Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Briar
As soon as the door opened more than a foot, something lashed out from the ceiling and the sides of the room. It moved with such speed that I couldn’t see what it was as it pulled the elf’s arms and feet away from his body.
I gasped and stumbled back as I tried to process what had happened. Thick vines had erupted from the walls on either side of the elf. I didn’t see any holes for those vines, which meant they’d somehow come from the walls.
Thorns, the size of my thumb, covered the vines. Blood dripped from his wrists and ankles from where the vines bit into his flesh. The shimmering beads blended in with the cover. The elf didn’t show any reaction to the vines encircling his wrists and ankles, but fire burned in his onyx eyes.
My stomach turned, and if I’d had anything left in it from breakfast, I might have spewed it all over the room. Instead, I managed to swallow the lump in my throat as my gaze met his again.
The elf’s eyes told me he’d gladly kill me, but I couldn’t walk away and leave him like this. Creeping further into the room, I studied the vines as I stopped before him.
When I lifted my hand toward him, seeking to help him in some way, the vines lifted the elf a little higher in the air. My hand stilled, and so did he. When I lowered my hand a little, the elf lowered too.
This wasn’t my magic doing this; they’d bespelled the vines to follow a caster’s commands. They must be magicked into emerging from the wall when the door opened.
When I lowered my hand completely, the elf’s feet settled on the bed again. More blood dripped onto the coverlet.
I hated having him bound before me like some sort of sacrifice, but I didn’t know what else to do. I had no idea how to make them release the elf, and I was afraid that if I twisted my hand to try to get them to unravel, it would only cause them to tighten.
Creeping closer, I studied the vines as I tried to figure them out. Even if I could figure them out, I couldn’t free the elf; he’d probably kill me if I did.
“Have you seen a shifter in the harem?” I asked.
The elf’s forehead furrowed. I doubted he got many questions from the other casters.
“His name is Seth,” I said.
A subtle widening of his eyes told me that he recognized the name. “Are you Marina’s daughter?” he inquired with the refined accent all the elves possessed.
If Seth’s name had triggered this question from him, then the elf must know who he was. Without thinking, I stepped closer.
“Yes. Have you seen him? I can’t find him in any of the cells.”
“And you won’t.”
I gulped. “Did they… did she… kill him?”
The elf’s head tipped to the side as he studied me. “I thought you were the one who did that.”
I recoiled at his words. “No, never! I’d never hurt him!”
The elf didn’t say anything as he gazed disdainfully at me.
“Do you know where he is?” I demanded.
“No. I haven’t seen him in a long time.”
I almost lunged onto the bed to shake him but restrained myself. “Did they put him somewhere else?”
“How would I know? Why don’t you ask your mother?”
I almost asked again if they’d killed him, but I couldn’t bear to hear his answer if he repeated it.
“Did he escape?” I whispered.
“Why don’t you tell me?”
When my hand went to my heart, the elf rose a little. Realizing my mistake, I jerked my hand down, and he settled on the bed once more.
“I have to find him,” I whispered.
“You won’t do that in here.”
“Could there be hidden rooms or another floor to this harem no one knows about?”
“Why are you asking me? Your kind are the ones who designed this shithole, not mine.”
I winced again, but what he’d said was true.
“You don’t want to be here,” I whispered.
He leaned forward a little as he whispered in return, “None of us do.”
My heart ached for him and the other prisoners. How had so many casters entered this place and not done something to free them?
Probably because the first thing they’ll do is rip off your head.
This was true, and although I’d backed up a few steps, I stopped to study the man who’d resumed his casual position while he stared at me from the bed. Uncertain of what to do for him, but unable to leave, I edged closer again.
“I… I’m going to….” My words trailed off as I studied the vine encircling his right leg.
If I gripped it, the thorns would bite into my hands until they hit bone. Still, there had to be something I could do.
“How do I make them retract?” I asked.
His mouth pursed as he studied me. He was very handsome with his pointed chin and high cheekbones, but I had no intention of having sex with him.
“They don’t retract until you leave the room and the door closes and locks,” he said.
“There must be another way,” I muttered.
“That’s for you to figure out. It’s your magic, not mine.”
“This isn’t my magic.”