Page 99 of Black Crown

Several of the other Druman drew weapons, and others tensed, but I had no time to analyze their hesitation.

To my left, the one who’d thrown the first punch reached for me, and I slid closer, taking advantage of the proximity to slit his throat.

He screamed, a gutteral bellow, and doubled over before slumping to the ground. Bent to retrieve the shortened spear, I dragged it over the closing wound and buried it in another Druman’s solar plexus.

My rage flared, and I ducked under a heavy swing and thrust the knife into the Druman’s armpit.

The sound of weapons being drawn made me smile because it indicated their admission to the fray of death. I yanked the blade from the dying Druman and sliced through my arm again. I would kill them all, every single one of them. For me, for the female Drae, the captured Phaetyns in this palace, and for the whole realm. These dark creatures had no place here.

I threw my head back and roared, a combination of challenge issued and accepted as the thrill of the fight burst through me. I yanked the broken spear from the Druman’s stomach, dipped it in my oozing wound, and then I spun and hurled the poisoned weapon. The wooden weapon grazed a mule before bouncing off the far wall. Not perfect, but death was death.

I was done waiting for them to come to me, done taking them one by one, so I moved. Twisting and spinning, I wound between the Druman, grunting when one of their hits connected, but my adrenaline sang with singular focus as I drew the dagger across their skin, poisoning them with my blood.

Phaetyn blood.

It would kill their Drae side. Some would die from their wounds now, but those that weren’t lucky would live, like Jotun, to be torn apart by those they’d abused. Justice.

I spun and cut, dipping the blade into my blood before striking at a Druman. Over and over. I sprinted around the room, knowing time was short,knowingI had to get to as many as possible before . . .

A roar shook the foundation of the palace.

Those still standing, including me, froze. The floor was littered with spasming Druman, black webs spreading beneath their skin as my Phaetyn blood poisoned them. Only three remained, and I leapt to finish them.

Pain exploded all down my right side, and bright lights burst behind my eyes. The momentary reprieve of being pushed through the room ended as I collided with a wall. Draedyn was my first and only thought as I crashed faster and harder into the graphite wall on the opposite side of the room.Mymind couldn’t fathom the speed, and had a human watched, I doubted they would have seen anything until I fell from the wall to the ground in a crumpled, albeit smiling, heap.

Dad wasn’t happy with me. He picked me up by the back of my neck like a kitten.

Several of my bones were still broken, and I sagged in his grip. The coppery tang of my blood made me spit through my busted lip, but I lifted my gaze to meet my father’s and sucked in a breath at the endless rage still burning inside of them. My glibsorry, not sorryretort died on my lips.

“I got angry,” I said instead. Vague, but maybe it would work?

“You betrayed me,” Draedyn snarled. “You killed my Druman.”

Eek, maybe not. I’d pull on his heartstrings instead. “I don’t like Druman. They used to torture me.”

He shook me, his face still contorted with rage. “They made you stronger.”

“Yeah?” I scoffed, trying to ignore the bruising pressure of his fingertips digging into the bony protrusions of my neck. “What if I’d rather be untortured and weaker?”

Fury hung upon the emperor like a thin coat, like he’d washed with soap that had irritated his skin. Whatever my reasons for killing approximately two-dozen of his Druman, he would try to make me regret it. Not going to happen.

I hoped.

Draedyn didn’t lower me, continuing to stare into my watering eyes. “I had thought, my daughter, your ignorance may fade with time. Had hoped you would see we are not enemies, and yet . . . You just killed a sizeable number of my elite fighting force.”

“A sizeable number? How many are we talking?” Oops, too happy, Ryn. Pull back on the happiness.

Draedyn’s face screwed up, and no sooner had I felt relief from the release of his punishing grip than thatsmall painwas replaced by the crushing impact against the far wall.

Wheezing, I rolled away from the wall but stayed on the ground. If he wanted to throw me again, he’d have to come pick me up.

“I amdispleased, daughter.” His volume increased with his nearing footsteps. “I find myself wondering if it is not better to neutralize you until the—”

I flopped my head to the side to squint up at him, wondering why he’d cut off mid-sentence. The emperor had shifted, half turned toward the balcony, and his body tensed. In the next moment, Draedyn blurred outside.

What was he looking at?

With a groan, I pushed my still-healing body upright. Best case, if he threw me from the cliff, I could disappear before I shifted Drae. Bolstered by this confidence—what with recent developments of private bubbles and the like, I hobbled after him.