Sloane Briallen

TW on threatened sexual assault towards the end of the chapter.

Savita’s intrusion in my mind, while unwelcome, hadn’t been nearly as bad as I was expecting.  I had been expecting to be thrown into bad memories, just like I had been with that truthseeker before. 

But, it turned out Savita wasn’t bad.  I still felt her when she went in my head, but it was just gentle tugging, as if I was trying to remember something that had slipped my mind.  With Mira, I wouldn’t have felt anything, but as far as experiences went, this one wasn’t bad.  In fact, the pain I had had before, whenever I thought about what that first truthseeker had done, had finally stopped.  I didn’t know if Savita fixed it, or if I had just gotten over it.

All of which was to say, I wasn’t as upset from having my mind read as I would have anticipated. 

But I was still fucking pissed with Karhi.  I couldn’t get the image of him sitting on the ground, surrounded by broken glass and dried blood, drawing pictures in his arms.

I had nothing against people who self-harmed.  It was a way to cope.  But I knew that Karhi wasn’t fucking coping.

So, when Karhi tried to talk to me as he led me to the infirmary, I gave him the finger and told him, “Don’t talk to me.”

“Sloane, I wanted to a—”

I spun on my heel and punched him as hard as I could in the mouth. 

He just barely dodged the attack, but I got a glancing blow off his chin.  “Perkele,” Karhi cursed, his hand flying to his face where I hit.  “Fuck, Sloane.”  He rubbed his jaw, but I hadn’t done any real damage.  His reflexes were always better than I expected.

I gave him the finger again.  “I don’t want to hear another fucking apology.”

“I wasn’t going to apologize.”

I glared at him.  “You weren’t?”

“No.”

I gritted my teeth.  On the one hand, I really didn’t want to hear another apology.

On the other hand, I really did want to hear an apology.  But I didn’t want these weird fucking apologies for “failing me” or whatever.  I wanted a genuine apology for abandoning me when I needed him.

I growled unintelligibly and continued walking.  “Fine.”

“Sloane—”

“No, fuck off Karhi.  I don’t . . .” 

I didn’t what?

My movements slowed, and I hesitated.  What had I been saying?  Why was I . . .

Wait, what was that feeling?  It was like something brushing my thoughts.  Something . . . trying to make me forget.

I rounded on Karhi, furious.  “No,” I roared.  “Get out of my head.” 

I shot off, sprinting away from him.  This fucker, trying to use his fuscopathy on me.  Fuck him, I wouldn’t—

I slammed into a wall and bounced off, landing on my ass on hard stone.

I blinked, dazed from the sudden unexpected interruption in my path.  I looked up to see Karhi standing there.  We were in the hallway that led out to the breezeway between the Royal Wing and the castle proper.

“Sloane,” Karhi said.  He was holding his hands out to me like he was trying to calm a wild animal.  “Let’s talk.”

“You lost that ability when you used your powers on me,” I growled, getting to my feet.

“Oh, because you would have let me talk if I hadn’t?”

Probably not.  But that didn’t matter.  “What the fuck useful thing could you have to say?”

“Nothing.”

I stopped.  What?  What did that mean?

“Look, Sloane, I wasn’t trying to apologize.  I was trying to say that I wanted to address—not apologize, you cut me off—this wall that’s come between us.  I’ve been a shitty sire this week.  And a shitty friend.  You needed me, and instead of listening to you, I made everything about me.”

My confusion turned into full on shock.  I would never have expected this level of self-awareness from Karhi.  Mister Gets-high-on-heroin-to-avoid-his-problems.  Mister Trauma Avoidant.  Mister Rarely-met-a-problem-he-couldn’t-run-from.

“I should have been watching out for you.  I should have been walking you through how to sire.  I should have been making sure you were safe.  I should have been here for you way more than I have been.  Sloane, I’m sorry.  For failing you.  And I know I said that before, but I didn’t understand that how I thought I was failing you wasn’t how I was actually failing you.”

My fists clenched.  “I needed help, Karhi.”

“I know.  And I made it about me.”

I thought I was done with tears, after all the tears I shed talking to Mickey.  Apparently fucking not because I felt the sting building behind my eyes.  Sometimes I desperately wished my anger wasn’t hardwired to my tear ducts.  “You gave me all that shit, early on when you first turned me, about how I needed to stay with you to learn about becoming a vampire.  You were mean to me about it.  Broke my lease.  Made me live with you.

“But you did it.  You taught me to drink blood.  You taught me to hunt animals.  You took care of me when I forgot to drink blood.  You bitched about it the whole way, but you opened a vein when I needed it.

“And then, when we’re finally on good terms, when we went through all of that around Samhain,” I said, waving my hand in a vague circle to signify “all of that”, “you fucking bail the minute I actually ask for help.”  I wiped the back of my hand across my eyes, trying to get the tears before they fell.  “The minute I actually finally trusted you, you backed out.  I needed you.  I—”

I didn’t even get to finish my sentence before Karhi had enveloped me in a tight embrace.  He brought one hand to the base of my skull, cupping it, and the other over my back, resting on my ribs.  “I know,” he said, his mouth next to the back of my head.  “I was being stupid.  I was letting all of my shit cloud everything.  It wasn’t fair to you.”

This . . . was not how I had been expecting this to go.  Honestly, I was about ready to completely write Karhi off.  Once this was done, once I had hit my year mark, I was going to leave.  Move back in with Mira or whatever.  I hadn’t made it that far in that line of thought.  I just knew I wasn’t okay with things staying as they were.

But here was Karhi.  He was apologizing to me, and I could feel his sincerity in my bones.  He knew he had fucked up.  He knew that he needed to make it up to me.  And this time, instead of his regret coming from some weird, nebulous feeling of having failed me by turning me, his regret was because he hadn’t been there when I needed him.

Finally, I said, “If we’re going to have any sort of relationship—fledgling-sire, friends, whatever—you need to talk to me.  You can’t just get in your head and decide you know what I want or need.  I’m not doing this again.”

He nodded against my head.  “I understand.”

“And you never use your powers on me,” I growled.

At that, he pulled away to look at me, but he still held me.  There was a smirk on his face.  “Can’t promise that, since I use it on my siblings because I can.  You won’t be any different.  Especially because my powers only temporarily scramble your brain.  It’s not possible to leave permanent damage.”

I scowled, about to protest, but he cut me off.

“However, you did a damned good job of kicking me out of your head.  So, who knows how far I’ll ever get.”

I glared at him even though I knew he was right.  Mira was in my head regularly enough that I couldn’t even find enough energy to be mad.  Especially because, behind Karhi’s actions, I could feel his intentions, which weren’t malicious.  And yeah, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  But I had also spent seven years with Mira where all she ever did was use her powers on me with good intentions.  And I didn’t have the brain scramblies. 

Finally, I said, “You promise you’ll actually listen to me?  And talk to me?”

“Yes,” he said.  “I promise.  I even promise that I’ll make an effort to be helpful.”  He grinned—Christ, he had nice dimples.  “Though, I can’t make any promises about how useful those efforts will be.”

I shook my head, but I didn’t fight him.  I let my hands rest on his arms, and I leaned against his shoulder.  “Fine,” I said into his sweater.  My eyes still stung, but the tears had stopped.  I was tired.

We stayed like that for a few more minutes before I said, “That night you turned me.” 

He stiffened against me.  I felt his regret, but I also felt his resolve not to fall back into that same self-pitying shit.  He was going to listen and actually hear me. 

I lifted my head finally to look at him.  His eyes were their normal pale grey, not the storm clouds I had been seeing.  He was listening.

“I don’t remember it well,” I said.  I had been so very, very drunk.  But I remembered enough to remember making a decision.  “I wanted to die that night.”

I felt his hesitation like a knot in my chest.  He wanted to argue with me, tell me I didn’t know what I was talking about.  But he also wanted to listen to me, like he had promised he would.

“My birthday is fraught.  My mom went into the hospital before, and died not long after, my birthday.  My adoption went through.  Mickey and Bell disappeared.  Some other things.”  I wasn’t ready to tell him about my father, even though I knew that he, of all people, would understand.

“I was fucking broken when we met.  And you were the first vampire I had really interacted with outside of patrons at the bar that wasn’t Aoife or your sisters.

“You were an out.  I was hoping that I could seduce you and get you to kill me.  Because I was too much of a fucking coward to do it myself.

“I’m sorry.”

Karhi pressed his lips together in a thin line, and I heard him clacking his tongue piercing against his teeth.  His emotions were a complicated knot at the base of my sternum, like bad heartburn.  I could only imagine what they felt like for him.

“Outside of when I went into frenzy when I was first turned, I’ve never killed a human from feeding before you.”

Oh shit.

“Sex with you was the first time, in decades, where I wasn’t fucked up and using a human to give me blood to get me high.”

Oh shit.

He finally pulled away from me, wrapping his arms around himself, like he was trying to hold himself together.  “I had had a rough time with Ilona the night before.  I was new to the city, and I hadn’t found the drug scene yet.  I was trying to find a way to cope without having access to heroin.  I found you, and I thought it would be fun to hook up with someone who seemed nice.  And I had fun with you.  Running with you on my back, listening to your excitement—it made me feel good.”

This was getting worse and worse.

“And you were really nice . . . you made me feel safe, as dumb as that sounds.  A human making a vampire feel safe? 

“But you did.  You checked with me that things were okay.  You made it clear that we both could say no at any point.  And you worked at the bar, so you knew about vampires.  I thought you hooked up with me because, at least somewhere in you, you trusted me even though I was a vampire.”  He shook his head as if trying to clear it.  “I projected so much weird shit on you.  You were my first encounter in decades where I felt like there was a choice.  I felt safe enough to take your word.  And you told me I could drink.  And I did.

“But I was drunk and horny and you were so encouraging and . . . I drank too much.”  He bit his lip and I realized that his eyes were glassy.  “And then I gave you too much blood, and I passed out.  I almost died trying to turn you.”  He laughed bitterly, tilting his head to meet his shoulder and wipe a tear that escaped off on his sweater.

“Fuck,” I whispered.  I had known what happened up to when I passed out.  I had never thought to ask about the aftermath.  I just . . . assumed he turned me and that was it.

“And, unless it involves heroin, I hate feeding during sex.  I hate drinking blood.  Because that’s what she would have me do.  And what she would do to me.”

If I thought my heart could drop lower, I had been wrong.

“It was so stupid.  I know better.  I know how you’re supposed to turn.  But I guess I panicked.  I went too hard in the other direction when I realized what I had done.  Gave you more blood than you needed.”

Now I felt like the asshole.  I had been far too casual in asking him about that night.  I just thought he was upset that he turned me.  But it had been so much worse.  We had been having sex—something he already was nervous about because of Ilona—and I had used him.  But he hadn’t known that.  He had rightly assumed that he got carried away.  He never even considered that I may have had a part to play in manipulating it.

“I still don’t know how much I buy that you manipulated me,” Karhi said.  “But I guess . . . a combination of me being naive about turning, and you having a death wish . . . it isn’t a surprise that the night turned out the way it did.”

I could feel his regret and anger and revulsion all twisted inside of him.

He was five hundred years old, but he had spent so long under someone else’s thumb that he hadn’t ever really had a chance to grow as a person.  He had done his fucking best.  I saw how he was with his sisters and brother.  He loved them so much.  I felt it every time he was with them.  He was the ultimate eldest sibling.  Down to blaming himself when anything bad happened to the others.

He had learned to love while being repeatedly broken over and over again.  Shame and anger and sadness mixed in with desire and helplessness and the desperate hope to find some sort of softness and care.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“You don’t—”

I didn’t let him finish that sentence.  Instead, I wrapped my arms around him.  I held him tight, my chin on his shoulder. 

His response was immediate, pulling me in just as tight.  He buried his face into my shoulder.

It was a few minutes, maybe a bit longer, before Karhi said, voice muffled in my sweater, “I think we should start over.”

“I think you’re right.”

“When we get back to the Cities.  Recalibrate.”

“That sounds good.”

“Maybe finally get fucked up and see who can tell the worst story with a straight face.”

I huffed out a laugh, remembering that conversation from Samhain.  “No heroin.  I don’t get fucked up like that.”

I felt his smile against me.  That was word for word what I had said last time.  “Alcohol and weed then.”

“Perfect.”

He finally pulled away from me, but he took my hand and laced our fingers together.  “I haven’t checked in,” he said.  “By my count, you’ve killed four or five people since you got here.  Are you okay?”

I shrugged one shoulder.  Objectively, I understood that I should maybe be upset by that.  But in practice, I couldn’t muster up enough energy to care.  The people I had killed had either tried to hurt me, or tried to hurt someone else.  “I’m okay for now.”

“You’ll tell me if that’s no longer the case?”

I nodded.  And, for the first time since I had gotten here, my head was quiet.  No dull keening or screaming.  No fear.  No magic making my head feel cottony.  I wasn’t fixed or all better, but I felt on even footing for the first time in days.

“How sentimental.”

Karhi and I both started, looking up to see Saeran.  Neither of us had sensed him coming.  We had gotten more wrapped up in ourselves than I had realized.

“Saeran,” Karhi said curtly.  I didn’t say anything, glaring at him.

“I didn’t realize you would be so much like Ilona,” Saeran said, glancing from me to Karhi to our hands.  “I guess you had to pick up some bad habits from her.”

No no no.  We just got back to being normal again.  Comparing Karhi to Ilona?  After all Ilona had done?  I glanced at Karhi, going to pull my hand away, but he tightened his grip.  And curiously, he didn’t look angry.  Nor did I feel a lot of anger.  Just annoyance and exasperation.

“Oh, come now, Saeran.  Don’t I at least get points since Sloane is Free?  Ilona would never have been interested in me if I was Free from her.”

I blinked, looking from Saeran to Karhi and back.  What?

Karhi pressed on and there was a savage edge to his words.  “I’m only related to Ilona because she’s my sire, though.  You’re related by blood.  I would think you probably inherited some bad habits.”  Karhi gave him a very pointed onceover.  “Certainly her penchant for sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong because she can’t get over her own ego.”

Saeran’s jaw clenched.  “You are a guest of my mother’s, but mark my words—”

“Since when does anyone being a guest matter to you?” I cut in.  “If you’re going to make your move, make it now.”

Saeran’s mouth snapped shut, his lips pressing together in a tight, angry line.  One corner of his mouth jumped, but he didn’t have anything to say in reply.  His eyes were deep violet.

“He won’t,” Karhi said.  He glanced at me before looking at Saeran again.  “The Queen has forbidden it.”

Saeran bared his teeth.  “If you’re still alive by the time my mother finally steps down, I’ll make sure to revisit the agreements she’s made with you.”

“You assume that you’ll still be a recognized heir at that point.”  Karhi shook his head, making a disapproving noise though his teeth.  “I’ve been around long before you, Saeran, and I’ll be around long after you.  Who knows?  Maybe I’ll even have the honor of seeing the end of your reign.”

I didn’t even see Saeran move.  I just felt Karhi’s hand jerk out of mine, and suddenly Saeran was up against the wall, feet dangling, hands scrabbling to get Karhi’s hand from around his neck.  Karhi’s face was mere inches from Saeran, lips pulled back from his teeth, baring fangs.  His grey eyes luminesced silver and claws had grown in place of nails.

Karhi grabbed one of Saeran’s hands and slammed it against the wall.  Stone shattered and Saeran’s wrist broke.  Saeran’s scream was cut off by Karhi’s hand around his neck, preventing air from getting in or out.

“We proved a long time ago who would win one-on-one, Saeran.  You may be the prince with a chip on his shoulder, angry and ready to fight, but you’ll never have the ruthlessness you need to win against me.”  His grip on Saeran’s wrist moved to his hand, and I heard the bones popping.  Saeran’s scream was muffled by Karhi’s grip on his throat.

I had never seen Karhi like this before.  I had seen him high out of his mind, sad, frustrated, happy—but I had never seen this quiet, coiled rage.  I had never really thought of him as someone who could be poked until they snapped, but seeing this side of him . . . I had heard rumors that he used to be an assassin of sorts for Ilona along with other things.

He was much more faceted than I had ever thought he could be.

This must have been how he felt in Phoenix, seeing the real me.  Though I don’t think I was quite so drastically different.

“I’m going to let you go.  We’re going to leave.  And if you ever go after Sloane again, I will end you.  I know you wouldn’t have the guts to come after me again.”  He tightened his grip on Saeran’s wrist again.  “Nod if you understand.”

Tears were pouring down Saeran’s face now from the pain and the lack of air.  The pain had to be excruciating because he nodded.

“Excellent.”

Karhi let go of Saeran, and he crumpled to the floor, cursing and crying.  His wrist and hand were mangled, jutting out at angles that didn’t look right.  I couldn’t throw up, but the sight did make my stomach roll, and I had to look away.

“The infirmary is right over there,” Karhi said, pointing down a hallway.  “You can get that seen to.”

Karhi stepped to me, took my hand again, and we continued walking.  He didn’t go towards the infirmary.  He went away from it.

When we had finally turned down another hallway, and Saeran was no longer in sight, I stopped walking, forcing Karhi to also stop or drag me along. 

“What was that?”  I honestly didn’t entirely know whether to be upset about what I had just seen . . . or kind of turned on?  There hadn’t been any cruelty in Karhi’s actions.  He hadn’t enjoyed what he was doing.  He had seen a threat, and he neutralized it the best way he knew how.  And maybe I’m fucked up but seeing that level of assuredness from Karhi—seeing him so confident that what he was doing was correct and right, and not backing down—it was hot.

The confidence immediately crumbled, and he grimaced.  “I’m sorry you had to see that.  I wasn’t intending to lose my temper with him.  But then he lunged at you, and I couldn’t let that pass.”

I would take him at his word that Saeran had lunged at me, because I hadn’t seen Saeran move.  I also hadn’t seen Karhi move.  But it checked out, based on all my interactions with Saeran up to now.

“I mean, I’m not mad.  I just haven’t ever seen you like that before.  You were fine and then suddenly you were pissed.”

“No one can evoke reactions like that quite like Saeran can.”

“He’s like that annoying yappy dog that keeps going after the old, big dog.  One day the big dog finally has enough and whaps him and launches him out of the room.”

Karhi made a choked noise before he burst out laughing.  “What?”  He brought his free hand up to cover his mouth as he laughed.  “Did you just call the prince a yorkie?”

“I didn’t specify the type of dog.”

“What does that make me?”  He started walking again and I followed.

“Mmm . . . German Shepherd.  Gentle for the most part, but savage if poked.” 

He contemplated that, frowning thoughtfully.  After a moment, he nodded.  “I can get behind that.  You’re an Irish Wolfhound then.”

I raised an eyebrow at him.  “What?”

“Long legs, loud, intimidating, but mostly just fiercely loyal and protective.”

I had to avert my eyes at the unexpected compliment.  “Christ,” I muttered.

“What?”

“Warn a girl.”

He smiled, and it was dazzling.  His dimples were going to be the thing that finally killed me.  “I’ll make sure you know the next time I’m going to describe you to yourself.”

I glared at him.  I could feel my face heating up.

“Ah,” he said, looking ahead.  “Here we are.”

We had come up to a juncture of our hallways with a large hallway that I realized went to the dining hall.  Where the halls met, there was a door at the top of the T. 

“We took a bit of the long way to get away from Saeran, but here we are,” he said.  He continued forward, pushing the door open.

It led out into the main courtyard of the castle.  In front of us, across the expanse of land before me, was a massive black metal gate easily two stories high and just as wide.  It was shut and faced an open field before it turned into forest.

I heard goats and cows but when I looked up, I couldn’t see them.  I had heard them during my castle-exploring, too.  This time I could pinpoint that they appeared to be coming from some buildings off to one side. 

The sun was sinking in the sky, close to sunset.  The shadows were growing long.  The weather had been surprisingly bright recently.  No clouds or anything, just sun.  It was nice. 

The walkways were clear in front of us, leading to other buildings and parts of the castle wall that were visible.  Snow hedged the stone, trampled and beaten down from people cutting across.

Karhi pointed to a part of the castle that jutted out to my right.  “That’s the infirmary.  There’s an entrance just around the corner from us.  You can drop in there, let Cyly know you’re there, and you can stay outside.  Avoids being stuck in what amounts to a hospital ward, but you’re close by.  Plus, I know you like being outside because it feels less like magic all the time.”

I squeezed his hand.  “Thanks.”

“Sure.  Do you want me to go in with you?”

I shook my head.  “Nah.  I’ve kept you long enough.  I know the queen has to talk to you.  Probably tested her patience long enough.”

He chuckled.  “I suppose.  Alright.  I’ll come check on you when I’m free.”

“Sure.  No rush.”  I finally let go of his hand.  “See you later.”

“Yeah . . .”

I felt his sudden uncertainty.  I glanced at him with a raised eyebrow.

He leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek before I could react.  It was just a quick brush of his lips on my skin.  I froze in surprise, and Karhi pulled back.  His expression echoed his uncertainty, but I didn’t say anything.  We just stared at each other.

Karhi was the first to break himself out of it.  “Yeah.  Um . . . bye.”

“Bye . . .”

He ducked back into the castle, leaving me confused and dumbfounded. 

“What . . . ?” I murmured. 

I had made out with Karhi.  I had slept with him both euphemistically, as well as literally.  I had held his hand while he was on the comedown.  I had held him while he cried and vice versa.  We had developed a level of rapport where I thought we were probably becoming friends.

He had never kissed me on the cheek.

Why did that feel more intimate than literally fucking?

I shook my head.  That could be examined later.  I needed to go speak with Cyly first.

I followed where Karhi had pointed to get to the door into the infirmary.

Something slammed into me.  It took me down to the ground, knocking the breath out of me.  Pain cracked up my skull and stars shot through my vision.  The scent of juniper and cypress filled my nose. 

Before I could speak, a hand clamped over my mouth.  My vision finally cleared to see Saeran over me, straddling me and keeping me from screaming.  He had my arms pinned to my sides with his knees.

Fear seized me, panic stilling my senses.  The evening was quiet except for the sound of Saeran’s heavy breathing above me and the pounding of my own heartbeat.

“I knew you would respond to this,” Saeran said, his face cracking into an awful, satisfied grin.  He leaned over to whisper in my ear.  “All women respond to power when you show it to them like this.  I will make you show some respect.”

His breath hit my ear, hot and wet.  Just like that night.  It was ragged and harsh against my skin.  My eyes stung, and I couldn’t stop the tears that brimmed.

“Finally,” he said, pulling away.  “Was that so hard?  To show me the proper respect?”  He adjusted himself against me, and I felt something against my thigh.  It was hard, and fear took control.  I bucked against him, trying to free my hands.

The movement bought me Saeran’s hand moving just enough against my lips.  I opened my mouth and bit down as hard as I could, snatching my hands out from where he had them pinned to my legs.

He howled in pain, jerking away.  Before I could buck again, he slapped me so hard that my teeth clacked together, and I bit my cheek.  Hot blood filled my mouth, mixing with his blood.

His hands clamped on mine, pinning them to the ground on either side of my head.  Warm blood dripped on one hand only for a moment, the wounds presumably healing.

“That was the hand your stupid sire broke, you fucking cunt,” he hissed.  His hands on my wrists tightened until I could feel my bones grinding against each other.

“What do you want?” I shrieked at him, the words barely intelligible behind the blood in my mouth and the tears running down my face.

“What do I want?” he snarled.  “A lot of things.  I want you gone.  Your lack of respect is enough.  But then you put my brother and sister in danger with this.”  He tapped the necklace on my chest.  He leaned over and hissed, “You’re a fucking liability.”

“Someone poisoned me!” I shouted at him.

He pulled away to look at me.  His eyes had shaded into a furious bright red.  “Yes, and I thank you for your service in saving my brother.  But I do not thank you for the danger you put him in by having no fucking control of yourself.  You can be an asset and a liability at the same time.”

I felt the hard thing in his pants against me again.  This fucker was getting off on this.

And then the hard thing vibrated against my leg.

It was a phone.  A phone.  Not his dick.

The relief that realization hit me with gave me enough strength to finally think clearly.  That coupled with Saeran’s brief surprise at his phone let my training finally kick in.

I got my knees bent behind where he straddled, and hooked one of my legs over his.  He tried to settle his weight back, keeping me from moving, but the movement was enough that his grip on my wrists loosened.

I bucked up, and he rocked forward, hands moving to brace his fall against me.  That gave me enough wiggle room to pull my wrists out of his grip.  I grabbed the arm on the same side as the leg I had hooked and I heaved up again, this time to the side.

I knocked him off me, landing between his legs.  I jumped to my feet, turning to run for the infirmary.

He had me before I was even fully turned,  slamming me into the side of the building and mashing my face into the stone.  “Your fighting is solid,” he said, shoving his forearm into my back and his hand against my skull.  “But you forget that without anyone here to save you, you’re nothing.  Before you die, think of it as a lesson.”  He pressed against me and murmured in my ear.  “A lesson in respect.”

Because, if you hadn’t disrespected me, this wouldn’t be happening.  Think of it as a lesson.

“No,” I screamed.

Green filled my vision, and Saeran shrieked.  The pressure let off and I spun around to see him backing away, the pads of his fingers completely gone, only bone where they had been.

Green flames licked at the ground around me and covered my arms.

Why wasn’t the fire spreading through him?

It didn’t matter.  He was hurt and scrambling away from me.

“Maybe Karhi was right that you take after Ilona, Saeran,” I growled, my voice reedy and thin.  “She didn’t know when to shut the fuck when dealing with me, either.” 

I stretched my hand behind me, ready to throw fire at him when I heard someone scream, “Sloane!”

That distraction was enough for me to look away to see Cailean.  And when I looked back, Saeran was gone.

“No!” I shrieked.  The green around me brightened.  “No, I can’t—”

A scent hit me, sweet and cloying.  It cut me off and my knees buckled.

The last thing I thought was, At least it’s not dead man’s blood.

And I was out.