was rapid-fire and hardly cut through the thundering in my ears. I shoved you out of harm’s way and pressed my blade against the beastborn’s throat, advancing until his broad shoulders were pinned against the throne. Meanwhile, you tugged at my arm frantically. Your words slowly penetrated my thick fog of rage.
“Don’t hurt him, Henri. He’s one of us. And a prisoner just like Mater.”
“Hold him back,” I roared, and Lucian grabbed your shoulders and pulled you away from me.
“He’s mine,” I snarled at the beast who only glared at me with a hot, rancid fury. He panted harshly, the steam from his nostrils ghosting my blade. “You took him from me.” My wrath was uncontrollable, a red cloud that ballooned when I envisioned the harm that might have befallen you.
“Don’t hurt him,” you shouted behind me. “I swear to God, Henri.”
Your defense of this animal baffled and enraged me. You had no way of knowing what he had planned for you. What if I hadn’t been able to find you at all? What if he’d hurt you?
All I could imagine was the beastborn’s blood spilling from his neck and his horned head neatly severed from his spinal cord. I tried to calm my thudding heart and clear the blind rage darkening my mind. I needed time to think.
“Lucian,” I said. “Drug it.”
Armed with a syringe, Lucian plunged the needle into the beast’s upper arm. Within moments, the animal had collapsed on the ground.
I turned toward you. Your eyes were still frantic but with that fiery determination I found difficult to combat. “Where are your clothes?” I demanded.
“Ruined,” you said, then shook your head emphatically. “Not like that. He didn’t…” You groaned. “Listen to me. We need to bring him with us—”
“No,” I said resolutely. “He’s not one of your strays, Vincent. He’s a killer.”
“You’re a killer,” you hollered back at me.
I halted at the sting in your accusation. And its bald truth.
“We all are,” you said in an attempt to soften the blow. “I’m sorry, but you weren’t listening.”
“There’s a difference between listening and obeying.”
“And you weren’t doing either one.” Your chin rose stubbornly, a princeling doubling down on your demands. Your defiance left me momentarily befuddled, long enough for Lucian to weigh in on our dispute.
“The only way we can leave him here is if we chain him up,” he said pragmatically.
“That’s as good as killing him,” you argued.
“And there’s the chance he’d get free and come after Vincent again,” I said. The beastborn’s devoutness was not to be underestimated. I’d seen beings commit atrocious acts in their god’s name, myself included. “It’d be cleaner to kill him now.”
“He’s one of us,” you said again and shot me a look of reprisal. “And there’s nothing clean about killing.”
I was trying very hard to direct my feelings of frustration elsewhere, but you were making it extremely difficult.
“He could probably take us to our mother,” Lucian mused. “If Vincent asked nicely.”
“I’m not letting it near him,” I said.
Lucian glanced between the two of us and gave me a long look, as if I was the one being difficult.
“I think your father was his companion. Or perhaps his master,” Lucian said to you. “Beastborn of Ashur’s generation were known for their devotion to the sunborn. Your father was likely a human descended from divinity, hence the King Tut outfit. I’m guessing you didn’t bring that with you.”
You glanced down as if just remembering your royal dress. The beast would have had to undress and redress you, while you were restrained. And now you were defending him? I dealt with that insult by striking the chain with my sword and breaking it.
“Mater killed his master,” you said, appealing to me again. I knew already where this was going, just from the shine in your eyes. “He’s been locked away in this Shade Vale for twenty years at least, without anyone to keep him company.”
Curse your damned bleeding heart and the hold you had over me. That I couldn’t resist giving in to your every whim, even while knowing it might put you in danger. That was how we ended up in this godforsaken Shade Vale in the first place.
“It makes sense,” Lucian said. “Ashur knows the mine, and if we promise him freedom, he may not report our trespass to his master.”
I groaned, not wanting to admit that damnably, Lucian was right.
“Do not befriend him,” I warned you. “I may have to kill him yet.”