Filed To Story: Spit or Swallow: Kiss Of The Basilisk
“I cannot protect you both at the same time, and I know she wants you to live. Go.”
It was as close as Caspen would ever get to telling Leo that he mattered. For a moment, the two men simply stared at each other. Then Leo placed his own hand on Caspen’s shoulder. Neither of them said a word, but Tem saw a mutual understanding pass between them; they both needed to stay alive for her. Nothing was more important than that.
They dropped their hands.
“Very well,” Leo said. He turned to her. “Tem, I-“
“Tell me after, Leo.”
He closed his mouth. Then he pressed a kiss to her temple and ran.
Tem watched Leo get halfway across the clearing before a basilisk grabbed him triumphantly by the throat. Before Tem could panic, the basilisk released him, looking down at his hand in confusion. A moment later, Leo was gone.
“Tem,” Caspen said urgently. “We must get you somewhere safe.”
She looked out over the chaos before her. Predators hunting prey. Strong killing the weak. The circle of life.
“No.” She shook her head. “This is my fault. I have to fix it.”
“You cannot fix this, Tem. My people are angry. You cannot stop what has already begun.”
Before Tem could reply, someone joined them onstage.
Caspen immediately threw his arm in front of Tem as a basilisk in its human form advanced toward them. Blood dripped from the man’s mouth, which was twisted in a horrible grin. He was already transitioning. Great claws formed where fingers had once been, spreading wide as Caspen pushed Tem behind him.
The basilisk lunged.
Caspen let out a grunt as the sharp claws found purchase. He stumbled backward, blood pouring from his bicep. The basilisk advanced again, its fangs thrashing together madly as the rest of his body caught up to his hands.
“Caspen!” Tem cried. “Transition!”
But Caspen only shook his head. “I cannot, Tem.”
Understanding pierced Tem like an arrow.
Caspen was weak. He’d been dying for days, and it had progressed to the point where he could no longer embody his true form. Tem stood up straight, squaring her shoulders so air could reach her lungs.
It was time.
She closed her eyes, tuning out the sounds of conflict, focusing only on the way she felt inside. The void within her was glaringly large. Tem felt a primal ache at the loss, wishing dearly that she hadn’t waited so long to address it. She quieted her mind, reaching for the remaining strands of her power.
It was there, but just barely. She drew from it, drinking from the endless well within herself, using one side to fix the other.
The moment she connected the two parts of her, every cell in her body lit on fire. Complete and utter clarity rushed through Tem’s veins as her basilisk side immediately began to heal. The frayed edges of her mind knit together seamlessly, creating something that was even stronger than what was there before. Tem felt buoyant, as if she might float from the stage and into the endless sky. She was soaring into infinity, experiencing nothing and everything all at once. There was no greater feeling than this-no better way to understand herself. All the broken pieces of her identity came together in one perfect, limitless point. Her power was cosmic-as vast as the stars.
She was bound to no one. She was free.
Tem reached for Caspen, throwing open the corridor between their minds, gasping as their connection surged back into place.
Caspen. Transition.
Caspen didn’t need telling twice. A great cloud of smoke billowed from his shoulders as his body snapped into something else entirely. He transitioned with a roar-one that was so deeply triumphant, Tem had to cover her ears. A split second later, the other basilisk was headless. It happened so fast, Tem didn’t even blink. Without missing a beat, Caspen lunged at two more basilisks that were approaching from the back of the stage.
Out of the corner of her eye, Tem spotted Vera. Rowe was upon her. She watched as he wrapped his fingers around her throat, lifting her head to his. Vera’s eyes rolled upward, and Tem knew he was cresting her. Beside them, two basilisks were having sex, their bodies thrashing together in the blood-soaked grass. Tem looked desperately around for Gabriel and her mother but didn’t see either of them. She was about to step off the stage to find them when she felt a presence behind her.
Tem turned to see Bastian’s black eyes searing straight into hers. Before she could speak, his hand wrapped around her throat.
Immediately, Tem felt her power seep in his direction. It was as if someone had begun to pour her into him, and the familiar euphoria from the crest started to swell over her. It would be so easy to give in. So simple. The king’s pull was undeniable, his ancient presence so much stronger than hers-strong enough to override the protection of Caspen’s venom. And yet Tem found she was able to resist him. Every time he pulled at her, she pushed back. The king grew impatient; she could sense his agitation.
Yield.
Tem would not yield-not her body and not her mind. Never.
She wanted to call for Caspen, but it took all her energy to hold off the king, and Caspen was occupied anyway. He was outnumbered, fighting two basilisks at once, trying to prevent them from ascending the stage. Tem didn’t even know whether he’d noticed what his father was trying to do to her.
Do as I say, Temperance.
No.
The king let out a growl of frustration. His grip on her throat tightened.
Tem watched in horror as scales crept up the sides of his neck. She tried to pull away, but it was no use-he was holding her so tightly she could barely breathe. His mouth widened; his teeth became fangs. Tem knew, without a shadow of a doubt, what was about to happen. Still, nothing could prepare her for the way Bastian’s jaw unhinged itself, opening to reveal the dark abyss of his throat. Tem didn’t have time to think before his fangs crushed her shoulder with terrifying finality, the force of their bite nearly causing her to black out right then. She felt her collarbone break with a horrible crunch.
Then her shoulder blade.
Then her sternum.
Pain like she’d never known shot through her. It was worse than when her pelvis had broken during the ritual. Agony was all she could feel, overtaking her mind and forcing her body into a state of shock. Tem knew the bite had a purpose: to weaken the part of her she was drawing power from. Her basilisk side wouldn’t be harmed by Bastian’s venom, but her human side would. It was the exact opposite of the problem she’d just solved by cresting herself.
All that work for nothing, she thought vaguely.
Tem tried to fight back. But her power was stretched too thin-she couldn’t free herself from Bastian’s grip, much less heal her shoulder. The king’s crest grew stronger, forcing her into submission. The well of power she drew from grew weaker. She grew weaker.
Tem screamed as her feet left the stage, stars clouding her vision as Bastian lifted her into the air. All her weight yanked against the injury, pulling on her with enormous, merciless pressure.
TEM!
Caspen’s voice barely registered. Consciousness was fleeting. Bastian was mauling her, ripping her apart with monstrous glee. Her mind was numb; she couldn’t resist his crest any longer.
Then, without warning, he released her.
Tem fell with such speed that she thought her kneecaps might split open on the stage. She heard Caspen behind her, recognizing his roar and the smell of his smoke as he attacked. Bastian fought back ferociously, matching his son with a roar of his own, landing blow after blow as they parried across the stage. But it was Caspen finally who landed a well-timed bite to the king’s face. Bastian howled in pain, collapsing in a writhing pile of scales.
He was transitioning again, slipping into his human form as he weakened. As scales became skin, Tem felt the pull of his crest retreat, and with it, the last barrier between her and the insurmountable pain in her shoulder.
As soon as the Serpent King resembled a man once more, Caspen bent his head. Tem watched as his glorious fangs emerged from his mouth, curving down into Bastian’s pale, exposed neck.
Bastian let out a tortured scream. The sound was so horrible it finally shattered Tem’s daze, yanking her violently back into the present.
Caspen!
He didn’t reply. There was no way he heard her over Bastian’s cries.
Caspen-
She tried again, flinching at the horrific thing happening before her.
STOP.
But Caspen didn’t stop. Instead, his fangs sank deeper into Bastian’s body, ripping his skin and splattering blood everywhere. Bastian’s ribs broke with a dull crunch as Caspen yanked the bones apart, forcing his way into his chest cavity, his mouth opening wider, his fangs slick with red. Tem saw Caspen’s throat bulge, then swallow. Horror twisted her stomach as she realized what was happening.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.