held back. So let me show you the truth. I’m something you’ve never known before.”
I blinked. It wasn’t just Krall anymore. Moren joined him. Six other fae I’d never seen before.
“Too many,” I whispered.
“Not enough,” Phaedra muttered.
They were everywhere. They formed a circle around us. I kept Phaedra tucked behind me, trying to figure out which one of these assholes had the most power.
Krall stepped into the circle. He advanced on me.
“Show me, little witch. Let me see how you burn.”
Krall’s light went through me. Phaedra clawed at my back.
“No,” I grimaced. She stepped around me. The bluish tint to her skin vanished. In its place, she glowed with flame. She took a breath and blasted a stream of fire right into Krall’s chest.
He didn’t stagger. He laughed. He gasped with pleasure as he felt Phaedra’s magic.
“Wonderful,” Krall said to the others. He held a ball of flame in his palm. Somehow, Phaedra had given it to him. Krall threw it to the other fae as if it were a plaything. One by one, they took a little taste of what Phaedra was.
“What the hell are you doing?” I whispered to her.
“Brandhart,” Krall said. “Where are they? Where are the rest of the dragons? I’ll let you go if you bring me one of them.”
“There’s no one else,” Phaedra said. “There’s only me. Take it or leave it.”
“No!” I shouted. “No fucking way. We had a deal, Krall. Me for her. You want me to be like my father. Fine. I’ll do it. But the girl is mine. Nobody else touches her. Ever.”
“I think the girl has other plans,” Krall said. “You want more, don’t you, Phaedra? You’ve seen what I can make you into. You can tap into fae magic permanently. It will feed you. Sustain you. Make you feel no pain.”
“Yes,” she gasped, the word coming out like an orgasm. “Please. I’ll do it. Anything. I promise.”
Krall smiled. He came to her. He pressed two fingers to her temple. Before I could stop him, he shot light into her damn brain. Phaedra shimmered, convulsed. Then let out a sigh of pleasure.
She was blank to me. I couldn’t feel her pulse. She was shutting me out.
“Phaedra,” I said through gritted teeth. This was far too dangerous a game.
“Relax,” Krall said. “The girl knows what she’s doing. She knows the feel of real power.”
“She’s mine,” I said. “That’s the deal. That’s my price. You know you can’t turn me if I don’t allow it.”
“You should have marked her when you had the chance,” Krall said. “She’s going to be brilliant. You understand?”
Phaedra nodded. “I understand.”
“All of it,” he said. “You give me it all.”
“As long as you do the same,” she said.
Krall laughed. He hit me with lightning, forcing me out of the circle.
“No!” I yelled. My God. She would do it. She would sacrifice herself for me.
“Hurry,” Phaedra gasped. “Do it before I change my mind.”
“No!”
20
Phaedra
It would have been easier had I just let Krall drive a stake through my heart. It would have hurt less than shutting Archer out.
I had no choice.
I would not let them use me against him. I would not sit idly by while he turned himself into the thing he hated. Not for me. Not for anything. I would have sooner killed him myself.
But now, as Krall, Moren and six other fae closed in on me, a single thought drummed through my head.
This...might be a really dumb idea.
They were in my head. All of them. Krall. Moren. The Ring itself. Probing. Testing. Trying to pull my magic from me.
I felt Rose Kilgore. I felt Able Valent’s doomed mate, Anne. Every witch who had ever been subjected against her will to the torture I was about to enter into willingly.
The Harvesting.
It’s what they called it, but it was never spoken aloud. I’d never heard their word for it until now. The room fell away. It had never existed at all. An illusion. Something pretty to make me feel at ease. Or at least grounded.
Now, we were out in the open, in the heart of a forest I didn’t know.
Wind howled. Tiny droplets of rain hit my cheeks. My bare feet sank into the wet earth. Three elements. Air. Water. Earth. The fourth was me.
“Phaedra!” Archer shouted. He was so far away. Where I’d sent him. Pushed him. I saw him from the corner of my eye, chained in Dragonsteel between two trees.
It gave me relief. Though the steel bound him, it would prevent him from