What Lurks Between the Fates (Of Flesh & Bone, #3)(125)

Blood poured free. Slid over his hands in a thick, viscous ooze.

He dropped to his knees at my side. Mab drove her blade into his heart, effectively silencing him. I took a step toward him, readying myself to give him blood. Mab abandoned her blade and squeezed her hand, my feet halting beneath me as her will pressed down on me. I couldn’t move, couldn’t get to Rheaghan as he bled out. Only when I stopped moving did Mab grasp the hilt once more, yanking the iron free from her brother’s heart. Blood sputtered from the wound, pouring down his chest.

It wasn’t his sister he looked to in those final moments—not his murderer.

But me.

He dropped onto the sand face first, bleeding out upon the white silt. There was no movement in his chest. Not a breath in his body.

Because the King of Summer was dead.





47


Caldris


Shoving to my feet when Rheaghan dropped, I dashed to my mate’s side. Her hand was pressed to her heart, to the wound that had sealed and trapped Mab’s snake within. She was just as much a prisoner as I now, unable to defy any of Mab’s commands.

My regret knew no bounds. My guilt for being the reason she no longer had any hope of a life of her own.

The daemon grabbed Rheaghan’s body, hauling him into the Cove as Mab stared passively at her brother. She didn’t appear to care that she’d murdered her only remaining family, that he’d loved her enough to not be able to rise against her all this time.

She only cared for his insolence, that he’d dared to speak against her so publicly.

“You’re mine now,” Mab said, snapping out a hand to catch Estrella by the chin.

Estrella screamed in pain, undoubtedly trying to deny the words that had wrapped themselves around the center of her soul. Mab’s talons cut into Estrella’s skin, the sides of her jaw bleeding as she held her.

I opened my mouth, the words to beg for Estrella’s freedom dying before I could even speak them. Estrella’s hand reached out to grasp mine, her fingers intertwining as she sought out that single trace of comfort.

I still remembered those first moments of being bound. The battle of wills that had happened within me. I’d only been a child, barely been old enough to understand, but even I’d known the darkness settling upon me wasn’t right.

“I have need of something that is locked within Tartarus,” Mab said, clicking her tongue as she turned to look at the shimmering Cove. It looked innocent—the perfect disguise for the horrors that slept within.

“No,” I rasped.

I’d seen what remained of those who returned. Seen the absolute terror that consumed them. Most never set foot on solid ground again, never emerging from the entrance to Tartarus—but the ones who did…

They were never the same. Most almost begged for death.

Mab continued on as Estrella clenched her teeth together, grinding them as she looked at the Cove. She’d seemed drawn to it that first day, and even now, there was the strangest sense of longing in our bond.

Strangled by Mab’s hold on both of us, but there, no less.

“Bring me a snake from the crown of Medusa,” Mab ordered, nodding toward that shimmering pool.

Estrella moved to obey, her legs shifting even as she grimaced. Mab gestured to one of the guards behind her, and the male unclasped the scabbard from his waist. Stepping up, he ignored my growl as he settled it about Estrella’s waist. The sword was far too large for her small grip.

She shifted to stare down at it, realization dawning for what kind of task this would be. It wouldn’t be any simple trip to the market, not with an iron blade at her side. Imelda hurried through the crowd, though Fallon remained back ever-so-slightly. The male at her side, her betrothed, blanched as he looked at all the blood up close.

Rheaghan had been his king, and without an heir…

Etan was the new King of the Summer Court, at least until one of the other surviving Gods stepped up to take Rheaghan’s place. Mab had strategically placed her daughter to become queen, as if she’d known that Rheaghan’s time approached. His body floated in the water as Imelda pressed a small pouch into Estrella’s hands.

I had no doubt it was filled with herbs. With medicines, and maybe a few plants that Estrella could use to her advantage in battle—if she’d had any of the knowledge Imelda did.

But she didn’t—couldn’t. Not when she hadn’t had Imelda’s centuries of training.

Not when she didn’t have that kind of magic.

Estrella took a step toward the Cove, her eyes connecting with mine as she gripped my hand more tightly. I stepped alongside her.

I’d go with her. Anywhere.

Even to Tartarus.

One of Mab’s men grabbed me around the back of the neck, hauling me off my feet and tossing me back to the sand behind him. Estrella spun, her eyes landing on me where I lay upon the sand. The fear there, the terror that lingered in her green gaze, would haunt me for the rest of my life. She wasn’t afraid of the prison itself, only of what might be done to me while she was gone.

Of coming back to me dead.

“You have thirteen days to complete your task. If you do not complete this order in time, or to my satisfaction, Caldris will die. You will not be here to save him, and I will shred his heart until there is nothing left for you to repair. You will not get close enough to give your mate your blood a second time,” Mab commanded, waving a hand.