Fire and Bone (Otherborn #1)(116)

Another squirrel scuttles from above and begins to chatter, its tail ticking and swishing.

“They come this way,” Lailoken says to me, waving at the trees ahead. “Hiding is necessary, I believe. We should choose our moment wisely.” He tugs on my sleeve, urging me back behind a rock, and presses me into a bush. I search the trees ahead expectantly. When we hear the crunching of brush and pine needles underfoot, I duck lower behind the rock.

“I think we should take the arrow out,” I hear Ben say. “It’s tearing his lung. It could make a mess, and he’s bleeding an awful lot. I didn’t think we were planning on killing him.”

“Enough sympathy, Ben,” Astrid says in a silky voice. “I know what the demi hunter can take.”

My gut clenches hearing them talk about Faelan, his wounds. And when I see the pair of them emerge from the trees, Faelan in tow, I nearly lunge forward. His hands are tied behind his back, the thick torque keeping him powerless. His blue shirt is coated in slick red, and his skin is ashen.

Lailoken grabs me by the arm, shaking his head. “Choose wisely,” he mouths.

Ben sets Faelan on the moss, leaning him against a tree. “How long, then? We could be wandering in this place for a fortnight at this rate. We’re not going to find the old bastard. He’s flown the coop.”

“We’ll worry about the monk after we catch the princess. Now that we have her protector she’ll sense it, and she’ll come. Any minute. The stupid bitch is in heat. You should’ve seen her mooning over him at the Introduction. She has no idea.” Astrid crouches beside Faelan. “Does she, lover?”

He opens his eyes slowly, grunting. “Bitch,” he mutters, blood glistening on his bottom lip.

She grabs the shaft of the arrow, staring at him. Then she leans close, kissing him full on the mouth, and yanks the arrow out in a swift jerk, laughing as she pulls it away.

He squirms. “What’ve you done, Astrid, you’ve gone too far—”

She kisses him again, swallowing his words. When she pulls away the second time, he glowers at her.

“You remember how to play our game, lover?” she asks softly, running a finger down his blood-soaked shirt to the waist of his pants. His blood is on her lips and smeared on her chin. “We’d play for hours under the willow. Skin and clover and sweat.”

My nails scrape against the rock.

“Go fuck yourself,” he says through his teeth.

A dark smile slinks up her lips, and she tugs on the waist of his pants, straddling him. “I will do it,” she says, “you know I will.” She reaches over to her boot and pulls out a smaller knife. She points it at his face, then aims down, cutting the collar of his shirt before ripping it and baring his chest.

He grunts in pain from the sudden movement.

My bones ache watching it. Lailoken takes my arm, like he wants to hold me back from stopping them. I have no idea what I’m waiting for. I can access all my power now. My torque is still in my pocket from when Kieran took it off earlier.

But a part of me knows I still don’t have total control over the fire, and I’m terrified of hurting Faelan.

Astrid trails the blade of the knife along his clavicle. “I’ll force you to break your vow,” she says. “Right here against this tree, with Ben to bear witness—your body never fails to respond to mine, does it? Then you’ll be forced to return to your brother. You’ll have no choice any longer.”

His vow. Could it somehow be keeping him free of his father’s House? But how? I thought he was an outcast.

“How could you?” he chokes out. “After everything, you’ve done this? You’ve sided with Mara, killed a pixie, cursed Marius, chased away an old human—and for what? Just to get me imprisoned again by my brothers, held by your manipulations, after all these centuries?”

She laughs. “Please, you’re amazing, but not enough to risk the Pit for. This isn’t about you at all; your punishment for leaving me alone is just a bonus.” She rests the blade of the knife against his cheek and leans forward. “This is about the newblood. I made a deal, you see. Your precious firebird is going to be worked on by the Princess of Bones. She’s going to drive your pupil completely mad. And then she’s going to siphon all that power from her, leaving her a dried-up husk.”

Faelan jerks, and the blade breaks his skin, cutting into his face. Blood runs down, slicking his jaw and neck.

Astrid grins as he squirms. “She’ll probably look like she did the night you dragged her from the gutter. And all will be complete.” She moves the tip of the blade in a circle on his shoulder. “I know you thought I’d changed my mind about leaving your brothers. But I never actually planned to go with you. I couldn’t believe you were serious. I’d hoped you’d challenge your brother and take over as master. But I should’ve known—always so noble. So I waited patiently, and my opportunity finally came. And now I get what I want by upgrading to Kieran, and Princess Mara will get to play her freaky games. I’m excited to watch the bitch you’re infatuated with live a horrifying eternity in the princess’s claws. It’s a win-win for me, really.”

A chill works through me as Faelan goes completely still.

Then a burst of noise comes from above, the sound of hundreds of birds filling the trees.