23. Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kya
I was given a day to heal before Talum and Leysa retrieved me, and took me back to the stepstone. Daegel was there waiting.
“Leysa,” he said, cutting his eyes to her.
Leysa went to him with her head down and stood next to him on the round stone. I wished she would fight back, show some struggle against him, but after what he had done to me, I understood. After being here for fifty years, she had probably suffered worse.
“As a little incentive, we’ll be bringing Leysa along,” he said with a cold expression. It felt like a threat.
Swallowing the pang of intimidation, I couldn’t help but glance around. It was habitual for me to always look for a way out, planning for an escape.
“Attempt to flee again, and I will not hesitate to hunt you down,” he rumbled.
“I hear she likes to be chased,” Talum smirked.
I narrowed my eyes. “Not by you.”
While running had crossed my mind, I was exhausted, and I feared the consequences. They already took my wings. I didn’t want to find out what would happen for my next punishment.
I released a resigned sigh. “What do you want me to do?” I asked Daegel.
“I’ll show you.” He held out his hand toward me.
I hesitated for a moment before taking it and stepping onto the carved stone. I had no idea why he needed me to go willingly rather than just force me. He didn’t seem to have a problem forcing me to do just about everything else.
“Fara.” Daegel waved his hand in a swirling motion above his head, and the symbols in the stone glowed, getting brighter until I had to shield my eyes with my arm.
It dimmed just as quickly, and I put my arm down. My eyes widened when I saw that we were now in a field of gently rolling hills. The sound of crashing waves had me spinning around to see the edge of a cliff. Beyond that was nothing but water as far as I could see. I stumbled back as the intrusive thoughts of falling over the cliff’s edge and being dragged beneath the surface rippled to the forefront of my mind. With the moon engulfing half of the afternoon sky, it looked like it was swallowing the sea before me.
The paralyzing moment was cut short when my skin started to feel painfully tight. I whimpered as the sensation quickly became overwhelming, and I thought I was going to burst through my own skin.
My knees buckled, hitting a circular stone that was just like the one we had been standing on before. Leysa sighed heavily but didn’t act like she was in pain—she wasn’t having the same sensation as I was. Daegel inhaled deeply, and his mouth stretched into an exhilarated smile.
“What…is happening?” I struggled to get the words out as my chest tightened, and my breath faltered. My body shook. I could feel my magic thrash violently, demanding to be released.
“We’re on Kitall—an ancient island, and the birthplace of Vansera. This is where Odes stood when he made this realm.” Daegel gazed out over the landscape. I tried to concentrate on his words but the buzzing in my head became a deafening roar that made me want to tear at my skull. “The sacred land here is imbued with his magic, and simply stepping foot on it enhances our reserves.” He looked down at me. “And it’s why you’re experiencing such an intense reaction.”
My hand went to the collar around my throat, and I grimaced.
“Yes. The band around your neck still prevents you from accessing your magic. What do you think will happen if you stay here and you can’t release it?” he asked.
I already knew the answer. It wouldn’t kill me, but the pain would continue to worsen until I could release it. With the fresh magic flowing into me, this was exponentially worse than what I had been experiencing before.
“Take it off. Please. I won’t attack you,” I begged.
“Your promise is empty. But I’ll remove it on one condition.” He bent down and held out his hand.
I bit my tongue. I couldn’t take it. I knew I wouldn’t die from this, but death would have been more merciful.
“Do what I ask, and I’ll not only take it off, I’ll consider letting you go back to your dying world when I’m done with you. Both of you. Do we have a deal?”
“Make a deal? With you ?”
How stupid does he think I am?
I clenched my teeth and looked at his hand like it was covered in the same shit that spilled from his mouth.
“I’m waiting, Diamond,” he clipped with a curled lip.
I spit in his face.
“There’s your answer.” I knew the kind of havoc his deal could cause, and I refused to take any part in it.
I can take it. I can take it.
Daegel sighed and stood. “So be it. ”
I watched as he strode over to Leysa. She stiffened at his approach but didn’t balk as he pulled out another collar and placed it around her neck.
“Fjoturr,” he uttered under his breath, and the collar around her throat came to life. The designs of the collar began to shift, like chains moving in opposite directions.
“Don’t!” I tried to yell, but it came out more as a grunt.
The moment it was sealed around her throat, her hands went straight to her head, and she fell to her knees groaning.
Daegel turned to face me. “Since you refuse to make a deal, and your own suffering doesn’t seem to bother you, let’s see what you do when the consequences of your actions cause her to suffer.” He grabbed Leysa and pulled her to a stand. She stumbled as he led her over to me.
“You haven’t told me what you want,” I sneered.
“I want you to comply,” he said.
Leysa started crying. Her eyes pleaded with me and it tore a hole in my gut. I didn’t want to be the cause of her pain. She was my mate’s mother, and she had already been through more than I could imagine.
“Okay, okay. I’ll do what you want, just let her go.”
“I will. But first, I need to make sure you understand what happens if you don’t.” Daegel spun his hands around each other and muttered under his breath.
Some kind of strange light rose from the ground around Leysa, encircling her. It crawled up in the air, like liquid spilling across the floor, until it encased her entirely in a dome structure.
Leysa’s eyes darted around frantically, and she tried to push her hand through, but it was like a wall. Her eyes widened, and her chest rose rapidly. It was some kind of magical barrier with a pearlescent sheen. She beat her fists against it over and over, screaming to be let out. She moved her hands and body in the way a water wielder would. Except she had the collar on, and she couldn’t wield anymore.
Daegel grabbed my arm and yanked me to my feet then pushed me in front of him and away from Leysa, walking farther inland.
“Daegel. Daegel!” Leysa pleaded. “Please! I didn’t do anything wrong! Don’t leave me here!”
I looked at her over my shoulder and tried to push against Daegel to get to her, but he shoved me forward.
“She’ll be fine so long as you behave,” he said in a cold tone.
“What is wrong with you? Why are you doing this to us? I already said I would do as you asked.” With all the strength I could muster, I pulled my free arm back and drove my fist toward his face, then shoved my knee between his legs.
He snatched my hand before it made contact and then grunted, bending over from where I kneed his groin. His eyes snapped to me with malice. He held my arms out to my side as far as they could go, and holding my stare, he twisted the wrist of the hand that nearly struck him until I heard a pop. Immediately I felt a shooting pain up my arm.
I cried out through clenched teeth, and tears welled in my eyes.
“Do you want me to leave her here? Keep up this rebelliousness and I will,” he barked in my face.
Shit. I’m just making things worse.
I shook my head, and my bottom lip trembled despite my efforts to put on a bold face. But, fuck, my wrist hurt, and I needed to use my magic. I needed to let it out. It felt like I would combust if I didn’t.
“Do not move,” he demanded.
Resentfully and shamefully, I nodded.
He released me and took a step back. I whimpered and brought my now-broken wrist up to my chest to cradle it in my other hand.
Daegel created the same barrier over me, but this one was bigger—about the size of my cell. I glanced over to Leysa and saw the agony in her eyes. She had been enduring Daegel’s unhinged wrath for decades and was powerless to do anything about it.
Right then, I decided I would fight for the both of us. We would both get out of here. I didn’t know how, but I would make it happen. And I would make sure that Daegel died by my hand.
I sniffled as I pushed down my pride, reminding myself it was still better than making a deal. “What do you want me to do?”
“Lauss,” he uttered.
The collar around my neck fell onto the ground and all of my magic, those lifeless orbs, came flooding back. My eyes fluttered closed, and I sighed deeply with relief as my body relaxed. I could feel vibrations with my terbis again. I felt the entire landscape of the island, even things I couldn’t feel before—the gentle sway of the grass, the breaking of the waves at the bottom of the cliff, the shifting of the sand in the wind on the other side of the island.
My eyes snapped open when I felt Daegel step toward me—the magical barrier the only thing separating us.
The side of his mouth lifted. “I want you to create the Glaev.”