Music Recommendation : Kill For Your Love - Labrinth.

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Violet beat her wings faster than she ever had in her life, the powerful strokes slashing through the air as Asher’s scream echoed across the sky.

Below, some of the Fae still fighting looked up in alarm at the sight of a body plummeting from the heavens. Panic broke out instantly and several scattered out of the way, not wanting to be flattened by a falling Alpha.

But Violet flew past them in a blur and at the very last second, caught him.

"Got you," Violet breathed, her heart pounding so violently she could feel it in her throat.

She had genuinely not thought she would make it in time.

Asher chuckled. A low, dark sound that did not belong in this moment.

"This is going to be fun," he murmured, looking up at her. "What exactly do you plan to do with me, princess?"

Violet’s brows furrowed. That was the problem, she didn’t know. Violet barely understood what was happening beyond one terrifying truth: Asher was not himself.

Whatever had gotten into him was dangerous enough to turn him against her, thus she needed him away from here.

As worried as Violet was about Queen Seraphira and the Fae Realm, they could hold their own for now.

Asher needed her.

So Violet flew with Asher in her arms. She shot past the palace with no destination in mind, the wind whipping violently around them as she pushed herself farther and farther from the fight.

She flew for what felt like forever before finally spotting a wide field overflowing with beautiful purple flowers, untouched and far from any settlement.

Perfect.

With a wave of her hand, she cleared a space in the middle of it, the flowers flattening and parting beneath her magic.

Then she dropped Asher as if he was a sack of potatoes. As much as Violet cared about him, she was fucking pissed right now.

He fell the last few meters and hit the ground with a rough grunt before Violet landed a second later.

She straightened and looked around carefully. There were no houses for miles.

Good. If she lost control here, no one else would die for it.

Asher rose to his feet, coughing and spitting out crushed petals and flowers he had accidentally swallowed on impact.

He lifted his head and found Violet standing right in front of him.

Her expression was austere.

"Who are you," she demanded, her voice sharp as steel, "and what are you doing in his body?"

Asher’s lips curved slowly to the side in a smile that did not belong to him.

"I thought you would never ask."

Almost immediately, something changed like a shadow slipping over his body. Asher’s posture straightened just slightly, and when he looked at her again, those slitted eyes were no longer familiar.

They were cold, hard and empty.

"Princess Violet." The title was spat with such hatred it sent a chill down her spine.

Violet’s eyes narrowed as recognition struck.

"Baron."

Her hands balled into fists at her sides.

"You fucking bastard."

Baron—wearing Asher’s face—laughed.

"Really?" he drawled. "Bastard? That’s all you have to say?"

Violet didn’t react, her gaze remained ice cold.

"How are you doing this?" she demanded. "What have you done to Asher?"

Baron tilted his head slightly, studying her like she was something amusing.

"You silly thing," he said, almost lazily. "Sauntering into the Fae Realm like you owned it when you clearly understand nothing."

"But don’t worry, by the time I’m done with you, you’ll know exactly where you stand."

His eyes darkened, "Both you and your foolish mother."

Violet swallowed hard. Then, despite the terror rising in her throat, she said,

"You can do whatever you want with me, however, return Asher to me."

Baron looked at her through Asher’s face and smiled cruelly.

"It’s too late."

Violet’s heart skipped violently in her chest.

Her voice came out smaller this time, threaded with dread. "What do you mean?"

"You foolish child," Baron said almost fondly, as though he were explaining something simple to someone stupid. "I infected your beast with a mind leecher larva."

Violet had no idea what that meant, yet her heart stopped dead.

"Once infected," Baron continued, "there is nothing you can do for the victim until death."

His lips curved wider.

"Haven’t you noticed it? Your beast is no longer himself."

Violet began to shake her head immediately.

"No," she whispered. "No, that’s not happening."

But Baron kept going. Somehow, hearing it all come directly out of Asher’s mouth was all shades of wrong.

"The leecher lowers inhibition completely," Baron said through him. "Your beast will have no control over himself. All he will want is to please me. The parasite feeds on his life force to function. It will keep taking from him... and taking... until there is nothing left."

His expression darkened.

"So no. I couldn’t help him even if I wanted to. Not that I want to."

Tears were slipping down Violet’s face now before she even realized she was crying.

"No," she said again, her voice breaking. "No. That’s not going to happen. You’re lying."

She rushed to Asher and grabbed him hard, shaking him desperately.

"Come back to me," she choked out. "Asher, come back to me."

But in the next second, his hand shot out and clamped around her throat.

Violet gasped. Her hands flew to his wrist immediately as he squeezed.

Then Baron spoke again through Asher’s mouth, his voice colder now, edged with annoyance.

"All of this would have been easier if you had simply gone through with the competition."

Violet’s breathing turned ragged beneath his grip.

"Celeste had already planned to trap you with magic during the trial," Baron said. "You would have died there, cleanly enough.But now..."

His fingers tightened around her neck.

"...you will die here. At the hands of your beloved beast."

Violet’s eyes burned with tears. Her face was already beginning to flush red from the lack of air.

"Or would you?" he mused. "Tell me, Princess Violet..." His eyes gleamed with sick delight. "Would you die for love?"

He tilted Asher’s head slightly.

"Or would you murder your beloved... and live? That is quite the difficult choice, isn’t it?"

Asher’s eyes seemed to darken even further, something unnatural passing through them as Baron’s command settled deeper.

With a fiendish curve of his lips, he said,

"Hear me, Asher Nightshade."

Violet’s struggling stilled for half a second.

"You will not let Princess Violet Purple leave this ground alive. Make sure of it. At your own cost."

"No..." Violet screamed.

But it was too late.