43. Scotlind
FORTY-THREE
SCOTLIND
Panic filled me. I was back in Brighta, but the camp was different than before. It looked smaller, and I realized they had moved locations because of me. Peter was holding me down as Kallon left to go back through the portal. I didn’t know what was happening, why Arcane brought me here, or the reason he involved Kole.
Excruciating pain was still rippling through my body. It was a paralyzing shock that rendered me useless. I couldn’t move. I could barely think. All I could focus on was the lightning flickering through me. It was agony and death wrapped in one long torturous, unending moment. Like time stilled, and I was left dying over and over again with no one to save me.
Peter was speaking, but I couldn’t hear him. He was holding me on the ground, his arms wrapped around me, and I realized I was shaking. My entire body was covered in pale streaks that looked like white lightning had stained and burned onto my skin. All I could do was stare and watch and feel—
Black and purple mist reappeared, and Kallon portaled Savannah and Wells through. She was gone before I could ask her what happened. Savannah was staring at me, but I couldn’t process her emotion, my mind was still whirling in pain.
Kallon was back, dumping Dovelyn and Rainer onto the grass next to us. The latter avoided looking at me. I thought I heard a mumbled “ I’m sorry” before the portal opened again and Sie and Arcane came through.
Sie had the same white streaks from where he had grabbed me, but his were only on his hands and forearms. Arcane was covered head to toe, and I knew Kole would be too. Did I look that bad? The eldest prince didn’t fight back against his chains. He was static, unable to hold himself up. Foam was pouring from his mouth and tears were streaming down his face, matching my own.
Then Kole and Tezya appeared, and everything stopped. Kole was dumped on the grass next to Arcane, but Tezya’s eyes found mine, and I lost it. I pushed up from Peter’s grip with everything I had, my legs still shaking, as we both met each other halfway. I leapt into his arms, not caring about who was watching as his hand cupped the back of my head and he held me to him.
“I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, Rumor.” He kept repeating over and over again, and it wasn’t until I tried to respond that I remembered I still couldn’t speak. Tezya stilled as he noticed. My feet hit the soft grass as he gently set me back down, but his arms never left mine, and I was grateful because I would have fallen over without it. I wrapped my hands around my throat, trying to get the words out to explain, but they didn’t come.
“What the fuck did you do to her?” Tezya snarled at his brother.
“The antidote… is… in my front pocket,” Arcane grunted against the pain, his body still convulsing as he laid on the ground. The metal in his shackles flared and ricocheted with lightning as it gathered around his hands where the scarring was the worst .
Sie stepped forward, grabbing Arcane by his shirt, avoiding the damning chains, and pulled a green vial out of his pocket. He turned it over, inspecting it. “Where’s the needle?”
Savannah grabbed the tube from his hands, frowning at it. “It’s not an injection. She needs to drink it.”
“What did you do to her?” Tezya repeated, his voice menacing as his hand instinctively gripped me tighter.
“I found a way to… manipulate Brock’s ability while combining it with another,” Arcane ground out as he repositioned himself on the ground. The lightning was slowly receding. I glanced at Kole right as he recovered too. “I found a way to zero in on particular senses he can steal…” There was a long pause as Arcane wiggled his fingers beneath the shackles and found his breath again. “I have vials for each one…” He paused again. “I was able to mix it with a paralytic agent that attacks the vocal cords. The King ordered me to take away her ability to speak before the broadcast.” Sie’s head snapped up as Arcane kept talking. “If she doesn’t drink that,” he gestured toward the bottle, “it’ll probably be another twelve hours before she can use her voice. If she takes it… give her ten minutes.”
Tezya strode forward, his one hand still resting on my waist to hold me up, as he grabbed the tube from Savannah with his other. Then he gently turned toward me. “Here.”
I drank from the vial, gagging on the contents that bubbled and clogged my throat. Green liquid spilled from my lips. The feeling of my esophagus starting to expand was the only reason I didn’t hurl everything back up.
“I’m taking her to the healer’s tent,” Tezya announced as I was still choking on the fluid. “I need to make sure she’s not injured. Lock them up.”
Everything hit me at once. I was free. I was out, away from the Lux King and Athler. But my friend wasn’t.
I tried over and over again to form the word I needed to say. I knew Arcane said it would take ten minutes before I could speak, but I willed it sooner, praying my enhancement could somehow work to coincide with the serum, but it was no use.
Tezya saw me struggling. “It’s okay, Rumor, don’t try to force it. You’ll be able to speak soon. You’re safe now.”
I shook my head, tears streaming down my face, frustrated that he wasn’t understanding. It wasn’t me I was worried about. I couldn’t lose another friend. I couldn’t lose Vallie the same way I lost Miles. I tried over and over again to form the words as everyone just stared at me. I willed our telepathy to work, attempting to speak with Tezya mind to mind, but even the voice inside my head was dead.
“She’s trying to say… Vallie ,” Kole hissed through the lightning still pulsating around his shackles, but he was sitting up now, his head bowed between his knees. “Your father has Vallie.”