Chapter 24 Taera
Taera
If I can’t leave in a few weeks…
The despair looms before me. I can’t let it in—won’t let myself be swallowed by it. I will find another way out if I have to.
Anger churns low in my stomach, growing hotter every time I think about the magician’s lies. I’m too livid to sit down. I pace his room, fighting the urge to shred his sheets all over again. I hate that I trusted him for even a second.
I won’t let him get away with this.
The moment the door opens, I turn on him.
“You lied to me,” I snarl.
Nikolai pins me with simmering green eyes. “Which time?”
My mouth falls open. “You lied.”
“I did.” He steps past me, nonchalant. He smells off, like rosehips and cinnamon. I shake my head free of the thought—another distraction—and glare at the back of his head. He deposits a book and several other trinkets on his desk, not even looking at me.
“You said three and a half weeks.” My voice rises, and I find myself shaking with the force of it. “You said I could go home after that.”
“I did,” he replies. “It’s what you wanted to hear.”
“That—” I sputter. “That doesn’t mean you can say it like it’s true.”
He glances over at me, frowning. “You told Annie and Omi everything, didn’t you?”
“You can’t control what I say,” I mutter. “Especially when you’re less trustworthy than a rattlesnake.”
In a flash, he’s across the room, towering over me, glaring down with emerald fury.
I flatten myself against the cold glass wall behind me, my heart pounding, but I will not look away. I huff, scowling into the perfect face of this manipulative, lying magician.
“I told you to stay put, and you didn’t,” he snarls. “I told you to keep your mouth shut in front of the Glassmasters and in class. You did the opposite.”
His proximity is terrifying… but also exhilarating. In all the wrong ways. I wish—rather desperately—that I could turn off my reactions to his illusions.
“I offer you some scrap of hope, and suddenly you treat it like the desert’s gospel?” He scoffs. “You really are gullible.”
Blood roars in my ears. “I will never trust you.”
“Good.” His smirk is a blade.
“But you can’t—”
“Whatever you’re about to say, I can.” Nikolai drops a gloved finger to my lips. “I’ve kept you alive, Taera. Don’t expect anything more.”
My words go silent, even as I push the air out, and the air sings with the scent of magic. He’s silencing me.
I want to claw his face off, but the metallic tang on my tongue sets me on edge. I dig my fingernails into my palms instead.
He turns away, striding into his bathing chambers, and the door closes between us with a crisp click.
I hiss out an exhale. I don’t know if I’m more furious at Nikolai or myself. I should never have believed him. A mirage would be more trustworthy.
My plan pivots sharply. Despite Omi and Annie’s warnings, I have to find a way out of here. I’d rather risk the gray-robed sandsmugglers than leave my safety in Nikolai’s hands. I can’t trust him. His twisted sense of obligation to protect me might snap at any moment.
I need to get home. And write to my family in case I don’t make it.