Page 75 of For the Ghastly and Beautiful

The water from his body pools in a ball above him, taunting and just out of reach. It’s a tarnished liquid that I don’t want touching me.

“Your first mistake was thinking I’m weak,” I rasp, my throat aching from his hold.

I walk around him, sitting in the middle of his chest and pinning his arms down with my knees. I smile cruelly; he’s pushed me over the edge. The drying blood on my face cracks as my cheeks round in triumph.

“Your second?” I question, poking the end of his nose as his breathing becomes more shallow under my weight. “Assuming I would lay back and take it.”

He struggles for oxygen, an audible inhale whining past his lips as I deprive him of life.

“I’ve been saving myself since well before I washed up on the Mongrel shores. They told me I couldn’t survive here on my own. But the truth is… You need me to survive now. Don’t you, Poko?”

The storm outside calms as I nod my head. A parade of footsteps pound down the hall, and I know I’m running out of time. I only have one thing left to say that I’d like to leave between the two of us.

“I’m not what you thought I was. I’m not benevolent. This won’t be the first time I’ve taken a life; it’s just the first time I’ve had to get my hands dirty.”

I drop the ball of water to surround Poko’s head, drowning him with his sullied life. I hope his last thoughts are how he should have stayed with his queen.

The door to my room crashes onto the floor, Talodus stumbling with the force of his kick. They crowd in, ready to fight. Then all four take in the scene in front of them.

Poko may still live if I drop the water. Before they get their wits about them, I voice my newest concern.

“How much trouble will I be in if I kill him now?”

“If you kill him?” Connak questions, stepping forward.

“He’s dead already.” Talodus states, shaking his head.

“No,” I stress. “He’s alive, but barely. I need to know the risk.”

Ecaeris allows himself to really look at me, taking in the healing cut on my forehead, the blood on my face, the scratches down my thigh. When he sees the ripped pieces of my skirt, the muscles in his neck twitch.

“You don’t have to kill him, Ada,” Talodus says, soothing and gentle. “We can do it.”

“Answer me,” I demand. “I need to know before I go too far.”

“Kill him.” Ecaeris doesn’t sound like himself. Rage rides his voice, his tone the most terrifying thing I’ve witnessed all night. But I’m not scared of the Mongrel Prince.

I climb off Poko, kneeling beside him as I observe the very end of his struggle. I lean down to whisper, “I’m sorry it had to be this way. It’s a hard lesson to learn about underestimating your opponents.”

“What happened?” Tal asks as Imryll kneels beside me to check his pulse.

“Not much,” I deadpan as the doctor shakes his head.

Ecaeris sighs. “Are you okay?”

“I will be after I bathe.”

“Ada,” Imryll murmurs. “We need more than that. We need to understand what happened.”

“Isn’t it fucking clear, Imy,” Connak grits.

I push back to sit on my butt, begging the stars for patience. I’m going to have to explain more to these men than I want to… But I know where to start.

“Poko has been stalking me since I arrived. Rin and I figured it out a few days ago when he got aggressive in the village.” I glance at Ecaeris and grimace. “He saw us together the day I arrived and thought it was something that it wasn’t at the time.

“He’s also the person who raped Rin last year. He enjoyed throwing that in my face. And I’m sure he’s been getting his rocks off ever since it happened, because he’s been around her so much with no one the wiser.

“Anyway. When I went to open my door, he attacked me from behind. He said it was the only time he’d seen me without one of you, and he had to take his chance. Which also tells me ‌he was already up here, and had one of you been with me, he would have waited and snuck off once we weren’t in the hallway.”