Page 28 of The Path of Blood and Betrayals

It’s infuriating as well as intoxicating. I’m not sure if I like it.

“What is it you do not hear, kitten?” I mumble, voice deep. I grab her wrist and push it firmly into the muscles that tense under her palm. “What do you not sense?”

Like a bucket of cold water fell on us, she freezes, eyes widening in shock. Jerking away, she puts too many steps between us. The air crackles and pops, like a fire trying to be put out, tension so thick it wraps me into a suffocating hug.

Yet, I can still feel her, the sizzling heat, the embers of attraction.

When I look back into her face, those wide eyes are narrowed, mouth twisted as she gnaws on her lip. Whatever she meant, she was never supposed to say aloud.

“Nothing.” She turns on her heel, fleeing from me.

Smirking, I prop myself against the castle wall, watching her go. I may have come to find a weapon to destroy the king, but the advisor has made things that much more interesting.

Chapter 11

Max

As night descends, I hunker into the plush bed, allowing the tonic Cully brewed for me to ease the thumping in my head. Made from white willow leaves and something spicy, it’s the only thing that seems to dull my senses, allows my magic to rest and with it, my defenses.

Sighing, I close my eyes, mind floating to the morning.

When Nafre said to be wary, to hide, when the heir warned me of the halls, I never expected this danger—never expected a lord to try to assault me. The pain, the drums beating in my skull were too much to hear him approach and it made me vulnerable.

He tried to take from me. Make me his prey.

I reacted. My powers, the fierce energy that rises when I’m in danger, lashed out, and it was only sheer luck that I didn’t crush his heart.

How would I hide that?

Guilt threatens to rise, but I shove it away. I will not mourn my reaction to a man who tried to use me like property. Letting my evil magic control him most likely kept him alive.

What does worry me, is the heir witnessing my lapse of control.

He saw my magic. He saw me bend the lord’s blood, saw myfingers. I cannot hide when someone like him has seen my deepest secret.

Nessa always warned me about my magic—about how it takes, feeds off of others, how it will lead me to ruin if I do not control it.

I’ve handed my enemy the one thing that could destroy me. What if he tells the lords, allows them to take me? I’m at risk now.

It was worse to touch him after.

Whenever I’m around another living being, my power hones in on their heartbeats. The thumping of their blood, the pounding of their heart washes over my mind, fills my ears. It’s enough to drive anyone insane.

It’s why I hide, why I practice control. Why I’ve built mental shields to keep the drums out. Why I never give in.

Yet, when my shields were shattered and I was with the heir, it was quiet. No rushing in my ears, no drums in my head. Blessed silence.

My magic didn’t react to him—it’s calmed by him. I’m not sure what to make of that.

No matter what my magic might feel, I cannot trust him. My body might shiver in his presence, and my irritation rises at his arrogance, but he is the literal enemy within these walls.

And with my secret, he could doom me.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

The door to my chamber opens and I crack one eye to see Tay stride in from my warm cocoon of blankets.

He’s freshly dressed. Instead of the rich purple of this morning, he’s in a lavender waistcoat, copper dyed leather pants and shiny boots.