Chapter 3
Eveera
“You have to eat something, Eveera.”
“Fuck you.” I spit, my glare burning a hole into the ground in front of me.
Ezra’s sigh comes from somewhere on my left, and I hunger for the power that used to course through me.
In my head, I’ve killed him about a hundred times over already.
It’s a beautifully grotesque image – my Wield taking over so intensely that I can’t see where it ends and what’s left of me begins.
He ends in a very bloody pile – I yearn to see the red that will pour out of his veins.
But instead of feeling the pull of my tendrils, instead of seeing my serpents come to life, I get to see how still they’ve become.
I close my eyes and kill him again in my mind just for good measure.
“E… please, I need you to eat.”
A rueful laugh tears out of my hollow chest. The sound is so manic it sends even the hair on my arms straight up. “You need?” I snarl, my eyes flashing towards where he looms over in the corner. “You need? No – fuck that. I don’t need to hear another thing about what you need.”
“You’re starting to look sick.” He says, his voice hardening.
“Well, that isn’t my fault now, is it?” It takes a considerable amount of energy to push myself up off the ground, my restraints sliding up the post. Despite my not being able to get closer to him, Ezra still takes a step backwards, and I smell – for the first time in however long he’s kept me in this state – the sweetest smell.
Fear.
A smile cracks at my lips. “What did you think would happen? Hm?” I ask, my head cocking to the right.
“That you’d whisk me out of Vellar, leave everything behind, and the two of us would…
what? Live happily ever after?” The Adam's apple in his throat bobs up and down as he swallows thickly. “Well, you thought wrong, Ez.”
“It wasn’t – it isn’t safe for you out there right now. You were going to have a high price on your head and I… I couldn’t see them take it. Couldn’t watch you fall.” He murmurs.
“Oh… so sweet. My knight in shining armor.” The words drip sourly off my tongue.
I flop back down into the imprint my ass has left in the dirt floor, tugging uselessly against my restraints while I try to get comfortable.
“You can wipe the distress off your face every time I move – it’s not like I can do anything to you anyway, you’ve made damn sure of that. ”
The sound of his body sliding down the opposite wall is loud in the expansive space, the echo of it grating on my nerves. I do my best to ignore him, willing myself back to the only place that he isn’t, and when my eyelids open again, I’m back at the forked road.
Bending my knees, I crouch down, staring intently at my options. Silently, I will the black abyss over my way, hoping it will engulf me in its darkness and make the decision for me.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t listen, and I stay rooted in my spot.
“Good choice.”
The voice startles me, and when I turn my head, I see my favorite pair of brown eyes looking down. “Shut up.” I grumble, facing back forward.
“I had been hoping I wouldn’t have to talk you off the edge this time. Looks like my hopes paid off.”
Axel sits himself next to me, an arm crossing over behind me, tugging at my elbow until I fall out of my crouch and onto my ass.
“No one said you had to talk me off the edge.”
“Ha.” He laughs. My heart pangs at the sound. Gods, how I wish that laugh were real… “Of course, I do.” He finishes, tilting his head to the left to look squarely at my profile.
Feeling the weight of his scrutiny, I lean away, “what?”
“You look terrible.”
My brows lift, “so I’ve heard.”
“I told you I didn’t want to talk you off the ledge this time.”
“I’m not on the ledge,” I argue, my eyes still focused on that abyss to my right.
He groans loudly, his left hand scrubbing down his face as he drops his head back. “Starving yourself counts as being on the ledge.”
“How do you know about that…” I wonder out loud, and he rocks into me.
“I know a lot of things.”
I hum in response, and the two of us descend into quiet. While we sit there, I can’t help but let my thoughts drift off to that day. To us out in the field. The fear I felt watching Axel take that sword for me. “Heads will roll,” I whisper absentmindedly.
“Mine already did.” Axel jokes, and my elbow meets his ribs, his dry laugh turning into a cough from the impact.
Guilt burns inside my chest as the memory of me cutting clean through his reanimated throat comes to the foreground of my mind.
Sensing where I’ve gone, he sighs, his hand comes around to cup the side of my head. He pulls me onto his shoulder, pressing his lips softly onto the top of my hair.
“Evie…” Axel mumbles against the strands, and the wall I’ve built against my emotions comes tumbling down, a sob racking loudly out of my chest. “Don’t cry for me.” He soothes, “they’d be a waste, sweetheart.”
Ezra had my shackled ass up and out of that dusty building way too early in the morning.
When he’s feeling generous, he unhooks the chains connecting the mage shackles on my wrists to the plain iron ones on my ankles, allowing me to change my own clothes.
Thank the useless gods. However, that tonic he forces down my throat makes me weak enough that the act is still a chore, taking me twice as long as it should.
Once I finally finish the mundane task, he hauls me outside, where shockingly, he guides me to the front of the carriage. “Oh, I don’t have to be shoved into the trunk today? Lucky me.” I mock, hobbling my way up onto the bench.
His eyes glint into the light, and I watch as his pupils dilate, the feeling of his Wield washing over my body, instantly making me want to vomit.
By the gods, I’ve fucked this man. The alarming thought churns my already sour stomach too much, and I no longer want to vomit; I do vomit – promptly in front of his feet.
Ezra grimaces, quickly jumping back before the splatter of my stomach contents can hit his boots and pants. He gives the acrid stomach acid a wide berth, awkwardly clamoring into his seat. Once he’s settled, I lean over and wipe the bile residue off his sleeve.
He looks down disapprovingly at his arm and me gagging at my act, but I ignore it and scooch back over to my side of the bench, keeping my eyes forward.
The ride is longer than it usually seems, but maybe that’s because I am awake and outside, not concealed in a trunk, sleeping off the things he’s force-fed into my system.
We entered a new kingdom days ago.
When we first started this journey, it wasn’t hard to figure out that he’d whisked me off to our eastern neighbor – Sorrel.
If the hills and plains accompanied by the heavy scent of rain weren’t an indication enough that we no longer were in Vellar, the thick presence of a more primal magic coursing through the kingdom’s ley lines was.
Our stay was short-lived, however. We made it across the country and to their capital, Sira, where we stayed for all of half a minute amongst civilization before he was stuffing me into the carriage trunk again and dragging me to our most recent hideout.
But now, with each mile we ride, the sun beats down harder onto my skin, making me sweat rivulets.
We’re leaving Sorrel behind, too, the ground changing gradually from the soggy hills to solely red dirt and eventually sand.
My head turns side to side, taking it all in – the boring, bland, hot terrain…
Shit, I’ve become someone who has nothing better to do than describe the terrain that surrounds her.
“Are you ever going to speak with me, Eveera?” No. I snap inside my head. The withering look I give him should be enough, but unfortunately, it does little to deter him. “You have nothing to say? Really, you?” He tries again.
I have plenty to say. They just don’t have as much of an effect without my tendrils. My conscience chimes in before I settle on a simple, “fuck you.”
I see his eyes roll from my peripheral vision. “Yes, you’ve said that already…” he replies, adding, “many times,” quietly.
“Well then, why do you keep probing me for conversation? Besides, I was under the impression you’ve grown tired of hearing me talk.
Considering most often, you use your Wield on me so that to any onlookers – I’m mute.
” His posture stiffens next to me as he adjusts his hold on the reins of the horse guiding us.
“I’m doing this for you… to keep you safe.” He mumbles under his breath.
“Yes, you’ve said,” I answer coldly, using the same words he did only moments ago. The two of us resume our uncomfortable silence, allowing the sound of clomping hooves against the sand to be the only thing hitting our ears.
My mind spins as I envision what his life could have looked like before he was employed by me. Clearly, it must have involved a lot of traveling through other kingdoms, because how the hell else would he know where to go? Unless he has been planning this since Rorin came to court. I muse.
I’ll admit I wasn’t very up to speed on what he was doing behind closed doors. I was more concerned with a certain princeling.
A certain princeling who – for all I know – is probably dead by now.
“Open your mouth,” Ezra demands, gripping my chin tightly.
I jerk my head back and forth, making it difficult for him to keep hold of me without spilling the tonic in his hand.
“Eveera.” He grunts the frustration prevalent in his voice.
Roughly, his thumb pulls down my bottom lip, and he jams the opening of the bottle between them, pushing my head back. “Swallow.”
My mouth purses as I push the liquid up against the back of my teeth with my tongue. He reads my face and quickly clamps a hand over my mouth before I can spit the liquid back at him, the angle causing it to slide down my throat. My protests are sliding down with it.
Keeping his hand clamped on my face, he forces me to look at him. It’s in moments like these that I wish more than ever for my Wield. How easy it would be to spear my tendrils through those damned eye sockets.
Ezra’s face contorts as he concentrates, my tongue grows heavy, and I know he’s commanded the magic to glamour over my voice. He’s already Wielded over my appearance, but as the city began to crest over the horizon, it was time to render me completely useless.
With a few more miles, the city comes fully into view, and if my voice weren’t already stolen, it would be now.
It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. There are hundreds of metal buildings clustered together; their patchwork of rusted copper and gray metal is a stark contrast to Obsidian’s more vintage and traditional architecture.
A city that Vada could melt. My conscience muses as I take in the odd structures. Yeah, if she knew where the fuck I was. I remind myself, suppressing the rush of loss and desperation. Our bond is as quiet and empty as the seal between Rorin and me.
I could almost deal with the sudden disappearance of him from my head – but her?
I nearly went insane during my time in Vellar without her judgmental voice.
This silence makes that experience seem like no big deal, especially because it was her choice.
Selfish beast, keeping quiet while watching and following me the whole time.
But this time… this time I don’t think it’s just her stubborn attitude keeping the bond quiet. I think it’s these fucking tonics.
Somehow, Ezra has become in complete control of everything. More control than I would ever let him be in under normal circumstances.
He holds the key not only to me being able to Wield, but to the magic that tethers Vada and me together. Which means, I’ll be stuck in this strange city for gods know how long, and there’s not a single damn thing I can do because not a single soul will be able to find me.