37. Scotlind
THIRTY-SEVEN
SCOTLIND
My feet were frozen against the cold floor of the laboratory, but I could barely feel it. Arcane didn’t say a word to me the entire walk, and my nerves were eating me alive at what the King was going to do. He knew about us, knew that Tezya and I were bonded, and he had a plan to bring Tezya here…
Dread filled me as I recalled the conversation I overheard between Tezya and Dovelyn before everything went to shit. I saw people die right in front of her, and she didn’t do anything to stop it. She didn’t even blink or seem surprised by it either. She just watched.
Was this what Dovelyn saw? Did she see this happening? Would this be the moment I ruin everything? Could I really sit by and do nothing as the King continues to murder people?
“Everyone out,” Arcane ordered as we walked in. He dropped my chains and left me standing by the door. His lab was busier than normal with tons of Advenians scurrying about. I realized it was the first time I’d been brought here in the afternoon and not in the dead of night or the early hours of the morning. It was also the first time he made everyone else vacate.
He nodded toward an empty test chair, gesturing for me to take a seat. I walked slowly, almost tripping over the chains now that they were loosely hanging around me and not pulled taut. Once I sat, he gently unclamped them before replacing them with the shackles built into the armrests.
I felt fire in my veins as my powers slowly receded back into me. It was the only time I felt Tezya’s emotions. When I first was captured, I could feel him periodically even while wearing the Vir Alluse, but now I was fully cut off from him, except for the split second it took for them to replace my chains. It was the only glimpse I got that he was still alive before it felt like a part of me was cut off again. Except this time, the connection didn’t fade. I could still feel Tezya as the new chains clamped over my skin.
I looked up at the eldest prince in question as he finished fastening my wrists into the arm rests, then continued with my ankles at the base of the chair. Why wasn’t he using Alluse? As soon as the vapor wore off, I’d always been put in Alluse chains.
“Don’t get any ideas,” he said, seeming to read my thoughts. “I’m stronger than you, and you’ll regret it if you try anything.”
A dome-like shield fell over us as he turned to me. “There’s a silencing bubble in the shield so the monitors won’t pick anything up.” He gestured to the corners of the room where cameras were positioned throughout the lab. In all the mornings I’d been dragged down here, I never noticed them before. We were being watched.
I scanned the shimmery air the prince created. It was different from any shield I’d ever seen before. A faint flow of silver was mixed into it, matching his eyes. I stared at him. He looked so much like Dovelyn with his long sleek hair tied behind his back. I used to be envious of it when I first saw them. Not the silver coloring but the silkiness to it. My own brown strands were brittle and dry, despite the effort the servants put into my appearance today. Not that any of it mattered anymore. My best friend was suffering somewhere above me, forced to sit in the same room as her decaying twin, and I’d soon be rotting in a plated cell, levels below the dungeons for the King to drink from until the day I died.
I gritted my teeth. I had to get Vallie out before that happened, before I couldn’t do anything anymore.
Arcane moved swiftly, hooking up numerous monitors and sensors across my body. Once the screens flared to life with numbers and symbols I couldn’t comprehend, he pulled a large-bore needle out of a drawer. I knew what was coming next as he threaded the tip into my vein and connected it to a tube that drained into a small collection bag. I watched as my blood poured out of me. Would he really be able to tell if Tezya was bonded to me? Had my blood somehow changed since we completed the bond?
Arcane worked in silence, but I couldn’t stop gawking at him. Something was different. I felt him somehow as he methodically worked, and I got a sudden urge to trust him, which was crazy and absolutely ridiculous. He was part of the reason I was captured in the first place, and he currently had me chained to a chair to run tests on my blood. How could I think he was remotely good? I blew out a breath, concluding I had gone insane.
But I still couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to him than the facade of being the King’s obedient heir. Was it because of Tezya? Arcane was his half brother, and now that I was mated to Tezya, did that mean I’d feel differently toward his siblings? Sie was also Tezya’s brother, and I still had no idea what to make of that. Not that it mattered. I wasn’t going to see either of them ever again.
My fists clenched at my sides.
Arcane noted the movement and eyed me curiously, and something else came to mind. I was positive he was the reason I couldn’t be compelled anymore. I knew he was protecting the camp. If he didn’t care about it, he would have just told Athler and his father the location .
“Why did you make the trade for me?” I asked. He said we had a silencing bubble around us, so I took a chance.
He didn’t answer. Of course he wouldn’t. He never spoke to me, so why would this be any different? But it felt different. I pushed forward.
“Was it because of Dovelyn?” I asked. “Did you make the trade to protect her?” I was shocked when he agreed to it, and even more shocked that it actually worked. He was the one who chased them when Athler ran after me, and Arcane came back empty handed. Was it on purpose? Did he let them all escape? I watched him closely and noticed his jaw tick. He still didn’t answer.
“You love them,” I said, realizing it was true. He loved Tezya and Dovelyn. I had no idea how I knew that, I just did. “You don’t really like your father at all. You’re only doing his bidding to save them from the burden of it.”
“Mind your tongue,” he growled, and I was surprised to hear such venom in his voice. “Or I’ll take it from your mouth. What you’re saying is treason, and I won’t stand to hear it.”
I sank into my seat, not bothered by his threat, because for some reason, I knew it wasn’t real. He wouldn’t do that. And then an idea came to me.
“You do realize you can do more for the human you’re in love with if you go against your father, right?”
“How do you know about Wells?” His eyes went wide in terror as he bent down to cup my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. His emotions surged into me. Complete and utter fear mixed with disbelief flooded my bones. It was written all over his face.
I smiled. I had him. I hit his weak spot. I couldn’t admit I knew Wells because it would confirm Tezya went to the camp, but if I could get Arcane to bring it up first… “I don’t know anything about a Wells .” I smiled sweetly as I enunciated his name. “I was only referring to the conversation you had with Dovelyn and Tezya when I was a prisoner before Tezya broke me out.”
Arcane stilled, realizing his mistake as I continued. His grip was still around my jaw. “You told them both that day that you loved a mortal boy and said you were working with your father so you could be together—”
His grip on my jaw hardened to the point where it bruised. He cut me off with a growl. “Don’t ever repeat that again.”
“Then help me. If you don’t want me running to your father and telling him all about the guy you love, do something for me.”
“What do you want?” He sneered as he assessed me. “I can’t stop this broadcast from happening so if that’s what you’re about to ask, don’t bother. It’s too late for that.”
“Save my friend.” Arcane leaned back slightly at my request. “Please. She’s innocent in this. Just get her out of here, and I’ll do anything you want.”
“I can’t help her. My father is obsessed with her. You don’t understand what you’re asking.”
“Please,” I added as I looked into his deep silver eyes. They were darker than Tezya’s, not having the added pale blue mixed into it.
“No.”
Heat rose in me as my anger boiled. “Then I’ll tell him about Wells.” I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t risk Savannah’s brother. I knew he didn’t deserve to be brought into this. But if I could convince Arcane I would, if I could get him to help me…
“My father won’t believe you. I never visited the mortal territory like my brother had.”
I needed him to believe me, but I was running out of ideas. If I didn’t get Vallie out now , I was going to do whatever the King asked during the broadcast.
I felt sick. A lightheadedness took over me, and I became feverish. Arcane was still leaning over the chair, staring directly at me, his fingers digging into my chin. I glanced down. The needle that was draining my blood was burning my skin, and the collection bag was full, threatening to explode. The next second, the wires burst into flames, catching on the monitor system.
“Shit,” he swore as he leapt off me, out of my line of fire. Without the Alluse chains I could feel the draw to my own powers. I called to the water in the room and doused the fire before the flames burned me.
“Your system is faulty,” I commented as I wiggled out of the crisped, charred wires.
Arcane just looked at me, his eyes widened in shock. “Interesting,” he murmured so softly I almost missed it.
I was about to ask him what was interesting when the King burst into the lab, confirming he was watching us. He seethed at the eldest prince. “What the fuck happened here?”
The silencing bubble disappeared the instant he arrived. “Faulty machinery,” Arcane said.
The King glared at his son as he snapped his fingers. Soldiers rushed into the room and started to surround us. “All you had to do was get a sample of her blood. I told you I needed her unharmed for the broadcast.” I looked down and realized my dress was ruined. “We’re going to the confinement room,” the King added when Arcane didn’t respond. “It seems you require a lesson .”
I swallowed, knowing full well what the King’s lessons for his children entailed. Arcane straightened but still didn’t say anything.
“Put her chains back on and bring her to the servants. She needs a new dress,” the King ordered. “I’m going to teach my son what happens when he disappoints me.”
I watched as Arcane followed his father, and as I stared at the back of his silver hair, any hope of saving Vallie before this broadcast went with him.