The Frozen Prince (The Beast Charmer #2) - Maxym M. Martineau Page 0,85

can’t outrun this, Noc!” Darrien shouted. I glanced over my shoulder to watch Kost wrap Leena in a hug and step backward into darkness, Ozias a breath behind him. They’d still be in for a fight if the city went on full alert, but at least they had a chance.

Darrien glanced between me and my fading family, letting out a wordless shout of frustration. “After them. Keep the woman alive—for now.” The assassins waiting just out of sight, masked in shadows, took off after my brothers and Leena. Blood roared in my ears as panic took hold. This is what I’d feared. They’d get to me through her. I came to a screeching halt, weighing my options. Right now, it was just a handful of assassins tracking my family. If I followed to try to help, soon the Sentinels would join the pursuit. And then there would be no keeping Leena from Varek’s eyes.

As if reacting to my thoughts, a low, brassy grinding screeched through the air and shook the buildings. Blinding columns of light beamed upward into the sky throughout the city, and Sentinels stepped out of the blazing rays. A brute a good head taller than me manifested in the path of my escape. Shadows hissed as the unrelenting light lashed out and burned through weak points in the tendrils.

Fuck. I whirled back toward Darrien. With his bow already poised and an arrow nocked, he let the shadowed weapon fly. I ducked and slid, and the arrowhead whirred past to crash into the Sentinel’s armor. A sharp whistling screamed through the air, and the onyx weapon disappeared in a cloud of wispy smoke. Shadows never could lessen their light. Leaping back to my feet, I sprinted past Darrien into the open courtyard.

Growing up in Wilheim meant I’d spent my fair share of time around Sentinels. Regular human armies for outside threats, assassins for deeds too dark to be mentioned, Sentinels for the crown. Their prized jewels. As a prince, I wasn’t exempt from their constant presence.

Or blind to their abject power.

Shadows lunged toward me, and I careened into the world of darkness. People blurred into indecipherable swirls, and I blasted around them as I tore across the courtyard. It was faster that way, and my presence was nothing but a chill down their spine or a whisper of noise in their ear. Outside of the shadow realm, they were safe from harm, which is exactly the way I wanted it. Following my lead, Darrien bled into existence before me, very real and very tangible. Like called to like.

“Got you.” His wicked grin preceded a punch, and I ducked to the side.

“Not quite.” Cocking my arm back and letting it fly, I reveled in the crunch of his jaw beneath my knuckles. He stumbled, but righted himself quickly. With ease, he formed a glittering blade from the plethora of shadows and lunged. I raised my forearm just in time to protect my face. His weapon sliced through my skin, and blood swelled to the surface.

“Give up, Noc.” He aimed his blade toward my throat. “Name me leader, relinquish your powers to me, and I’ll let you live.”

Blood dripped down my forearm, and power pulsed through me with every beat of my heart. Cruor was mine. One by one, the rivulets of blood falling to the earth shaped into fine needles. They hovered by my hand, waiting to do my bidding.

“You should have stayed away.”

Without any further warning, I sent them flying through the abyss. He dodged, spinning on his heels and using his blade to knock away my weapons, but one found its way home in his neck. The connection between us surged just as Darrien’s eyes went wide. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to force him to my will until my blood cycled out of his system.

Pure triumph soared in me. “Stand down.” It was so easy to bend him to my will. Why had I fought against this power for so long? I wanted to pull back and force myself to breathe. To remind myself what it meant to be in control.

Or maybe I didn’t. This…this is what it meant to be the leader of Cruor. This is the power that I, and I alone, wielded. And Darrien didn’t deserve my mercy.

I snapped the connection like a band and Darrien buckled. He stumbled backward, and the darkness abandoned him, thrusting him into the Wilheim daylight. A twisted thread of joy sparked in me, but I