58. Zai
Zai
The metal bindings wrapped tight around me, even around my fingers. I managed a small twitch of my wrist, bolstering a crumb of resilience against the burn.
Disbelief shot through me as the captain stepped from the shadows. “Flames alive, Tera! What are you doing?”
“Thank you for making this so easy, Zai.” Her voice dripped with mockery. “Leading us right to the Dual Wielder and keeping him distracted for us. We couldn’t have done it without you.”
“What!” The word hissed out through my teeth.
Her betrayal carved through my chest. The woman I’d grown to trust had driven a blade straight through the loyalty I thought we shared.
But my gaze snagged on Lora. Her eyes cut into me with pure venom.
I shook my head. “No, it wasn’t—”
Tera’s hand flicked, and molten metal surged over my mouth, cutting off my words.
I channeled what little bolster my restrained hands could muster, protecting the sensitive skin on my face and lips. My gaze locked on Lora, willing her to see the truth in my eyes.
Unfiltered hatred blazed back at me.
Erion dropped to his knees with a pained grunt, sweat beading on his forehead. Beside him, Kestrel whimpered and squirmed in the bindings.
My gaze swept the crew, the people who’d crept past my defenses and taken root in my heart. Furious Flint, Jaded Jorgen, Sharp-Eyed Sashiva, Mouthy Mara, Ravenous Rafforin, and a handful of others. All of them averted their eyes, refusing to meet my imploring stare.
Incredulity hollowed out my chest. After everything we’d been through, they’d just decided I was expendable.
Father had been right all along. I was too soft. Too trusting. The same weakness that got Mother killed would be my ruin too. Familiar bitterness simmered beneath my skin.
Tera’s voice cracked across the glade. “Come on, crew. What are you waiting for? Grab the Dual Wielder and let’s get out of here.”
The pirates burst into motion, descending on Erion. Struggling against them, he let out a pained roar as his glowing bindings seared deeper into his arms. Mouthy Mara grabbed a long rope dangling from the ship and threaded it between his arms and torso, cinching it around his chest.
“No!” Pure anguish rippled across Lora’s features. She stepped toward them but winced as her own bindings sizzled against her flesh.
Unable to bear her tormented expression, I forced a tiny twitch of my fingers, redirecting my bolster into her. It wasn’t much, but I gave it anyway.
Agony surged through me as the protective resilience slipped away. My bindings had cooled to a fading orange but still burned into my skin with every breath.
The tight lines around her eyes eased, and her jaw unclenched as my magic dulled her pain.
My labored breath scraped through my lungs, and with each breath, the hot metal seared into my flesh. But all the pain in the world was worth that flicker of relief across her face.
I’d take every burn, every wound, every moment of suffering if it meant she wouldn’t have to feel a thing.