I scream.
“Raffe!” Fin cries out. Blood stains the front of his shirt. He whirls on me. “I’m sorry, Ember,” he chokes out.
I look up to Rafferty for help as Conary maintains his grip on me.
Rafferty’s eyes are wild.
Conary laughs in my ear and drags me toward the portal. “I think we shall see if there is something to what they say about you after all.”
I fight harder. I stomp on his foot again, but he merely throws me down and drags me by my hair. Pain in my scalp is overshadowed by my fear, so I try to let him have the strands he’s holding. I don’t care if I’m bald—I am not going through a portal with him.
“Rafferty!” I scream as my warrior sprints toward me.
“She’s mine now,” Conary sneers. “I’ll be back for my throne.” He jumps through, taking me with him.
“Rafferty!” I yell until my lungs burn, calling for him until my throat is hoarse. But the moment the portal closes, I know I’m screwed. My body hits the ground with enough force to have my ears ringing. But I don’t stay down long. Disoriented, I scramble up from the ground and try to run.
Conary is on me in seconds, though. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” He yanks me back and spins me so he can see my face. His eyes glisten with excitement, his lips stretched in a wide smile. He runs a gloved hand over my face, and I fight to get away.
Rough fingers pinch my chin and he forces me to look back at him. “You’re going to make me a king,” he whispers then bruises my mouth with his. I bring my knee up and slam it into his nuts.
He grunts and falls, I turn and sprint through the clearing. It feels like it’s been forever since I was back here, but my sense of direction tells me the city is just ahead, and if I can reach it, if I can reach people, I can be—Conary rips me back by my hair. It jerks my neck, giving me an instant headache as he drags me back toward the trees—away from safety.
I watch my freedom shrink farther and farther away, but it doesn’t lessen the fight in my blood. It merely spurs it on. “Let me go! Please!” I cry. “I’m not who you think I am!” Struggling against his hold, I attempt to free myself, but exhaustion weighs on me. Limbs like lead, I’m at his mercy.
And we both know it.
The bastard throws me to the ground and pins me, his knee on my chest. I fight to break free, but I’m nothing compared to his strength. His hands go to his pants, and he grins widely. “I know exactly who you are. And I am going to fuck you so hard you’ll be begging me to do it again. Perhaps we’ll invite Rafferty and Taranus to watch you cum on my cock.”
He frees himself and grins down at me. I scream. His hand cracks against my cheek hard enough to split my lip open. Tears flow down my cheeks in rapid succession as he tries to lift my skirts up.
I fight. Kicking, thrashing, but it does nothing. And when he manages to get my knees apart, I ready myself for what I know is coming.
Warm liquid splatters my cheeks, and I open my eyes. Conary looms above me, a red line across his throat. When his head lolls to the side, I scramble back and scream.
“Easy, love,” a man whispers.
I turn and meet the kind eyes of Sullivan. “What—how—I—what the hell!” I gape at him then look to Conary, then back to him.
Sullivan reaches down to fix my skirt. “Are you all right? Did I get here in time?”
“Yes. How did you—what just happened?”
The man who took me to a pub my first night in Ireland relaxes then glares back at the headless body staining the grass. “I promise to explain everything, but right now, I need to get rid of that.”
I’m dumbfounded, the adrenaline still pumping through my veins as I stare at him. He turns and grabs Conary’s severed head like it’s something he does every single day. As though carrying a head through a park is completely natural.
I wrack my brain, trying to recall a date that felt like forever ago. He’s a taxi driver, right? But when he presses a hand to Conary’s arm and disappears, I know he’s so much more.
Fae.And I’ve had enough of them to last a lifetime. So, gathering my skirts, I turn and sprint toward the edge of the clearing. Body weak, I make it only a few yards before I collapse, and pain bursts to life in my abdomen.
I arch up then curl into myself, anything to alleviate the agony of the disease that is killing me.
“Easy,” Sullivan coos as he reaches down to help me up. He gathers me into his arms and disappears again. When we reform, we’re standing in a bedroom.
“No! Put me down! Please,” I plead with him, beg, all while thrashing in his arms. Trading one monster for another. That’s what I keep doing. The disease for Taranus. Conary for Taranus. And now—
“I’m not going to harm you, Ember.” As though to demonstrate, he sets me on top of the blankets then puts up both hands and backs away. “I’m only trying to help you.”