His hand trails from my breast towards my throat, stroking my skin gently. “Where is your necklace, Verity?” He asks with his lips pressed against mine.
I nip at him playfully. “I’ll wear it for you later.”
Suddenly, his hand tightens around my throat and I feel a thrill of fear in my chest. “Who are you?” He hisses.
“Altair, what are you doing?” I rasp, eyes wide with feigned innocence.
He laughs mirthlessly and stands, still holding me tightly. He drags me to the bed as I claw at his hand around my throat. With an icy glare, he tosses me onto the bed. Before I can squirm away from him, his hands are on my throat again, pinning me in place.
“Where is Verity?” He asks, his voice dangerously low.
“I’m right here,” I exclaim, tears springing to my eyes.
Altair smirks at me, seeing right through my lies. I stare desperately up at him, trying to pry his fingers away from my throat. I can’t fight him with my magic, I only have enough strength for one powerful spell before I lose control of Verity’s body. I need her if I’m going to save my people by taking control of Alnembra using her influence over Altair. Just until they marry, I told Sadal. Let me kill him myself and take the throne. I’ll give you everything you want.
But now, Altair has seen through my charade. And all because of one necklace.
“Tell me,” he growls, “Where she is.”
Chapter 19
Altair
My fingers tighten around Verity’s throat. She chokes, her eyes bulging. I feel a hint of shame and fear as I squeeze. What if I’m wrong? What if this truly is Verity – just another one of her faces? But then she begins to laugh, an unpleasant, gurgling sound. She gives me a lopsided grin, baring her teeth at me.
“If you liked it rough, all you had to do was ask,” she says teasingly. “What should our safe word be?”
I snarl, thinking back to the night I saw Verity with the stranger. Anger courses through me. “Shut up,” I snap. “What have you done to her?”
“To who?” Verity asks innocently. “I’m right here.”
I squeeze tighter, fearing that I’ll leave bruises around Verity’s pretty neck. I can’t hurt her, not if this is truly Verity’s body. I lean over her, eyes flashing. “End this charade now and I won’t hurt you further.”
“You won’t hurt me at all,” she whispers. “It’s me. It’s my body. You love me too much.”
“Love you?” My brows twitch together. “Perhaps once I loved Verity, but I don’t know you.”
“That hurts,” she pouts.
Suddenly, the door slams open and Navi stumbles through. Her sword is drawn and brandished towards me. Dried blood coats her face and mats her hair. She turns wild eyes on me. “Get away from her, Altair,” she shouts. “That’s not Verity.”
“I’m aware of that, Navi,” I growl.
She draws closer, her sword pointed at Verity on the bed. Verity blows her a kiss with a wink. “It’s a Bloodbane witch,” Navi says quietly at my side. “We should kill her.”
Navi raises her blade over Verity, and Verity releases a throaty laugh. “Yes, kill me, Navi,” she croons.
“Don’t!” I shout, just as Navi starts driving down her blade. She pauses, the sharp edge only an inch from Verity’s grinning face. “If you do this, you’ll kill Verity.”
“You don’t know that,” Navi growls.
“We can’t risk it,” I say through gritted teeth. “Stand back.”
Suddenly, Verity squirms out of my grip, her leg slamming upwards into my groin. I double over, breath knocked out of me as burning pain overtakes me. Verity cackles and dances away from the bed towards the balcony.
“Altair!” Navi is at my side, crouching.
I wave her away. “Stop her,” I cough.
Navi rises, swinging her sword to the side. “Gladly.” She grins.
“Don’t kill her,” I pant, regaining my breath.
Navi gives me a curt nod before swinging at Verity. Fear floods through me as I watch Verity barely dodge Navi’s blade. An image of Verity covered in blood, a dagger in her belly scrolls through my mind and I feel the same panic and anguish I felt only a month ago when Verity took Maaz’s dagger for me. I rise to my feet and slip into a combat stance.
Verity dances away from Navi, a look of fierce determination on her face. I wonder briefly who we’re dealing with, certainly not Maaz. I lunge towards her as she moves within reach. Her pale blue eyes dart towards me and then suddenly I’m flying backwards through the air. Black clouds my vision as I hit the stone wall with a dull thud. I groan, sinking to the floor. Through blurred and spotted vision, I see Navi turn anxiously towards me. Verity is on her then, clawing at her face. I reach towards them, trying and failing to get to my feet.
Navi’s shouts and Verity’s snarling echo in my ears as I lift a hand to my bleeding head. I’ve cut the back of my scalp, blood matting my hair. I wince as my fingers graze the wound. Navi cries out and tosses Verity onto her back, slamming her thin frame into the stone floor.
“No!” I yell, crawling towards them.
Navi glances at me, concern flashing in her eyes as she raises a fist above Verity’s head. Verity’s leg whips out, connecting with Navi’s head with a crack. Verity jumps to her feet, snarling as Navi tries to regain her footing after the blow. I crawl to my feet, blinking back the blurry vision. Verity is panting heavily, a sheen of sweat on her brow. She’s tiring, I realize.
I take advantage of it and dart towards her. She whips towards me and catches my fist mid-air. With an arrogant quirk of her lips she tosses me aside with supernatural force. Grimacing, I launch myself
