I didn’t know how he’d gotten here so fast, when his capitol had to be hundreds of miles away. But he had, and I was out of time. I had to think of something, something good, something now.

And then I was thrown to the ground again by Arsen the Asshole.

Goddamnit!

“I’m not doing anything to you!” I said, thrashing against his hold. “Let me go!”

But Arsen wasn’t looking like a guy you can reason with. Arsen was looking nuttier than his king, all of a sudden. And furious besides.

Well, crap, I thought, and punched him.

I wasn’t trying to punch through his skull, which Mircea’s abilities might have allowed, but I was trying to get away. Which was why the pretty head shot back and the pretty mouth split open. And the pretty gray eyes flashed tawny gold for an instant, right before the ground shook all around me.

It felt like an earthquake was happening in the small area right under my body. And before I could scramble up, pieces of dark stone shot up out of the soil and snapped around each of my limbs. And then retracted, slamming me back against the ground painfully.

And this time, vampire strength didn’t do shit. When I pulled and squirmed and struggled, it felt like I was trying to lift a mountain. And whenever I came close to breaking one of the rings, more rock flowed up and reinforced it, until I was wearing shackles fit for a giant.

Which wouldn’t have mattered if I’d had my own power, but I didn’t!

And without it, I wasn’t going anywhere.

My leafy bodyguards had started forward, but stopped abruptly when Arsen pulled a knife and held it to my throat. It was cold and pressing in hard enough that I could feel my pulse pounding against the side. I didn’t think he’d broken the skin, not yet, but he could finish me in a second and the trees seemed to know it.

I saw them twining roots, as if holding hands or maybe talking to each other. Then one broke off from the back of the pack, I guessed to go for help. But it wouldn’t be soon enough.

Because Armageddon had arrived.

Another ear-piercing shriek from above was followed by a wash of fire ripping across the camp, splashing our faces with a strange, bloody light. It looked like the king was losing patience, I thought numbly, as the blast took out a dozen tents, disintegrating them into ash that immediately streamed away on the wind. But Arsen barely seemed to notice.

He grabbed my hair, what he’d left me of it, and got his face in mine. “Now, tell the truth! Why did you bring me here? And what did you mean about the king?”