Eyes of Ember (Imdalind Series #2)

by Rebecca Ethington

  “You’ve got to get out of here.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me up, not saying anything before dragging me behind him and out the door.

  We moved back toward the main kitchen, our feet slipping and catching on debris. Before we had gotten too close to the kitchen, Ryland deviated, pulling us out of the servants’ quarters and into the main living space.

  Large rumbling bangs sounded through the house as we moved. It reminded me of the battle, when we fled this place leaving Ryland behind. I had just caught sight of the main ballroom before Ryland dragged me into a large office, shutting the door behind us.

  The door had barely clicked shut before he turned back to me, the anger on his face now mixed with fear.

  “What are you doing here? I told you to break the bond.” Ryland’s hand shook as he moved hair away from my face, his eyes staying on mine for a moment before darting around the room. The movement of his eyes and the shake of his hand put me one edge, his paranoia contagious.

  “What do you mean?” I asked. Where was our happy reunion?

  “I told you not to come back.” His hands dug into me, his grip pushing me against the wall.

  “I know, I needed to see you…” I reached up to touch his face, my hand stopping half way at the look in his eyes.

  “Why didn’t you break the bond?”

  “I was going to, after...”

  “You waited, and now it’s too late. He’s going to kill you, Jos! Do you know what I risked to warn you? What they did to me? To Wyn? To your Dad? We risked it all and you didn’t listen.” His anger cut through me. I could only stare at him wide eyed as I tried to make sense of what he was saying.

  “I know! I’m sorry, alright,” I stammered.

  “Being sorry means nothing!” he yelled, slamming his fist into the wall by my head.

  I jumped and tried to move away from him, but his hands kept me restrained.

  “What do you want from me, Ry? I’m trying, okay?” I couldn’t help but yell. The anger and fear inside of me bubbled out, directing itself at Ryland.

  “Trying to what, Jos? Not Listen? I’m trying to save you and you can’t even let me do that. Why did I even bond myself to you?” His words were loud and echoed around the empty room. I wanted to sink away into nothing. I had asked myself the same thing a million times because of the doubt that I had felt, the hopelessness that the Zȇlství had caused me... us. Because of the pain, the torture, I had felt it all and asked the same question, but hearing it from him still hurt.

  “Why did you?” I asked, my voice soft.

  “Because I can’t live without you! I couldn’t see you with someone else, ever. I was hoping I could take Ilyan’s place if I sealed myself to you!”

  “Take his place?”

  “You can’t love him, Jos. He’s not the one for you. I am.”

  I stared at him, my mouth hanging open. I loved Ryland, but he stood there admitting that he knew what I was born for. He knew what the mark meant. And he still bonded himself to me. I didn’t know if he did it because he wanted to protect me, or because he really did love me, or because he wanted the power.

  “I love you,” he said, his hands strong against my forearms.

  “Love me? Then why did you do it? You knew what I was. You knew I was meant for Ilyan. What did you have to gain...?” My words trailed off at the memory of the riddle Ryland’s possessed body told me on a roof top. It couldn’t be...

  “No!” I yelled, pushing him away from me.

  Ryland couldn’t have bonded himself to me for his own gain.

  I repeated it to myself, almost willing the words to be true.

  “Leave me alone!” I yelled as I turned away from him, his fingers curling around my forearm like a vice and stopping me in my tracks.

  “Is that what you want? For me to leave you alone?”

  “Yes!” I spat, ignoring the knife like stab in my heart.

  “Wish granted!” He pushed me away from him as I stumbled, my head spinning as the room shook, another explosion sounded, this one closer and more aggressive then the last. Ryland swore loudly before grabbing my arm and dragging me through the manor.

  We didn’t get far before Ryland shoved me into a closet just as footsteps approached. I moved my body into the corner as Cail yelled out, his voice loud in the tiny space.

  “No!”

  “Yes,” Ryland taunted him, his voice deep and menacing.

  “How did you get here?” The level of fear in Cail’s voice was shocking to me. Why did Ryland’s presence scare him so much?

  I felt the small paw of a rodent press against my shoulder before the full weight of the creature transferred onto my collar bone. I opened my mouth in horror, not daring to move, my body unwillingly taking in a shaky breath that I prayed was not audible.

  “It is my mind, Cail.” Ryland said, I could hear the smile in his voice.

  Everything froze as the rat walked across my back, his body tangling itself in my hair. I tried to keep my panic under control, my shaky inhale silent as he made his passage.

  “Not for long.”

  The tiny closet shook as an explosion rattled the space sending books and baskets onto me. I screamed and covered my head, hoping my voice was not heard through the fight that was waging right outside the door.

  My breathing picked up into a pant as I began to panic. The explosions grew in number but moved further down the hall, Ryland leading Cail away from me and giving me a chance to escape. I wiped away the invisible tracks of the rat, my shoulders shuddering in disgust.

  Without thinking, I broke out of the closet and took off back the way I had come. I turned into a hallway I had never entered before, hoping the two locked in battle had not seen me flee.

  I was at a disadvantage here. I only knew parts of this mansion. I knew how to get to Ryland’s room, and most of the servants corridors of the upper levels, but the main living space and all the lower rooms were foreign to me. If I was going to get the upper hand I wasn’t going to find it here.

  I continued to run down the hall, my feet slipping on decaying carpet at my increased speed.

  A loud crash echoed in the space around me causing light fixtures to shake and pieces of plaster to fall. I stopped in my tracks at the movement, my pulse surging heavily as I waited, as I tried to figure out what course to take. I could hear it pulse through my ear drums and feel it move through my fingers.

  “Don’t stop moving,” I whispered aloud to myself. But I still couldn’t move. Slowly I pried my feet off the floor and moved into a run, knowing that a moving target was harder to catch. I kept going until I came to a split flight of stairs, one side leading back up to Ryland’s room, the other side leading down to the unknown levels of the house. I stayed still for a second before moving to go down.

  I picked up my pace as I moved down the stairs, my hand lightly grazing the dirt and mold covered railing for stability. I turned corner after corner as I descended, each level becoming more infested, more deteriorated, and more blood covered. Even though I knew that was what it was, I begged my mind to believe it to be paint. It was splattered everywhere.

  The more I moved through the silence, the more I became aware of every noise and twitch of the air surrounding me. I jumped at every creak, at the steady thumping that came from somewhere around me. I would pass doors to floors of the estate, sure I heard voices on the other side only to stop and have those voices turn into the squeaking of mice or ripping of paper.

  I stopped abruptly when I had moved down about six stories, my heart thumping wildly at the pool of red liquid that occupied the landing of the steps below me. The smooth red fluid swirled aggressively as if it was being disturbed, as if something around the next turn was moving through it.

  I gasped as my muscles tensed, my panic growing. I turned as quickly as I could, running back up the stairs, desperate to get away from whatever was deep within the pool of blood.

  I had gone up far more floors than I had gone down when I r
ealized that nothing was changing. I should have moved back into the manor by now, but the walls still remained red and glistening. My eyes darted around wildly before I turned to retrace my steps.

  Two steps down, I howled in horror as my foot plunged into the warm pool of fluid. I looked at the bubbling pool of blood, fear pulsing through my ears. I had left this pool behind me, at least ten flights of stairs down. And yet here it was.

  As I watched, the liquid lurched, growing a step and splashing against my foot. I screamed and grasped the door knob to the nearest floor. I flung my body through the door, not bothering to check if anyone was waiting for me on the other side. My only thought was to get away from the pool of blood.

  Thirty-Two

  I pressed my back against the door as it closed, my eyes widening as I came face to face with the longest hall I had ever seen. The walls were burnt and red. The floors were damp with large chunks missing from them. I almost expected Cail to come bursting through any of the many doors.

  I tried to control my panic but I knew it was no use. Cail had trapped me in the worst nightmare I had ever experienced. This was a million times worse than every time he had chased me through the manor, hunted me through the forest, or murdered me into waking. I could feel my neck twitch in fear as I fought the urge to collapse into myself.

  Instinctively, I began to sing Ilyan’s song in my head, the notes playing loudly as I walked down the hall and into the unknown realm I had entered.

  I moved as silently as I could, jumping over the open gaps and tiptoeing around small animal carcasses as I moved. Every other step would trigger a sound far down the hall and I would freeze, staring at the floor, not willing to look up and face whatever might be before me. Praying that nothing was there. I kept moving, my pace slow as I trudged forward in desperation, my heart calling for a way out.

  A way out?

  That is what I was down here for, right?

  Everything was fuzzy, like the recall in my mind was broken.

  Two hours in the Tȍuha for every twenty minutes in the waking world. I wanted to say it had already been two hours, but it was hard to tell. Somewhere in the back of my mind I wondered if Ilyan might know how to pull me out of here, but I knew he wouldn’t. After all, Edmund and Cail wouldn’t even be playing this little game if there was a way for him to do that.

  But still, I had to hope.

  My thoughts were cut off as heavy footsteps began to sound behind me. These weren’t like the other sounds, these were rough and heavy. The gait was familiar in my memory. I stopped for a moment before picking up the pace, my panic moving deeper into me. My fear was becoming part of me, a tangible thing that was weaving itself into my soul.

  I jumped over open caverns, moved around bones and feces only to have the vibration increase, the sound grow louder. I took one last leap before fiddling with the knob of one of the many doors along the hall. It swung wide and I jumped inside, slamming it loudly behind me before turning to face the room. But it wasn’t a room. It was yet another long hallway with more blood, more bones, and more pits into an endless abyss below.

  Even though I had escaped one hallway, the rattling footsteps of the last seemed to follow me here. I couldn’t suppress the feeling that whoever it was stood right on the other side of the door.

  I immediately began opening doors, the thought of escape consuming me. I moved from one hallway to another, my feet running without thinking. The only things I could focus on were the footsteps and the drumming of blood through my eardrums.

  Doors.

  One of them had to lead somewhere I would recognize. One of them had to lead to… to…

  Where was I going?

  I stopped as I moved through the fifth door in the third hallway and looked around. This hallway looked like all the others. Was there something here I was trying to find?

  Yes.

  But what?

  I closed my eyes, racking my brain and trying to replay the last few minutes.

  The way out.

  I was looking for a way out.

  This space was messing with my mind. I immediately turned around and went back through the door I had entered, back into another identical hallway when I froze.

  Doors.

  I had no way of knowing which one I had come through. I was so concerned with getting away from whatever was following me, that I had gotten myself lost, lost in the house, lost in Ryland’s mind.

  I sunk down to the ground. Tears burning my face as they trailed down my cheeks, I tried to restrain the noise, unsure if Cail was down here or if he was even still trying to find me. I sucked in my tears, letting Ilyan’s lullaby take their place. I sang the song aloud, whispering the words in the desperate hope that no one would hear me, but still needing the comfort.

  Slowly my pulse began to slow. My breathing evened out, and I let the song fizzle away. I wasn’t comforted. I wasn’t safe. I was still trapped in this hell that Cail had designed for me, but things didn’t seem so desperate. I needed to find...

  What was it again?

  That’s right.

  Home. I needed to go home.

  I stood and walked across the hall, my hand reaching for yet another doorknob. I froze, my hand still posed on the knob.

  There were voices on the other side of this door.

  The voices seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place them.

  “It’s been hours. How is the progress?” The older man’s voice boomed. He almost sounded bored, like he was looking over paperwork.

  “It is coming, master. I have guided her to where we want her and begun the process as you have asked.”

  Master? Why did that phrase sound so familiar?

  Suddenly the voice of the younger, scared man clicked into place – Cail. Which would make the older man Edmund. I shook my head in an attempt to clear the fog. How could I have forgotten them?

  “Have you? Already?” Edmund sounded shocked now, pleased.

  “Yes.”

  “Very nice, Cail. I’m impressed,” Edmund said, “They have already begun to break their bond, I will continue to process before she finds her way back. Without the path back to her own mind, she will be trapped here.”

  Break the bond? That sounded familiar. I moved one step closer to the door, pressing my eyes against the small opening, needing to see. Cail stood before Edmund who sat in a large ornate chair, his legs crossed as he played with an elaborate ring on his finger. But Edmund looked wrong somehow, almost like he was faded, or covered in wax paper.

  “Do you think that is possible?” Cail said, his voice breaking with tension. “I have set a web to trap her inside my mind. There is no way to find a way through it without guidance.” Edmund didn’t even look at him.

  I stepped away from the door to look around me. Cail’s mind. He had told me it was Ryland’s mind.

  Ryland.

  The bond.

  “She has been brought here through the bond, meaning Ryland could find his way inside and lead her out. Break the bond and I destroy the path that got her here. She would be trapped here, her mind lost inside of yours with no way out.”

  Everything clicked together and I covered my mouth. Something in me was screaming trap, danger, warning, but I still couldn’t quite remember why they would do all this to me.

  “Are you sure you are up for the challenge, Cail?” Edmund asked, but Cail only laughed in response.

  “I am sure, master. She is putting up quite an enjoyable fight.”

  “You better give me a good show, Cail. Otherwise, I will unbind that little curse you put on your sister.”

  I pressed my eyes against the opening again at the mention of Wyn, surprised that recall of her name had come so fast. I didn’t like how fuzzy this place was making my brain. I needed to get out of here.

  “No!” Cail’s voice was loud, panicked, and unexpected. I would never have expected such terror to come out of him. Cail had taken a desperate step forward, the action causing Edmund to look up.
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  “Oh yes, imagine all that poison weaving itself away from her skin and into her blood stream…”

  “Master, you…” Cail began to interrupt him, but was silenced with one look from Edmund. Cail’s hand flew to his heart in panic.

  “Cail.” The strict tone of Edmund’s voice was like ice down my spine.

  “Yes, master.” Cail spoke quietly, dejectedly, before his back straightened and his head turned to look right at me. This time I was sure he had seen me.

  “Yes, master,” He said again as his lip curled. “Let the games begin.”

  “Oh good. I will give you one month, Cail.” I barely heard Edmund’s voice over the heavy thumping of my heart. Cail turned and was walking right toward me, his eyes looking into mine. I couldn’t move. I had frozen in place, my hand still clinging to the doorknob.

  I knew I should be looking around for some form of weapon, or trying to get away, but I couldn’t tear my eyes off of his black stare or the slight smile on his lips.

  “Run, Joclyn.” I barely registered that someone had spoken before a hand wrapped around mine, another person dragging me down the hall.

  I stumbled along for a few steps before turning toward whoever was pulling me away. My heart jumpstarted at the mop of dark curls bouncing in front of me.

  Ryland led me from hall to hall, the long passageways changing to smaller rooms, and even apartments complete with kitchens. Everything about the space we now moved through was familiar, like a place I had lived in or visited once. I looked at them all in brief intervals, unwilling to take my eyes off of my savior for long.

  Ryland could get me out of here.

  Couldn’t he?

  But what had Cail said about Ryland’s memory, or was it his mind?

  I couldn’t remember.

  Everything was fuzzing together again.

  Finally Ryland came to a stop, his large hand pressing me against a damp wall as he looked around the corner we had just travelled around, obviously worried we had been followed.

  I clung to his hand, wanting to cling to him, to apologize. But I couldn’t think of why I needed to apologize. Had something happened?