Chapter 39
HEMMING
I awoke in a groggy haze, my vision still cloudy, but when I moved to wipe my eyes, all I heard was a rattling sound echoing through the space. It took only a moment to realize why. Pain stretched through my arms, and I looked up to find them tethered to the wall in irons.
“Good,” a voice called from my right, “you’re not dead.” I blinked a few times until my eyes focused enough to find Eldrien strung up against the adjacent stone wall. Between us hung a limp Shayfer, head lolling so low his chin rested against his chest. “I can’t wake him up,” Eldrien said in a low, hollow tone that sent a chill up my spine.
I reached my foot out as far as I could to try to jostle him, but the restraints around my ankles stopped me short. “How long has he been like this?”
“I’m not sure.” The way his eyes creased at the corners told me it had been longer than he’d like.
“Shayfer!” I shouted at him as I wrestled against the iron chains. “SHAYFER! Get up!”
“He’s not moving?—”
“I can see that,” I snapped at the Minyade leader. “Shayfer, we need you. Ariel needs you. Now wake up!” Still, the fae spy hung from those chains, motionless.
“Is he—is he dead?”
“They wouldn’t have bothered tethering him to a wall if he was,” I said, not entirely sure that was true. “Shayfer, I swear on my ancestors that I will beat you within an inch of your life if you do not wake up and help me figure a way out of this right now!”
Maybe it was my threat, or the booming of my voice when I delivered it, but something reached into the depths of his mind and startled him awake. His head snapped up, and he took a breath like a drowning man who’d finally broken through the water’s surface. Panting wildly, his wide honey-brown eyes looked around the cell with fear and confusion as he took in our bleak scenario.
It took far longer than it should have for a sense of realization to settle into his stare.
“Good to have you back,” I said in earnest.
His gaze darted back and forth between Eldrien and me as his breath heaved in his chest. As it began to slow, he winced and attempted to touch the back of his head. “What in the name of the gods happened?” he asked. “Just how much wine did I drink at that party?”
“You’re all right!” Eldrien cried with relief. “I thought for sure you were dead?—”
“I’m not sure we should rule that out, given the way my head feels at the moment, but I appear alive enough for now. So, which of you would like to tell me why I’m in a cell of some sort?”
“Vesstan,” was my singular response.
It took a second for Shayfer’s memories to catch up with him. The moment they did, concern flooded his eyes. “Ariel…something must have gone wrong?—”
“Which is why we need to get out of here right now,” I said, rustling my chains for effect. “Can you use your power?”
“Gladly,” he said as he straightened his spine. He closed his eyes to focus; then he muttered under his breath. “Or perhaps not.”
“Do you need more time to rest?” Eldrien asked.
“No. The bastard used iron, so no amount of rest will help me.” He turned a murderous look to me. “I cannot get us out.”
“Of course you can’t,” a muffled voice called from behind what I’d thought was a metal wall. It slid open with ease, revealing Vesstan and what I could only describe as a massive sparring arena behind him.
He sauntered into the room, hands clasped behind his back, a smile on his face. His attention lingered on Shayfer before he slowly walked over to the fae spy and took his chin in his hand. The deep gash in his head began to close before my eyes, and the tension and fatigue in Shayfer’s body seemed to melt away after a few moments.
“There, now,” Vesstan cooed, “that must be better.” Shayfer’s mouth opened to respond, but it was met with Vesstan’s fist. The blow snapped his head around to face Eldrien, who watched in abject horror. “But I think I prefer you a little roughed up.”
The spiteful god smiled at the blood running down Shayfer’s chin, then turned his attention to Eldrien. The wide-eyed Minyade backed against the wall at Vesstan’s approach, which only seemed to delight him. Eldrien was the weakest of us all— mentally and physically—and Vesstan knew it. He stalked him like prey until he stood nose to nose with the Minyade prisoner.
“Tell me who sent you,” he said in a casual tone that belied his obvious rage. With every passing moment that Eldrien stood silent, a chill in the room began to spread. Icy white lines webbed across the stone, encasing us in frost, and I watched as that ice began to snake across Eldrien’s exposed chest. Even with his scales called forth, he couldn’t weather it for long, and his skin grew paler, with a bluish hue that mimicked his wings. “I asked you a question.”
Body shaking and teeth chattering, he tried to answer. “N-no one, s-sent us.”
Vesstan turned to Shayfer and me. “I will reiterate this point one final time before I rain the consequences of your choices down upon both of you and your friend here: I do not like being lied to.” With eerie slowness, he focused his attention back on Eldrien, who hung from the wall, body quaking from the cold. “Now tell me. Who. Sent. You?”
Panic emanated from Eldrien’s wide eyes. “There’s nothing to tell, Lord Vesstan.”
The god’s eyes narrowed to threatening slits. “I see…” With uncanny speed, Vesstan twisted Eldrien around and slammed his face into the wall, pinning him against the frozen stone.
“We came for the Oracle!” he yelled, voice muffled by the wall. “That’s all. I swear it!”
“I wonder,” Vesstan mused aloud. As he did, a blade of ice slowly formed in his hand—one Eldrien could not see. “Would you swear it on your people?”
“Yes!”
With a flick of Vesstan’s wrist, the ice sword cut Eldrien’s shirt to pieces, leaving it to hang in strips from where it remained tucked into his pants. “Would you swear it on your wings ?”
A cold chill unrelated to Vesstan’s power shivered up my spine at his words, and I wondered if he’d seen the scars on my back somehow when he’d dragged us down to this prison. But my shirt was still intact, so I assumed my secret was, too—for now.
“The Minyades are renowned for their vibrant wings,” he continued as he drew the blade under the root of one. “I wonder if you’d still be one without them.”
Eldrien’s body quaked with fear, and I knew that he would not survive if Vesstan made good on his threat. How I felt about him was irrelevant at that moment; I had no intention of letting the vengeful god slice off his wings, as the Barterer had mine.
“If you want to carve someone up, I suggest you try me,” I growled to gain his attention.
He looked over his shoulder and smiled like the savage beast he was. “Oh, believe me, I plan to.”
“Hemming…” Shayfer warned under his breath.
I ignored him entirely. “It makes you crazy that I got to her first, doesn’t it? That your plans for her were tarnished by my hands all over her. Inside of her?—”
“Do not play with me, boy ,” he said as he dug the blade into the base of Eldrien’s wing. Pressed flat to the wall, he had no further retreat. Blood trailed down his back, an ominous prelude of what was to come if I couldn’t make Vesstan turn his ire on me.
“Were you afraid you couldn’t take me in a fair fight?” I asked, feigning confidence. “Is that why you had your whore put something in my drink? Why you chained me to the wall with irons?” His icy blue eyes narrowed as the dagger dug deeper into Eldrien’s flesh. “What a pathetic god you must be to turn on the weakest of us to get what you want. Too afraid to face a fae bastard…”
Vesstan’s face contorted with anger before he let out a deafening roar and lunged at me, ice dagger in hand. He plunged it into my gut, only to have it explode into a shower of ice and snow.
“A half-blooded bastard,” I said with a smile. “My Nychteride blood is strong—too strong for even a god.” I pressed forward as far as my restraints would allow, the metal groaning against the force. “Maybe you should let me loose and see what else I can shatter.”
Vesstan’s eyes were wide as he seethed with anger. “Who are you?”
I stared back at him with renewed hatred. “I am the half-breed son of an unknown fae lord and a Nychteride whore.”
“And why did you come to my island?”
“For the Oracle.”
“Interesting that you all keep sticking to that story?—”
“Because it’s the truth.”
“While I would like to believe you and your companions,” he said as he turned his attention to Shayfer and Eldrien, “it doesn’t make sense of why Ariel attempted to kill me this evening.” He let the silence linger as he stared us down. “So I cannot help but feel as though a piece of the puzzle is still missing, and I am willing to bet that one of you possesses it.”
“You killed her mother,” Shayfer said, his tone lacking any of its normal diplomacy. “I imagine that would be motive enough.”
“Wrong again,” the god replied before cracking his hand across Shayfer’s bloody face. “And, frankly, I’m offended.” He pulled a silk scarf from his pocket and gently wiped the blood from his pale fingers. “Perhaps if you tell me the name of the one who started this vile rumor, I’ll show you mercy.” Eldrien looked over his shoulder at me, eyes still wide with fear, and I shook my head. Giving up Ariel’s father was not an option.
“There are many tales throughout our lands regarding her murder,” Shayfer began before pausing to spit a mouthful of blood onto the stone floor. “The Minyades, in retaliation for her disappearance. You, for whatever reason would motivate a god to kill another. Lord Kaplyn Corvallym, for his obsession with her?—”
“Lord Kaplyn has been blamed for her death?” he asked, a note of amusement in his tone. “Did you hear that, Thallen? Lord Kaplyn blamed for Siora’s murder.” The manservant barely nodded in acknowledgment. “What a delicious irony that is,” he said as he smoothed his coat and regained his composure. “Although Kaplyn never could be trusted, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the one that pointed a finger at me.” He stepped closer to me, and the beast began to stir quietly within. “In the end, none of this really matters, since none of you will be leaving this place. Ever .” He looked back to where Thallen lingered in the doorway. “I need you to retrieve something for me. You’ll find it in my room—the top drawer of my armoire, to be exact.” He returned his venomous gaze to me and smiled. “It’s a black dagger. Extremely sharp, and deadly to certain creatures. Bring it to me now.” Malice flashed in his expression. “Perhaps I should indulge your suicidal inclinations.”
It felt like an eternity before Thallen reappeared in the doorway, an obsidian sword in his hand. He handed it to Vesstan, who held it up, pointing its deadly tip directly at me. “It has been a long time since I’ve needed to wield this particular weapon, but it seems most appropriate for this occasion. Obsidian makes such a magnificent blade, wouldn’t you agree?”
I swallowed back my fear. “I don’t know. Give it to me and I’ll let you know what I think.”
Vesstan’s laughter filled the room, echoing long after it cut short. In a blink, he stood before me. “Perhaps we should try this again,” he said as he drew the blade along my arm, slicing through my flesh as though it were made of leather and not as hard as stone. Blood welled in its wake as he carved up toward my shoulder.
Suddenly, he drew back and buried the blade deep. I roared in pain and lurched forward until my restraints began to squeal in protest. An unseen force slammed me back against the wall while Vesstan’s eyes glowed white.
“Tell me something: what exactly is your plan now? To get me to release you so that you can somehow kill me, then save your friends and your lover?” I strained against the pressure crushing me in place while Vesstan stood a few feet away looking at me, unfazed. “Because even if you could do the impossible, you would never find her in time.”
“I will always find her,” I struggled to reply.
He leaned in closer, eyes gleaming with hatred and challenge. “Are you willing to bet her life on that?”
A low growl ripped through the room as I pressed against his magical hold.
Vesstan canted his head with curiosity. “Perhaps we should save these hypotheticals for later.” He backed away to where Thallen stood in silence at the door. “I promised Ariel I would return to finish what you started earlier this evening. I’d hate to keep her waiting. I have such delicious plans for her—to see just how much she can take before she breaks.” His words broke through the haze of pain clouding my mind, and the beast’s eyes shot open. “Until then,” he said as he shut the massive iron door.
A roar of frustration shook the very walls of our shared prison, but the beast did not emerge. Panic shot through my body, and I turned to find Shayfer staring back at me with sympathy in his eyes.
Another deafening cry escaped me.
“What are we going to do?” Eldrien asked, terror in his eyes. Terror for us. For Ariel. And for the unknown horrors awaiting us before death came.
I clutched the bleeding wound on my arm and tried to slow my breathing. “I’m going to get us out of here,” I said, my voice hard as stone with resolve. “And then I’m going to kill that monster.”