Page 38 of Seduced By Darkness

He despises me and the feeling is mutual.

But if he hadn’t interrupted just then….

A murderous look comes into her eyes and her smile becomes a sharp edge.

Oh no. I recognize that look.

“I cannot leave a mark on my dearest Iskvien’s skin,” she whispers, stalking toward me. “I can’t harm a hair on her head. You want to play these games, mydearest child? Then let us play them.”

Mother draws the jeweled knife from her hip and turns toward the stranger on his knees. Finn tilts his face toward her defiantly, and it’s not until she sets the tip of the knife to the hollow beneath his eye that I see the flicker of his pulse kick in his throat.

“No!” I lunge toward her, but a single bead of blood drips down his cheek and I freeze.

I remember this game.

I remember what she did to Nanny Redwyne, when my nurse begged for mercy for me.

“No, no, please. Don’t.”

The entire room is still.

Edain follows the movement of my mother’s knife like a charmed snake. Gone is the insolence, the grace, the lounging pet. Instead, he’s a coil of tension, prepared to move at a moment’s notice.

“Adaia,” he warns.

But I don’t know what he’s warning against.

Finn freezes, leaning back into her touch as if to escape the pressure of the knife. Maybe my urgency has finally made him realize this is no game.

“I offered the bastard of Evernight a trade,” my mother whispers with a savage glee. The knife digs into the flesh beneath Finn’s eye. “Maybe I’ll send him a little gift to convince him. What say you, Iskvien? Go ahead. Defy me. Tell me you won’t do as you’re told. Tell me you won’t marry Etan.” She throws her head back and laughs. “Every time you defy me, I’ll cut another piece off him.”

Her knife starts to slide through skin and Finn screams, jerking back into her, helpless with his hands bound behind him and the iron collar shackled around his throat.

“Maybe we’ll start with an eye.”

“Stop!” It’s a scream, a desperate pledge. “Stop! I’ll sign the marriage contract.” The words burst from my throat. “I’ll sign it.”

Mother stills. “What did you say?”

I slump to my hands and knees. I want to be sick.

“I’ll sign the marriage contract.” The words are dull. Empty. There goes my defiance. But first…. I look up. “Let him go. Unharmed. Promise me you will not hurt him and I will give you what you desire.”

“Oh, Iskvien.” She looks almost disappointed in me. “You’re so easy to manipulate. I promise.”

“Promise it thrice. On your power. On your throne.” Because I’m not falling for that trick.

“I promise that I will not hurt him.”

“Now or ever,” I counter. “You will not instruct any other hand to cause harm to him either.”

She concedes with a faint little smile, and repeats herself twice more.

I’ve earned some reprieve by holding her to account.

She hates my empathy, but she’d despise my stupidity even more.

“Done,” I whisper, as the magic of Mother’s oath sweeps around her and binds us together.