Scorched Treachery (Imdalind #3)

by Rebecca Ethington

  “Stay here. Talk to Jos. She needs you.” I could only nod. I wanted to say that he needed me too, but I couldn’t. He was right. I wasn’t very happy.

  Talon ignored my surliness and leaned down to kiss me, a soft peck on my lips his sweet goodbye.

  “You will be back, right?” I asked trying to put a laugh on my lips, but the way he had spoken was making me uncomfortable.

  “I was raised to protect my people, my King, and now my wife. I will return, Wyn, don’t worry.” He smiled before he left, his eyes shining with his promise.

  I smiled at him as he left, before turning back toward our room, pressing the phone to my ear.

  “Jos!” I yelled into the phone as I made my way back down the hall. “Oh please tell me you are okay! I’ve been so worried since Talon told me what happened. Then you didn’t call me at all yesterday.” I really wanted to yell at her, berate her for not calling me sooner, but I was so happy she was calling in the first place that a little berating could wait until later.

  “I knew I should have gone with you!” I continued when she said nothing. It’s not as if I gave her a chance, which is probably why she cut me off. “This never would have happened if I had…”

  “It would have happened either way, Wyn,” she interrupted, our voices overlapping a bit. “If you were here, you would have gotten hurt too.”

  “Too?” I practically screeched. “You got hurt?”

  “Nothing a little magic can’t fix.” I breathed out like I had been holding my breath my entire life, my exhale loud and obnoxious.

  “I can still come out if you want. An extra pair of hands doesn’t hurt,” I said as I moved into an old, empty bedroom, fully aware I was practically begging.

  “No!” I jumped as she screamed in my ear, her panic taking me off guard. “Stay where you are. You’ll only get hurt if you get too close to me.”

  What was that about? She was talking about herself as if she were a curse. I would have rolled my eyes and laughed at her, but I could hear the stress and the nerves in the undertones of her voice. Something had happened, something more than just being attacked.

  “Joclyn?” I asked, my worry guiding my voice forward whether I wanted it to or not. “What are you saying? I’m not going to get hurt.”

  “I don’t want to risk anything. People seem to get hurt around me.”

  I heard her sigh, and my heart broke just a little for her. Even though I felt like we were close, she had never genuinely opened up to me. I wanted her to do so now. I needed her to, for her sake.

  “Is Ilyan okay?”

  “He’s fine,” her voice was dead, belligerent, and lonely... So lonely.

  What had happened? The last time I had talked to her, she and Ilyan had almost been buddy-buddy. Joclyn got away with more around him than even Talon. I had never known anyone to yell at him to put on a shirt and stop leaving hair in the shower only for him to laugh. Maybe that is what she had needed, a friend. If Ilyan had been one for her before the attack, the stress of the situation must have zapped that out of him.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to come out?” I asked again, careful to let just enough cheer into my voice, hoping to zap her buzz-kill attitude.

  “I’m sure, but can you do something for me?”

  “Sure! What’s up?” I responded playfully, I would have jumped off a bridge at her request right then (but only because I can fly). I was ready for whatever she was going to lay on me. What she actually laid down on me though was surprising.

  “Sing me a Styx song.” I laughed aloud. I couldn’t help it. Joclyn not only liked crappy music like Katy Perry, she also never listened to music for the joy of it. I would have liked to believe I had magically converted her to good music (aka 70s music), but I doubted that was the case.

  “You’re a dork,” I managed to squeak out through a laugh.

  “I can’t help it. You’ve got me addicted,” She pleaded. Nope, sorry, babe, I still don’t believe you.

  “Addicted to Styx?” I asked.

  “Yep.”

  Fine, prove it.

  “Alright then, when was their first album released?” If the girl was going to lie to me, she needed a test, okay a trial by fire, but whatever.

  “1840.”

  I laughed so hard I might have broken the phone’s mouthpiece. 1840 really? I guess when she lies she goes for the blatantly obvious ‘I’m a funny moron’ lies.

  “Liar.” I taunted once my laughter had died down.

  “Come on, Wyn; just sing me one of their stupid songs.” No way had she said that. No freakin’ way. This girl deserved a full on beating. I stood before I was aware of it, my feet pacing me around the room in my agitation.

  “I thought you said you liked them?” I snapped, unable to keep my own irrational response at bay.

  It took me a moment to realize that her voice had jumped back to the distraught tone she had started with. She was stressed, alone, scared and had just been attacked, presumably by Ryland. God, Ryland had attacked her, and I hadn’t even asked her about it. I felt like the world's bottom of the bar worst friend right now. I didn’t know how to make up for that. Well, yes I did. I didn’t ask. I didn’t apologize. I just sang her a Styx song. It was not my favorite of their songs, but it was a good one, and one I hoped would help her. After all, the lyrics were far and away awesome.

  “…Free to face the life that’s ahead of me.”

  I was about halfway through the song when I noticed it; Talon’s magic was gone. The pull that told me where he was only a moment ago had vanished. It wasn’t gone like when he shielded himself because even then I could feel something that would lead me in his general direction; this was just gone. I froze; everything inside me turned icy with dread.

  The words of the song faded as my focus left it, my fear growing. “And, I’ll try, oh lord I’ll try. To carry on.”

  “Thanks, Wyn.” I barely heard her.

  “No problem, are you okay?” I said automatically, my mind and magic both distracted and searching for Talon. I was barely able to get the words out, barely able to focus on her.

  “I’m better now.”

  “Good,” I said a little too stiffly, “I’ve gotta go find my husband now, okay? I’ll call you in few hours.”

  “Sounds good, Wyn.” I had already pulled the phone from my ear when she spoke, her voice almost drowned out by the disconnecting phone.

  I put the phone in my pocket and made my way toward the door, my fingers tingling as I turned the knob. I stood in the wooden doorframe for one solid minute as my magic searched for him, my heart rate picking up as no sign of him came. I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t think. What had happened? I waited to hear something, almost expecting parades or riots, but heard only the buzzing in my ears as my stress took over.

  Everything slowed down to a snail’s pace before my brain moved into overdrive in my panic. My feet moved without asking, taking me nowhere before I was able to stop and attempt to refocus.

  Talon had gone to speak to Ovailia. The last I felt of him had also been in that general direction, so I turned, my heart beating angrily as my feet ran toward him, my mind moving from panicked to focused with each step. I reached Ovailia’s room quickly and found the door open slightly as several voices filtered into the hall toward me.

  The voices overlapped each other and bounced around the smooth stone of the walls that surrounded me. The sound contained more than Talon and Ovailia’s voices. I could hear at least two others in there, both male, their voices deep and scratchy. I tiptoed toward the door, flattening my back against the dark stone of the wall as I closed my eyes and expanded my vision into the room. I had to work to press it that far, but what little I could see was enough to make the contents of my stomach turn and my heart thump against the thin bones in my chest.

  My father and Edmund were in there.

  It was not just henchmen that had made it in; they were here. Edmund and my father. They were here. I knew they wouldn
’t travel alone either; they never did. Somewhere in the once safe halls of Imdalind, an army stood in waiting. I clasped my hand over my mouth, trying to keep the panic stuck inside, my breath trapping itself inside of my chest. Everything inside me constricted, my body freezing in place even though my feet were threatening to run in and attack.

  Don’t move; don’t let them know you are here.

  Ovailia sat in one of her many large, carved chairs, filing her nails as if she was bored out of her mind. In the corner of the large room, a man was crumpled and chained, his own blood staining his clothes and dark beard. The beaten man moaned and rocked as his fingers clawed against the wood of Ovailia's floor, large scratches appearing as black sparks flew from his fingertips.

  My father stood in the middle of the room, Timothy’s short squat frame barely enough to hold Talon’s wavering form steady, his neatly trimmed beard glistening with blood I knew didn’t belong to him. My whole body jolted at seeing Talon. I saw him, but I felt nothing aside from my own fear. There was no magical pull alerting me to his presence, no surge that would normally fill the air. Something had happened. They had done something to him.

  Edmund paced the floor in front of Talon, his tall, muscular body draped in black as he smiled wickedly toward him. Edmund moved to slick his curly hair back against his head, and my stomach muscles tightened, his knuckles were bloody from having turned my husband’s face into a punching bag.

  I watched them for only a moment before trying to let my panic subside enough for my logical thinking to step in. I shielded myself the moment my rational brain burst strongly to the forefront of my mind. My eyes narrowed, my back straightened, and even through the fear and stress, I knew what I had to do.

  The shield around me was strong enough to block me from sight as well as hiding any magical signature I might have been broadcasting; at least I hoped it was.

  One breath. I let one breath escape my lips before I walked into the room, careful to keep my steps silent, my eyes watching the reactions of all those in the room, wary of being noticed. No one reacted or even looked in my direction.

  My chest loosened, although just briefly. I was not walking into a surprise party – I may as well be walking to greet my death.

  “Tell me what I need, Talon, and I won’t hurt her.” I froze at Edmund’s words, his voice dark and chilling, as I turned toward him, worried he had seen me.

  His focus was not on me, it was on Talon, whose face was already swollen and bloodied at Edmund’s hand. I restrained a gasp as Edmund pulled his arm back, his fist glowing white, before a strong sucker punch to the gut winded Talon with one shot. I froze as Talon grunted in pain, my hand flying to my own stomach as anger lurched up my spine.

  “What about the rest of your men, Edmund? What would they do to her? I know how your deals work.” Talon’s voice was broken and pained, blood spattering around him as he forced out the words.

  “Oh, we won’t kill her if that’s what you are asking,” Timothy said, my father’s voice full of pure enjoyment. Edmund only smiled at his response, before wiping his hand on a bright white cloth, smearing it with red.

  I moved toward the back of the room, my magic crackling under my skin as it kept the shield in place. The angry energy rippled through me in a raw need to defend my husband. My toes curled as I begged myself not to react and to wait until the most opportune time. If I began an attack now, I would be dead before I could get within reach. It was all about the timing. Running in to face the three most powerful people in the room was only a death sentence. Hell, attacking them on my own was a death sentence. But I wasn’t scared, a fool yes, but not scared.

  I stared at Talon’s face as I moved; my conviction growing as my magic surged. I would protect him, just as he would me.

  “And the others? Will you hurt them too?” Talon asked, his voice continually fading. I fought the urge to run to him, choosing instead to knot my fingers around each other, hoping the tension in the small joints would dispel the panicked anger that was building in my heart.

  “Oh, what do you care?” Ovailia snapped from the chair she sat in. “It's not like you are their rightful leader anyway.”

  “Very well put, Ovailia,” Edmund said with true pride in his eyes. “She was always my good child,” he said, more to himself then to anyone. “Took us a bit to break through Ilyan’s spell and get the information I needed, but we got there in the end.”

  “Will you hurt them?” Talon repeated, his jaw tightening.

  “Save whom you can, Talon. Don’t worry about the others. They will be in capable hands, I promise.” Edmund leaned down close to him, his lip sneering only millimeters from Talon’s face.

  “Give me what I need, Talon,” Edmund snarled.

  “You better make it look good, Edmund,” Talon laughed deeply, his voice loud as he taunted him, Timothy strengthening his hold at the sound.

  Talon’s eyes widened and he attempted to fight against my father’s hold, yelling out. The struggle only lasted a moment before Edmund placed his hand against Talon’s skin, his struggle for release turning to one of agony as Edmund’s magic seeped into him, the powerful attack torturing him.

  No. I couldn’t let this happen anymore.

  The time was now. Talon had risked everything for me, but I had done nothing for him. Now I would.

  I slipped my right shoe off, letting my skin come in contact with the floor of the cave. Even through Ovailia's carefully preened wood floors, I could still feel the energy of the caves. It prickled up my spine and down into my arms. I smiled as it seeped through the rock of the cave and into me. It flooded me as the power controlled me. That was why I always had to wear shoes in this space, why I could never risk skin contact with the walls of the caves. The magic that rested in the belly of this mountain flooded through the rock and, in turn, me. It was only here, in this mountain, that this much energy was at my disposal.

  Now. I lifted my toe and let it drop to the floor, a rumble spreading out from me as I shook the floor. Edmund swore as the energy hit him, the power rushing up into him. I focused as my magic spread from the floor and into Edmund and Timothy. It moved right into their bones, shaking them within their bodies. They called out as their bones grew and vibrated, the pain of my attack sending them to the floor.

  Ovailia stood in fear just as I took a step forward, each hit of my skin against the ground sending more ripples of energy across the surface and into Ovailia as well. All three writhed with pain as I lifted Talon with my magic and pinned them to the ground. Their calls of surprise mixed with those of agony as his body lifted into the air in front of them.

  "Wynifred!" My father's voice yelled as he fought against the painful restraints my magic held him in.

  I moved forward to grab Talon just as Edmund broke the magical bond that surrounded him. His voice howled as he stood, his body moving to block my path to my mate, his eyes boring right into where I stood.

  I wanted to say he couldn’t see me, but the way his eyes seem to bore into me, I was sure he could. I froze, carefully calculating the possibilities and my chance of survival.

  I knew it was low, but right then I didn’t care. Right then, I just wanted Talon, even if it meant we would die in each other’s arms.

  “You will live to see Talon again, Wynifred.” I froze at the voice that rasped through the air, the familiar tones triggering some memory long forgotten. I didn’t dare turn to see who had spoken. I trained my eyes on Edmund’s fingers as they flexed and glowed.

  Edmund sent a surge shooting toward me, without even a flex of energy. I threw myself to the side, the heat of his attack warming my skin as it grazed the air beside me. I caught my scream in my throat before it escaped me, as my body landed roughly against the wood floor.

  The impact of my body against the floor was hard enough that a strong surge of magic rushed out of me unrestrained, the floor shaking as I sent everyone to the ground again.

  “Run!” The voice came to me again, the yell
pounding into my head.

  I didn’t want to listen. I didn’t want to leave Talon. I could hear each beat of my heart as it begged me not to. I could hear the voice’s statement echoing around my head. Talon would live. I wanted to believe him.

  I needed to believe him.

  I jumped to my feet before anyone else had a chance to find theirs. I looked one last time toward Talon, my feet feeling like lead as they carried me away from him. I ran down the hall, their screams following me as I bobbed and weaved through the web of halls.

  I didn’t look back. I didn’t dare. I only had a matter of minutes before they would regain their strength. I needed to draw them off my path while I figured out what I needed to do next.

  I attempted to slow my heartbeat as I ran, but it was no use. Edmund was inside the caves of Prague, and now, he was after me – if anything my panic only increased.

  They were here. There was no safety here anymore. Edmund had gotten past Ilyan's protections, and Ovailia was the one to guide him through.

  Ovailia had betrayed us all.

  My soul froze as screaming began to fill the halls. The sounds of fear, loss, and battle exploded through the once safe halls.

  I could easily hide, stay back, and stay safe. But even if I did, it wouldn’t benefit anyone. Not even me.

  There was no safety here anymore. There was no place to hide. I needed to get everyone out of here.

  I needed to get out of here. But I couldn’t, not without Talon.

  The screams increased as I continued to move through the halls. I knew bigger things were at play here, and I needed to stop them. Stopping my father, and stopping Edmund was my only way to get Talon back.

  The cave vibrated as the battle increased, screams ricocheting around the stone halls as the battle broke out all around me.

  Edmund’s final execution had begun. Only one race stood between him and the wells of Imdalind, and if Edmund had his way, there would be nothing left by the time the sun had risen.

  Edmund had started a war, and I was not going to back down.