A Kingdom of Venom and Vows (Stars and Shadows #3)(68)

“Hello, Starblessed.” Gavril moved into my line of vision, blocking my view of the girl, and I bared my teeth as I slowed. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“You’ve found me.” I held my hands out to my sides, both covered in blood from his men.

“Come.” He motioned me forward with his hand like the pet he believed me to be, and I ground my teeth together until I feared they might snap.

“I will never go with you again.”

“Won’t you?” He looked behind him, and two of his soldiers stepped near him, holding the limp body of my mate. My chest ached deeply as I watched him, and my magic thrummed, uncontrollable, raging to kill.

“Don’t touch him,” I growled, but that only made Gavril smile harder.

“I’m going to kill him, Starblessed. I’m going to torture and kill your mate until I break this fight inside you.”

My power slithered through me, ready to strike, and I held on to that feeling as I looked beyond him to the girl. To Gavril’s mate.

Her gaze was wide, but it was filled with a soul-deep exhaustion.

“You’re such a pretty little thing.” I looked back to Gavril as he cocked his head to the side, and I gritted my teeth. “No wonder Evren wanted you so badly for himself.”

There were hundreds of soldiers still fighting around us. The sound of metal clanging, soldiers grunting in pain and power, and the creature’s animalistic cries of their fight echoed around us, but my gaze went back to her.

“I am not something you want,” I taunted Gavril as I glanced back in his direction, and his eyes grew heated as he stepped toward me.

Bile rose in my throat as he perused me as if I were a piece of flesh dangled in front of him for him to devour. Even in the middle of a battlefield, he saw me as nothing more.

“I want your power, Starblessed.” His gaze fell down my body to my hands before slowly making its way back up. “I can see you have it back fully now.”

“Is that what you wanted from her as well?” I nodded toward the girl, and a growl left Gavril’s lips.

“Don’t you dare speak of her.” His gaze flared with his power, and I wondered if he would ever be able to do it. Would Gavril ever be able to kill his mate for the power he craved or was there a part of him that still held a trace of humanity? Did he care for the girl he was slowly draining to her death in his own sick way?

I looked back to her, and she raised her chin even as tears streamed down her cheeks. She looked so lost, even in her show of strength, and every part of me ached to save her.

But then she mouthed two words that made my blood run cold.

Kill me.

“Did you get my gift?” Gavril licked his lips, and my hand ached as I clung to my dagger.

“If you consider my mutilated mother a gift, then yes.” His gaze fell to my hands, where my black magic trickled out uncontrollably.

“An eye for an eye, as they say.”

I tried not to let him see me react, to not let him see his words were affecting me. “It’s too bad Queen Kaida couldn’t be here to see all her hard work.”

“I will break you.” The words slipped from his lips like a promise, and my back straightened as I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. “I will break you, I don’t care if I have to take you to the brink of death. I will break every part of you until you are begging me to give you everything I’ve promised.”

Sorin charged toward Gavril, his blade ready to launch in Gavril’s direction, when Gavril caught sight of him, and his deep red power poured from his hands into Sorin.

Sorin fell to the ground as Gavril watched me, and I launched forward, heading for Gavril’s mate before he could stop me.

I slid to my knees, slicing my dagger through one of the guard’s shins before he fell forward. I climbed over his body, diving for Leda, and she clung to me with frail, brittle hands.

The other guards swarmed, but I let out a blast of my magic, knocking them back, if only for a moment. “I can save you,” I told the girl, but she shook her head quickly as she reached forward and took the dagger from my hand.

“Don’t let him live.” She stared at me, and I reached forward for her hand. But she moved too quickly. She slid my blade against her neck, her deep red blood pouring from the wound rapidly, and my dagger fell from her hand as her body fell to the ground.

“No!” Gavril roared from behind me, and I scrambled for my dagger even as I let out another blast of my power.

I climbed to my feet as I pulled on my power, summoning it to do as it was told. It was ready to strike, not needing my command, and I unleashed it on Gavril as his wild gaze met mine.

He was expecting my magic, and his own slipped from his hand. Even with his mate dying on the ground before me, he still held his power.

Every bit of it was aimed in my direction, but I didn’t stop. I poured my power out of me until I could feel myself weakening. It pushed through Gavril’s power, slamming into his chest, and he faltered backward.

More of his men clamored toward me, fighting soldiers and creatures alike to stop me from hurting their prince, but none of them could get to me as the crash of metal and flesh rang out around me.

I didn’t stop. I stepped toward him and continued to pour my magic from my trembling hands. I could feel my magic waning, reaching its limit, and I feared I wouldn’t be able to defeat him on my own.