What Lurks Between the Fates (Of Flesh & Bone, #3)(114)

I stared at her back as we followed, moving far too slowly for Mab’s liking.

“I am still Queen! Get out of my sight!” she shrieked, her voice becoming more and more unhinged with each repetition.

The silence rang in response, one thought filtering through my mind and in an echo of all who followed my mate:

Not for long.





41


Estrella


Malachi had replaced my collar within the hour. Even without any logical explanation for how I’d managed to slip out of my room, Mab wouldn’t be taking any chances, it seemed.

Nila spent far more time than normal tending to my face and the circles beneath my eyes. Getting me ready for the final evening before the sacrifices. Even Caldris had been allowed to join us in my room, as if the collar were merely a formality.

We both knew there was nothing I could do to stop the Tithe from happening. I’d tried and failed, thanks to Rheaghan’s interference, but even in my anger with him, I knew he’d been right. It would have been foolish to give up my advantage when I wouldn’t really save any lives.

As soon as Malachi had left the three of us in the relative privacy of my room, my mate had stepped up to me—his silent stare demanding. We spoke not a word as I shoved the window—opening myself to our bond once again. He leaned in, kissing me tenderly. Both of us knew what I’d done, but we wouldn’t speak of it—wouldn’t give him anything more than a suspicion to protect that knowledge from Mab.

His gratitude still surged down the thread hours later, rippling over each fiber.

Nila brushed my face with powder and liquid, disguising the hints of exhaustion so that no one could see them. For all anyone knew, I’d had a night of solid rest—not spent it out torturing a rapist.

Caldris lingered in the background, infuriating me with his lack of shirt as he read a book on my bed. The fact that he could just stand up and toss on some clothes before attending a ball that took hours of effort from me seemed grossly unfair. Nila hadn’t stopped being flustered by his presence, but I couldn’t fault her for it. Not when he was so distracting.

The dress Mab had sent for me to wear hung over the edge of the mirror, the fabric dark and foreboding. Tendrils of black inched their way toward my throat, like shadows that would cling to my skin.

Nila glanced at Caldris over my shoulder, nodding at him in some silent communication that left me uneasy. As she stepped away from me and gave me room to stand, I moved toward the dress I’d been told to wear for the evening.

Nila disappeared into the closet instead of helping me into the heavy garment, emerging with a thin piece of fabric. It was as white as the veil, as transparent as it swayed through the wind. But sewn into the fabric were golden gems, a pattern going through the cloth that was breathtaking as it shimmered.

“I don’t understand,” I said, glancing toward my mate.

He’d stood from the bed, shrugging his tunic on as he seemed to dress for the evening without a care. The black folds of his tunic held the subtlety of gold stitching, something far less delicate for him to wear.

Nila untied my robe, shrugging it off my shoulders. “We must hurry,” she said, tugging the thin fabric over my head. It was like wearing the Veil itself, like wrapping myself in the magic of the Lunar Witches and the God who’d given his life to the creation of the boundary.

One strap of the fabric rested upon my shoulder as she pulled the subtle laces tight at the back, pressing the corset into my body. It was the perfect color match for my bronze skin, as if it had been designed with me in mind. The other sleeve hung off my shoulder, draping delicately to wrap loosely around my elbow.

The fabric shimmered as I moved, a slit in the fabric going up to my waist. There were no undergarments beneath it. Nothing to protect me from prying eyes if I moved less-than gracefully.

“Why am I wearing this?”

“Mab wants you to dress as she wills. She wants to bathe you in shadows to call attention to your similarities. But you are not the Queen of Air and Darkness, Estrella,” Nila explained, resting a hand upon each of my biceps as Caldris threw open the door.

He moved quickly, snatching the sword from Malachi before the other man could blink. I bolted toward the door, watching in horror as my mate shoved his forearm against Malachi’s throat. The shout he’d been drawing in air for died at the impact, leaving the guard gasping for breath as Caldris stole his air and crushed his windpipe.

Caldris swung that blade down, slicing through the flesh of Malachi’s wrist. His hand fell to the floor, flopping uselessly to the stone as Caldris turned the sword in his grip and dragged it across the other male’s throat in a smooth arc. Malachi collapsed, his back sliding down the wall as he pressed his hand and the bloody stump into his bleeding throat. The wound, despite the iron blade, wouldn’t be fatal.

He bent down, picking up Malachi’s severed hand and striding back into my rooms. He pulled the door closed behind him, leaving my guard’s body slumped against the wall. That wound could heal in time.

“Turn around, min asteren,” Caldris murmured, his jaw clenched as I did what he said. I spun as Nila swept my hair to the side, revealing the magical lock at the back of my collar.

He pressed Malachi’s severed hand to it. The iron fell away as my body hummed. Dropping to the floor at my feet, the metal lump no longer served any purpose as the creature within me rose from her iron-induced slumber. She rolled her head from one side to the other, growling at the device that had effectively stolen her voice for weeks.