done this again. She couldn’t have another life on her hands.

Without thinking, Kora summoned her power, washing it over the deep gash. His blood mixed with water, pouring into the muddied ground as Blake hissed with pain. He gazed up at her in wonder as she healed him, her hands convulsing. Mud caked their clothes, and she slipped on the wet ground as she knelt over him.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Emotions,” he replied softly. “Don’t let them get the better of you. Please remember that.”

He reached up, tucking her hair behind her ear before running his thumb across her lower lip. A cold prickle followed, but her arms felt too weak to push him away. The stench of petrichor and bitter soil made her head spin.

“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. Tell me, Kora, were we real?”

“You sound like you’re saying goodbye. We can . . . we can be friends.”What was she saying?“Maybe not . . . now you know I’m . . . a mage.”