This creature didn’t understand love at all.

During our exchange, Roland had released the half-blood, and the man was now trying to crawl away. His motion caught the Prince’s attention, and his face twisted. “Vermin,” he hissed. Raising one hand, he brought it down fast, and the man collapsed against the street with the sound of crunching bone. I swayed on my feet.

“Where is my brother now?” Roland asked, stepping over the corpse and walking slowly towards me.

“Very near,” I lied. Tristan was indeed coming this way, but it would take long minutes before he arrived – and that was time I was beginning to suspect I didn’t have. “I am sure he will be pleased to see you.”

“I doubt that.” He bolted towards me, and before I could move, he had me by the wrist. Even though he was shorter and slighter than me, with one twist of his wrist he had me on my knees. He ignored my groan of pain, carefully inspecting the silver tattoo on my fingers. “He is near, you say?” His childish giggles filled the street. “Not near enough, I say!”

“If you hurt me, you hurt him, you know that,” I pleaded. But what did that mean to this remorseless creature. He didn’t care about his brother – he didn’t care about anything but himself.

“I know that very well,” Roland said, shoving me back. He closed his eyes and, for a moment, he was a beautiful little child. Then he opened them again, and it was like looking into the eyes of a devil. “And when I am king, I will be certain not to bond something as weak as you. Or anything at all.”

I clambered to my feet.

“Roland, stop!”

It was Anaïs’s voice, but she was too late. As I turned to run, magic slammed into me, crushing the wind out of my lungs and sending me flying through the air. My body slammed against the ground and, after that, all I knew was pain.

Chapter 35

Cécile

When I awoke back in the palace, it was to an agony that told me instantly my injuries were grievous. Mortal. It hurt to move – it hurt even to breathe – and I was so very, very cold.

“Cécile?” Tristan was sitting at my bedside, his eyes rimmed with red. “I am so sorry.”

I licked my parched lips. “It isn’t your fault.”

“Yes, it is.” His voice was bitter. “Anaïs warned me something like this would happen – she told me to take care of Roland before he got any more powerful, and I refused.”

“You couldn’t have known,” I whispered, unable to manage anything louder.

“I knew he was dangerous,” Tristan said sadly. “I was just too much of a coward to do anything about it.”

He pushed my hair back from my face. “But I won’t make the same mistake twice – I’ll deal with him and, when you’re better again, Trollus will be safe for you.”