Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Crickets are buzzing in the grass when I step out onto a darkened field just outside a small village.
I sweep my gaze across the cluster of buildings up ahead.
There is a barn and a stable to my right, but the rest of the houses look like normal homes.
Nothing that appears grander, like a city hall or something, which would be the most likely place for Jessina to be staying.
As promised, the portal remains open behind me while I start sneaking across the damp grass and towards the closest buildings up ahead.
I don’t have time to search through them all.
Not to mention that I’m unlikely to succeed without getting spotted if I go through every single house in this village.
Soft clouds drift over the dark sky above and temporarily obscure the moon while I close the final distance to the nearest house.
If Jessina and an entire host of silver dragons landed here and took temporary possession of a house, everyone in this village must know exactly which house it is.
There is no way something like that would escape notice. Not in a village this small.
Sliding out my lockpicks again, I walk up to the door in front of me and then drop down on one knee. Somewhere across the village, a sheep bleats. I cast a glance over my shoulder, but the dirt road behind me is empty.
After about a minute, I finally manage to get the finnicky lock open.
Impatience pulses inside my chest like thrumming lightning. Every second I waste here is another second that Draven is at the mercy of Jessina fucking Iceheart. I need to get him out. Now.
A darkened hallway becomes visible before me as I sneak across the threshold and into the house. Several open doorways branch off from that one hallway. I glance through them as I move quietly across the worn wooden floorboards.
The doorway to my left holds a small kitchen while the one on my right leads into a tidy but well-used living room.
I scan the frayed yellow couch and scratched wooden table before continuing deeper into the house.
Staying close to the wall, I try to prevent any of the floorboards from creaking underneath my feet.
Another open doorway on my right shows what looks like a workshop. Carpentry tools litter the wooden bench by the wall, and unfinished pieces of furniture are scattered across the floor.
I continue on to the final door, which is thankfully also open.
Remaining in the hallway, I glance through the door and into the dark room beyond. Satisfaction courses through me when I find a bedroom. Two people are sleeping on the bed in the middle of the room. One man and one woman. Humans, by the looks of it.
While sliding the dagger from my thigh holster, I approach the man’s side of the bed. Since he is physically stronger, he is the biggest threat. Once I reach the bed, I position myself so that I’m standing right next to him and summon my magic. Then I place the dagger across his throat.
A jolt shoots through him, and he starts blinking his eyes open.
“If you move, I will slit your throat,” I say.
All traces of sleep disappear from his features in a flash as fear instead pulses across his face. “Eva!”
The woman next to him jerks awake. I grind my teeth in annoyance and press the dagger harder against the man’s throat while Eva’s panicked eyes land on me.
“Scream and I’ll kill him,” I warn her.
Fear flickers in her eyes as she scrambles out of bed, sending sheets flying and tumbling down on the floor in her haste. But she wisely keeps her mouth shut.
“Eva, don’t—” the man begins.
“Shut up,” I growl. “Tell me where Jessina Iceheart is keeping Draven Ryat.”
By the wall, Eva gasps, which all but confirms that they are indeed staying somewhere in this village. However, the man quickly presses his lips together, as if that would somehow save him from having to answer.
Reaching out with my magic, I connect it to the bone white flames of fear that are now burning in both of their chests. They’re already pretty big, but I start increasing them anyway.
“Tell me where they are,” I order again, my voice coming out shockingly hard.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the man replies while shaking his head.
That terrible impatience burns through me again, and I flex my fingers on the hilt of the knife to release some of the tension trapped inside me. It doesn’t work. So I just slide my gaze to Eva instead.
“I would really hate to get blood all over these white sheets,” I say, holding her stare with merciless eyes. “Such a nuisance for you to wash out, don’t you think?”
All color drains from her face, and her terrified eyes dart between me and her husband.
“Don’t tell her anything,” he snaps before Eva can break.
A low snarl threatens to rip from my chest. I don’t have time for this.
Those dark waves of unending hatred and rage wobble inside me, threatening to crash down and at last drown me fully, as the image of Draven, shackled and defenseless with Jessina’s foot on his neck, flashes through my mind again.
“You know what she will do to us if she finds out we betrayed her,” the man continues, his pleading eyes on his wife.
That cold mercilessness is spreading through my veins like poison, but I don’t know how to stop it. And truth be told, I don’t think I want to stop it anymore.
“Ah, I see,” I say. “You’re more afraid of her than you are of me.” A vicious smile curls my lips. “That can be fixed.”
Before they can so much as open their mouths to respond, I throw open the floodgates of my magic and flare those flames of fear into wildfires.
Eva’s knees buckle, and she crashes down on the dark bedroom floor while terrified whimpers escape her lips. Below me, a dark stain spreads across the front of the man’s underwear.
“Tell me where she is keeping Draven Ryat,” I command. “Or I will make you wish that someone as merciful as Jessina Iceheart was here instead of me.”
“The green building,” the man stammers, his eyes wide with terror as he stares up at me. “In the middle of town.”
“Which green building?”
“There’s only one green building.”
“Excellent.”
With a flick of my wrist, I remove the blade from his throat and slide it back into its holster. I keep the magic connected for another few seconds, though. Fear shines in their eyes as they stare up at me, one from the bed and the other from the floor, too afraid to move.
“If you tell anyone that I’m here, I will come back and kill you both,” I warn. “Understood?”
They nod frantically.
“Good.”
At last, I let my magic fade out. Since they didn’t know me beforehand, this encounter will likely shape their entire view of me, so they will continue to fear me even after the magic is gone.
Spinning on my heel, I start towards the door.
“You’re a monster,” Eva whispers, her voice full of anger and fear, from where she is still kneeling on the floor.
Once upon a time, a comment like that would’ve paralyzed me. Knowing that someone disliked me enough to call me something like that would’ve made me fret and worry and feel sick. It would have hurt me beyond belief to be called a monster. Once upon a time.
Now, I find that I have, at long last, officially run out of fucks to give about other people’s opinions.
So instead of feeling anxious about how these two humans see me, I embrace the monster label as I turn back to lock eyes with Eva.
“Yes, I am.” I flash her a cold smile, full of cruelty and threats. “So make sure that I don’t have a reason to return.”
Another whimper slips from her lips, and she cowers down on the floor.
I stalk out the door and back out into the night.
Neither of them raises the alarm.
Warm night winds wash over the countryside, making the crops in the fields around the village sway. I quickly leave them behind as I jog towards the center of this village and the green building that is supposed to be there.
I slow down as I reach the middle of the village. It’s difficult to see in the darkness, but I think the building up ahead is green. There is only one problem. It’s surrounded by dragon shifters in silver armor.
Biting back a curse, I throw myself in between two houses before they can spot me. Sneaking along the wooden wall, I peer around the corner on the other side. The ring of dragon shifters continues around the whole building.
I suppress a frustrated sigh. How am I supposed to get through without any of them seeing me?
I could use my magic to connect to some emotion in their chests, but for that to work, they all need to be feeling the same thing.
Unless I create an emotion out of nothing, of course.
But the problem is that I have no idea if I’m able to do it to this many people at the same time.
Before, I’ve only ever done it to one person at a time.
Or two people, my mind corrects. If I did make my parents hate me with magic, that would mean my current maximum for creating emotions out of nothing is two people at the same time. Not one. Goddess, I really need to visit them soon to find out the truth.
I cast another glance around the corner. But of course, nothing has changed. An entire circle of dragon shifters still stands between me and the green building.
Drumming my fingers against my thigh, I consider my options. But impatience still tears at my chest, and I’m finding it hard to concentrate. I flick a glance up at the roof. Would it be possible to jump from this roof to the roof of the green building?
It’s worth a shot.
However, I’m not skilled enough in the art of scaling walls that I can just climb up the side of a two-story building without any handholds.
At least not without the very convenient climbing gear that I got from the human resistance in Frostfell.
I really should’ve brought that with me when we escaped.
Though I suppose I had a lot more urgent things to prioritize back then. Like Isera and Alistair. And Draven.