Page 115 - Fourth Wing
P. 115
“Fascinating. You look all frail and breakable, but you’re really a violent
little thing, aren’t you?” An appreciative smile curves his perfect lips as
shadows dance up the trunk of the oak, taking the form of fingers. They
pluck the daggers from the tree and bring them to Xaden’s waiting hands.
My breath abandons me with a sharp exhale. He has the kind of power
that could end me without him having to so much as lift a finger —shadow
wielding. The futility of even trying to defend myself against him is
laughable.
I hate how beautiful he is, how lethal his abilities make him as he strides
toward me, shadows curling around his footsteps. He’s like one of those
poisonous flowers I’ve read about from the Cygnis forests to the east. His
allure is a warning not to get too close, and I am definitely too close.
Switching my grip to the hilts of my daggers, I prepare for the attack.
“You should show that little trick to Jack Barlowe,” Xaden says, turning
his palms upward and offering me my daggers.
“I’m sorry?” This is a trick. It has to be a trick.
He moves closer, and I lift my blade. My heart stumbles, the beat
irregular as fear floods my system.
“The neck-snapping first-year who’s very publicly vowed to slaughter
you,” Xaden clarifies as my blade presses against his cloak at the level of
his abdomen. He reaches under my own cloak and slides one blade into the
sheath at my thigh, then pulls back the side of my cloak and pauses. His
gaze locks onto the length of my braid where it falls over my shoulder, and
I could swear he stops breathing for a heartbeat before he slides the
remaining dagger into one of the sheaths at my ribs. “He’d probably think
twice about plotting your murder if you threw a few daggers at his head.”
This is…this is…bizarre. It has to be some kind of game meant to
confuse me, right? And if so, he’s playing it really fucking well.
“Because the honor of my murder belongs to you?” I challenge. “You
wanted me dead long before your little club chose my tree to meet under, so
