Oberon hauled me from the floor, roaring. He tossed me across the room, but I clung to the dagger. My body slammed into the wall. My back screamed from the contact. I slid into a lump, trying to catch my breath.
The king stalked toward me. “You will not defy me ever again!”
He reached for me, and I knew if he got his hands on me this time, he’d never let go. It was now or never.
I screamed, shoving the Mortal Blade’s tip straight down through his boot. The blade pierced his foot. Oberon roared. Yanking out the dagger, he threw it across the room as the gemstone blinked out. Seething, he wrapped his hand around my throat and yanked me into the air.
My lungs squeezed as he growled at me. “You failed. Your fucking dagger is useless in mortal hands. Only fae can kill fae. You’re not strong enough, you pitiful littleinsect.”
Oberon suddenly choked, and his grip on me loosened. Eyes rolling back into his head, he stumbled sideways, and then he hit the floor.
I gasped, pulling breath into my lungs, palming the wooden boards as pain wracked my entire body. But I could take it. I could take it all. After all my years spent in anguish from the violence he’d wrought, it was finally over.
King Oberon was dead.
Forty-Three
Tessa
Holding tight to my knees, I sucked in deep breaths and tried to calm my racing heart. I’d just killed Oberon. Broken and consumed by pain, I’d actually done it. I curled over myself as I waited for the worst of the pain to subside. He’d hurt my neck, and my ankle, and my back. My body felt like one big bruise, but I had to find a way into the dungeons and get my family out of here alive.
If the guards found out I’d killed Oberon, I wasn’t sure what they would do. The fae feared him, but they did not love him. Still, I doubted they’d appreciate a mortal destroying one of their own. The power of his protection would vanish now. There was no telling what that meant for them all, for this city and my people in Teine.
I needed to get them out of here before the fae burned the whole place down in a rage. We’d find a new home, somewhere far away from here. Somewhere with light and darkness both. Skies full of stars at night. Chirping birds as the sun rose. I’d heard about sunsets in the books I’d read, but I’d never seen one myself.
The thought of it tasted like hope.
One step at a time.
After I’d managed to catch my breath, I stood on trembling legs and snatched the Mortal Blade from the floor. Quickly, I popped out the broken gemstone and replaced it with my last one. I hoped I didn’t have to use it, but just in case a guard tried to stop me, I needed to be ready.
I glanced around, taking in the luxurious quarters. It was all wasted on such a cruel king. Before I left, I took the onyx gemstone necklace and hid it in the folds of my shirt. I wasn’t sure what compelled me to take it, but...it might become useful at some point.
My palms brushed the door handle, and I paused to look at the fallen king one last time. Any moment now, he would turn to dust. He would be fed back into the ground just like mortals, those beings he’d spent almost four hundred years crushing beneath the heel of his boot. In the end, he was no better than any of us.
I gripped the handle and waited, suddenly eager to see that moment come to pass. The final moment when the world rid itself of King Oberon. Another moment ticked by. And then another.
How long did this thing take?
In the dream, it had seemed as though it only took a few moments. The fae had almost instantly turned to dust. It hadn’t taken this long. I was certain of it.
With a frown, I let go of the door handle and went back over to Oberon’s body. Had the blade not gone in far enough to turn him into dust? Did I need to do it again? I hated to use my last gemstone, but...
Oberon’s eyes flipped open. A gasp ripped from my throat as I stumbled several steps back. My heart rattled, fear twisting through my gut like a thousand angry snakes. What was happening? How was he alive?
I’d stabbed him. The blade hadn’t gone in deep, but it didn’t have to—this was the Mortal Blade. I’d watched his eyes go vacant. His skin had grayed. His body had collapsed.
I didn’t understand what was happening.
He looked like he wanted to rip my heart from my chest.
Brushing his tunic, he rose to his feet. I trembled and raised the dagger before me. I had no choice but to try again. One more gemstone. One more chance.
Oberon smiled. “That won’t work, Tessa. The blade is not the one you think it is.”
My stomach dropped.
He chuckled at the look on my face. “That’s right. The Mortal Blade would have destroyed my body, turning me to ash. All that one did was poison me for a moment. Useful for a mortal trying to flee a fae. It gives you enough time to run. Pity you didn’t think to do that.”