45. Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Five
Kya
I stilled, my eyes snapping open to see the metal band lying in the grass in front of me. I didn’t move, didn’t breathe.
Did… Did I do that?
It had never worked before. Nothing was different except…
The orb.
Before I could even open my mouth, the collar was back around my neck, and he had uttered the incantation to seal it. Those orbs inside me turned as lifeless as the land around us.
Forcing myself to stay standing, I glanced up. Daegel eyed me suspiciously. I didn’t react, acting like nothing out of the ordinary happened.
“I ought to rip out your throat for that mouth of yours.” With a wave of his hand, the shield came down, and he came at me.
There wasn’t anything I could do. I couldn’t run, seeing as I was surrounded by the Glaev, and I couldn’t use my magic. And with all this pain, there was no way I could fight him.
I braced myself.
But before he could reach me, Leysa lunged in front of him.
“No! You’ll kill her!” she screamed, frantically—attacking him with what little strength she had.
Daegel grabbed her by the throat and spun, throwing her down the narrow trail of clear land. Her body slammed to the ground with a sickening thud. She lay there, gasping for air, and Daegel stalked forward. He bent over her and hissed something in a whisper too quiet for me to hear then began beating her.
I rushed at him, kicking and pounding on his back. “Leave her be! What is your problem? You can’t do this!” I screamed.
Daegel whipped around and grabbed me by the throat just above the collar, getting in my face.
“I can, and I will! I will do whatever it takes! Look around you. You may have done all this to one island, but I will do it to your entire world.”
“You…can’t just…destroy an entire—” I struggled to speak through his unrelenting grip around my throat, cutting off my air.
“It’s my world or yours. You think I wouldn’t rip apart everything for her?” he said with a vicious lethality. “I may be the villain in your story, but I’m the hero in hers…and I can live with that.”
What?!
Daegel released me then pushed me back. I started coughing and began to crawl toward Leysa.
“Want me to hurt her more?” Daegel snapped, and I froze. “No? Then don’t fucking move,” he growled.
Grabbing Leysa by her shirt, he lifted her from the ground and placed her on her feet. He said something to her then shoved her forward until she started walking back toward the stepstone.
“Let’s go,” he barked as he turned to look back at me.
With a sneer on my face, I followed. But I couldn’t help the small, malicious smile that crossed my lips. I had finally learned something about Daegel. And it had to do with her .
** *
After Leysa and I returned, we ate the little food they gave us and lay together in the dark. Thankfully, her cuts and bruises healed quickly. She wasn’t permitted to wash me or herself tonight—a small addition to our punishment.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about what Daegel had said.
“Who was Daegel talking about?” I asked Leysa.
She shook her head. “I wish I knew. That’s the first time I’ve ever heard him mention that.”
Well, that’s not helpful.
What did destroying my world have to do with someone else? Why would killing land result in him being a hero to anyone?
If there was someone he cared for, she could be used against him. Just like he was using Leysa against me.
“Thank you for what you did earlier,” I whispered.
“You don’t have to thank me. I thought he was going to kill you,” she said quietly.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“No. Are you?”
I took a deep breath. “Not until we get out of here.”
My mind was riddled with questions—some about who Daegel was talking about but mostly about the new magic I discovered.
What did the orb do exactly? Was that really what happened, or was I delusional from the exhaustion? What if it really did happen and I could use their magic? How would it work?
I’d need to pay attention to everything they said and try to understand what everything meant. I could use this. Now, I just had to learn it without Daegel figuring it out which would be difficult seeing as the only time I could was when the collar was off, and he was watching me the entire time.
Maybe I could somehow find a way to put the collar on him long enough to get away, then go find King Zalen…
“I’m trying, Ryker. I’ll come home soon. I promise,” I said uselessly down the fractured bond, mostly trying to reassure myself.
“So,” Leysa began, “When is this little escape attempt happening?”
“Hmm?” I hummed, acting ignorant.
“If I’ve learned anything about you so far, it’s that your mind doesn’t stop running. I know you’re coming up with a plan over there,” she said in that motherly tone of hers.
I rolled my eyes. “I’ll know it when I see it. Why, do you have something better to do?”
“No. I just want to make sure I’m far away when it happens,” she stated flatly.
I leaned up on my elbows. “Leysa… Don’t you want to come with me? Don’t you want to finally get out of here? To go home?”
She swallowed. “Of course I do. I just…” she said timidly.
She was scared.
“How many times have you tried?” I asked after a few moments.
She sighed heavily then sat up, moving her legs over the side of the bed and facing away from me. She reached around her midsection and lifted her shirt up.
“What are you—”
The words died on my tongue as she revealed her back—a canvas of horrendous scars. Then she rolled up her sleeve and her pant leg, showing more of the same.
Gods, what had they done to her?
“I stopped counting…” Leysa whispered. She tenderly ran her fingers up her arm, over the scars, then pulled her sleeve and the rest of her shirt down. “Does this look like I don’t want to get out of here?”
I’m such a bitch. How can I be so heartless to assume she doesn’t want to leave as much as I do? If each scar was for every time she tried to escape…
She turned back around to face me with tears welling in her silver eyes.
“I’ve tried, Kya. I’ve tried everything to get back to Cadoc. Do you really think the bond would allow me to do any different? I know what you’re feeling. I know that desire. It hasn’t stopped, and it never will. But I’m begging you to just finish your task. Do what Daegel wants. Please. Don’t make this more complicated than it needs to be.”