The Silnỳ.
“For it is only by your side that she can find her true purpose, that she will find the strength to kill those that would end the magic of the world.” I whispered the words of the sight to myself, the sight that told of me, and what I was born to do.
I knew it was true. And although part of me shattered at the thought, I knew it needed to be done.
I needed to break the connection.
“Ilyan,” I said his name loud enough for him to hear me, my hand still on his bare chest.
His eyes opened sleepily, blinking a few times before he fully registered where he was.
“Jos,” he sighed, his voice heavy. He reached up and placed his hand over mine pushing it into his scared chest.
“No nightmares?” He was so hopeful, I only smiled and shook my head. After all, that would be the last one.
“I am so glad.” He freed my hand from his chest to pull me into him. I cringed at the pain the movement and pressure caused me. He stopped immediately, his magic flaring abruptly as he searched through my body. He looked at me alarmed and I knew he had found something.
“I’m scared, Ilyan,” I whispered, my voice as weak as my body felt.
He leaned over to me and gently kissed my forehead, his lips soft against my skin.
“I will be here the entire time, Joclyn. Be quick.” I smiled at him and nodded. When I got back I would tell him. I would need strength to break the Zȇlství anyway.
I pulled the necklace out from under my shirt and pushed my magic into it before leaning into Ilyan’s chest and letting his arms wrap around me.
I closed my eyes only to open them to the same dilapidated kitchen and instantly started hyperventilating. Cail stood right before me. His face was pulled into a wicked grin, his eyes blacker then I had ever seen them.
The dark eyed man.
“Why hello, Joclyn,” he said. “You don’t seem happy to see me.”
I stared at him, unsure of what to say.
“What are you doing here?” His twisted joy grew at my fear.
“Why, Joclyn, isn’t it obvious I’ve been here all along.” He smirked and stepped forward, causing me to step back instinctively. My foot hit the table leg and I stopped, trapped, as he continued to move forward.
“I was here when Ryland showed you the Vilỳ, I was the one who told him that you didn’t want him, and I was the one that took away the pretty overcoat Ryland had given this place.” He gestured around him to the rotting kitchen, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.
“For the last three months I have slowly brought you into Ryland’s mind. This is what your mate’s mind truly looks like: destroyed, rotten, forgotten. There is no love here, which is why you don’t belong here.”
He continued to move toward me, but I couldn’t move. The memories and fear of every encounter with him weighed me down.
“You’re the one who has been telling him to force me out.” I gasped as I pieced it together. But instead of smiling, Cail seemed to get very angry.
“Now, that’s an interesting thing. I actually have not been telling him to do that. It would ruin my fun, after all. But Ryland’s mind is an interesting place. Not only does he remember enough about you to realize you’re in danger but he also brought himself into your dream last night. He was desperate to get you to break the bond to keep you from this mess. Thankfully, you didn’t listen.”
Cail emphasized his last words, each syllable shooting through me like I had been slapped. It was Ryland; he had been trying to protect me all this time. I felt the wind suck out of my lungs.
“And, now,” Cail continued, “here you are. Trapped.”
“Trapped?” I repeated the little air that I could hold in my lungs gasping out.
I spun around to look for the black door that I had always been able to exit through. My heart dropped to see a tall man standing in front of it, his eyes boring into me dangerously.
I took a step forward, my hands raising toward the tall guard, I was getting out of here. I felt my magic crackle between my fingers, it felt more alive than in the nightmares; more powerful.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Cail taunted, freezing me in place. “Everything you do here, you do in the waking world. You attack him, or me, and you will throw that weapon at Ilyan. I bet he sleeps right beside you, holding you. Protecting you. It would be a shame if you killed him. An absolute shame.”
Cail came up behind me, his hands moving to rest on the table on either side of me, pinning me in place.
“Now, I bet you are thinking,” he began, his voice wickedly soft in my ear, “that you could just find a way to fight him and leave. But then, Ryland hit you with that barstool last time, and I bet when you woke up you were bleeding.”
He let his words drift off, his hand moving to trail up my arm. The touch shot through me and I spun around, grabbing his arm and twisting it awkwardly into the table. He yelled out as my strength pinned him down. His discomfort lasting a minute before I felt his magic surge, and a conjured knife pressed against my neck as he motioned me away from him. I gasped and jumped away, the memory from my last dream still fresh. My movement only caused Cail’s joy to increase, his smile widening.
“Did Ilyan heal you when you woke up? Do you think he could heal you if you didn’t wake up?”
I looked toward the man who stood in front of the door, his eyes following me greedily as he flexed his fingers, red energy crackling between his knuckles.
“What are you saying?” I immediately regretted asking, but I couldn’t help it. I silently prayed he wasn’t saying what I knew he was.
“This is not like your dreams, Joclyn. You attack me here, you attack Ilyan there. You conjure weapons here, you do the same there. You will not wake in the arms of your true love if you die here, you will simply – die.”
I gasped and he smiled more. He grabbed a rotten apple and balanced its weight in his hand for a moment before throwing it against one of the teetering cabinet doors. The door fell to the ground as the apple exploded.
“Boom!” Cail yelled joyfully, causing me to jump. “Dead. Gone! Which in all honesty is how we want you. But I figure, and Edmund agrees with me, why not have a little fun first? Why not play a little game?”
“No,” I gasped in panicked desperation. I clutched my shoulder where Ilyan’s Štít lay, but felt nothing.
“Oh yes.” He smiled and my breathing picked up. “If you try to get through that door,” he pointed to my normal exit “he will kill you. Which means the only way out of this room is through that door.”
Cail grabbed my shoulders and moved me to face the door that led into the mansion.
“Now through that door are the depths of Ryland’s mind. In there, he may remember you, he may not, or he may hate you enough to kill you himself. But do not fear, I am not sending you in there after him. I am sending you in there away from me. And when I find you, I will do away with you in the most painful way I can think of.”
I cringed as he produced his knife and rested the blade against my chest. I tried to move away from him, but he held me tighter.
“Don’t worry, I will give you a head start. It’s only fair after all.” He dug his fingers into my shoulders, causing me to gasp at the pain. “But don’t forget, whatever magic you do here, you do in the real world. Though if I do my job right, in a matter of hours you won’t even remember you have magic inside of you.”
“Let me go,” I snarled as he continued to hold me. I stumbled when he released me with a little push, surprised he had done it so quickly.
“If you insist,” Cail said. “But you’d better run, your ten minute head start starts now.”
I spun around to face him, Cail stood with his face screwed up in manic excitement.
Cail had trapped me in here with the full intention of torturing me in a way that would only end in my death. But I needed to get out of here. I knew there had to be a way. I could already feel my soul call to it, a promise
of showing me a way out that would not end in my death.
My eyes darted to the guard who stood in front of the black door, blocking my exit. I knew I could defeat him easily, but I also knew that Ilyan still lay right beside me, his arms wrapped around me. Anything I would do in a fight, would go right into Ilyan.
Cail caught my eye, his lip curling as he interpreted my thoughts, knowing his plan was working.
“Run.” Cail said, and I didn’t wait. I turned and ran into the pits of the house, what was left of Ryland’s mind, tears already streaming down my face.
Thirty-One
Iran into the mansion without looking back. I knew Cail was serious. I needed to get away from him as fast as possible and figure out a way to get out of here before Cail found and killed me.
A few steps into the house, I tripped on broken bits of carpet that had been pulled up, burned away, or maybe eaten by some form of rodent. I caught myself, picking my feet up in my run and quickening my pace. Without thinking about it I had sped through the house, taking the path I had traveled almost every day of my life until last May, the path that would take me to Ryland’s room.
My heart thumped loudly as something told me to stop, my breath catching at the overwhelming sensation. I stopped dead, clutching my shoulder, hoping to find Ilyan’s warmth inside of me but still finding nothing. I kept my hand there as I thought through what I was doing, what I was going to do, something unsettling deep in my gut telling me to hide.
I had gone right to where Cail would expect me to go, into what I could only assume to be a trap. I needed to figure out what to do before I came face to face with him.
I stopped before opening the door to Ryland’s hall and instead sunk into what I knew would be a supply closet. Cail had given me a ten minute head start, surely five of that had already past. I had five extra minutes to hide or five minutes to find my way out. That was, if Cail chose to wait the full ten, which I doubted.
I closed the door to the closet behind me as softly as I could. I would know in a few minutes if Cail would come right here in his attempt to track me down or if he would begin his search elsewhere. It all came down to how well he knew me.
I needed to be smart about how I handled this, the faster I got out of here the better. But without being able to use magic to defend myself, I was limited as to what I could do and how fast I could leave. If it was an option, I would blast right through the man blocking my exit, but Ilyan was lying right next to me. The risk of killing him was too great.
My eyes trained on the dim light that was filtering in through the crease in the door. I tried to keep my mind off of the scurrying feet and other noises that were filling the small room.
I had only waited a minute before heavy footfalls filled the air, the impact of them rattling bins and boxes of who knows what in my hiding space. The sound grew louder as Cail ran down the hall, tracing my exact steps. I slunk away from the door, holding my breath in terror that he would find me. My back hit against a shelf, causing moldy towels and mouse feces to fall over my head. My mouth opened in expectation of a scream, but I shoved my fist heavily into my mouth, desperate to keep myself quiet.
If I was going to fight, I needed surprise on my side.
I heard his footsteps stop, and I knew I had made too much noise. As quietly as I could, I shoved myself into a corner, placing my body as much behind one of the large shelving units as possible. I cringed as my foot stepped on something soft, closing my eyes as I shut my mind off, not wanting to think about what it could be.
As soon as I had moved myself into the corner the door flew open, my body flattening even further against the soft, damp wall. I hoped that I was back enough that he wouldn’t see me. The light from the open door caught the eyes of more than a dozen large rats, each lifting their head toward the light in expectation.
The light illuminated the stacks of molding towels, mildewed sheets were dotted with feces, and cleaning supplies rusted through their containers leaving glistening patches of dried chemicals underneath them. Everything lit up dimly as Cail stood with the door open, his breath flowing through the room in silent puffs.
I kept my breath trapped inside me, focusing on the random objects around me so as not to think about the pain that was beginning to seep through my chest. My eyes widened when I saw the long, rusty length of pipe hidden in the piles of rot.
I kept my eyes on the pipe as I listened to Cail’s breathing, trying to ignore the earsplitting pressure from my lungs. My mind screamed at me for air, and I screamed back that he would kill me.
The door slowly closed, the sound of the hinge grinding through my brain and making the movement feel even slower. I waited to breathe, but his footsteps did not retreat. He was standing right on the other side of the door waiting for me. He knew I was in here.
Cail was playing his game.
Everything inside of me was begging for air. I took a step forward, my feet soft against the floor. I reached out and wrapped my hands around the pipe, the metal cold and slimy underneath my fingers. I gripped it firmly, moving it up like a bat as I surged my magic through it. If I couldn’t use my ability as a weapon against him, then I would use it to increase the power of a weapon.
I closed my eyes. Please don’t let Ilyan still be next to me. Please don’t let this actually move through into the real world.
My breath released as I swung the pipe forward, aiming it where Cail would be standing on the other side of the door. My magic filled the metal, making it grow red as it prepared to explode through the door and hopefully Cail.
I saw the shadow of Cail’s feet shift as the pipe made contact with the door, the rotted wood falling away from the impact. I had expected to hit Cail, but instead the pipe sliced through empty air, my eyes wide in confusion before a long fingered hand wrapped around the pipe. With one pull, the hand yanked the pipe through the door, my body following as I futilely held on.
I stumbled through the shards of wood, my feet barely keeping me upright before the hand moved from the pipe to my arm, the grip digging into my skin as Cail pulled me against him.
“Joclyn, Joclyn, Joclyn. You are going to make this far too fun, aren’t you?” I cringed away from Cail’s brittle breath in my nostrils.
“I wouldn’t call this fun, but if that’s the word you choose...” I gritted my teeth and moved closer to him, hoping to catch him off guard.
Cail’s eyes widened in excitement before I slammed my knee in between his legs, his body toppling over me before I grabbed the pipe and hit the metal against his back with as much force as I could muster.
I didn’t wait to see if I had done any damage. I turned and ran away from him, the pipe in front of me like a sword. I was turning a corner when I felt Cail’s magic wrap around me, his power dragging me back and slamming me against a wall.
I cringed as Cail limped up to me, a string of profanity flowing from him as he rubbed his neck. His magic held me tight against the wall, rendering my pipe useless. I racked my brain as he moved toward me. I had already been trapped inside of the Tȍuha for the last twenty minutes by my best guess, meaning it had only been a few minutes in the real world if my math was right. Ilyan would still be sleeping right up against me. I couldn’t risk using any magic yet.
Cail came up beside me, his one hand resting against the wall by my head while the other massaged his neck where the pipe had made contact.
“You naughty little girl,” he said, his lip turned up a wicked grin. “Now I see what Ryland was talking about.”
“What? That I am strong enough to defeat you?” I raised my eyebrow hoping to sound confident but knowing that the shake of fear in my voice gave me away.
What little bravado I had used for my façade faded away as Cail began to laugh, his loud voice ricocheting around the hallway.
“No,” he taunted, my muscles tensing, “that you need to be trained.”
I didn’t have time to think about what was going to happen before the pipe collided with my st
omach. The impact raced through my body, vibrating up my spine and ricocheting through my skull. I screamed out at the impact as Cail’s binds left me, my body collapsing to the ground.
I didn’t have time to run or even move before the pipe impacted my spine. Once. Twice. It sent me sprawling to the ground. I screamed out and little flecks of blood flew from my mouth, splattering the ground with glistening red droplets.
“Will you look at that?” Cail mused as he kneeled beside me. “Blood. I bet Ilyan is having a conniption. I can almost hear him, ‘Oh, my love! Why are you bleeding!’” Cail’s voice went high as he mocked Ilyan, but I barely heard him. If I was bleeding in real life, Ilyan wouldn’t be by me. Ilyan would be running for Dramin.
At least, I hoped he would.
I didn’t wait to think. I focused my magic on the floor right below Cail, sending a pulse directly at it. The floor exploded at the impact, sending him hurtling through the floor.
I watched the hole in the floor for a moment before crawling away, my body slow and sluggish as it healed itself. I moved as quickly as I could toward Ryland’s room, terrified that Cail would return before I could get behind the door, terrified that I had injured Ilyan in some way.
I pulled my way through the door to hide in the shattered remains of Ryland’s kitchenette. I felt my organs knit themselves back together as I sat hiding behind a displaced cabinet.
So, fighting him may not have been such a good idea. While I was more than powerful enough to do away with Cail, I could not guarantee I wouldn’t hurt someone in the cave or collapse the cave itself. While part of me hoped Ilyan would place me somewhere logical, chances were higher that he would be so worried he wouldn’t leave my side. His instincts as my Protector wouldn’t let him. So if I couldn’t fight, then I had only one option, hide and find a way out...
“What are you doing here?” My head snapped up at the voice, relaxing to see Ryland’s frame towering over me.
“Ryland?” Everything in me relaxed until I registered the panic on his face and the anger lines on his forehead.
Eyes of Ember (Imdalind Series #2) Page 30
