Chapter 18
“Daegal,” I breathed, lifting my hands in surrender while slowly straightening back up from my crouched position on the floor. “I can explain.”
“Can you?” he sneered, his voice as venomous as the gaze he fixed me with. I gulped. My neck was burning as I fumbled for any story that would explain my situation.
He snapped his fingers, not giving me a chance to say anything. A ring appeared around me, hovering around my neck. A much bigger threat than it would’ve been around my waist.
“Please let me explain,” I pleaded, holding my hands up in surrender and my head painfully still. But what could I possibly tell him that would justify this?
I knew I couldn’t overpower him, neither with magic nor strength. I had to surprise him, then slip away into the shadows.
He stepped closer, circling me once before stopping right in front of me. He looked down at me like I was something disgusting he’d stepped in.
“Why do you want the crown?”
I shook my head, trying to think of a solution—any solution—to get out of this mess.
“I didn’t—”
“I almost trusted you, you know,” he said, sliding a hand down my arm without breaking eye contact. I was transported back to the bonfire party, where that same gesture had a completely different effect on me.
“I almost believed that you defied all odds, that you actually escaped on your own. But—”
I kneed him hard in the stomach, and the heat around my neck vanished. He groaned as I shoved him aside, sprinting for the door.
But he recovered quickly. Within seconds, I heard him chasing after me.
Abandoning his magic, he threw himself at me, grabbing me around the waist. We landed on the floor with a thud that stole my breath. He pinned me to the ground, one hand wrapping around my wrists.
His breath hit me in the face as he hovered above me, citrus and mint filling the air between us. His dark hair fell into his face as he sat up a little straighter, still pinning me down with his weight.
“I almost felt something for you,” he said, his voice breathy with anger and effort. “What a shame.”
Fishing a rope from his pockets, he forced my hands up and bound them tightly together. I wiggled in his grasp, desperate to free myself.
Getting caught meant the death of yet another one of my loved ones, including the most important person in my life.
“Daegal, please,” I stilled, willing him to look at me. “It was for my sister.”
He rose to his feet, dragging me up with him. Keeping a firm hold on the bounds on my wrists, he waited for me to continue talking.
But I could tell from the look on his face that nothing would stop him from dragging me to Verena to expose me.
“Elio Boaz threatened to kill my sister if I didn’t bring him that crown,” I stammered, my voice shaking as badly as my hands. “It was all I could do to keep her safe. Please, Daegal.”
He eyed me for a long time. His jaw twitched like he longed to say something, but he didn’t.
“It isn’t up to me.”
Conjuring three rings of sun around me this time, we walked toward my doom in silence. My shirt stuck to my back despite the chilly night air.
“My sister will die because of you,” I sneered, wiping a tear from my eyes with my bound hands. “Unless you let me go.”
He pushed me in front of him without answering, though I saw a slight twinge of sadness in the look he shot me.
We stopped at a wooden house not far away from the strategy room. I didn’t have to ask who lived here. The whole place was simultaneously drowned in shadows and bathed in moonlight.
Verena looked stunned at the sight of us when she swung open the door. She eyed Daegal’s hand that was resting forcefully over my bound hands. The rings around me disappeared.
“I was right about her,” Daegal spat, gesturing to me with a flick of his head. “She just tried to steal the crown. I told you!”
“What?” her eyes snapped to me, and I could barely hold her gaze. Some small part of me had hoped for Daegal’s understanding. The look of pure anger he fixed me with had my stomach in knots.
“Please hear me out,” my voice pitched in desperation.
“What’s going on?” a male voice called, and Hannan hastened towards us.
Out of everyone, I’d dreaded his disappointment the most. The daughter of some of his closest friends betraying him. The man who’d accepted me into the Rebellion in a heartbeat. He’d been like a mentor to me. But none of it mattered now.
“I caught her trying to steal the crown, Hannan,” Daegal said with an accusatory voice. “Both of you, you never listened when I told you we couldn’t trust her!”
“How do you know about the crown?” Verena asked him, crossing her midnight blue arms over her chest. “No one but me, Hannan, and Otieno is supposed to know about it.”
Otieno? I couldn’t dwell on this unfamiliar name now.
Daegal rolled his eyes. “I’m a suncaster; I could sense it. Probably like she could.”
Goddess, he couldn’t even speak my name out of pure disgust, merely gesturing at me with a flick of his head.
“He’s a Defender!” I blurted, trying to shift some of the hot blame away from me. “He has the tattoo on his arm.”
Hannan gave a small smile. “We know,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who you once were. We know you for who you are now.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you knew?” Daegal asked shakily, his cheeks reddening slightly.
“Because we know it’s one of your biggest insecurities. One of your biggest regrets. And why would it matter when you’re here now—helping us?”
The three of them shared a tender moment I shouldn’t have witnessed. I realized I’d lost much more than just their trust. I’d lost the chance to be a part of something bigger.
And you’ve just signed your sister’s death warrant.
“What do we do with her?” Verena asked.
They all refused to talk to me. They barely looked at me.
“Take her to the cell, Daegal, will you? We’ll deal with her in the morning,” Hannan said with a last, disheartened glance at me.
The sun had barely awoken when Daegal came to collect me the next morning.
I hadn’t slept a wink all night. I’d tried for hours to contact Lili through the bond to no avail.
The logical part of me reasoned that it was the middle of the night, and she was most likely asleep. The protective part of me worried about her safety.
Even if the rebels had yet to attempt their impossible mission, it wouldn’t be long before Boaz thought I’d betrayed him.
“Why are you escorting me everywhere?” I scowled as Daegal grabbed my arm the second I stepped out of the tiny cell. It was located near the forest, not far from the strategy room, which is where I was being taken.
“Because I volunteered. We wouldn’t want you slipping away now that I’ve finally caught you in your lies, would we?”
He fished a pair of handcuffs from his pockets, holding them up to my eye-level. “Do you prefer to have your hands tied behind you or in front of you?”
I sighed, holding out my wrists for him. “Front, I guess.”
I just caught his smirk playing on his lips before he grabbed my hand and twisted, spinning me around. I gasped in shock as he connected my wrists behind my back, fastening the cuffs around them tightly.
“You’re such an asshole,” I murmured, straightening up the second he let go of me. Spinning around, I looked up at him with a fiery hatred burning in my chest. “You know, Kenric enjoyed hurting me too.”
His dark eyes narrowed. “Don’t pretend like you don’t deserve it.”
We walked in complete silence all the way down the winding path from the forest exit. As we entered the strategy room, I saw Verena and Hannan already sitting there.
The tension was suffocating. Everyone’s eyes kept drifting to me before quickly flickering to the maps on the table or out the window.
Except for Verena’s purple eyes. She fixed her gaze on me unapologetically, the dislike clear on her face.
“I don’t like being made a fool of, Prudence,” she said, her voice too calm. I almost wanted her to yell at me. “So don’t lie. How did you get out of Orken?”
My mind reeled. If I lied, what would I gain? Perhaps they’d never make it to the prison if I didn’t tell them anything. Or perhaps they’d make it, utterly unprepared and vulnerable. Resulting in no survivors, and that included Lili. Because Boaz would still think I’d told them something.
I had to tell the truth, then beg them to release me so I could go and save Lili. The rebels had no further use for me after I told them what I knew.
“I didn’t escape—” I started, but a loud, knowing snort from Daegal cut me off.
“Shut up, boy,” Hannan barked, then gestured for me to continue.
“I—Elio Boaz came to me and offered me a deal. I couldn’t refuse him. He said he’d have his Defenders kill my sister if I didn’t do what he asked.”
“You have a sister?” Hannan whispered. I realized now what this meant to him. His dead friends’ kids. I hoped he’d have enough love for my parents to let me go.
“Yes. I didn’t tell you about her because I thought it’d be suspicious that I didn’t go straight back for her instead of coming here,” I explained in a small voice.
“You really thought this scheme through, didn’t you?” Verena bit, crossing her arms over her chest.
“What would you have done for your family?” I asked, louder than what was wise. “I couldn’t let them kill her!” My voice cracked, and I fixed my gaze on the floor.
When I looked up, Hannan looked more tense than ever, and Verena was, from the look on her face, contemplating whether to kill me right then and there.
She closed her eyes, breathing deeply through her nose. “Daegal.”
At once, Daegal conjured a whip of light. Though it still hung limply from his hand, the message was clear.
I flinched back, tripping over my feet and crashing into the wall. The scars on my back seemed to burn in recognition.
“I suggest you start talking,” Daegal said coldly, running a hand over the messy dark waves on his head. “Now.”
“Boaz told me to steal the crown and bring it back to him. That’s all I know, I swear!”