Page 171 of War Queen
Fate, he’d said.
Well, curse fate, and curse the gods, and curse this king who thought he could take Mikael from her.
Norah ripped her dagger from her waist and let out a cry as she plunged it forward, but he caught it and twisted her wrist outward, and she dropped the blade.
Adrian pulled his sword and lunged to her aid, but Lucien bared his teeth, and suddenly Adrian sank to his knees, screaming as he held his head in his hands.
Lucien was still in his mind. He couldn’t control him, but he could make Adrian feel pain. Norah delivered a hard kick to Lucien’s inside thigh, almost dropping him.
Adrian fell forward in relief and struggled to stand.
But Lucien still held her. She clawed at his eyes, and when he raised his arm to shield himself, she reached for the dagger at his waist. He stunned her with an elbow to her face, making her stumble back. As she lost her balance, he grabbed her again. He held her by the throat, but not tight enough to choke her.
Blood trickled from her lip, and the taste of metal filled her mouth.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said angrily.
“Then don’t do this,” she hissed.
“I don’t have a choice,” he snarled back. “Fate is fate, Norah.”
“I won’t let you,” she said between her teeth.
“How will you stop me? With the Destroyer?” He looked at her curiously, and his expression changed. “No. He’ll do nothing. Neither will your king.” Then he kissed her.
She froze, too stunned to fight him. It wasn’t the kiss of affection, or even dominance. It was… strangely transactional.
Lucien pulled back with her blood on his lips. Then he closed his eyes and whispered into the air. She felt light-headed, but it passed quickly. He released her.
Adrian staggered and picked up his sword.
Lucien spun. “You don’t want to do that,” he said.
Adrian bared his teeth. “Brother or not, I think I do,” he spat.
Lucien stepped back from the both of them. Then he pulled the blade of his dagger from his waist and sliced it across his own hand.
A searing pain cut across Norah’s palm, and it pulled a cry from her lips. She gaped down in horror to see Lucien’s wound on her own hand.
“We’re bound now, you and I,” he said. “Tethered through blood. What happens to me also happens to you.”
She looked at Adrian, and he stopped his advance. Horror set across his brow. He could do nothing now. She glared back at Lucien.Bastard. He sought to protect himself by linking them together.
But if he thought this would give him power over Mikael and Soren, he was wrong. She wouldn’t let that happen. “I won’t tell them. So, all you’ve done is made me share your fate.”
He gave a cruel smile. “You might not”—he looked at Adrian—“but he will.”
Adrian trembled in rage.
“Do your duty, brother,” Lucien told Adrian. “Protect your queen.”
Lucien looked back at Norah, and the smile dropped from his lips. “I’m sorry, Norah,” he said, and stepped out of the tent, leaving them in the quiet of defeat.
Chapter forty-two
Norahsatontheedge of her bed, her eyes swollen from her tears, her cheek swollen from the blow of Lucien’s elbow. She hated that she was crying. Why was she crying? The pain had ebbed—it wasn’t enough to be emotional. She wasn’t sad, just… angry. And overwhelmed. She cursed herself for being soveryfoolish.
She clutched her hands together, rubbing her thumb over her palm where Lucien had sliced his own flesh. It had healed on the return ride, no doubt from the help of his healer. If only she could get the same benefit to her face, but that wasn’t a shared injury between them.
