Page 65 of Lies That Blemish
Liana gave a growl of protest and then kicked off into the sky.
Maxim watched her go, the sides of his lips curling.
“She didn’t want to stay for dinner?” he asked. His voice was cold and grating.
“I don’t think she likes Luskin food,” I told him.
He laughed, and so did every single other soldier there. But they only laughed after he did, and it was fake sounding, like puppets following their master.
“It was smart of you to come,” he said as he walked over to me, circling me like a hawk.
I clenched my fists. “You didn’t leave me much choice. Where is my sister?”
“Come and I’ll show you.” He outstretched his hand as if expecting me to take it.
Hah!
I ignored the offered hand but stepped forward, indicating I would follow him. He didn’t look pleased, and the cold glare he gave me sent a shiver down my spine.
‘Take my hand.’His voice boomed in my mind, and then, without my own doing, my hand moved into his. He clasped his cold fingers around mine, and my eyes flew wide.
“No,” I said, trying to yank my hand away from him, but I had no power over my own limbs. He had the same power as me! That made sense. He, too, was bonded to a female firebird.
‘Don’t fight me,’he ordered in my mind, and I went still.
The people around us said nothing. I was worried about my sister and for my country, but I had to end this.
Now.
I tried to gather my power, to fight him and force him to stop in the same way he was forcing me. It was clear that his firebird, which I had yet to meet, had given him the same power to control people.
But when I attempted to pull for that specific power, I felt the reservoir empty.
I was still frozen, my hand in his as my eyes flew wide.
Maxim gave me an evil grin then and leaned into my ear.
“Oh, my bride-to-be, did you not feel it when I drained your power?”
No. No. No.
Had he? Was that how he did it? Wasthathis power?
Kohen’s past words floated to me as if on the wind:I just know that you lose it, that there is a time you need it, and it doesn’t come to you.
Maxim grinned ever wider. “You’re trying to figure it out. How cute. Let me spell it out for you, darling.” His Luskin accent was thick at some points and then nonexistent, as if he was pretending to be Amersean for me. It was weird. Leaning into my ear again, he breathed over my neck, and I felt bile rise up inside of me.
“My power is the ability to take anyone else’s.” He pulled away and then gestured around him. “Which is why I surround myself with such talented comrades.” He laughed, and then ten seconds later, his lackeys laughed as well. He looked at me again. “Oh, but not just that. I can make your power go dormant in my presence as well, all while I’m using another person’s magic. That way, you can’t use it on me. Right, Whitney?” He peered at a blonde female who wore a tight smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“Yes, sir,” she quipped in a tight tone. Her eyes met mine for the briefest of seconds. There was a warning there, one that said,Be careful.
Message received.
This was going to be so much worse than I thought.
“You…” Maxim said, stroking my palm with his thumb and causing me to recoil, which he quickly controlled. “…are the final prize of my collection.”
I peered at the others, all smiling and looking jubilant, and I felt sick.
