“Wrong.” Kane’s voice resonated from the doorway. “Let her go, Mika. Or so help me, I will end you in the worst way imaginable.”
“What do you mean, wrong?” She hissed, not letting me go, but, instead, tucked me behind her.
Kane’s grip tightened on his sword. I watched as Lochlin and Wulfgar worked to untie the ropes binding the women. Sarah clung to Wulfgar as he pulled the rope free from her wrists, tears staining her cheeks as she signed to help me.
The door banged off of the wall as Aeden ran. “Indrell!” he shouted.
The sudden disruption made me jump. Obviously, it startled Mika as well. She moved fast, gripping me painfully by the arm and bringing me in front of her and pulling my wrist to her lips.
Aeden’s eyes went wide as he took in the scene around him, but when he saw her on the floor, bound, fury ignited in his face. “What is going on, my liege?” He edged over to Indrell carefully.
“Mika!” Kane growled. “Stop!”
Mika’s lips curled into a smirk. “Welcome to the party, Emalne. I am just ridding myself of a hurdle. Right, Kane? Just a prop in our little game we’ve been playing.” Her teeth extended. “But I’m done playing. It’s time we end this.”
She sank her fangs into the thin flesh that covered the veins in my wrist. The feel of her bite was nothing like Kane’s. It was excruciating, burning. I cried out in pain, my knees starting to buckle, but she held me up with her other arm.
“I will end you,” Kane snarled.
She bit harder. This time, my legs gave out, and I went slack. She dropped me, and I rested at her feet, crumpled over, trying desperately to edge away from the pain that radiated through me.
Mika caught a droplet of my blood with her finger as it slid down her lip, pushing it into her mouth and moaning as if eating the best desert that she’d ever had. “Oh, Kanedraven. Now I see why you enjoy her so much. She’s sweet. I can taste the power in her blood. Maybe we should keep her just so we can feast on her on special occasions.”
The distance between us and Kane seemed short, but knowing how fast they moved, I knew that the chances that Kane could get to me before Mika could end me were slim. And by the look on his face, he knew it, too.
Looking at her, Kane’s eyes shot daggers. But when he glanced down at me, I could see his heart breaking in the depths of his blue eyes.
The men had freed Indrell, Sarah and Oberlea and pulled them out of the room, but more of Kane’s soldiers and Aeden’s warriors were filing in, weapons drawn. Aeden, having assessed that Indrell was not harmed, stood by Kane’s side, flanked by Wulfgar and Lochlin. “There is no way out of this. Surrender.”
Mika laughed. “I don’t want out of this tree boy. I want him.” She pointed her long, bony finger at Kane. “And I’m not leaving until he tells me that this charade is over so we can be together.”
“What happened to you?” Kane lowered his sword slightly. “Mika, this is insane!”
“This has got to be about the prophecy,” Lochlin barked.
Her hands balled into fists as she shouted, “I could care less about this prophecy! Don’t you get it? Without it, I get the love of my life and this world. With it, I get him and the pick of worlds. It makes no difference to me.”
I tried to lift myself, the pain starting to recede. But she wasn’t about to let me move on my own, not wanting to give me the chance to escape.
Gripping my hair again, she yanked me next to her leg as I screamed out again. “You crazy bitch! Let me go!”
The sound of more men came echoing in from the hallway just as Dorian came crashing into the room, parting his way through the crowd. He was breathing heavy and covered in blood. Blood that I couldn’t discern if it was his or someone else’s.
“Mika!” He pushed through the front line, shoving Lochlin aside. “Please.”
Lochlin caught his balance, recovering fast and grabbing ahold of Dorian. “How did you escape?”
Another Everwinter soldier came rushing in. “My liege, Dorian killed the guards.”
“I have him.” Lochlin shoved the former commanding officer to the floor.
“Wait! Please!” He gasped for air. “Mika… they will kill you. Please.”
“What are you doing here?” She spat, looking at him as if disgusted.
Her reaction to him must have cut deep. Dorian’s brows furrowed with his pain. “Mika, I love you. This is a foolish notion, and you know that we are supposed to be together, not him. Please. They will kill you. The prophecy will kill you.”
“Your love for me is inconsequential.” She refused to look at him again.
Lochlin shoved Dorian toward one of the soldiers behind him. “Send him to the stockade. This time, don’t give him the chance to kill and escape.”
“Yes, sir.” The soldier took Dorian. Slamming the hilt into Dorian’s temple, he knocked him unconscious and then bound him before removing him from the room.
Mika’s posture changed. Looking at Kane, her eyes softened. “Please, Kane.”
“Don’t do this, Mika.” He stepped forward.
But his movement made her tense back up. She pulled me to my feet, resting her pointed nails on my throat. “But what do I do now? You were supposed to tell me that I was right. Tell me that this has all been a game, and you…” She faltered for a moment. “You were supposed to tell me you
