Chapter 70
Seventy
Ametrine
Graylen’s eyes meet mine, his stare blank.
“What are you doing?” I ask into his mind.
The snake across his back hisses at me, its fangs bared.
Soren growls, pressing closer to my side.
Graylen stalks over to me, every step confident and sure. In the blink of an eye, his flames burst out of his palms and shoot in a circle around me, trapping me in—creating a barrier between Soren and me.
It pushes Soren toward the exit even as he viciously snarls to try and get past the flames. Then the fire grows higher, fully blocking him from my view.
I can’t feel him—not like I could before. With my magic gone, it’s like it was when he was just Dog. There’s nothing connecting me to him, just as there isn’t with Graylen.
A tendril of fire lashes out and licks against my wrist, burning me instantly. I hiss, jerking my arm to my chest.
My gaze flies to Graylen.
“You burned me,” I rasp.
When he used his flames on me last, they weren’t hot—they were like a warm ray of light dancing across my skin. But now…they’re blazing. Not touching me, but hot enough that it heats my skin uncomfortably.
He told me he can use his magic with the intention of not hurting someone—that if he wanted to hurt me, he could. And this fire…it’s real.
Something is very wrong.
I start to back away, frantically searching for anything to help me, but with my magic still in Nightfall…there’s nothing.
Over Graylen’s shoulder, I catch the smirk on Opal’s face as she watches us. She steps forward, producing a thick rope from a fold within her dress.
“Tie her up,” Opal sings. “She may not have her magic, but we both know she can fight.”
But I’m too shocked to fight back, my eyes pleading for Graylen to give me something.
His lifeless gaze focuses on binding my wrists, his fingers that I once loved now tightening rope across my skin forcefully.
Opal betrayed me—that I’m sure of. But Graylen? He wouldn’t—he couldn’t.
The snake across his shoulders slithers closer to me, its tongue licking against my cheek. I cringe away, but Graylen yanks me toward him.
“I think he likes you,” Graylen teases, his eyes flickering to the snake. The creature sneaks closer to me, its teeth dangerously close to my eyes. “Ah, ah,” Graylen chides. “Not yet.”
“Graylen,” I plead, my voice a whisper. “What’s going on?”
He stares at me, no emotion in his eyes.
I look for any clues that he’s still the Graylen I know, the Graylen I love—but I find nothing. No softening of his gaze, no whisper into my mind or clenching of his jaw. It’s as if he isn’t him.
Graylen tugs me toward Opal, the wall of flames still roaring behind me to keep Soren back.
“What did you do?” I snarl at Opal.
Her tinkling laughter trickles over to me, a sound I once adored now feeling like a swift punch to the gut.
“She made him better.” Opal grins.
Vidaris.
I try to pull away from Graylen, desperately throwing myself in the opposite direction. But he’s bigger than me, by a lot. Between that and his magic, I’m at his mercy.
“Please, Graylen,” I beg. “Wake up.”
He smirks, dragging me against him.
“Shh, little princess,” he soothes, though it only causes my stomach to clench in horror. “We’ll take you to where you’re meant to be soon.”