Chapter 22 #2
A shadow moved behind Ambrose, and Salem stood near his feet, looking up at Queen Cassia with a tilted head.
Warmth spread through my head, my mind filling with a presence I’d never felt before.
I silently begged it to stop Salem from attacking Ambrose.
Salem’s head turned toward me, but I didn’t dare look at him, keeping my eyes solely on Ambrose, watching how his eyes grew distant.
It’s not time yet.
I jerked at the sound in my head, my heart racing at the haunting voice.
I looked around me, searching the dark halls to find where it could have come from, but found nothing.
Even Salem was gone, fading into the darkness like he never even existed.
My breath caught in my throat. I was alone—truly alone now.
My body locked up, my breathing coming in fast pants.
Relief flooded my veins at whatever told me to come alone, to keep Samian from joining me.
But that reprieve quickly changed to dread.
If Ambrose saw us together, I couldn’t even begin to think about what he would have done to Samian—what he would have made me do to him.
Ambrose’s eyes gradually stirred, coming out of wherever his mind had gone. His face pinched, his nose curling in a snarl. Queen Cassia sucked in a sharp breath, lunging to the metal bars, her soft hand pushing me into the shadows.
“Run!”
My body came alive then, my mind whirling as I ran through the twists and turns of the dark dungeon.
A vicious snarl ripped through the air behind me.
Ice climbed the walls and bars following me, the sound of stones cracking from the cold, loud and sharp.
I heard Ambrose’s steps closing in on me.
I heard him bark my name, the harsh sound freezing my blood.
Turning around the next corner, I found an open cell and slung my body into the shadows. I slapped a hand over my mouth and nose, blocking the sound of my harsh breathing. My body shook as I prayed he wouldn’t find me, that he couldn’t feel the claws of terror sinking deep inside my soul.
Ambrose ran by the cell, his curses filling the air.
I counted my breaths, waiting and listening for any sign of Ambrose coming back.
Minutes passed with no sound other than my pounding heart.
Letting my hand fall, I walked on shaky legs to the entrance, peering out to look down the halls.
Finding them empty, I stepped out, careful of the ice coating the slick stones.
“You really thought you could hide from me?”
I sucked in a sharp breath and rushed forward, not daring to look back at the male behind me.
But he was too close. He was an apex hunter, and I was nothing but his timid prey.
Turning the corner, my foot slipped on the ice below my feet, and I crashed into a wall with a pained groan.
I tried to stand, to continue running when ice climbed up my body, freezing me in place.
A sob strangled out of me when Ambrose rounded the corner, his lips raising in a vicious smirk. Running a hand through his hair, Ambrose tipped his head back and laughed. The unsettling sound chilled me to my very core.
Crouching down, Ambrose grazed his fingers along my cheek, his caress soft and so contrary to the malice in his eyes. “Where do you think you’re running off to?” He taunted, his fingers pinching my chin.
I whimpered against his hold, my hand struggling against the ice. “Let me go,” I choked out, my eyes watering from the frigid air.
Ambrose leaned down close, his hand moving to the nape of my neck, his breath hot against my face. “I’ll let you go, but only because we three need to have a little talk.”
The ice fell away from my body, and he jerked me off the floor, keeping his hold on my neck. Ambrose shoved me through the dungeons until we came to Queen Cassia’s cell. Her face was tight when I came into view, her eyes narrowing on my reddened skin, marred by Ambrose’s touch.
“Now, explain to me how you, my darling Sybil, know Cassia here,” Ambrose growled against my ear. “From what I understood, you’re not supposed to know of Cassia’s presence in the dungeons.”
His question was met with nothing but silence. How could I explain I found her cell when helping Ezra escape without giving Samian or Aster away? How do I tell him I got past the guards stationed at the entrance of the dungeon, keeping myself hidden from those stationed here, making their rounds?
“I said,” Ambrose paused, pushing me into the bars, “explain.”
“I-I don’t know,” I cried, the bars biting into my face. I felt foolish, my mind blank under the pressure of Ambrose’s scrutiny, unable to think of anything better to say.
“You don’t know,” Ambrose frowned, his voice dripping with disapproval. “How could you not know, Sybil?”
I stared at Queen Cassia, my mind blank.
She could see the panic reflected in my features, as if nothing could make my being here seem like an accident.
Not without giving away my involvement with the rebels.
I opened my mouth, trying to force out any words that could come to mind when Queen Cassia tucked a lock of stray hair behind her ear, but not before tapping a delicate finger against her temple.
The voice. The voice I heard earlier, urging me to be patient, was the one that sent Salem into the shadows.
“I heard a voice,” I gasped out. “A-a voice pulled me out of my sleep, and when my eyes opened, I was here.”
“You’ve been hearing a voice?” Ambrose’s voice sounded cold, yet there was a hint of alarm hidden within his ridicule. “Tell me, darling Sybil, what did this voice tell you?”
“T-that it wasn’t time yet.”
“Time for what?” The venom in his voice was no longer hushed. It dripped with every word he spoke.
“It didn’t say,” I pressed, praying that it would be enough for him to believe me. “That’s the only thing I heard, I swear.”
“Were you the one who killed Bramwell?”
I tried to turn my head to show Ambrose the sickening surprise transforming along my features, but Ambrose pressed me harder into the bars. Whimpering, I attempted to shake my head. “I didn’t do anything, I swear it, Ambrose. I was asleep in my bed, and then I was here.”
“How do I know you didn’t make any nighttime visits elsewhere?” he growled.
“I-Ivara was with me the entire time. She came to my room last night, wanting some company. We talked late into the night and fell asleep.”
“I guess I’ll just have to ask her to verify myself. Is this the first time you two have met?”
“No,” Queen Cassia answered for me, her voice soft. “We have met one other time.”
Ambrose blew out a breath, his frustration growing. “If someone doesn’t start giving me more details, there will be blood. Do I make myself clear?”
“She told me of my fate,” I squeaked out. “She said that death lay in my future but wouldn’t tell me more than that.”
“And today,” Ambrose pushed, looking at the queen.
“I told her that there was an abnormality in the bargain between you. That something happened during its creation that has not happened before. At least to my knowledge.”
“What does that have to do with me, Cassia?” Ambrose’s voice rose, his breathing becoming unsteady.
“That she’s not the only one who hears the voice.”
My eyes widened, and I watched as Queen Cassia stepped to the iron bars.
I was right. Ambrose was hearing a voice.
That’s what made his eyes go blank from time to time.
“Let her go now, Ambrose. You have your answers. She did not seek me out, nor does she have plans to make it known that I am here. Let her go and leave.”
Ambrose let out a cruel laugh. “Yes, I will let her go, but not before my promises have been fulfilled.”
Pulling me away from the bars, a shard of ice formed in the air.
Before I could even scream, Ambrose flicked the shard toward Queen Cassia, lodging it into her stomach.
Her eyes grew wide, and she looked down where blood welled around the ice.
Shrieking, I lunged toward the cell, only to be stopped by Ambrose wrapping his arms around my stomach, pulling me to his chest while I thrashed and fought against his hold.
Queen Cassia’s hands inched toward the ice as she finally sucked in a breath. She blinked, falling to her knees, the warmth of her blood and magic melting the ice. Ambrose dragged me out of the dungeon while I screamed out her name again and again.