Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4
LARA
T he ribbons are already pulling my hands out in front of me as I rush to catch up with Ivrael, whose long legs propel him through the market much faster than I can walk.
“What the actual fuck is going on here?” Izzy jogs to stay beside me. As long as we’re following Ivrael,
I let out a bark of harsh laughter. “I promise I’ll explain.”
“Good. You can tell me on the way home.” She jerks her thumb over her shoulder. “Let’s go, okay?”
“I can’t.” The helplessness I feel threads through my voice, and my sister squints at me.
“You just said you would.”
All around us, the Trasqo Market vendors and patrons stare as I careen past them with my arms held out straight before me, like a jogging Frankenstein monster on TV.
My cheeks flame as I realize many of the gawkers probably saw the duke kiss me, saw my body straining toward Ivrael. Saw him use that kiss and my traitorous body’s desire for him to distract me.
For the first time, I actually miss the icy touch of the Icecaix land’s air—at least it would cool my burning face.
I get a few feet closer to Ivrael, and the tension in my shoulders finally eases. One more step, and my arms finally drop in front of me.
As much as it hurts to say it, I owe Izzy the truth. “I’m so sorry. We’re not going home.”
“Why not?” Izzy’s forehead creases in confusion.
“Because you’re going home with me.” Ivrael finally speaks directly to Izzy, his voice cool and calm.
The glare my sister gives him before turning back to me is incredulous. “Why the hell would you go with this creep?”
My mouth opens and closes, but no sound comes out. She won’t believe anything I can tell her. Not yet. Not until she sees some of it herself.
“Wait a minute. Did you leave with him last year on purpose?”
She doesn’t wait for me to answer, but I shake my head, anyway.
“Why didn’t you ever call me? Why haven’t I heard from you? I thought you were dead .” Tears begin to stream down her face, and she swipes them away angrily. “Why the fuck would you do that to me, Lara?”
“I didn’t mean to.” I want more than anything to go to her, wrap her in my arms. I want to tell her how much I missed her, how determined I’ve been not to allow her to end up in the same situation I’m in.
I slow down, take half a step toward her, and my shoulders pull back almost imperceptibly, the slight twinge reminding me that Ivrael now controls how far I can move away from him.
Goddamn Caix magic.
She stares at me disbelievingly. “Ah, hell. You really believe those ribbons on your wrists are keeping you from leaving that dude, don’t you?”
If I could think of a way to get Izzy out of Ivrael’s grasp, I would rip off my own arms to do it. But no matter how I wrack my brains, I can’t come up with anything. Tears begin dripping down my cheeks, too, but I don’t bother to wipe them away.
The Trasqo Market vendors are still gawping at us, as Adefina would say, and I can’t help but smile a little at the thought of the cook’s eye-rolling response to all this sisterly love. The thought does little to lighten my mood, though, as I remember where we are—and where we’re headed.
About halfway back to the gate, Ivrael pauses, drawing another coin out of an inside pocket. I watch him suspiciously as he walks up to a sturdy booth. It takes a moment for me to realize it’s the one he pushed me against before he kissed me, which sets my face aflame again.
I examine the coin as carefully as possible from a distance, but I don’t sense anything off about it, not like the one he gave Roland.
Ivrael leans over the counter, flashing a smile that manages to be both a little abashed and absolutely wicked—and every bit as devastating as I knew his smile would be. And yet something about it reads as fake to me, almost like something sad lurks beneath it, hidden in the depths that smile conceals.
Like this is a man who has secrets no one has ever cared to discover, the kind of secrets you could spend decades uncovering and still not learn them all. And damned if that doesn’t make him even more alluring than before.
While I’m watching Ivrael, Izzy leans forward to grab my arm. Khrint jerks her back toward him, and she flashes him an irritated glance. “Don’t be an asshole, dude. It’s not like I’m going anywhere. Not while that motherfucker has my sister all entranced or whatever.”
“This is for you,” Ivrael says to the Starcaix girl behind the counter, who simpers at him. “For the ribbon. And any trouble I might have caused you.”
The duke flicks his fingers as he walks away from the vendor-chick, and Khrint pushes us to keep following him.
When Izzy steps forward and falls into step beside me, the valet doesn’t stop her.
“What’s wrong with you?” she whispers. “You’re acting like…some kind of zombie or something.”
I shake my head silently. It’s taking every bit of self-control I have to keep my terror, my fury, under control. I’m afraid that if I try to answer her, a year’s worth of horror and rage, all shoved down deep inside me until I feel like I’m nothing but raw, volatile emotion wrapped in a fragile shell of a person—all of it will explode.
And I’m not certain what will be left of me afterward if I allow that to happen.
So instead of speaking, I examine my sister from head to toe as we walk, appraising her clothing. Not like I would have a year ago, checking to make sure she wasn’t wearing anything that would cause people at school to ridicule her, but for its sturdiness, its appropriateness as winter wear.
I cringe at what I see. Izzy looks cute in jeans and a light sweater with a thin coat over it, and it’s appropriate clothing with outerwear thick enough for a Texas winter, but Adefina is definitely going to have to stitch together a couple more worn-out cloaks for her, too.
“Dammit,” she says, her voice hitching in her throat. “Quit staring at me like that. Talk to me. What did that guy do to you back there? Does he have you under some kind of hypnosis or something?”
When I don’t answer, she grabs my hands and tugs on the ribbons tied to my wrists, trying to untie them. When that doesn’t work, she tries to fray them, even resorts to chewing on one of them, earning another shove from Khrint as she stops walking for a moment. But no matter what she does, the ribbons don’t come off.
“What the…”
“Who are these people, Sissy?” she asks, falling into her childhood name for me.
“They’re—” Nothing more comes out. Izzy stops, grabs my shoulders, and holds me back with her, her gaze searching my face as my arms begin to twitch upward, tugging me toward Ivrael. “What happened to you while you were gone? You look terrible.”
All I can do is fall back on sarcasm. “Gee, thanks. I’m so glad to see you, too.”
“Don’t be a smartass. I’m serious.”
I still can’t find words.
“Fine,” she says, her eyes narrowing as she glares at Ivrael. “But there’s something wrong with you. And with that weirdo. I’m getting you away from him.”
She’s still cursing when Ivrael turns down another aisle, and I follow him. Izzy stumbles into place beside me again.
As we make our way back through the Trasqo Market toward Ivrael’s ship, my skin crawls with the familiar sensation of being watched—God knows I’ve had enough experience with that over the last year.
At first, I assume it’s just the usual market vendors eyeing potential merchandise.
But this feels different. More...focused.
A flicker of movement catches my eye—a tall man with copper-toned skin and odd, wing-like protrusions from his shoulders that mark him as Starcaix. He’s leaning against one of the market stalls, his gaze fixed on our little group.
My first thought is that he’s watching Izzy. As far as I’m concerned, my sister’s beautiful in a way I never managed—this guy doesn’t have a chance with her, though.
But then his nostrils flare, and his head turns to track me specifically as we pass. The intensity of his stare makes my breath catch. He inhales deeply, obviously scenting the air, and something hungry flashes across his features.
Ice spreads beneath Ivrael’s feet as we walk, and I risk a glance at the duke. His jaw is set in that aristocratic mask of indifference I’ve grown to hate. He hasn’t noticed the Starcaix man yet, too busy playing the imperious noble.
I open my mouth to tell him about our observer, but he cuts me off before I can speak. “Keep moving,” he snaps, his hand closing around my upper arm. “We don’t have time for any delays.”
Defiance swells in my chest, hot and sharp.
Fine. If he wants to be an asshole, he can deal with the consequences himself. Let him figure it out himself. I’m done being his cooperative little puppet.
When I look back, the Starcaix man has disappeared into the crowd.
It was probably nothing. Just another creepy market denizen getting their kicks from watching humans struggle against their fates.
But as we continue toward the ship, I can’t quite shake the feeling of those hungry eyes following our progress.
Or the way he seemed to recognize something about my scent.
It doesn’t matter , I tell myself. There’s nothing the Starcaix guy could have done to us, anyway. Nothing all that worse, at least. After all, we’re already headed back to Starfrost Manor.
We reach the Trasqo Market exit gate far too quickly. The winter sun feels like a mockery now, its warmth unable to reach past the icy dread spreading through my chest.
“This is not where I came in.”
“Definitely not,” I mutter, wondering if she’s noticed how the market’s paths seem to shift and change, leading inevitably to wherever Ivrael wants us to go. The thought makes bile rise in my throat.
She tilts her head and frowns at me, that little crease appearing between her brows—the same one she’d get when working on her math homework, back when our biggest worries were final exams and Roland’s drinking. God, what I wouldn’t give to go back to those problems now.
Ivrael steps through the gates with that fluid grace that makes him seem more predator than person. He turns back, gesturing imperiously for us to follow, every inch the aristocratic duke despite standing in a Texas field.
The sunlight catches in his golden hair, creating a halo effect that would be beautiful if I didn’t know the monster beneath the facade.
As he moves through to the other side of the fence, I seize what might be my last chance. I whirl to face Izzy, grabbing her shoulders. My fingers dig into her sweater. “Run.”
Izzy frowns but doesn’t move.
“Turn around and run as fast as you can go, as far away as you can get,” I hiss urgently, searching her eyes.
The words have barely left my mouth when my arms jerk upward, wrenched straight out in front of me.
The ribbons around my wrists flare with that sickening blue light, binding them together as if caught in invisible manacles. It feels like hooks of ice have sunk into my flesh, dragging me inexorably toward the gate.
I stumble toward the gate, fighting against the pull even though I know it’s useless. The magic burns cold up my arms, but I manage to twist my head back toward my sister.
She’s shaking her head and moving toward me.
The wrong way.
“Run!” The word comes out as a strangled cry, torn from my throat just before I’m yanked through the gateway.
Ivrael’s lips curve in that empty smile I’ve grown to hate as he waves an elegant hand through the air. The words he murmurs sound like breaking icicles, sharp and cold.
Behind me, I hear Izzy’s startled yelp and turn to watch as Khrint drags her through the gate, his grip on her arms far gentler than it could be—which somehow makes it worse.
Even Ivrael’s servants know we’re trapped.
The air before us shimmers, and suddenly Ivrael’s enormous saucer-shaped spaceship materializes in the field. The sight still strikes me as absurd—an actual flying saucer of gleaming metal and sparkling crystal that shouldn’t exist outside of science fiction.
Izzy’s mouth falls open, her eyes going wide. For a moment, she looks like the little girl who used to beg Mom to read her one more chapter of her favorite space adventure books before bedtime.
“What the actual fuck?” Her words come out barely above a whisper.
“It’s a spaceship,” I say, aiming for dry humor but hearing the crack in my voice. A hysterical laugh bubbles up in my throat as I watch my brainy, rational sister try to process the impossible sight before her.
The laugh dies as a single tear escapes, trailing hot down my cheek before I clench my teeth so hard my jaw aches.
I do what I’ve learned to do over the past year at Starfrost Manor—take all my rage, my fear, my guilt at failing to protect her, and lock it away deep inside.
Down where even Ivrael’s cold can’t reach it.
But I can feel it burning there, a kernel of defiance I refuse to let him extinguish.
My gaze meets Izzy’s, and I see the moment her initial shock gives way to that razor-sharp intelligence. She’s already searching for weaknesses we can exploit.
My brilliant little sister.
I have to believe that between her mind and my experience, we’ll find a way out of this.
I straighten my spine, ignoring the way the ribbons bite into my wrists.
I’ll find a way to keep you safe , I silently promise her. Whatever it takes.
I only pray I can contain my fury long enough to figure out how.
The ship’s boarding ramp descends with a soft hiss, and Ivrael gestures for us to precede him aboard.
“Welcome to your new life.” His cultured voice carries an edge. His eyes meet mine, and for just a moment, I think I see something like regret flash across his perfect features before the mask of aristocratic indifference slides back into place.
Liar , I think viciously. Monster.
But I keep the words locked behind my teeth as I lead Izzy toward the ramp.
One step at a time. One moment at a time. Until I find our way out of this nightmare.
But then we enter the ship and the door seals behind us with a hiss that ends my plan to escape, to save Izzy from my own fate.
I realize with a horrible, crushing clarity—there truly may not be any way out.