Page 34

KYRIE

I am so fucked.

And not in the fun way.

Coarse rope bites into my wrists, and there’s absolutely nothing I can do now about the fact that they’ve bound me.

Wondrous.

Of all my bad choices in both of my lives, I think this is the one that’s going to get me killed.

For good, that is.

Tarron’s sprinting from the campsite, the priestesses taking bets on whether their crossbolts can kill him at his current distance.

Nausea roils my stomach, and I close my eyes as they laugh, lining up their shots.

“We hold up our end of the bargain. He won’t be sacrificed, just used for target practice,” Sola purrs from where she’s appeared next to me. “Open your eyes,” she hisses.

A shadow blots out the sun, cool air replacing the kiss of heat on my skin.

My jaw drops—but only because I know Sola is watching me.

“Dragon!” one of the priestesses screams, and the crossbolt-wielding fuckers all duck and cover.

“How?” I ask, batting my eyelashes in apparent disbelief.

If I don’t pretend to be shocked and awed by Han’s sudden appearance, then I have a feeling the rest of my plan will fall apart.

“I thought they were all dead.” It’s true. I did. Before I met Han.

Sola’s face flushes in anger, and I turn back to the dragon in front of me, snatching up Tarron as his screams carry across the rugged terrain, turning back to the encampment.

I don’t dare sigh in relief.

Fire sears across my cheek, and my neck pops from the force of Sola’s slap.

“You knew,” she says. Shining power oozes from her, an oil slick of rage.

I huff a laugh, not pretending at all, for once. I arch an eyebrow. “I knew that dragons existed and would make a snack out of the Fae brat?”

There. Not an answer, and thus neither true nor false.

I preen internally.

Sola narrows her eyes at me, clearly trying to figure out what I’m playing at.

“Did you know dragons still existed?” I ask her, playing stupid.

I’m slightly dismayed by the fact that it comes so easily to me.

“I am a goddess,” she seethes.

Right, like that answers anything.

“Hail Sola,” I intone dramatically. “By your all-seeing fish eyes.”

“My what?” she asks, still staring after the dragon.

“Your all-seeing eyes,” I repeat. Part of me realizes I should be afraid right now.

And I am, a little.

But mostly, I’m feeling completely unhinged, the gravity of the situation making me want to laugh more than anything.

I have more to lose than I ever have in my entire life, but I’m so gods-damned close to being free from Sola now that I’m giddy.

Manically so.

“She’s insane,” one of Sola’s priestesses said.

I smile at her.

She flinches.

I frown. Bit rude of her.

“Who cares what I am, if I’m a willing sacrifice? I’m pretty sure that ancient Sword asshole mentioned that was the most important thing.”

The priestess glares at me and Sola sighs, her fingers tapping on her arm.

I smile wider.

Sola slaps me again, and the taste of copper fills my mouth as my head whips to the side.

“Don’t speak about your betters in that way. He should have let the curse kill you. You’ll never be worthy of him.”

“You’re right,” I drawl, wiping my mouth on my shoulder as best I can with my hands tied. It leaves a bloody spot, and it won’t be the last today. “Someone like you hitting their chosen one while they’re tied up is definitely a better choice.”

It’s a lie, but I don’t care.

I’m so far past caring right now.

If she kills me now, then she won’t get to sacrifice me, so whatever magic she planned to unleash will stay, well, leashed.

I laugh, and a bubble of blood drops onto my hands bound in front of me. Gross.

“You are nothing.” Sola’s dead gaze turns predatory. “You were nothing when you were found, you were nothing when my handmaidens took you from your family, and you were nothing when Arek murdered you.”

His name in her mouth sends a bolt of rage through me, but I smile harder, well aware that my cut lip is still bleeding as it stings.

“You were nothing when you were reborn, and your only contribution to this life will be your sacrifice for my glory.” Sola’s eyes glow, cold as snow under a winter’s moon. “That is your whole purpose, silver tongue. Pain and sacrifice are your only fate. Anything else you believe is a lie.”

I consider her for a long moment.

I might have believed the words she’s saying, when I was human.

I might have believed them before I fell in love with a certain god of death.

She believes them, though, and that, I think, is the greatest trick of a lie.

If you believe the lie, then it feels true.

No matter how wrong it is.

She raises a dark blonde eyebrow, something like triumph in her glittering eyes. “Does that offend you, servant mine?”

“I serve Chaos,” I tell her. I must have a death wish.

“Then you serve me,” she seethes, as if my answer is inadequate.

“Right.” If I give her a shit-eating grin, it’s a result of adrenaline and not at all due to my stunning lack of self-preservation. “Who else would I serve? You made me what I am.”

I flutter my eyelashes, because if death wishes were horses then the undead would ride.

Sola leans close, and an overwhelming perfume of flowers fills my awareness. Flowers, and something dead underneath, like they were cut from the plant and left to rot.

My nose crinkles in disgust.

“Let’s see how brave you are when you’re tied to my altar.” Sola’s smile is wide and completely soulless.

Honestly, it’s bizarre that anyone would follow someone so completely horrible.

Grimacing, I glance at the priestess next to her, and hatred lights her eyes.

I almost feel sorry for them both.

Hatred driving every choice, every breath they draw… what a terrible way to live.

“Prepare her for the ritual,” Sola grates, and though I see contempt in every line of her face, I also see a hint of something else.

Fear.

And the shitty, loathsome part of me gloats at it.

Sola rips her gaze away from me, turning to the handmaidens all around.

“Did you hear what I said? Prepare her for the ritual.” She licks her lips. “Set your sisters upon the damned castle. Leave none alive. This ends today.”

I shudder, not even bothering to hide it, and the priestesses roughly grab me under my arms and haul me to my feet.

Sola watches me, a faint smile upon her lips, her eyes giving nothing away.

But I saw it. I saw her fear, and I hold onto it like a fucking lifeline.

She needs me.

And I’ll be damned if she takes anything else from me.