“What did you do to me?” Ed rasped. “Where’s Ann?”
Ceara made a tutting sound. “You should be more concerned about your own wellbeing now, Wolfie.”
Ed winced at the childhood nickname. He didn’t want to remember the happier times he spent growing up with her. She’d been a true sister to him, yet in the end she betrayed them all by joining the enemy.
“Don’t call me that. I stopped being your brother a long time ago,” he hissed. “Where am I? What did you do?” He thought he caught a flash of pain in her eyes.
“Where you are isn’t important.” Ceara leaned close to the bars. “Ed, I’m sorry. I didn’t have a choice.”
Ed should have known better when Ceara contacted him a few days earlier saying she wanted to help clear Ann’s name. He believed her. He thought she might have finally seen the light and decided to do the right thing. How could he have been so gullible?
Ann hadn’t been happy when he tricked her into meeting Ceara. Ceara had seemed sincere. Plus, he knew about her helping the resistance over the past five years. He thought he could trust her again. Maybe she’d make amends for choosing Urien over her family.
“You always have a choice, Ceara. You made the wrong one five years ago. And you made the wrong one now.” Ed didn’t need answers. His worst fears had been confirmed. Ceara had kidnapped him and taken him into Orla’s custody.
Ceara shook her head. “You have no idea. It’s not a matter of choice.”
“Tell me where Ann is.” Ed gripped the bars. “Did she get away or is she here somewhere?”
“She got away but—”
Someone else walked in. Another woman, but not a Gliss like Ceara. Orla had glowing olive skin, long black hair that fell to her waist and obsidian eyes.
The Fomorian Queen herself.
“Ah, you’re awake.” Orla smirked. “Have you begun his training yet, Ceara?”
Ed furrowed his brow. “What training?”
“To be one of my new warriors, of course,” Orla replied.
Ed gave a harsh laugh. “You know I’d never join you. No amount of torture will ever change that.” He searched through his jumbled thoughts.
A rush of hope flooded through him. Ann had escaped. Thanks spirits, he remembered now. That’s why she called out for him before he’d been swept away by Ceara’s transportation. Ann would be safe; that was all that mattered.
“Don’t be sure of that, Edward Rohn,” Orla said. “Everyone breaks under the touch of a Gliss eventually. Even you.”
His jaw clenched. “You didn’t bring me here to make me one of your so-called warriors,” he sneered. “You think you can use me to get to Ann, don’t you?” He shook his head. “You’re wasting your time. I’d die before I’d ever betray her.” He glanced at Ceara. “My loyalty can’t be bought so easily.”
Ceara flinched and smiled. “I wasn’t bought. I—”
Orla slapped Ceara hard around the face. “Quiet, you stupid girl,” she snapped. “Oh, and you will talk, Edward Rohn. Then you’ll be mine.”
Ed knew why Orla wanted him. Not only was he Ann’s closest ally and friend, he’d been there the night she had stopped her brother Urien—Orla’s son. Urien murdered Darius, the former archdruid and his wife Deanna. Orla had searched for her missing son ever since and had taken over Caselhelm—Darius’ realm.
“Urien is dead and gone. You need to accept that,” Ed snapped.
Anger flashed in Orla’s eyes. “Lies. I would know if my son were dead. You’ll tell me everything I want to know eventually.”
Ed drew back. “I’ll die first.”
He didn’t want to die but he would if it meant protecting Ann. Without her here they had nothing they could use against him.
“Ceara, get to work,” Orla ordered. “You will give me the answers I want soon enough.” Orla smiled and took a step back.
Ceara raised her hand but hesitated. Ed, I’m sorry. I don’t have a choice.
Ed slumped back against the wall and crossed his arms. He had been trained to endure pain and torture when he joined the Black Guard. He’d endure whatever they did.
“Ceara,” Orla snapped. “If you don’t force him to change, I will have one of the other Gliss do it.”
Change me? He frowned. Into what?
Fear stabbed through his chest. He expected pain and torture. Were they going to change him into something?
“Ceara,” Orla hissed.
I am sorry, Wolfie. Ceara took a deep breath and light flared between her brows. Gliss were empaths who could channel people’s emotions and thus tap into their powers as well. They were trained to torture and break people. Most individuals broke under emotional torture. Ed had seen the results first-hand working with the resistance.
Ed clutched his head as pain reverberated through his skull and down through his chest.
Why didn’t I shield my mind? He reached for his mental shield to raise it. Ed imagined a stone wall surrounding him on all sides and a barrier of energy above that would deflect any oncoming attack.
The wall shattered as Ceara’s magic broke straight through it.
Light pulsed from Ceara, seeping into every fibre of his body. It pounded through him like a hammer on an anvil.
Damn it, Ceara, what are you doing?
The pain continued to pulse through him. It pounded harder and harder. Ed buried his head between his knees. It did no good in blocking out the agony.
It seemed to last for hours. Yet Ceara said nothing.
Had she questioned him about Ann? The resistance? Or even Urien?
Ceara only stood there, light pulsating from her body.
When she finally drew back Ed crumpled to the floor. Nothing. No amount of his training could have prepared him for that. He guessed now he knew why people despised the Gliss so much.
He took several deep breaths, taking in deep gulps of air.
“Sooner or later you’ll be mine.” Orla swept out of the room.
Ceara knelt and reached out to touch him through the bars. Ed flinched as her fingers found his arm. “I’m sorry, Wolfie. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t do this. You need to be stronger. This is the only way.”
The door creaked and slammed as Ceara left.
Ed lay there a while longer. It hurt to move.
Ann, where are you? he thought. One way or another, I’ll find my way back to you.
Chapter Three
Ann stood there at the spot where she’d cast a transference spell. Nothing.
No trace of Ed anywhere. She knelt and placed her hand on the cold, hard stone and scanned it with her mind. Still nothing. No trace. She hadn’t bothered to shield her transference; she’d been too desperate to get out of there.
How could Ed disappear? Ceara must have had the trap already set in place. Yet neither Ann nor Ed had sensed anything.
“There must be something here,” she muttered to herself.
She chanted words of power to a different spell, but it still revealed nothing.
Ann transported back to the caverns and hurried through the glistening tunnels until she found Xavier. The dwarf looked up at her in surprise when he spotted her. “Rhiannon, I didn’t expect you to return here.”
In the five years since she joined the resistance, she’d never been able to stay with them long. It proved too dangerous. She had kept in contact with him and her old friend Nadia over the years though. She hated how he called her Rhiannon. Rhiannon Valeran died a long time ago, along with the life she lived before she became a rogue.
“Ed’s missing. He’s been taken by Orla.” Her hands clenched into fists.
Spirits, Orla wouldn’t stop until she got everything she wanted out of Ed. The main thing would be where to find Urien.
Ed was the strongest person she knew. He’d never betray her—not on purpose anyway. But could he survive under the torture of the Gliss?
She’d been subjected to a Gliss’ power before and knew full well what Ceara could do.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Xavier remarked.
“I need your help to get him back. Do you have a few warriors who—”
Xavier shook his head. “You know there are so few of us warriors. We fight from the shadows. Even if we could fight there’s no going up against all those forces.”
She gritted her teeth. This was the one part of the resistance she hadn’t liked. They preferred to fight their battles in secret instead of head-on. That had been another reason why she hadn’t stayed with them. It wasn’t in her to sit on the sidelines and do nothing.
Ann and Ed fought off the Gliss whenever they could, one-on-one. But she hadn’t stopped Orla herself yet.
“Xavier, she’s taken my best friend. Please, if you have anyone you can spare—”
Xavier touched her arm. “I’m sorry, my lady. I’d help if I could. But Orla has increased her hunt for us. So many of us and our allies are being killed.”
She is not hunting you. She is hunting me, she thought, and more anger heated her blood.
Fire crackled between her fingers. She let it loose and exploded a table behind them. “Damn it all! There must be something I can do.” Ann shoved her long hair off her face.
“Annie?”
A dark-haired man walked in and her heart leapt. Xander had a mob of short black curly hair and a skinny frame. They both shared the blue Valeran eyes and he wore a loose white tunic under his long cloak with black trousers. A harp was slung over his back attached to his pack.
“Xander.” She threw her arms around her brother.
Xander returned her embrace. “Sister, what’s wrong? I sensed you throwing fire.”
“Excuse me,” Xavier murmured and left the room.
Ann clung to her brother and felt she had stung her eyes.
She blinked, horrified. She never cried anymore. “Ed is gone. Ceara set a trap for us.”
Xander’s expression darkened. “Ceara? How?”
“She convinced Ed she would talk to the council to clear my name.” She shook her head. “And the bloody fool believed her. I knew it was a trap. I should have—”
“You need to calm down.” Xander put his hands on her shoulders. “We need to figure out where we should go next. Are you sure Ceara didn’t track you?”
“We can go to Larenth and I’ll force Orla—”
Xander gave a harsh laugh. “Even if you did go there, you don’t know if Ed’s there. We need to leave. Find somewhere safe to stay.”
“And do what?” Ann demanded. “Get on with our lives and pretend Ed doesn’t mean anything? No, I won’t do that.” More fire crackled between her fingers. Bless it, why did that keep happening? She never lost control like this. Years on the run had taught her to rein in her magic even more.
“I know how much Ed meant to you. But he said not to come look for him if he ever got captured. Your safety comes first.”
Ann gritted her teeth. Ed had said that. She never thought she’d have to face it though. Ed had always been by her side—even before her world was turned upside down with the murder of her parents. “I can’t lose him. I won’t,” she snapped. “He wouldn’t stop looking for me. I’ll find him. No matter how long it takes.”
Ann stormed off down the tunnel to a chamber she stayed in when she met up with other resistance members.
She untied her pack and pulled out a map of the five lands of Almara. “We need to figure out where they might have taken Ed. It’d be somewhere secure.”
Xander followed her into the chamber. “Which could be anywhere. You don’t even know if he’s still alive.”
“I would know if he were dead. I would feel it.” She slammed her hands on the table. “Damn it, I don’t even know where to begin.”
Ann didn’t want to consider the possibility of losing Ed. Of the world without him in it. Such a thing wasn’t fathomable.
He was the one constant in her life. The thing that held her together after losing everything. Without him… She couldn’t think of that.
If Ed was alive, there was a chance she’d get him back. That meant she had to find him first.
Xander squeezed her shoulder. “I know you love him, but Ed wouldn’t want you to risk your life for him,” he said. “If Orla got hold of you, she would find a way to bring Urien back. Either that or get the other four lands to fall to her.”
Ann gritted her teeth. She knew he was right. Ed would say that too. But she couldn’t give up. Not yet.
“He hasn’t been gone long which means there’s still a chance.” She held up her hand when Xander opened his mouth to speak. “Don’t. Orla having Ed is just as dangerous. He can help lead her to Urien. Which is why we have to find him. Let’s go back to the beginning.”
Ann transported her and Xander back to the bunker where Ed had been taken. They materialised in a flash of blue orbs.
“This is where Ceara set up the meeting,” she told him.
Xander shivered. “I’m surprised you even came in here. It feels oppressive. What are you looking for?”
Ann shrugged. “Something might lead us to Ed. I swept through the entire building, but I couldn’t find a trace of whatever magic Ceara used to take him away.”
Xander knelt and examined the floor. “Ceara would have wiped away all traces of it. She knows you well. She knows what you would do.”
“She’ll be lucky if I don’t kill her.”
Xander flinched. “Could you?”
Ann knew he hated talking of Ceara and how Ceara had chosen Urien over him. She wondered if Xander still harboured feelings for his lost love.
“Yes, I would. She betrayed all of us. Ed thought she changed.” She gave a derisive snort. “As if she could.” She frowned. “Be Ed isn’t one we should trace.”
Xander furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, Ed will be guarded and shielded. Ceara might not be. If we find her, we can force her to take us to Ed.”
“It’s been five years. We have no idea where she might be.”
“I’ll find her. One way or another,” Ann vowed.
Chapter Four
Ed groaned as he came awake. He thought his head hurt before but now it felt like a giant had hit him several times. How long had he been here now? Weeks? The days were blurred together.
Water dripped down the wall. It sounded like the falling of rocks. Thunk, thunk, thunk.
He clutched his head and covered his ears. Why is everything so loud?
The outer door creaked open and screeched like nails against the metal.
An Ursaie slave came and carried a tray through their return. She slid it into his cell.
Ed glanced up at her. She didn’t look much older than ten. Small black horns stuck out through her dark hair and her eyes glowed a bright gold. She avoided his gaze and kept her eyes on the floor. Poor kid, but he knew there was nothing he could do to help her.
The door banged shut once the slave left.
Ed winced as he crawled over to the tray. It only contained a clump of bread and a cup of water. He gulped down the water first. His throat felt raw and scratchy. The cool water stung as it went down.
Ed gulped a mouthful of food. His stomach growled with hunger.
They gave him little food. His body had become much thinner and his usual short hair now fell past his shoulders. His hair always grew quick. Ann had teased him about it.
His heart clenched at the thought of Ann. Was she safe? Had she got to safety like he told her to?
They had discussed what they would do if one or both of them ever got captured. Ed always knew it might happen. He told Ann to leave him behind. He never wanted to risk her safety. It meant no one would come looking for him. There’d be no rescue.
Ann would move on and he’d be trapped here until Orla decided to dispose of him. Ed rested his head against a stone wall. Coldness seeped into his skull. He needed to see Ann again one last time. Maybe admit to her how he felt about her.
A coughing sound made him jump.
There hadn’t been anyone in the cells next to him before. He would have seen them if they had and the Gliss hadn’t brought anyone in either.
Ed hesitated. His eyes had long grown used to the gloom during his captivity.
The shadows dispersed, allowing him to see clearly.
The only time he had any light was when the outer door opened. Or when Ceara or another Gliss came to interrogate him.
A dark-skinned man with a bald head sat huddled in the corner of the opposite cell.
“Hello?” Ed said. “I’m Edward. Are you okay?”
The man looked up and Ed gasped. “Jax?” He couldn’t believe his foster brother was here. Someone he hadn’t seen for five years since the revolution. They lost each other during the attack on the palace. Ed never found out what happened to him and had thought him long dead. Jax had stayed behind with several other members of the Black after dedicating the body of Darius to a secret tomb and laying it to rest there alongside his wife. Jax and his fellow brothers in Black had allowed him and Ann to escape by holding Orla’s forces back.
“Ed, is that you, brother?” Jax glanced around. “Where are you?”
Ed winced and crawled over to the bars. “I’m here, brother. Spirits, I can’t believe it’s you.”
Jax looked almost as Ed remembered. Same chiselled face. Same dark eyes. His easy smile had vanished though. “Spirits, it’s been so long.”
“Five years,” Ed breathed. “How long have you been here?”
“Since Orla captured me the night the archdruid died.”
Ed shook his head. He’d always hoped Jax escaped from Orla’s forces, yet there had been so many demons after them that night Ed had no way of knowing what happened in the aftermath. Ed had got Ann and Xander away to safety. Ever since then, they’d lived as rogues and had been forced to move around all the time for fear of being captured.
“I can’t believe you’re alive,” Ed said. “I thought you were dead.”
“Not from lack of trying.” Jax gave a grim smile. “It’s good to see you. I always hoped you were still alive. What about Ann and Xander?”
Magic Underground: The Complete Collection (Magic Underground Anthologies Book 4) Page 155
