54. Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Four
Kya
W hat have I done…
I didn’t have a choice. Leysa was going to keep me there—force me to finish Daegel’s task, and I wouldn’t have been able to leave at all. And who knows what he would have done with me once he had gotten what he wanted.
I didn’t know I could have tried to break her curse. I wasn’t sure I would have even had the time to try.
I didn’t blame Leysa for making a deal against my life in exchange for her return. I probably would have done the same after so long.
Oh Gods… What am I going to tell Ryker? What will he think when he finds out I killed his mother to get back to him and I had the chance to save her?
I slumped against the trunk of the tree as I straddled a branch high up in the canopy of the forest and wished things had been different. I wouldn’t have been alone right now if I hadn’t taken her life. A gaping pit of grief and guilt opened in my chest. But it was mixed with confusion and frustration.
Was anything Leysa and I had real? Did she actually care about me because I was her son’s mate, or was it all because I was the key to her finally going back to hers?
My head fell back, resting on the coarse bark behind me, and I closed my eyes. The constant whirling in my mind was tearing me apart.
Thunder rumbled in the distance, and a light sprinkling of rain began to drop, falling on my closed lids. The cool droplets on my heated skin was a welcome sensation, and I inhaled deeply through my nose, scenting the storm as it fell on the forest around me.
Ryker hadn’t even known his mother was alive, and now his wife had killed her. And Cadoc…
I couldn’t even imagine what he was going through right now. If the fracture of a bond was this bad, I never wanted to know what it was like to lose it entirely—to have half of your soul ripped away and tossed out into the empty void of the After.
The sound of voices had my eyes popping open, and I sighed quietly.
These bastards are relentless.
I leaned over to look down at the base of the tree. Standing there, eyes searching the dense canopy, were five blond males—sorcerers. Even this deep into the forest, hours away from civilization, they still scoured every bush and tree searching for the escaped prisoner. Me .
While staying up in the trees allowed me to have the advantage in the situation, I missed being on the ground where I could feel vibrations. Although I had spent so much time unable to use my terbis it hadn’t bothered me as much.
I had been silent for the past two days, moving only when I knew no one was near. Staying hidden in the trees was something I had mastered in my years as a Roav, and it came naturally to me. But I also wanted to take extra precautions. With my invisibility, I was practically undetectable. But it also meant I was constantly depleting my reserves, leaving me weaker and more drained than I was used to when in hiding.
The males searched high and low through the foliage, day and night, but had failed to find a single trace of me. They prowled along the forest floor, speaking with one another when their efforts were unsuccessful.
“Talum’s going to have our heads,” one of the males— men —grumbled, running a worried hand through his hair.
“Talum has himself to worry about. He’s the one who lost her. It’s Daegel who concerns me. He’s been on a rampage since he found out she escaped after killing that pointy-eared pet of his.” The other one paced back and forth, shaking his head with a look of frustration.
“What if she crossed over the—”
“Then we’d have even bigger problems,” the second one snapped. “If she did, we’d all be as good as dead.”
I perked up at that. What were they concerned about me crossing? Whatever way back into my own realm? The border to find King Zalen? It made the prospect of finding him even more enticing if they were so worried about it, and I couldn’t stop the edges of my lips from lifting at the thought.
“Come on. Let’s just find the bitch so we can keep our heads,” the first one said as they continued their search.
So I waited, clinging to the safety of the shadows.
The rain began to pick up, battering the leaves around me in a soothing symphony. Once the sorcerers were far enough away, I lifted to my feet. The bark shifted under my weight, letting out a soft groan that was muffled by the downpour. Using the moon’s glow behind the clouds as a guide, like a beacon, I continued on my journey, moving from limb to limb—careful not to slip on the slickening wood.
I didn’t know where I was going, but all of the sorcerers came from the same direction so I went opposite of that, pushing forward in the hope I would find another Kingdom.
Just as I climbed to another limb, a jolt rushed through me nearly bringing me to my knees.
I gripped the trunk of the tree, bracing myself through the waves of intensity as I gasped through the crushing sensation. A rush of emotions came over me. Fear and anger—a soul crushing desperation. And hope…
Tears pricked my eyes before they fell down my cheeks, mixing with the rain coating my skin as I felt every splinter, every crack and fracture of the bond, mold back together.
Soothing swirls of shadows curled around the once shattered tether. I latched onto it as if my life depended on it—which it did—knowing without a doubt. I howled down the bond.
“Ryker!”
My shadow had come for me.