Page 13 of Kissed By the Sun

There was no way he should be as powerful as he was, no way he should be able to control the corrupted fae and send out a blast of mana lightning like that at the same time.

Panic flared through me, but it wasn’t for my own life, but for Senara’s. Whatever the mage had done, he knew I was either incapacitated or dead.

“Queen. Come.” The voice was harsh and guttural as though this was not the mage’s native tongue. He extended his finger toward Senara, drew a circle in the air, turned his hand and crooked his finger.

The dread that had been in me turned into terror as Senara was pulled along the ground by a force unseen as the corrupted fae ceased their attacks.

“I’m not your queen! I. Never. Will. Be!” She grunted as though each word took a monumental amount of effort, and judging from the way her body was completely rigid otherwise, I understood why.

“Sk’lar, vash Mothsil faeven,” the mage spat at the ground after he spoke as though he was cursing her. It was a language I didn’t recognize, which chilled me to the bone.

Whatever this corruption was, it was much further spread and much more powerful than any of us had realized. To my understanding, it had been assumed to be a disease of some kind, something that turned the fae mindless, stripped even the most moral of their values and reduced them to nothing but base creatures searching for their next feed or fuck.

“Yeah? Well, fuck you, too!” Senara replied, and for a moment I wondered if she actually understood what he had said, but she looked just as bewildered as I felt.

The mage sneered at her, clearly understanding the sentiment if not the words themselves. She was directly in front of him now, close enough that if she’d had control of her body she could have tried to fight him, but she didn’t, and whatever she could see or sense at that distance had made her eyes go wider than a child’s but not with wonder. With terror.

“Captive. Or. Queen. Choose.” Each word from the mage sounded like it caused him severe pain to say, and each word dropped like debris after a spell went wrong into the silence that hung over the square.

Senara seethed, not only could I see it in the small twitches of her body that showed how hard she was resisting the magical binding the mage had placed on her, but I could feel it throughthe paper thin bond that we shared, that and a cold, deadly determination.

The hand holding the dagger I’d given her twitched, and I realized that at some point during her fighting she’d strapped the weapon to her hand, which was the only reason she still held the weapon as she’d dropped the other sword she’d been using as soon as the mage took control her her body.

Her breathing came in heavy pants as she did everything she could to fight for control of her own body. When she glanced at me with sorrow in her eyes, and resignation echoed through our bond, I felt a terror the likes of which I’d never known before.

“Neither.”

Her hand jerked up and brought the blade to her own throat.

Chapter

Eight

Senara

As soon asI got the blade to my throat, he halted my movement just like I’d expected, which was why I lashed out toward him instead. He had been expecting me to try to get it to my own throat again to fight to give myself the out that I claimed to want, what he hadn’t thought about was the fact that killing him would give me the same escape I was seeking.

I barely grazed him, but it was enough.

The shock of action made his control over me slip, ever so slightly, which allowed me to bring the second blade up and stab him in the side.

It wasn’t a killing blow, but it was close.

He staggered back, and a flash of panic was in his eyes as I lunged toward him again. When my sword slashed out, there was nothing there, and all I got was a whoosh of air, the lack of connection putting me slightly off balance.

The form in front of me flickered and then was gone. I spun, looking for my target only to find nothing. Not a single person was still around.

Even the corrupted fae were gone, either vanished or collapsed.

I was the only one still standing.

My gaze jerked to Thorn when I saw movement from the area; I knew he’d collapsed in and I moved toward it without hesitation. The cobblestones were slick under my feet from the spilled blood, but it wasn’t exactly an unusual experience for me. Still, I knew it was better to move carefully with sure footing than rush and end up falling.

By the time I got to him, Thorn was pushing himself up from where he’d been sprawled on the ground. He didn’t look hurt, just a little singed around the edges. I knew he hadn’t died-- the bond had made me aware of that--but it was still a shocking relief to see him relatively unharmed.

“Thorn!” I breathed his name, barely more than a whisper, as I slid to a squat next to him.

Thorn’s gaze was already locked onto me in an uncomfortable way.