Ryker had been reaching into the car, but he froze. “What?”
She searched his gaze beseechingly. Her heart thundered, and though part of her knew this was useless, she had to try.
“Please don’t kill me,” she breathed.
She couldn’t even believe the words were coming out of her mouth since she’d been ready to die minutes ago, but she’d been wrong.
The will to live lent her strength, and she repeated her request.
Ryker’s brown eyes widened, and surprise flashed through them. He stumbled back, shaking his head.
Slowly, Brynleigh unfolded her limbs, the movements stiff and unnatural, and got out of the car. She only took one step towards the fae captain because his face hardened, and something harshflickered through his eyes.
“I want to live,” she said.
Brynleigh reached for Ryker but paused before she could touch him.
The moon cast a silver glow on her raw, red wrists. Her skin was torn and destroyed from the prohiberis, a reminder of what she’d suffered.
“I know I deserve to die, and you’d be well within your rights to take my life, but… please,” she whispered. “Don’t do it.”
The last words were little more than air as they slipped past her lips. It took all her strength and willpower to say them. And now…
It was up to him.
Brynleigh’s plea hung between them, growing heavier with each passing second.
Her legs knocked together, tears streamed down her cheeks, and her head felt far too light, but she didn’t dare move.
His chest heaved. He didn’t say anything.
Seconds became minutes.
“Please,” she murmured. “If you cared about me at all?—”
“Of course, I cared about you!” Ryker yelled, his eyes flashing as water streamed from his hands.
It was only for a moment, but the loss of control was telling.
The water vanished, but the tang of magic remained in the air. The temperature dropped, and power radiated from the fae captain.
And his face…
Storms passed through his eyes, and fury radiated from his features.
Brynleigh’s legs decided they could no longer hold her weight. Her heart flipped, and the next thing she knew, she was on the ground.
All her aches, pains, and all-too-human woes returned ten times worse than before. She clawed at the cold dirt beneath her and heaved in a breath.
This was too much, too hard, and she was too fucking broken for this.
Tears blurred her vision, and her heart raced.
She had to get on her knees and plead her case. She couldn’t give up. She knew that, yet her body refused to listen to her commands.
It was done, even if she wasn’t.
Her fangs had gone past aching. They were throbbing entities residing in her gums.