Chapter 53
Zadriel
Blood dripped down Zadriel’s chin, splashing onto the leather pouch he clutched tightly in his shaking hands.
The wet sand was hell to trudge through, bits of ice clinging to its surface, cool air kissing the ocean floor—the tide continued its exodus, slinking between the Esper Rocks, water dripping off the seaweed clinging to the sea stacks’ sides like curtains.
Zadriel weaved between them, ignoring the pinpricks of icy droplets splashing his skin, until pain throbbed in his ribs, skittering over the bones.
Each inhale agony. He slowed, choking on air, a hand pressed to his side.
It was a cruel twist of fate that this was healing, the splinters in his bones weaving themselves back together, blood receding from his lungs.
Zadriel leaned his head on a sea stack’s surface, ignoring the barnacles cutting into his skin.
Something within him eased, the curse’s clutches loosening, rewarding him for every step he took toward Baith, to where Aedlin and Aoife must have run with Darius.
At least he knew he was heading in the right direction.
For now.
Sucking in a breath through his teeth, he savored the salty brine permeating the air.
A small moment of freedom, his body his own again.
Elodie and Silas would search for him soon enough—it was almost funny when they scrambled for their clothes, suddenly modest, though Zadriel imagined they didn’t see him as much of a threat in his current state.
It surprised even him when he was able to stand on aching legs and force himself to climb down the sandy hill to the beach.
Wiping his bloody chin on his forearm, Zadriel frowned at the sanguineous streaks settling between the scars near his wrist, splashes of red glistening on his skin. What kind of threat could he be? Elodie had enough blood staining her pavilion and puddling on the forest floor to force him back.
“Fuck,” he hissed, fingers curling into fists, leather digging into his palm. Zadriel knew he had little time, but he needed to think. To act. Whatever secrets remained within Cillian’s pouch, that traitorous Halfling couldn’t have them.
Across the receding waves, Arcadia watched, a wall of twisted evergreens clutched by their gnarled, deciduous neighbors, casting their judgment. They speckled the horizon, dark splotches amid the night sky, but Zadriel felt them all the same. He’d never stopped hearing their call.
“What would you have me do?” he whispered, wishing they could answer.
“Fae!” Elodie screamed from atop the hill, icy eyes narrowing as she looked for him. “Don’t make me search through the dark for your blood. You know running is pointless.”
Zadriel’s lips thinned, eyes roving over the beach, peeking between the Rocks until he found a cluster of caves marking a distant cliffside. If he was fast enough, maybe he could hide Cillian’s pouch there and return to retrieve it once he was free.
Frigid water seeped into his boots as he trudged through thick, half-frozen sand, soaking his socks. His toes like ice. Zadriel ignored his shaky limbs, sticking to the shadows while he weaved through the sculpted sea stacks, praying to the Mother he’d make it before—
A fist slammed into his face, the crack louder than the crash of the receding waves. Zadriel stumbled back. Stars exploded in his vision, but he blinked them away, baring his teeth in a snarl as he stared Silas down.
Blood pounded in his ears—damn him for being so distracted he hadn’t heard the man approach.
“Found him,” Silas called to Elodie, a predatory glint in his navy eyes.
The beast of a man cracked his knuckles before jerking his chin toward Cillian’s pouch.
“Hand it over, Fae. You’re in no shape to fight me.
” When he flexed his broad shoulders, muscles along his bare chest rippled with the movement.
He was half-naked, his barely tied breeches speckled with droplets of Zadriel’s blood, the laces hanging in a sorry attempt at a knot.
Though he’d taken more care securing his boots.
Zadriel shook his head. “Do you know what this is?”
“Do you?” he grunted, examining the Fae’s face.
Zadriel took a single step back, his head still pounding. Bile churning in his gut. “It’s my brother’s pouch,” he snarled. “It doesn’t belong in your hands.”
“Cillian never mentioned a brother.” Silas arched a brow. “And you’re Fae.”
Zadriel bristled. “How did you know him?”
“He was my mentor.” Elodie stepped out from behind the sea stack, waltzing to Silas’s side, her blood-red cloak trailing behind her.
She smiled softly up at Silas, twisting the ring around her finger, her gaze snagging on his lips before they darted to Zadriel.
That grin twitched, growing wider, her stare locked on the dried blood clinging to Zadriel’s chin.
“Cillian taught me so much about my powers in his letters. How to use them, how to hide myself, how to control anyone I wanted with a little drop of blood.” She laughed when Zadriel bared his teeth, the sound so child-like.
As if this were all a game. “Without his teachings, I’d still be locked in my rooms. I owe him everything.
” She sighed, lips twisting into a pout.
“It’s a shame what happened; I much preferred his vision for Berwick, but sometimes dreams are simply dreams. There’s one option left. ”
A muscle ticked in Zadriel’s jaw. “Why the hell would he help you?”
Elodie’s hands stilled, that gods damned ring spinning around and around in its casing until it settled on the Fae.
“It certainly wasn’t out of the goodness of his heart, if that’s what you’re asking.
” Her focus grew distant as she went on.
“He was paid handsomely and took my most beloved away. Then, he stopped writing me back.”
Something stilled within Zadriel. He couldn’t take his eyes off the ring. Couldn’t help but wonder... “Did you kill him?” he seethed, voice low. Lethal.
She gasped at the accusation. “Why would I do such a thing?”
His eyes darkened, a glow glimmering within the gold. “We both know you aren’t above murder.”
“Of course not.” The woman gave Zadriel a once-over, her attention lingering a moment too long on the torn corner of his cloak before she dismissed him.
“Taking lives is part of building empires, Fae, but I’d never waste a loyal king.
Father would have my head, and I am not going to be locked away again!
” Elodie turned on her feet, already sauntering back toward the camp when she glanced over her shoulder and said to Silas, “I’m tired, grab him so we can return to our bed. ”
“Yes, sweetling,” Silas said reverently, chin dipping in a quick bow before he reached for Zadriel’s cloak.
Zadriel dodged Silas’s grasp, pushing against waterlogged sediment and his own barking muscles. Cillian’s pouch swung in his grip as he ran, leather smacking against his side while he huffed his breaths through gritted teeth. Elodie looked back as Zadriel leapt and tackled her to the ground.
Gritty sand and glittering ice crystals puffed in the air as they landed, Elodie wheezing against Zadriel’s weight.
“You aren’t worthy of the sap in your blood,” he spat, releasing Cillian’s bag. It plunked beside him, an ache throbbing in Zadriel’s heart at the thought of losing another piece of his brother. There wasn’t enough time—Silas would be on them in seconds.
Elodie struggled in his hold, kicking up dirt and screeching at the top of her lungs, drowning out the seagulls’ caws and the ocean’s endless roar.
Zadriel wrapped his hands around her throat. “You’re a bane to your kind,” he growled as he squeezed, cutting off her shriek.
A red flush consumed her freckles, blood pounding beneath her face.
A quiet squeal rasping in her windpipe. Elodie stared at Zadriel’s sharp canines as if seeing them for the first time, her wide, hailstorm eyes nearly consumed by white.
She reached for his wrist, nails digging into his flesh, but all Zadriel did was laugh, the pain a distant echo compared to the agony he’d grown used to.
“Release her now!” Silas bellowed, racing toward them.
The clap of his hand landing on Zadriel’s shoulder reverberating through bone.
Silas’s hold tightened, sinking into muscle until veins cracked, bruises forming beneath his steely grip, but, when the brute tried to yank Zadriel off of her, he squeezed harder.
Water soaked into Zadriel’s black breeches, his knees digging into the sand while he straddled Elodie, her flailing body growing sluggish beneath him.
He barely noticed the chill seeping into his skin, too focused on maintaining his grip.
Watching the tears stream from Elodie’s eyes, slipping down her cheeks to soak into her strawberry blonde hair.
Her mouth falling open as she fought to breathe.
Silas slammed a fist into Zadriel’s cheeks, the impact ricocheting through his skull, a new wave of pain blooming in his head while his ears rang. The force knocked Zadriel onto his side, but still he didn’t let go.
“Fuck!” Zadriel hissed, squeezing his eyes shut. Nails digging into Elodie’s throat until they were slick with blood. He refused to let go. A calm washed over him as he considered that this may be his end—once Elodie was gone, Silas’s retribution would come swiftly.
As he opened his eyes, he looked out toward the water, moonlight rippling along its surface, twinkling stars kissing the waves as they met the horizon.
A fitting enough backdrop for his final moments.
Beautiful. Haunting. He hoped his parents watched on from the spirit realm, ready to welcome him once he’d taken his final breath.