Page 172 of Ashborne Forged

I recoiled. ‘I’d never use spells, or—’

‘You wouldn’t have to. They believe your blood carries power. And they want to breed you, because they can raise your child to be one of them. And that child will be strong. Extremely strong.’

My head spun. I almost laughed. It sounded so impossible. But Voski stared at me, not a hint of mirth, or wicked mischief. Not even the gleam that might make me think he was lying.

He believed this.

I swallowed and whispered aloud because this all seemed so unreal. “How can you be sure they’re—”

“Because I heard them talking about you. And because my mother’s helping.”

“Helping what?”

His face pinched for a moment, then cleared. “She believes you’re carrying my baby,” he whispered. “And she’s willing to help because I was born in this line, Grace. I’m one of them. Any child I have will be powerful in ways that could shift kingdoms.”

“Wh-what?”

I felt the fear in him, a surge—rejection, abandonment, loss. He was terrified. I took a step, reaching for him. But he rushed forward, pulling me to him, cupping my face, peering down at me, his eyes wide.

He was trembling.

“Voski, what’s happening?”

His forehead crumpled and he cursed, but he didn’t let me go. “I know it sounds crazy, but ask the dragons. It’s real. It’s true. It’s where I came from. I never wanted it, Grace, I swear. I didn’t understand. When I was young, when this started, I thought it was normal. I thought everyone did this. I didn’t know. She kept me apart. I only met other children who—”

“Voski, slow down. I don’t understand.”

“—were a part of their circle, and I was treated like a prince. I didn’t know!”

“Voski, breathe.”

“It took years to understand, and then I almost… I was willing to… to remove myself when I finally understood. You can ask Kham, he’s seen it all in my mind. He’s never judged me. He knew I didn’t understand what I was doing and the moment I did, I stopped—I swear, Grace!”

“I believe you!” I hushed, gripping his wrists, trying to break through because his eyes were so wide, I wasn’t even sure he saw me. His hands trembled on my face, but gripped, so hard. “I believe you!”

“God, I can’t do this again. Not with you,” he hissed and released me, turning on his heel, clawing a hand through his hair, pacing back and forth at the end of the bed.

“Do what?”

“After I decided to live, I swore I’d never come back. But when he took you. I thought he was merely political. She has influence. I knew she’d know how to get you back. She interferes with all kinds of schemes that have nothing to do with magik. I thought she’d help me if she believed we had a child. She’d never kill me because she wants my power. But I never imagined… I didn’t think you were a part of this.”

“I’m not!” I clapped a hand over my mouth as he froze and whirled to face me. ‘I’m not. I don’t know what you’re talking about. This sounds impossible.’

‘You’ve heard of it.’

‘Yes, but no one actually—’

‘Yes, Grace. They do.’ His expression became intense and he took a step closer. ‘You have to understand that if you’re going to survive this. These people are real. And they fear nothing except each other. They will kill, steal, or destroy anything, or anyone they believe can empower them—or stop them.’

‘And they want you?!’

He winced. ‘They did. Most of them believe I’m dead now, but tonight I found out they want you.’

‘But why?!’

He exhaled heavily, and his eyes became so sad. ‘Because you’re part of the blood. One of us. Obviously an ancient line. I don’t know if your parents know it, Grace, but the Cruor’s of the highest worldly power were in that room, and they talked about your bloodline as a fact. They want you. Breckon wants you as a wife and mother. The king wants you as a broodmare. And my mother…’

He trailed off and something twisted in my guts when his eyes darted away.