I heard Roark growl and say, “That’s enough,” from afar, but the sucking didn’t stop. “I said, that’s enough.” Roark tugged me back. A sword manifested in his hand.
“Good sssso.” The thing sounded like it moaned as it scuttled back and receded into the darkness.
I felt a little woozy. Roark picked me up, and we flashed away from the dark underside of the bridge. I shook my head as Roark set me down on a nearby bench.
“Thanks,” I muttered, rubbing my heavy eyes. The odd floating sensation from the powder was wearing off.
He brushed my hair out of my face and grabbed my arm. The punctures weren’t bleeding, but the flesh was swollen where it had taken the blood.
Roark swayed in front of my eyes, and I grabbed his arm before he toppled over. “Are you okay?”
His lips pressed together as he looked over me, fierce. “I used too much magic. When I healed from whatever those dragons injected me with and now manifesting.”
“You should have been careful.” I didn’t regret sounding pissed. Even though I had the strength now, I didn’t want to tote his unconsciousness ass around again.
“Do not mistake this fact,” Roark rasped harshly, grasping my face in his large hand and making me look at him. “I will always use every last bit of my strength to do anything and everything for you.”
Flutters erupted in my stomach. His words should have angered me, or at the very least scared me with their intensity, but instead, I found myself… exhilarated. Even though he held my face, I looked over his shoulder, not wanting to meet his gaze.
I changed the subject, clearing my throat. “I see where aliens get their looks from.”
“Aliens?” Roark sounded out the word as if it were foreign to him as he released me and stood.
“You know, extraterrestrials, out of this world. Never mind,” I said when he continued to look confused. “What the heck did that mean, anyway? It sounded like a whole lot of run-on sentences to me.” A light bulb went off over my head. “And what was with the way he talked? It was all backward.” I snapped my fingers and stood, pulling my hand away from Roark. Now that my brain fog was lifting, I was capable of working through what it said. “The first part was the part you all based sacrificing us human-born Fae.” I shot him a droll look.
He narrowed his gaze at me. “The human realm born holds the answer to the unbinding.”
“He said it something like, ‘To the unbinding the answer holds the human realm born.’ It’s all jumbled. Recite what it said verbatim.”
He did as I asked, and my mind raced. I rubbed my forehead. “That hurt to hear.” Repeating the words in my head, I flipped the phrases around. “The human realm born holds the answer to the unbinding. The Fae will no longer be restricted by a sad Queen’s curse. The answer lies the ultimate sacrifice causing the tie and will bring forth the unbinding. And magic will reign once more… I think.”
Roark’s eyes brightened. “The tie,” Roark muttered. “The bind on magic happened with the Queen’s mate being murdered.”
I stared up at him as my mind raced to connect the dots. “So, we bring him back to life?” I was for sure grasping at straws.
“No, we sacrifice.”
What, though? Roark’s gaze leveled on me as I tried to work it out, but the expression on his face told me he already knew the missing piece.
Roark’s smile was bitter. “Queen.”
My mouth dried. Shocked tingled through me at what he was insinuating. Queen… I was the Queen. And Roark… Roark was my mate.
Roark had to die.
I recoiled, shocked. Before we could argue about how that was not going to happen, growls broke out around us. Four large bodies stepped out of the darkness, each one ten feet from the other, successfully surrounding us.
“Werewolves,” Roark said disgustedly.
“It’s this one,” one of them said, his voice guttural as he looked right at me. A different hulking shape stepped forward, and a growl built at the base of his throat. It inhaled sharply and brought some material to its nose. My eyes widened when I recognized the torn, green, long-sleeved top. The last time I’d seen it, it had been on the floor in Roark’s room at the dark fortress.
“Get behind me,” Roark gritted out.
“No, I’ve had enough of these assholes.” My fingers curled, but I didn’t reach for my dagger like I itched to.
“You’re lucky your kind have made it impossible for mine to shift,” the same one who had spoken said. “You won’t get away this time.”
I squinted. It was the werewolf that had followed me when I was with Annie! The one that had stepped forward threateningly. We seriously did not need this, especially since Roark was already incredibly weak.
I could tell Roark thought the same, but before we took off, one of the werewolves lunged at the same time as the other one. It was surreal watching a full-grown man charge at me, snarling. So surreal that I completely froze.
I heard a crashing thud and was thrown to the side as Roark tried to block me. All it succeeded in doing was bowling both of us over. Roark’s sword went flying feet away from him. I scurried to get on my feet, heart hammering in my chest.
Roark hissed and said weakly, “Run.”
I scuttled to the side and watched another one charge Roark and throw him to the ground.
“Roark,” I gasped.
Before I could go to him, another werewolf approached me slowly. I tapped into my Fae speed and ran as hard as I could to the asshole pummeling Roark. Roark continued to fight him off, even though I could see from his slow reactions that he was about
