Chapter 26
Elyse
My goodness! It is so good to see you,” Zubir said for the third time as he bustled about the cabin.
He was busy making room for Sera and Elyse at the table and acquiring much-needed glasses of water for them.
“I was so worried for you after you left last time. You seemed so angry, and when you’re angry, well, you don’t always make the smartest decisions.
Where are the others? Are they all right?
I would have liked to see them again. They seemed like such decent gentlemen. ”
Elyse, coated in more sweat than she’d ever been in her life, downed the entire glass of water and waited until Zubir’s chatter came to an end.
“Killian and Manny are doing well,” she said as she set down the glass. Water dribbled down her chin, and she wiped it with the back of a sweat-covered hand—a redundant gesture.
Zubir replenished her glass from the pitcher he hadn’t yet put down. “And Jaime?”
“Didn’t make it,” she answered in a flat tone. That was all the acknowledgement he deserved.
“I see…” Zubir set down the pitcher. He hopped into a chair that still had books on its seat; his feet dangled several inches above the floor.
“And how are you, Zubir?” Sera asked with an endearing tilt of her head.
She’d been all smiles since they’d arrived at the cabin.
Elyse didn’t know if their chat had made her feel better, if she genuinely liked Zubir that much, or if she had mastered her charm enough to be able to compel it at a moment’s notice. Perhaps it was a combination of sorts.
“Oh, I’m doing well enough,” Zubir said sheepishly. “I’ve started painting!” He gestured toward a pile of canvases that nearly reached the ceiling of the little cabin. A half-finished canvas was still perched on an easel. It depicted a rendering of a wolf atop a cliff, howling into the night.
“How exquisite,” Sera trilled. “If we had more time, I’d love to see each of them.”
Zubir gushed at that, his gray eyes squinting as he smiled brightly. He waved his hand. “You’re too kind.”
His hair was loose today. Elyse had never seen it down before, and it fell in silky tendrils to his chest. Bits of paint flecked the strands, stark against the black slate of his hair.
Elyse’s eyes gravitated toward the painting once more, lingering there for a moment, before she faced Zubir. “We need your help.”
“Of course,” he answered immediately. “Do you need more angel’s blood? Or something else?”
“No,” Elyse said, curt and concise. “We need you. We need your skills.”
Zubir’s tan skin paled. His eyes grew wide as they flickered between Elyse and Sera.
“Look at me,” Elyse beseeched. She reached toward him and grasped his hand.
Zubir’s gaze instantly flicked to hers. His shoulders rose and fell noticeably as his breath began to quicken. “I—But—” he sputtered.
“Sera doesn’t know what you’re capable of,” Elyse continued. Her voice was strong, encouraging—but firm. “That is your secret to tell, no matter how desperate I am. But I am desperate.”
Zubir stared at her, as if unable to move. If there’d been any magic on the island, Elyse might have thought he’d been hit by a stunning spell.
“Lazarus, the demon I told you about last time I was here,” she said slowly, emphasizing her point.
“He has a body now. He’s been roaming the continent and terrorizing innocent civilians.
We believe he’s going to attack at the Sammerhan Tournament in a few weeks.
After that, I think he’ll be limitless. He will work endlessly to bring pain and grief to every citizen on the continent, unless we stop him at the Games. ”
Zubir was trembling now. Elyse kept her attention pinned on him, but she could see Sera from the corner of her eye, a sympathetic look on her face.
“I need you by my side,” Elyse told him. “Maybe as a fighter, maybe in another way. I need the adaptability that someone like you provides.”
Zubir shot a panicked look at Sera.
“Like I said, she doesn’t know,” Elyse reiterated.
Sera nodded her head once in affirmation.
“That life was nothing but agony for me,” Zubir breathed out, a tremble in his voice that broke Elyse’s heart. “I am safe here, where no one can enslave me, or hunt me, or use me for their bidding.”
“I know,” Elyse said, letting empathy spill into her voice.
“I was enslaved, too, in a sense. I hated my magic because of what it made me, or who I thought it made me. But I’m fighting back.
I get to decide how I use my magic, and I want to use it for good.
” She let her gaze slide to the painting of the wolf, then met Zubir’s gray eyes with a pointed stare.
“Something tells me you want to do the same.”
Zubir blinked, and tears slid against dark lashes. He sent another worried glance toward Sera.
“You can trust her,” Elyse coaxed gently. She would never force Zubir to do anything, not after all he’d been through. But she knew firsthand how good it felt to unleash secrets that had been a burden for too long, and that Sera would guard those secrets at all costs.
“I c-can’t,” Zubir stammered. “I haven’t left this island in five years. I haven’t even tried to—”
He cut himself off before revealing anything else.
“All I can do is ask,” Elyse said, squeezing his hand.
“I will not demand anything of you; plenty of others have already done that. But is this the existence you want, my friend?” she asked, doing her best to keep judgment out of her voice.
“You are gifted. Gods-blessed. You are letting your oppressors win, even all the way out here. You are letting them stop you from being you.”
“I think,” Zubir managed, his voice cracking, “you should leave.”
Elyse’s heart plummeted, sinking right through the floor and down to the ocean far beneath. She bit her lip and studied the pain on Zubir’s face. He closed his eyes and wiped a tear from his cheek, but he did not say anything else.
“Okay,” Elyse accepted over the lump in her throat. She’d pushed him too hard. She thought he’d be willing to listen to her, that hearing about those in need would be enough to spur him into action. That hearing of her own struggles would be enough to inspire.
Perhaps she wasn’t as inspiring as she thought.
Elyse stood, and Sera followed her toward the door. She caught one last glimpse of Zubir over her shoulder. He sat at the table, shoulders slumped and head bowed. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came.
They walked in silence to the gate, though Sera’s curiosity was palpable. Elyse knew she was wholly dying to learn Zubir’s secret, but she also knew Sera would never ask Elyse to break that trust. So without a word, Elyse slipped through the gate and made sure it was closed behind them.
She faced the forest ahead of her, dreading the seemingly endless path that snaked through the trees. In three hour’s time, they would be back on the dock and off to Sevhella. And they would have nothing to show for themselves.