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He kept hold of the dagger.

A guard came through beside him with a sword aimed at my ribs. Lenora caught the blade on hers, turned it aside and kicked him into the wall.

Two more tried to follow.

“Right door,” Bryony called.

Stone swung across the lower hall and cut them off from Adrian. One jumped back. The other lost the end of his coat when the door closed.

The fourth guard stayed beyond the silver line.

Adrian drove his forehead into my face. Bone cracked across my nose. I didn’t release his wrist.

“You wanted the Blood King,” I said. “Here I am.”

I bit into his shoulder.

His blood hit my tongue, old and bitter from the commands he’d fed into his guards. I tore through cloth and flesh until he shouted. The sound pleased me more than the blood.

Adrian brought the dagger up between us.

I twisted. The black point missed my heart and opened my side from ribs to hip.

Pain burned across the cut. The wound stayed open.

He smiled against my hair. “That blade knows your blood.”

I hit his wrist against the stone again.

The heartblood dagger slipped in his grip. Another strike would free it.

The Crown scraped across the floor behind me.

Bryony swore.

I looked over my shoulder. The Crown had moved against the toe of her boot. One point lifted towards her ankle while she backed away.

“Stellan, it’s following me.”

“It needs your hand. Don’t give it one.”

The Crown rose another inch.

Bryony grabbed the broken sword lying near the doors. She used the flat of the blade to shove the Crown away from her.

“No,” she said. “I’m not wearing you to borrow control over him.”

The Crown struck the base of the throne.

Red fire closed around my wrists.

Adrian’s smile widened. “Hold still.”

My body locked with his wrist still trapped in my hands. I fought to finish the movement. My fingers wouldn’t close.

He pulled the dagger free and pressed its edge to my throat.

Bryony stayed away from me, exactly as I’d told her. Her gaze dropped to the floor around Adrian.