Chapter Forty-Nine
Lena
Lena woke up starving and uncomfortable.
There was something tight around her face.
She brought a hand to her face to find a leather strap gagging her.
Lena sat up and felt for the back of the gag, but couldn't undo it.
It had a lock on the side and double straps at the back to conform to her head, making it impossible to pull off.
With an internal groan, she recalled the gag from her dream.
The memory of Rallorival punching her immediately followed, and Lena tested her face for swelling.
Nothing. Huh. He must have used a med device on her while she was out.
Was it before or after he gagged her? Lena couldn't help comparing Rallorival to Vor once more.
Vor had never struck her, not even when she screamed horrible things at him.
He had struck the wall instead of hitting her.
Yes, she had struck Rallorival first, but that was in self-defense while he hit her to make her shut up.
Something shifted in the darkness. Lena spun toward her left and found Rallorival beside her, eyes open. He was lying on his side, his wings folded behind him, but he sat up when she met his stare.
“Will you promise not to scream if I remove the gag?” Rallorival asked.
Lena nodded. No, she wouldn't scream. Not until she needed to.
“I'm sorry I hit you.” He leaned over and lifted a key that hung on a chain around his neck. The lock clicked, and he removed the gag, careful not to pull her hair.
Lena rolled her eyes at his show of concern.
“Are you hungry? You must be.” He climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom, the gag hanging from his grip. “Cira is making breakfast. I'll just be a minute.” He closed the door.
Lena climbed out of bed and set her bare feet on the rug.
Bare feet! Where were her boots? A quick scan of the floor found them neatly lined up beside the bed.
Heart racing, she grabbed the right boot and felt inside for the disc.
It was still there. Relieved, she pulled the boots on and sat on the bed, rubbing at her face where the gag had irritated her skin.
Rallorival came out of the bathroom, looking pleased to find her waiting for him.
Lena ignored his smile and shoved past him to enter the bathroom and shut the door behind her.
She didn't speak to him when she came out, but she followed him out of the room and down the hall to the kitchen.
Rallorival's friends were there, seated around a large wooden table, plates of food before them. They tensed when they saw her.
“She's agreed not to scream,” Rallorival said as he led Lena to an open chair.
Lena sat down, glancing at the door. It had a padlock on it.
Rallorival took the chair on her right. As he poured himself a glass of water, an Aethari woman set a plate of food before Lena while a man filled a glass with water and set that beside the plate.
Lena looked at them, then at Rallorival. He was already eating.
The food looked good, and Lena's stomach rumbled. Hunger won out over wariness. She bent over her plate and ate rapidly, eyes shifting side-to-side.
“How did you do that?” a woman asked.
She was the one who had made Lena's plate, filling it from a pan on the stove. A dark red braid hung down her back, a sharp contrast to her white wings. She had to be the one Rallorival had called Cira.
Lena shoved food in her mouth and glanced at the woman.
“Your screams. They weren't natural,” Cira went on. “We searched you for a convergence, but you're clean. So, how did you do that? Only speakers can do shit like that.”
Lena frowned until she realized Cira wasn't talking about speakers like those found on vidcos or music players.
She meant speakers as in the Aethari religious leaders who spoke with the voice of the Source of Magic.
Every flying city had one, and they were held in high regard.
Lena knew little more than that, even though Thaxvarien's father was the Speaker of Icara.
She'd only spoken to the man for a few minutes when after their introduction.
However, Lena knew Speakers were powerful.
Thaxvarien was a new type of speaker who could command people with his voice.
Lena wasn't Aethari or a speaker, but her voice held power.
Could she use it to command as Thaxvarien did?
“I don't know what you're talking about. I just screamed as any woman might when attacked.” Lena went back to eating, trying to look unaffected while her thoughts churned.
A dark-haired man with golden-brown wings sent Rallorival a worried look. Rallorival glared back. Interesting. Lena tucked that information away in case it might be useful.
“That wasn't an ordinary scream,” the other woman—a brunette with black wings—said. “You converged your voice. That must be it.”
“I'm a singer and a musician.” Lena gave the woman a scathing look. “My voice is powerful because I've trained it. I'm only a passable converger. Ask my sister—she's the destra of your leader. Oh, wait. You betrayed him when you shot down his erial and captured me.”
The Aethari grimaced. All but Rallorival, who chuckled.
“It's not betrayal when you follow the call of the bond,” Rallorival said. “Thaxvarien commanded me to stay away from you. That's betrayal. He betrayed the Source of Magic and me. It's a crime to interfere with a destiny bond.”
“I am not your destra, you fucking lunatic,” Lena said calmly.
Rallorival slapped her.
Lena jerked with the hit while the other Aethari gasped, Cira shooting to her feet with a snarl.
Rallorival ignored them and leaned close to Lena to say, “Do not disrespect me or our bond, Lena. I'm sorry I hit you again, but you need to learn your place.”
“Learn her place?!” Cira shouted. “What the fuck, Rall? No one treats their destra like that. I'm beginning to think we made a mistake in helping you.”
Rallorival held up his hands in surrender. “Easy, now. I'm her destru. I know what she needs, and Lena needs a firm hand until she understands who she is. She's Medean. She doesn't know what it means to be a destra.”
Lena snorted. “My sister did just fine.”
“Your sister was already dating Thaxvarien when they established their bond. That Nethren has hypnotized you, and now I must free you of his hold.”
“Rallorival, you're my friend, but I won't stand by and watch you abuse a woman,” the black-haired man said. “It's wrong. That she's your destra makes it even worse.”
Lena returned to eating, trying to hide her grin. The slap had been worth it to see them fight.
“Fine.” Rallorival held up his hands. “I won't hit her again. I'm merely trying to snap her out of that Nethren's mind control.”
“Nethren can't control minds,” a blond man with black wings said. “You aren't making sense.”
“What is this?” Rallorival sat back. “You all know me. You know I'm not lying. She's mine.”
“Maybe you've confused attraction with the draw of a destra,” another man said.
“I am not confused!”
Before the argument could continue, a strange rumbling came from outside.
Lena lifted her head. She knew that sound.
It was the rumble of a large erial. That could only mean one of three things.
Either her sister had found her, Vor had found her, or Rallorival had backup arriving.
The last option got scratched off the list when all the Aethari jumped up from the table, pulled their pulsers, and stared out the kitchen window.
“Who the fuck is that?” Cira snarled.
“Well, they're not friends of ours.” Rallorival went to the window and pushed up the pane to aim his pulser through the opening. “Fuck! It's that fucking Nethren! How did he get here? He's supposed to be underground!”
Lena's heart soared. She got up and eased behind Rallorival to look outside. Sure enough, Vor was exiting the erial with several other Nethren. He was there! Vor had come for her!
“They've got pulsers, Vor!” Lena shouted out the window. “Look out!”
Rallorival backhanded Lena, and she went stumbling into the table, knocking over the glasses so that water gushed onto the floor.
As she straightened, she wiped the blood from her lips and smirked.
Vor and his friends were in the forest, using the trees as cover as they circled the house.
Lena watched through another window and waited, something shimmering inside her, guiding her.
The Aethari fired at the trees. Branches broke, and smoking leaves fell to the ground, but the Nethren had vanished.
The Aethari kept firing, some of them moving to other windows in search of the Nethren.
Lena continued to wait. She stood in the center of the kitchen, hands at her sides, and opened herself to whatever force guided her.
Her senses sharpened. Just a little longer. A little longer. Wait.
Now!
Lena screamed at the top of her lungs. She screamed not in fear or frustration but with power.
Magic and Technology rushed through her and poured out of her mouth, vibrating through the air to send the Aethari to the ground, whimpering as they covered their ears.
There would be no respite this time. Lena sucked in a breath quickly, and another scream poured forth, the tone lower, delivering pain.
She kept screaming until blood poured from their ears and trickled out of their eyes.
Then a shiver ran through Lena. Vor was close. Snapping her mouth shut, she ran to the window. She couldn't see him. But then a thud came at the kitchen door.
“Vor!” She shouted.
“I'm here, Lena! Back away from the door!” Vor shouted back.
Grinning, hands trembling with joy, Lena backed away. The door splintered, and there, standing in the frame of broken wood, was her Nethren lover. He glanced at the groaning Aethari, lifted his eyebrows, and then opened his arms.
Lena rushed forward.
Something grabbed her ankle. Lena stumbled. Vor dashed forward, Nethren soldiers shouting as they poured in behind him. A boom came. The hand fell away, and Vor caught Lena with his metal arm. His other arm was outstretched, holding a dart pointed at Rallorival. Lena started to turn her head.
“Don't look, love,” Vor whispered and holstered his weapon. He cupped her cheek and kept her facing him as he backed out of the house. “He's gone. You're safe now.”
The other Nethren aimed their darts at the surviving Aethari, but the Aethari didn't move.
They only watched with bloody eyes as Vor helped Lena out of the house, guiding her through the broken door.
Then the rest of the Nethren backed out of the kitchen, leaving the Aethari alive.
That should have surprised Lena, but it didn't. It was only more proof of who the real monsters were.
Vor's men kept their darts aimed at the demolished door as he hurried Lena to the waiting erial.
In seconds, she was inside, seated in the front passenger seat.
He helped her get her seatbelt on while his men hurried in and got in their seats.
There was no time for a loving reunion, but Vor kissed Lena's cheek and gave her one last joyful smile before he moved into his seat, strapped in, and turned on the erial.
Then they were soaring through the sky, the Nethren cheering in victory, and Lena didn't care where they went, as long as Vor was with her.