Page 88 of A Bond So Deadly

“Is that so?” King Malgur replies. “And where is this forest?”

I hesitate. Firstly, because I don’t actually know the names of any of the forests in the shadow realm. Secondly, I hate the idea of sending the Xalgrith somewhere they might cause harm. And thirdly, because my guys are on their way here. If we leave, they might never find me.

King Malgur pulls out a small, curved knife from his belt, and the blood drains from my face.

“Is the room spinning or is it just me?” I murmur to the shadows. I’ve seen the demons torture prisoners, and I know how this goes. The captive usually tries to be brave and holds out for as long as they can, but by the time they’re a bloody mess and they’ve endured unspeakable pain, they eventually give in and spill the beans anyway.

In my case, I’m in a worse position. I’m neither brave, nor do I have any useful secrets to divulge.

Sweat beads on my brow, and I breathe heavily as King Malgur runs the flat side of his curved blade along my cheek. “I told you it makes no difference to me whether you stand by my side or whether you’re broken and on display for your mates. But the knowledge of where you found this power… well, you should know that I will do anything to get it.”

My pulse quickens as he drags the knife across my cheek again before pulling it back. “I think we’ll start with your arm, shall we?” He jerks his head, and one of the guards lifts my right arm higher into the air.

A cracked sob escapes me as he positions his knife to my forearm. “Oh crap. Oh holy crap. This is it. I’m going to die. Tell Blake and the guys to get revenge for me, will you?”

“You can get your own revenge, girl,” Elgen says. “They’re almost here.”

“What? Who?” My brain isn’t working, and her words don’t sink in. All I can think about is the knife. I imagine the pain as King Malgur carves my skin and flesh away from my arm. How long will it be until I pass out from the agony?

“Please don’t,” I blurt. “I don’t know where it is, but I can help you look for the power. You said yourself, that you sensed it on me. And it always helps to have another set of eyes!”

The king ignores me, and my heart thunders. Just as his knife is poised at the skin below my elbow, my whole body trembling, Professor Yevar reaches into his robes.

“You don’t need to waste your time doing that, Your Grace,” the professor says with a bored tone.

The blade is pressed against my skin, so close to cutting into my flesh, but King Malgur pauses.

Professor Yevar holds up a familiar black and blue object, and my heart sinks when my gaze lands on my phoenix’s egg.

“No!” I cry out.

Professor Yevar’s smile turns smug. “See? This egg belongs to her creature. The one she’s to bond with.” He moves toward the massive jagged opening on the right side of the room that looks out into the heart of the volcano, and I stare in horror as his shadows wind around my creature’s egg and reach through the opening, suspending my egg in the air. If he drops it, my creature’s egg will fall to the lava below. “Now, Shade, do stop wasting our time and tell the king what he wishes to know. Because if you don’t, well,” he chuckles darkly, “let’s just say you won’t have to worry about your creature anymore.”

I want to believe this is a bluff, but given everything I know about Professor Yevar, I know it’s not.

“I can’t,” I rasp, my heart feeling like it’s about to explode. “I told you. I have no idea what power you’re all even talking about. I don’t⁠—”

Professor Yevar gives me a pitying smile, and then to my horror, he opens his hand.

I don’t think about what I do next. Power explodes from me, and I catch everyone off guard as I push the warriors away and start running. The egg is no longer in sight, but my phoenix risked her life for me, and I can’t let her die.

I rush toward the opening, and Tarlaz yells a warning at me, but I’m moving too fast to stop.

I pitch over the edge, just as the doors to the throne room slam open behind me.

“Shade!” Thane’s desperate voice cracks across the room, and I try to look back, but by the time I do all I see is rock and open air.

I’m falling.

Down. Down. Down.

The air whistles past me, and I scream as I fall face-first toward the lava. I try to reach out with my shadows, but it’s like my brain is frozen. Was that really Thane?

My phoenix’s egg is already in the lava. It bobs on the surface before sinking, and my heart cracks. I failed her. It feels like everything moves in slow motion as I fall, and Xalgrith warriors watch from the tunnels, shouting as I descend toward the fiery pit.

The heat is nearly unbearable against my skin, and I hiss.

I can’t die. Not now. Not when the guys just found me.