Page 75 of Little Mate
“Two minutes, Gabriella.”
“Two minutes?” I ask, feigning an ignorance that makes him flash those sharp fangs at me. “Run, pretty girl.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” I taunt, leaning over to nip his jaw. “Now close your eyes and count to sixty. Come find me if you can.”
“Are you challenging your king?”
“Always, love. Always.”
All day there’s been a heaviness at the center of my chest weighing me down. It’s this feeling of foreboding that won’t leave me alone, as if something is coming and it can’t be undone.
Death looms, calls to me, and he demands my attention.
It’s never been like this. So omnipotent.
What does it want?
“I wish Theo was here.” My whisper to the empty bedroom echoes, bouncing off the walls in a taunting manner, and the claustrophobic feeling of being trapped squeezes at my throat. “What the hell is going on?”
Not that I get an answer. If anything, the sensation intensifies, and I stumble out of the chair I’d been sitting on. I’m unsteady and breathing hard, and nothing matters more than leaving this room.
There’s no one in the hall when I leave, yet Marcia and Meera appear almost instantly by my side. Both watch me with worry in their eyes. They feel it. Something is off.
“Take me to the fields. I need to wait to see Theo.”
“He and Tero aren’t back yet, Gabby.” Meera tries to steer me toward the room, but I shake her and Marcia off, her snake not fully healed from her change. “Please. Let’s just wait in the room.”
“No.” I’m shaking my head as the walls around me seem to close in. “I can’t be indoors.”
“Okay.” Meera holds two hands up. “We’ll just walk with you.”
“Thank you.” It takes minutes to reach the open air, and at once a bit of the tension eases. “I think I had a panic attack in there. My senses are off, and everything feels as though I have a hundred fire ants crawling under my skin.”
“You’ll be fine. Just slowly inhale and then out.” Following her instructions, I gather myself and regulate my breathing, taking some control back. Not that it fully heals me, but I’m more myself by the five-minute mark—and very parched. Inexplicably so. “Thirsty?”
“How did you know?” Marcia takes off in the general direction of the kitchen.
“Because while locked up in that prison my father built, I lived through many of those episodes. It’ll pass, but you will be very tired—weak for a few days after.”
“Okay.”
“Just stay here. I’ll be right back…it’ll be faster if I help her.”
Nodding, I close my eyes and focus on my breathing. I’m alone maybe a few minutes tops, when a presence looms over me. His scent is irritating.
“Now is not the time, General. I’m not in the mood for one of our special talks.”
“I had your father killed, witch.”
My eyes snap open at that, the feeling from before hitting me full force and I almost stagger back. “What did you just say?”
“I’m the reason your parents are dead, and I’m going to enjoy ending you.” Veltross sneers, so much malice in his eyes, while in his hand is a large blade I’ve never seen before. It’s sharp and old, the steel glinting in the early dusk lighting. Those closest to us had no time to react. Even with their speed, it was too late when at first our conversation seemed normal; a general addressing his superior regarding a private matter.
That should’ve been the first clue. How stupid could I be?
But then Isabella’s words from her note hit me in the chest right as the tip of his blade embeds deep into my heart. Every word slices deeper than the sharp steel ever could.
I’m sorry, but everything will be as it should.