Chapter Six
Arianna
Ellie stared at the wall, her face utterly empty.
Arianna studied her sister, holding her too-thin hand between her own. She whispered her name again, willing Ellie to react, to tilt her head, to do anything other than sit there, hollow and silent.
When they’d woken her, Zylah had drawn a large rune over Ellie’s chest and stepped away. The entire room had held its breath for the few moments it’d taken Ellie to open her eyes.
She’d sat up slowly, seeming to take in the bed, pillows, and sheets.
The clean room. The people surrounding her.
Ellie had looked down at her hands and Arianna’s heart had crawled into her throat as she braced for the scream and tears and devastation.
But her little sister had simply scooted back on the bed, then stared at the opposite wall without moving again.
A puppet without a master to pull the strings.
No one had dared to break the silence.
The couple who owned the house waited just in the hall, keeping their distance as instructed by Raevina. The Demon guarded the doorway, as if he intended to protect the pair, or prevent Ellie’s escape.
Saoirse and Raevina stood against the back wall, waiting with their magic at the ready. They’d already put iron around Ellie’s ankle and secured her to the bedpost with a chain.
Zylah was at Arianna’s side, her hands up, prepared to redraw the rune that would render Ellie unconscious again.
Talon leaned against the foot of Ellie’s bed, bracing to yank Arianna back should Ellie lunge for her throat.
Gavin waited beside Talon, anguish written all over his young face at seeing his mate finally waking from her induced slumber.
Everyone had been ready to move at the slightest hint of Ellie lashing out.
No one had been prepared for … nothing.
Ellie hadn’t moved.
She’d barely blinked.
And it had already been an hour.
“Ellie?” Arianna tried again, scooting closer to her sister. Zylah had demanded Arianna sit in a chair rather than kneel at her sister’s side. She was glad for the half-breed’s intervention, if only to spare her aching back.
Ellie’s eyes were glazed over, as if she were frozen in another world they couldn’t see. She was so still. So quiet. Nothing more than a ghost of her former self.
Talon sat at the edge of her bed and whispered her name. He told her that she was safe and that everything would be okay. They’d all agreed not to mention Levea, even if her sister asked about it. She’d been through enough.
Saoirse tried next. The two females weren’t particularly close, but they’d gotten to know one another in Ruadhán. Ellie was their father’s successor after all, and Saoirse was the ambassador for the High Lord of Brónach.
Even Gavin tried coaxing a reaction from Ellie, his words whispered and pleading.
Nothing.
Tension filled the room, changing altogether as they went from fearing the future High Lady of Móirín to fearing for her.
Arianna shuddered as she thought of Eimear and what Niall’s torment had done to the female. She knew others had suffered the same fate, and they were just as bad off.
But Ellie hadn’t been subjected to Niall. She’d faced Vairik himself. The male had manipulated her mind and turned her into someone Arianna hadn’t recognized. Her words and actions had been so warped.
Arianna thought about those who’d been discarded in Ashling’s lower dungeons. Some hadn’t even reacted to their presence, just like Ellie was doing now.
Was it—her heart faltered—was it possible to break someone beyond repair?
What if the sister she’d known since childhood no longer existed?
What if he’d taken away all the best memories, overwriting them to fit his narrative?
Her gaze drifted toward The Demon. What if Vairik had done the same to her?
Eventually, Tierney and her partner excused themselves.
Soon after, Raevina and Saoirse followed.
The clock in the hallway ticked down the seconds until Talon did the same.
They needed to leave soon. Arianna knew the others would need to discuss how they might travel with Ellie in this condition.
Her heart ached. Could they take her? Would she die if they left her behind?
“Evelyn?” Gavin slowly moved until he was sitting at the foot of her bed. He rested a light hand on Ellie’s ankle. The way he said her name—Arianna knew her sister hated the male, but now that Kirian was gone—her jaw clenched. Would Ellie hate him even more? Would she blame him for Kirian’s death?
Gavin was just as much a victim as the rest of them.
If he hadn’t made the decision to leave Ashling, then they might not have found Ellie at all.
Maybe. So many things had led them to Ashling, almost as if it had been divine intervention.
She wished the gods would intervene now.
Heal her sister’s fractured mind. Her heart.
Zylah drew another rune over Ellie’s chest.
Arianna held her breath, but her sister didn’t react. Zylah sighed and stood. She turned to Gavin. “Call for me if anything changes.” The male nodded, then Zylah disappeared from the room as well.
Ellie needed to eat, but would she refuse? Continue to simply sit in silence? Could she even hear them?
Arianna gripped her sister’s hand just a little tighter. Her chest clenched as she ran her fingertips over the bones in Ellie’s wrists and across the marks now permanently marring her beautiful skin.
The seconds ticked by, then The Demon shifted on his feet behind her. She was keenly aware of his presence. Too aware. She wished he’d go downstairs with the others. Ellie wasn’t a threat. There was no reason for his presence.
The hair on the back of her arms rose when he stepped forward.
She quickly glanced toward Gavin, but the male didn’t appear to care that this creature was approaching his mate.
But she did. Arianna could already feel her magic crawling beneath her skin, ready to strike out if he so much as reached for her sister.
Arianna finally looked up, ready to tell him to back off, but the words died in her throat when she saw the agony written all over his face.
Her stomach clenched in response. She hated it.
Hated him. Hated the way her body betrayed her and the way her chest felt as though someone had run her through with a knife every time she saw him in pain.
“Ellie?” he whispered, his deep voice raw and broken. Oh so broken.
Her little sister’s hand twitched and Arianna’s heart jolted. She waited for more to happen, for Ellie to look up and recognize someone in the room, for the tears to spill over as she realized what she’d done.
Zylah returned with a tray that held a bowl, spoon, and a chunk of bread.
Arianna positioned herself beside Ellie and took the bowl before Zylah could protest. She glanced at her sister, then, with shaking hands, filled the wooden spoon with a bit of broth and offered it to Ellie.
Her mouth didn’t part. Arianna tried gently pushing the spoon against her sister’s lips. She didn’t respond.
“Eat for me,” Arianna begged, her voice cracking.
Nothing.
Tears brimmed in Arianna’s eyes as her sister sat motionless, staring at the white wall beyond.
Arianna let the spoon fall back into the bowl.
Her entire body trembled. They needed Sive.
The Weavers had helped others in Ellie’s condition.
But how long would it take to find her and, more importantly, was she even alive?
Arianna’s eyes traced across Ellie’s protruding collarbones. She was already too thin.
“Ellie,” she tried again, straining to keep the hysteria from rising in her voice. “Ellie, can you hear me?”
“Ellie.” The Demon’s voice again. Frost coated Arianna’s fingertips and rage rolled through her body. That damned—her sister’s head lifted slightly. Arianna’s breath hitched. The creature gave her sister a single command. “Eat.”
Ever so slowly, Ellie’s eyes traveled to the bowl between Arianna’s hands. Arianna promptly lifted the spoon. Ellie’s dried lips parted, and she allowed Arianna to pour the broth into her mouth. A tear rolled down Arianna’s face when her sister swallowed.
Zylah quickly poured fresh water into a glass. “Give her this, too.”
Arianna clumsily exchanged the bowl for the glass and offered it to her sister next. Ellie drank, her gaze still hollow and unmoving.
It was slow and painstaking, but Ellie cleared the entire bowl one small spoonful at a time.
Arianna could only guess when the last time her sister had eaten a full meal.
Once the bowl was empty, she set it aside, moved Ellie’s hair from her face, then helped position Ellie so she was lying down.
She prayed her sister’s stomach wouldn’t reject the meager dinner
“It’ll be okay,” Arianna whispered, smoothing Ellie’s blankets. “Everything will be okay.” Ellie didn’t respond. That was fine. She’d eaten. If all she wanted to do was stare at the ceiling, then Arianna would let her do just that. It would take time for Ellie to heal and return to herself.
She remained at her sister’s side until Ellie’s eyes drifted closed. Arianna smiled down at her before slowly rising to her feet. She hadn’t realized how much strain her angled position had put on her back. Arianna cupped the area, helping her body straighten.
A violent twinge ripped through her and Arianna doubled over, gasping from the pain.
She stepped back to catch her balance, then a warm hand wrapped around her waist, holding her steady.
Callused fingers grazed her midsection, and Arianna gasped as lightning-like pain lit up every nerve.
It burned her from the inside out, familiar and wrong all at once.
She jerked forward, seeking escape, and slammed straight into Zylah.