Chapter 32 #2
“Pity. It seems your knowledge is limited. Or perhaps”—a cruel smile splits his face—“you’ve been betrayed.”
Ironheart roars again, sweat slicking his brow as he fights the inevitable.
But the darkness climbs him like ivy, binding his arms, coiling around his throat. His free hand claws at the tendrils strangling him, but they’re insubstantial, untouchable.
He sputters, face flushing red, then purple. The sword wavers. Another pulse of Silas’s magic pulls the weapon lower.
I stand frozen, nausea burning my throat.
Ironheart has never hidden his dislike for me. His order to see me beaten and caged proved his feelings lean closer to hatred. Who knows what he would have done had Anton not come?
So, I do not move. I do not speak up. I do not interfere even as my ex-lover’s father collapses onto the dirt floor, suffocated by Fae shadow.
Only the faintest flicker of pity stirs in my chest as his eyes roll back, his body going limp.
Juniper tsks. “Well. That took long enough.”
Anton and Silas lower their hands. I force my spine straight as they turn in our direction.
Silas quirks a brow. “Would you rather we’d run him through with his own blade?”
Juniper snorts. “Of course not. But the Fae I once served were far more efficient with their magic. You younglings have much to learn.”
Her words crash through me like a strike of lightning. I stagger back, breath catching. What is she talking about?
Silas and Anton erupt into laughter. Loud. Boisterous. Completely wrong for the situation we’re in.
Juniper chuckles.
I look between the three of them, heart sinking when I realize I’m the only one left in the dark.
“We need to move,” Anton says at last, his amusement fading. “Before someone realizes what happened here.”
“Then let’s go.” My voice is raw, brittle.
I shove off the wall and step past Juniper.
Together, we exit the cell, walk down the dim hall, and climb the stairs to the room above.
The stench hits me first—blood and smoke, sharp and metallic. Bodies lie scattered like discarded dolls across the floor. Dread twists my abdomen until I spot the slow rise and fall of their chests. They’re alive, just not conscious.
“What did you do to them?” My voice is barely a whisper.
“Ensured they would stay out of our way until we’re gone,” Anton replies.
“So few,” Silas muses, nudging one body with the toe of a pristine boot.
“I was surprised as well,” Anton admits.
Unease prickles my skin. Verdanthia boasts more soldiers than any town in the region. Ironheart wouldn’t post so few guards, not if he feared a rescue attempt.
Something isn’t right.
Silas thinks the same. “We’re missing something.”
“I agree,” Juniper murmurs.
A groan breaks the silence. We all stiffen.
My gaze whips left. My heart seizes.
“Dian!”
Lev’s cousin sits hunched against the wall, blood pouring from a gash on his temple.
“Elara! Don’t!” Anton shouts.
Too late.
I slip past him and drop to my knees.
“Dian? Can you hear me?” My hand trembles as I push matted hair from his face.
Gods. It’s bad. The wound is deep, blood pooling fast.
“Elara…” His voice is a broken slur, his eyelids fluttering until his unfocused eyes finally meet mine.
“It’s me.” I force a smile through the lump in my throat. “Don’t worry. I’ll fix this.”
Magic stirs in my palm, eager, alive now that the manacles are gone.
First the mysterious powder, and then the cuffs… I don’t know what to make of the fact my neighbors possess such powerful magic-subduing weapons.
Or the fact they thought to use it against me…
Not now, Elara.
I shove away my growing unease and focus on Dian.
Power seeps into his temple, knitting torn flesh. A shuddering sigh of relief leaves him.
“Elara?” Juniper’s voice cuts sharp. “What are you doing?”
Three sets of eyes meet mine with uncertainty and disapproval.
My jaw tightens. “What does it look like? I’m healing him.”
“He’s our enemy.” Silas’s tone drips with disdain.
Anton says nothing, but his silence weighs more than words.
“Not to me,” I snap.
Then I turn back before they see the lie flicker across my face.
Because Dian is my enemy. His choices made him so. But I can’t walk away knowing Velmira waits to greet him if I do not intercede and save his life.
The room goes quiet. My power isn’t hurt, but it’s uneasy. Wary. The explosion from earlier has set both of us on edge. It’s willing to comply with my desires, but I sense its hesitancy to exert full effort.
Magic seeps into Dian’s wound.
Seconds later, the blood flow slows to a trickle.
With a sharp inhale, Dian’s eyes widen, catching on mine with dawning awareness. “How…how did you do that?”
I’m too wrung out to spin a lie. “You don’t want to know.”
Something shifts in his gaze. Then he nods. “Thank you.”
“Of course.” I lean back on my heels and rise to my feet. “You should eat and drink as soon as you can. You lost a lot of blood.”
He nods again, then licks his lips, his eyes narrowed with indecision before he blurts, “Lev has gone to the forest.”
My blood ices. “I don’t care what he does.”
“You don’t understand.” His voice rasps with urgency. “He and the army went after the Fae. They mean to capture the Shadow Prince.”
Silas snarls, shadows curling like snakes around his hands. “Fools. They’ll deserve their slaughter.”
“No.” Dian looks only at me now, desperation carved into his face. “Elara, you have to stop them.”
“Me?” I scoff. “Lev won’t listen to me.”
“Lev won’t.” His eyes burn into mine. “But he will.”
My throat tightens. I’m shaking my head before I even realize it. “You don’t understand. My deal with the Fae is over. They owe me nothing.”
“We both know that’s not true.” His voice frays as he slumps back against the wall. “Please. If you don’t stop them, every soldier will die. And then…who will protect Verdanthia?”
Rolf…Jocelyn…
The faces of all the women and children I’ve treated over the years flash across my mind, along with terrifying claws and talons.
If all the fighting men in Verdanthia are dead, the monsters will find no resistance when they slink out of the forest to feast. Every innocent soul in town will be torn to shreds.
Gods save me… I’m really going to do this.
I turn to Anton, the weight of my choice cinching like a noose around my throat. “Can you get me a horse?”
His lips twitch with something that almost looks like pride. Or is it victory?
He inclines his head. “Absolutely.”
And just like that, I choose a side…and seal my fate.