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She was never theirs anyway. Not really. From the moment the songbird tried to appeal to the serpent, she was mine.
“So, who are you, little bird?” A rush of something dangerous hummed in my bones. “Yours, I suppose. For a little while.” My shadow made a noise, a sound deep and throaty like a growl. He leaned his masked face near mine, the heat in his strange eyes burned in desire. “Speak more words like that, and I will need to keep you longer than a little while.”
“What ways are you thinking of slitting my throat, Songbird?” “It’d be foolish of me to give up my plans,” she hissed. “I swear to you, it will be a show worth the wait.” “Such venom.” With one knuckle, I stroked her cheek. “Careful with your threats of my untimely death, love, or you might end up stealing my heart.”
We all have a darkness within us, and desperation to survive can reveal the cruelest pieces.”
“When I look at you, I do not see a whimpering captive. I see the schemes in that beautiful head that have not stopped spinning since you were brought here—” “Use better words. I was taken.” “I’m convinced you live to antagonize me.”
“What would you like me to call you, Songbird? My pet?” “Livia.” My name sliced between my teeth, jagged and harsh. I clenched my fists. “I would have you call me Livia Ferus, daughter of Valen and Elise, blood of the Night Folk fae. Blood that is not yours to win like some treasure.” “Ah, but you might be my greatest treasure.”
“Livia Ferus, blood of warriors, temptation of the Ever King, you have nothing to fear from me in here. I am the one who fears this place.”
“Say you hate me all you want, so long as all this is for me. Your cries, your taste, those ragged breaths. Those belong to me.”
“Still hate me?” “Always,” I said, desperate to either shove him back or pull him close. I gripped the quilts. Erik’s mouth turned up in a half grin, but his words were rife in something soft, something vulnerable. “Hate me all you want, but don’t regret me. Promise me that.”
“You are Livia Ferus,” he whispered. The way his head tilted into me, no mistake, it would appear the king had his mouth all over my throat. I didn’t move away; I soaked up his every word as he went on. “Daughter of warriors, blood of the Night Folk fae, painter of windows, challenger of the Ever King. These people can do nothing to you.”
“No one catches you when you fall, Erik. Not even a king can hold such a weight alone.”
“I am in your hands, I am at your command, for you have made me love you, and you will be my destruction because of it.”
“Crown or no crown,” I said softly, “I will always belong to you.” Erik let out a sharp breath. His lips curved into a villainous grin. “To attack the king is one thing,” he repeated, a new darkness to his tone. With the blade in hand, he went to Snake Eyes and gripped the rope around his neck, wrenching the man’s head back. Erik dragged his face alongside the assassin’s. “But to attack his queen will send you to the Otherworld in pieces.”
They are stronger together, and I for one, like the king a great deal more when the earth queen is near.”
