The Summer King Bundle 3 Stories - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,119

here, why my body was covered in slices and bruises and why one eye didn’t open all the way, but I…I didn’t feel right. I ached all over like I was coming down with the flu, and my stomach churned like a ceiling fan on low speed.

And I couldn’t recall exactly why I was wearing this silvery dress. I had a vague idea that it was for something important.

There was something I needed to remember, but I knew what I needed to do.

Standing, I bent down and found my rock. My eyes crawled over the marks in the stone as I counted them. Forty-seven.

My skin turned clammy as I worked at the next mark, scratching in number forty-eight. Resting my forehead against the cool stone as a sudden knot settled in my stomach, I dropped the shard. I focused on taking slow, even breaths as I tilted my head to the side—

Then I saw it.

Memories slammed into me with the force of a freight train. The dagger. I was going to kill Aric with the blade when he returned—

Pushing back from the stone, I rose as my stomach shifted violently. I spun, careening wildly toward one of the walls. My stomach contracted and then heaved as I went down to my knees, my hands digging into the vines. Everything I ate and then nothing at all came up, and the retching was painful against my ribs and stomach.

Only when I thought I was done, did I move. Rocking back onto my ass, I dragged the back of my hand across my mouth. The taste of bile threatened another round of vomiting, but after a couple of moments, the nausea eased off enough that I was able to push myself back up.

The dagger.

I needed to get the weapon.

Staggering over to the slab, I knelt down and grabbed the grip of the blade. The bitter taste in my mouth increased when I saw the dried blood.

My blood.

I needed a plan.

Turning to the closed door, I sucked in a reedy breath as I struggled to pull my fleeting thoughts together. All I knew was that I needed the element of surprise, and that I needed to be fast with a perfect strike. My gaze dropped to the dagger as my pulse pitched. I’d only have one chance. One. And if I failed?

He’d kill me.

I need you alive.

Aric’s words were a jolt to the brain. I was important to him. It had to do with this dress and with…Caden. Aric was going to use me for something, but what that was, existed outside my grasp.

I had no idea what Aric thought I was to Caden, or how he imagined he could use me. The King… I doubted he wished me harm, but he didn’t care—not enough to come for me, and surely not enough for me to be used as leverage against him.

None of that mattered. Aric could show at any moment, and I needed to be ready. I needed to kill him. And afterward? I dragged the chain over my shoulder as I climbed back onto the stone and lay on my side, hiding the dagger in the folds of the dress. I wasn’t sure if I had realized this when I discovered the dagger, but there was no after once I killed Aric. I rested my heated cheek on the stone, my eyes glued to the door.

I’d promised myself over and over that I would not die by Aric’s hand, that I would not die in this tomb. One of those promises I could not keep.

I would kill Aric, but I would not leave this crypt. This was where I’d die, either by the hands of the other fae when they discovered what I’d done, or by starvation. The only chance I had was if Aric took me outside. But he’d stopped doing that many days ago, bringing in some kind of pot for me to use instead. It was unlikely that he’d release me from the bonds, and it was too much of a risk to wait and see if that would happen.

Part of me hoped it was the former, because lingering any longer than I already had was just too much to bear.

But I would have the satisfaction of Aric’s death. I couldn’t allow any other thought to creep in.

My grip on the dagger didn’t loosen for even a second as I waited for the moment. And then it came. The sound of footsteps could be heard. I remained still