Chapter 63
CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
Ryker
I eventually retreated to the small cot against the wall in my cell. With caution, I shuffled through the darkness until my leg connected with the bed barely large enough to fit me.
When they first put me in here, I’d spotted the bucket against the back wall for piss and shit, but I’d wait until the bitter end before using it. I’d had enough of that degradation in the ophidians’ dungeon.
Despite the shitty accommodations, it was nicer here than my cell in Doomed Valley. However, I couldn’t deny my entire being was far more wired here than it ever was there.
I’d wielded lightning since I was a child, but I felt electrified in a way I never had before… and it was from the terror thrumming through me. That terror had nothing to do with my current surroundings and everything to do with Ellery.
I’d vowed to protect her, and now she was out there without me while Veni was hunting her. She was the most powerful being in the realm and could easily strike the duke down, but cockroaches were never that easy to kill.
FUCK!
I hated being trapped here, helpless and unaware of what was happening beyond these bars. I gritted my teeth against the impulse to bellow out my frustration and charge at the bars, but neither action would do anything for me. If someone heard me, they’d gladly report it to the duke.
I bent my head as I flexed my hands. The movement caused the healing skin over my missing finger to flex and pull. I welcomed the pain, though it did little to ease the tension coiled within me.
I brushed across the gap of my missing finger. The bleeding had stopped, and new skin had already formed.
I missed the appendage and the ring I’d forged to bind me to Ellery, but while both were gone, she remained a part of me. I couldn’t sense her anymore, either because of the chains or from being buried beneath tons of stone and dirt.
Her lightning still moved within me. It was a bright, powerful presence that offered strength and a little comfort in this forsaken place. I dug within myself to feel more in the hope she’d sense me pulling, even if I couldn’t unleash it.
By now, she had to know what had happened. I hoped the duke’s arrival wasn’t what sprung it on her.
I shifted as anger and apprehension boiled to the surface once more. Cryton had been a sulky bitch after he lost his dagger, but he would have gone to her.
The poltergeists liked Ellery; they knew our capture would put her and the others at risk. If anything, he would have told Farley, and Farley would have made sure to tell her.
When the door creaked open down the hall and a small influx of light pierced the gloom, I stiffened as I braced myself for the duke’s return… possibly with Ellery. But there was no way I could prepare myself for what he’d do if he caught her.
I had no doubt he’d rape her right in front of me, and if that happened, I’d go insane with rage. The idea of watching him doing such a thing to her, and not being able to do anything, already had me teetering on the edge of madness.
She’s too strong for him to catch her. Now that she’s free to wield her powers, he won’t be able to take her.
I told myself this, but I hadn’t seen my attack coming either. If she didn’t have any warning, it didn’t matter how strong she was, she might not fend them all off.
FUCK!
Take it easy. You don’t know what’s happening yet.
Still, my blood pounded in my ears and throbbed in my temples as I rose from the cot. I scented the air, trying to detect any hint of Ellery’s sweet apple smell, but all I detected was piss, mildew, the musk of rats, and the sharp stench of terror.
Unable to remain in place, I shuffled toward the bars. My chains clanked and rattled as my dread grew with every step.
I cursed the manacles, the awkward way they made me move, and the noise that alerted everyone to my actions, but it was impossible to fix either of those things. The growing light illuminated enough of the dungeon that I could now see my bars only a few feet away.
I stopped at the front of my cell and grasped the bars as I tried to peer out, but I couldn’t see anything more than the increasing light from whoever advanced. In the cell beside mine, Tucker’s hands emerged.
From when they led us in here, I knew Callan was in the cage beside him, but I couldn’t see the lute player. I also couldn’t see the amsirah to the right of the minstrel. They’d placed me in the cell farthest from the exit.
Footsteps clicked off the stone floor; from what I heard, it didn’t sound like many approached us, and there was no clank of chains that would indicate more prisoners. That didn’t mean they hadn’t captured more. They could be carrying them in.
The way the steps stopped before moving on indicated they were pausing in front of each cell before continuing. As they neared, the light grew until it spilled across the ground before me to illuminate the dirt covering the stone.
And then the torch was in front of me. Despite the steady increase of light, the sudden influx was too much.
Lifting my hand, I blinked against the fire as I lowered my head a little to protect my eyes from the flames. When my eyes didn’t burn as badly, I peered up from under my lashes to take in the woman standing across from me.
When I realized who it was, shock coursed through me… Bria.