He closed his eyes, a deep growl rumbling from his throat.
Pain shot through my neck, and my lungs burned. Violent impulses gripped my mind, and in its dark recesses, blood ran down a pale arm, pooling on the pavement.
I kicked him hard in the crotch, but it didn’t seem to faze him. My throat, my lungs were on fire.
I closed my eyes, screaming through the mental link to Adonis. Adonis. Now. I need you here now. How far was he? Could he get here before Aereus tore me to pieces?
Aereus pulled down the shoulder of my dress, exposing Adonis’s mark. He snarled hungrily at the sight of exposed flesh, pressing his enormous body into me. “So Adonis protects you, does he? Does he know what you really are? Does he know what you could do, my little poison flower? You could destroy us all.”
Aereus pulled me away from the wall for just a moment before slamming the back of my head into the stone. Pain splintered my skull, and the urge to go feral nearly overpowered me.
One of Aereus’s meaty hands was on my waist, moving up toward my breasts, and I choked down bile.
“Why isn’t he coming for you now?” he hissed. “Adonis. Why isn’t he here, when I’m taking what’s his? He should be pulling me off of you.”
He squeezed one of my breasts. Fury exploded in my mind. I kicked at Aereus, my glamour fading fast. He was choking me again, squeezing the life out of me. Mentally, I screamed for Adonis.
Aereus’s fingers dug into my flesh, his eyes darkening. “If Adonis isn’t coming for you now, then it means he’s nowhere near us, is he? And you’re at war with yourself still.” Aereus pressed in closer, his magic overwhelming me. “A woman who thinks she enjoys pleasure, but she denies herself what she truly wants. A woman who won’t let herself give in, won’t let herself remember all the things she’s done.”
Adonis’s image ignited in my mind, the memory of his fingers on my skin. Would my last thoughts be of the angel of death?
Chapter 33
Losing air. Can’t breathe.
“What scares you the most, Bringer of Light, is that something terrible will happen to your sister. That you’ll be all alone in the world, trapped at the edge of the dark, dark void. And there, you have to face the real monster, don’t you? There, you’d have to face yourself.”
I kicked him hard in the groin again, and he dropped me for a moment.
I sucked in a sharp, rough breath. “Don’t you dare touch my sister.”
A powerful backhanded smack cracked my skull, and I fell to the floor, my head throbbing.
“I’ll tell you what’s going to happen, Ruby.” His voice was low, controlled. He pressed his boot into my neck, cutting off my air again. At least my hands were free now.
I reached for my boot, inching my leg up, closer to my hand. Aereus wasn’t paying attention to my hands, focused instead on my reddening face.
“I’m going to kill you in the most painful way possible,” he growled. “I’m going to delight in the sound of your screams as I break you on my iron wheel. I will revel in the beauty of your blood feeding my roses. Before you die, I want you to know that when I kill Hazel, I’ll take even longer to rip her body apart.”
Teeth in flesh, breaking bones. I’m not Ruby anymore. I’m your worst nightmare. I ripped the knife from my boot, then drew it across the back of his ankle. Just enough—just enough to weaken him, not enough to knock him out.
His eyes widened at the feel of Devil’s Bane entering his blood. Then, he stumbled away from me, eyes bulging. Frantic, I gasped for air, my breath ragged in my throat from my position on the floor.
“Poison!” he roared. His boot slammed into my ribs, and I felt the crack of bone.
Maybe I hadn’t given him quite enough poison. Slowly, I pushed myself up onto my elbows again, gripping the knife. Aereus stumbled toward me, stepping on my wrist.
I screamed with pain, dropping the knife. I rolled away from him, agony splintering my ribs where he’d kicked me.
Get up, Ruby. I forced myself to my knees, then rose, my eyes locked on the horseman of war.
He’d snatched an iron tool off the table—a sharp, claw-like thing. I couldn’t let it anywhere near me. He looked a little unsteady on his feet, but he wasn’t going down yet.
“You’re not going to touch my sister,” I hissed as a volcanic fury erupted in my mind.
Kill. Rip out his throat. Bathe in his blood.
My canines pricked at my tongue, and I darted across the room for my knife. Without realizing what I was doing, I found myself lifting the blade to my lips. I licked Aereus’s blood off the knife. Devil’s Bane didn’t hurt the fae.
Ambrosia, rich and sweet as honey. I wanted more.
My gut tightened. Stay in control. Get from him the information that you need.
My prey staggered back, the iron tool gripped in his hands as the poison slowly took effect.
“I will make you submit.” He lunged for me, and I sidestepped.
A vicious smile curled my lips as I started to feel in control. I lunged for him, fast as the wind through the trees, and nicked his skin again, then leapt away from him.
He grunted, fear glinting in his eyes, and he clutched his arm where I’d cut him. “How did you learn about Devil’s Bane?” A thin line of spit trickled from his mouth, and he dropped the iron tool.
Earthy fog began to cloud my mind, and I tried to think clearly. I needed something from this beast… I needed…
Roaring, he flicked his wrist. A wave of hot, arid magic slammed me into the wall.
The blow sent a shock of adrenaline snapping through my nerve endings, and a bubble of clarity illuminated my mind for a moment. I threw my knife, and it landed in his shoulder. He howled.
This horseman could withstand a lot more Devil’s Bane than the skinny one. I rushed for him, snatching my knife from his shoulder again.
Think, Ruby. Don’t let the beast take over completely.
I scrambled to remember how words worked. “Tell me,” I rasped. Something other than blood that I needed from him. “Tell me.”
He staggered back, his features slackened. “Of course someone who looks like you would conceal a festering monster inside. The seeds of destruction grow in the gardens of paradise, do they not?”
“Garden!” I shouted, though I wasn’t sure why. The rational part of my mind was fighting for control. I bit down hard on the powerful urge to hurl my knife into his heart and just end it all.
He kept stumbling away—running from me, and my hunter’s instincts were kicking in. Kill the prey.
I prowled after him, my sights locked on his slumping shoulders, his weakening body.
My prey grabbed another tool from the table—a sharp iron knife. The fucker wasn’t giving up easily.
Mustering all the restraint I could, I grabbed a blade from the table, wincing at the feel of iron burning my skin.
“Garden.” The word tumbled out of my mouth again. With lethal precision, I hurled the iron spike at my prey. It pierced his wrist, and he dropped his weapon.