The Crystal in the Chasm

chapter 34

Something made of glass shattered to the floor. I sat up from my slumber, the castle shifting and creaking within the night. I gasped, flicking a flame to life in my palm. My bedroom illuminated, revealing nobody in sight but pieces of a shattered vase scattered across the floor. Groaning, I recalled the moments before I had fallen asleep. I practically begged Death Bringer to come to bed with me and he had refused out of principle since I was still buzzed. He was now sleeping across the hall in one of the spare rooms of the castle. I debated awakening him for assistance but I thought better of it. Kneeling beside the shards of glass, I began to gather the pieces in my palm.

A jagged edge caught the center of my palm, slicing deeply enough to reveal a trail of red blood running down my wrist. I winced, all of the pieces crashing back to the ground. A floorboard creaked behind me, startling me. When I began to glance over my shoulder, the coolness of something sharp pressed against my throat until my breathing was nearly cut off. My body went still, my limbs bracing to fight back. A low snicker sounded close to my ear.

"Hello there, your majesty," the voice was familiar, dread pooling in my stomach. Davy Hawk was holding a shard of glass against my windpipe, my life practically within his hands. He knew who I was.

"What do you want?" I balled my fists together, my magic riling beneath my skin.

Nearly at hyper-speed, a red powder pressed against my mouth and nose, stifling my struggled noises. I tried not to breathe in to no avail, the red powder flooding into my lungs. I knew exactly what it was the instant the smell registered and my magic winked out like a candle in a snowstorm. It was dragon powder. My magic would be gone for hours, leaving me to my own bare hands to fight off Hawk.

"Do you know why my eyes lack color? Why they faded to grey?" Davy Hawk lowered the hand that had been covering my airways and grabbed me firmly by the chin, his other hand still possessing the glassy shard. "Something was taken from me. Something I intend to take back. But for now, I have to take something from you."

I bit back the cry trying to escape from my throat as the sharp edge dug into my cheek and dragged slowly through my flesh, tearing a line from my cheekbone to my jaw. The smell of coppery blood filled the room. Once I finally worked up the courage, my elbow lurched backward and drove into his gut. Hawk blanched and hunched over, bracing himself on his knees as I spun around and drove a knee into his chin. Blood splattered from his mouth as he growled viciously and charged at me as if he had barely felt the hit. I was thrown into my vanity, my spine aching upon impact as all of my jewelry scattered to the floor. Hawk's eyes darkened with a glimmer of pleasure as he stalked toward me. I was regaining my balance when a fist crashed into the side of my face. My neck snapped to the side and blood sprayed across the wood of my vanity.

I ducked out of instinct, another swing of his fist whizzing through the air above me. Charging at him, we crashed to the floor in a tangle of swinging limbs. My fist collided with his jaw, his finding mine shortly after. He managed to flip us around, spitting in my face as my head hit the ground with a crack. My vision grew spotty and blurred as I tried to blink rapidly enough to make it go away. Fingers found their way into the neckline of my nightgown and lurched me forward before forcing me back down suddenly. My head smacked against the wood once more, the floorboards splintering in half beneath me. A warm liquid began to pool on the back of my neck when his fingers pried me forward again. I ground my teeth together as I brought a fist blindly soaring toward where I assumed his gut must be. It made contact with what felt like a ribcage. My movements were sloppy but quick as I pelted three more jabs into cracking bones when his grip loosened.

I wasted no time, hurling him off of me with a buck of my hips, sending him flying over my head. Scrambling to my feet, I grabbed a shard of glass and clenched it in my trembling fingers as I hovered over Davy Hawk's battered body. His quicksilver eyes darted up to me, his foot sweeping under my leg before I could react. I crashed to the ground and he was on top of me again.