I’dneverhad a chance of surviving this. Deep down, I’d known it, too. And still, I’d come anyway. Because the Mist King had betrayed me.
One boot hit the floor hard, and then the other, as Oberon came closer. “You have made a very terrible mistake, little human. You do not have the strength to kill a king, and you never will. And I will make sure that you remember this moment for the rest of your pitiful life. I have your family in my dungeons. I cannot kill you for what you are to me, but there’snothingstopping me from killing them. They will pay for your crimes against this crown.”
All the blood drained from my face. I saw the truth in the depths of his ember eyes. Oberon meant every word he said. He would not only force me to do everything he demanded, he’d punish those I loved. He would cut off their heads and parade them through the streets, just as he’d done to Nellie.
He still wouldn’t kill me, despite everything I’d done, which meant he’d take it out on someone else.
“You’re a monster,” I whispered up at him. “I know everything you’re trying to do. The Mist King told me all about your quest to return the gods to this world.”
He smirked. “Oh, the Mist King told you, did he? And you believed everything he said?”
My heart thundered. “No. But I believe him about that.”
“The Mist King is no better than I am.” Oberon knelt, wrapped his hand around my aching ankle, and smiled. Pain lanced through my body. “But you already know that, or you wouldn’t have tried to kill him. I’m just surprised he let you get away with it. Attempted murder of a king?” He shook his head. “You’re just as bad as us. Just as bad asme.”
I blinked at the harshness of his words, but deep down I knew he was right. What I’d done was unthinkable. What I planned to do to Oberon was just as bad. Killing in cold blood.Murder. I had blood on my hands, same as them.
“The difference is I did it to save my people,” I hissed through my teeth.
Oberon’s hand tightened on my leg. I winced in furious pain. “Why do you thinkIdo what I do?”
“Don’t act like you’re some kind of hero, Oberon. I know you’re not.”
He leaned forward and growled into my face. Fear tripped down my spine at the look in his eyes. “You have noideawhat my people have been through over the past four hundred years. We’re cut off from the world. We cannot breed. Beyond the bridge, the Mist King lurks, plotting our demise. I am trying to keep my people safe. I want the light fae to survive. And everythingyouhave done has threatened that.”
My heart thrashed in my ears, his words echoing in my head. It was the most I’d ever heard him say. The most truth he’d ever spoken, at least in front of me. He was scared. His power—his reign—teetered on the precipice. One wrong move and it would all crumble down on top of him.
I saw it now. All his boasting, all his puffing out his chest. It was because his place as the ruler of this land was far more tenuous than he wanted everyone to believe.
“You need me, far more than you want me to know.” I sat up a little straighter, back still pressed against the wall. “There’s something about this mortal bride thing that gives you power.”
His brows slammed down. “We need mortals to breed. Do not begin to think of yourself as someone important.”
“Except that I am,” I countered, flicking my eyes to the bedroom behind him. Perhaps if I could distract him, I could launch myself over the bed and run for the living area. There, I might stand a better chance of fighting him. “This tattoo on my upper back. It must have done something magical. It’s why you haven’t tried to replace me with another mortal bride, even though that would have been far easier than convincing the storm fae to track me down.”
A low growl rumbled from his throat, and he curled back his lips.
“What is it, Oberon?” I asked, slowly easing up onto my feet, despite the hand he still clamped around my ankle. “What is theOidhereally about?”
“It isKingOberon to you,” he thundered, yanking on my leg. My backside slammed into the hard floor, and my teeth knocked together. Stars filled my blurring vision as he hauled me across the room, my braided hair dragging behind me.
I thrashed, kicking at his face. My ankle screamed in pain as he jerked me out of the bedroom and into the living space. Shaking, I snatched at the first thing I saw. The leg of a table. I grabbed on tight as he tried to haul me to the door.
“Let go!” He squeezed my ankle.
Pain filled my entire body, shattering my soul. I screamed, and my fingers slipped against the wood. Dark spots crept into the corners of my vision. My body begged for relief. I’d demanded so much from it these past few weeks, and it could barely take any more.
Laughing, he leaned down, sneering into my face. “I need you alive, but it doesn’t matter if you’re a broken, battered thing. You’re in the Kingdom of Light. You’ll heal.”
He twisted my ankle harder. The pain was so great, I almost blacked out. Maybe I did. Because one moment, he held tight to my throbbing ankle, the next he’d hauled me to my feet.
He shoved me toward the door. “I’m taking you to the dungeons. You can spend some time in a cramped, dark cell with your family. They won’t be in there for long, I’m afraid. Well, they will. They just won’t be alive.”
Horror twisted through me, nearly taking me to my knees. He would kill them, and then he’d force me to sit only feet away from their bodies, from their blood.
“I will break you,” he whispered into my ear. His breath smelled of lavender and blood.
Tears blurring my vision, I jerked away from him. I raced back into the bedroom, hobbling on my screaming ankle. The dagger had slid just beneath the bed, the sharp end sticking out from the shadows. I leapt toward it, fingers closing around the hilt and—