by Ivy Asher
My back slams into something so hard that it knocks the wind out of me. I tell my brain over and over again not to panic, and will my lungs to inflate. Arms wrap around me from behind, and I can’t fight their hold while I’m fighting to breathe. I gasp painfully as my lungs finally rebound, and I cough on the air that rushes in too fast.
“Drink this quickly,” a familiar voice whispers in my ear.
Another canteen is shoved in my hands, and my feet are being pulled out from underneath me as I’m carried out of the cell. I don’t look up at Siah’s face as I unscrew the cap to the canteen and down the contents in less than thirty seconds. When the canteen is empty, Siah snatches it from my grasp, and then suddenly it’s gone. I have no idea if he dropped it discreetly somewhere or performed some disappearing magic trick. Fuck, he could have shoved it up his ass for all I know, but it’s gone in some freakishly impressive sleight of hand, and I have no idea where it went.
The blood works its magic, and my body and mind immediately come alive. Siah carries me up the stairs, and we trail about ten feet behind the goons carrying Lachlan.
“He likes to talk. The more you can keep him talking, the longer everything will drag out. Trust me, that’s a good thing. And no matter what happens, Vinna, don’t let him feed from you. Adriel can pull memories and magic from blood. Do you understand what would happen to all of us if he knew what was planned?”
Siah’s words are spoken quietly and vehemently in my ear. I pull away to stare at his face and try to get an idea of what the fuck is going on. Why is he acting like we’re still working together, like we still have the same goal? He betrayed me…didn’t he? I think back to everything he’s said and done since the moment we stopped at the ruins. He more or less said this was a setup, all part of some contrived plan with Adriel, but he keeps trying to heal me. He just warned me about Adriel and what he can do. And when I first woke up, didn’t he tell me it’s not what I think?
I take in his hard features and his cold demeanor. I look for the answers in Siah’s eyes, in the tic of his jaw, and the way he holds me tightly to his chest, but I just don’t fucking know. It’s impossible to gauge where his loyalties lie in all of this. And as much as I wish I could find the answer in his glacial eyes, I can’t tell if I’m the one getting played or if Adriel is?
Tall black doors slam open, and I follow Lachlan into a long room that’s polished, black stone from floor to ceiling. The room feels ominous and uninviting, and a shiver runs through me as I’m carried deeper into the room. I notice other tall black doors spread throughout the room, but my attention is pulled away from them when Lachlan is dropped at Adriel’s feet. He’s perched haughtily in what can only be described as a fucking throne, and Lachlan lets out a pained oomph as a thud echoes around the cavernous space.
I push to get out of Siah’s arms, and he hastily drops me to my feet, where I take up position in front of Lachlan. Adriel runs his gaze over me quickly, and I get the distinct impression he’s not happy with the fact that I can even stand. He watched the beating his little minions gave me, and he clearly expected me to be crumpled on the floor like my uncle currently is. I mentally add another tally to Adriel’s side of who’s getting played and know that Siah’s blood offerings are, without a doubt, on the down low.
Adriel drums his fingers on the arm of his throne and leans back in contemplation. A hint of amusement flashes in his face as he stares at me and then at Lachlan on the floor.
“I wonder, if the roles were reversed, if he would stand guard over you. Hmmm, pet? Do you think he would face off against me on your behalf?”
“I’d guess, based on his current starved and battered state, he’s already been doing that,” I tell Adriel casually, not playing into whatever divisive bullshit he’s trying to pull.
A sly smile takes over his face. “You know he would trade you for his brother if he could,” he announces, and even though his cadence is cavalier, his eyes shrewdly watch for my reaction.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” I shrug and do my best to adopt an I’m fucking bored visage.
The banging of doors bounces around the shiny, black stone of the room, but I don’t look to see if that means someone just came in or if someone just left. I took my focus off Adriel before when I was chasing my anger and Siah around the ruins, and look where that got me. No, my eyes, while in the presence of this monster, are only for him. Lachlan moves from where he’s lying on his side on the ground, and he sits up. It looks like it takes every ounce of his energy to do it, and it breaks my fucking heart.
I stand where I am, but I drop my hand to my side and offer it to Lachlan so he can help lift himself up. I’m proud as fuck that I’m able to support his weight and mine as Lachlan has to practically crawl up my body in order to stand.
“Is there something you wanted, or can we go back to the dungeons?”
“Careful, Sentinel,” he warns. “I rule here. Not you.”
“Take this collar off, and we’ll see how long it stays that way,” I challenge, and Adriel narrows his eyes at me.
“Bring the other one,” he commands, and it’s followed by hurried footsteps, shutting doors, and Lachlan tensing behind me.
“I’ve waited a very long time for you, Vinna. I’ve patiently removed the obstacles in my way one by one, and finally here you are. We both know that I won’t kill you, but what you may not know is there are things that I can do to you that are worse than death. So be careful, little one, this can be as sweet or as bitter as you make it.”
I fucking hate that this arrogant piece of shit has stripped me of my magic. I hate that I can’t walk right up to him in that gaudy, ugly ass chair and rip his power-hungry head off. But what I love right now in this moment is that I know I’m more than just my magic. I’m capable and smart, and I will find a way to kill this asshole regardless of this collar. I just have to figure out how. “He likes to talk,” Siah’s voice echoes in my mind, and I decide to start there.
“Why am I here?” I ask, as if no one has ever explained anything to me.
Adriel smiles at me and leans forward. “You’re here to learn that you and I were meant to rule the world,” he tells me with a singsong voice, and I try very fucking hard not to scoff.
“Oookayyy then, and why would I want to rule the world? Better yet, why do you want to? In my experience, there’s really no way to make everyone happy, and as ruler of the world, you’d be constantly dealing with people and their expectations. That seems like a lot of fucking work,” I babble like a young dumb kid, and I can practically see frustration-tinged steam seeping out of his ears.
“It’s our rightful place,” Adriel growls out at me.
I tilt my head and let my gaze go vacant. “But who decided that?”
“I did,” he challenges.
“Why?” I ask doing my best impersonation of a curious three-year-old with never-ending questions.
“Because he shouldn’t have been Chosen; it should have been me!” Adriel’s features go from frustrated to manic, and I press to keep him talking.
“Who shouldn’t have been Chosen?” I ask and try to keep the interest in my tone hidden under confusion.
“Sauriel, my brother,” he supplies, and he leans back in the chair, his features turning hard.
Doors open somewhere behind me, and Adriel’s focus moves from me to whoever is entering the room. I take a minute to file away what I just learned. His brother was Chosen by a Sentinel, and this fucker is jealous. Is that really the foundation of every fucked up thing Adriel has done? All of this shit traces back to jealousy and some bullshit sibling rivalry?
“Where is your brother?” I ask, but before I can get an answer, a body is thrown to the ground on my right, and Lachlan gasps and lunges for it.
Adriel does nothing to stop Lachlan from wrapping his arms around Keegan. Keegan looks stunned and confused. Lachlan kneels down next to him and pulls him into a hug, and Keegan seems to suddenly recognize who he is and immediate
ly wraps his arms around Lachlan too. Tears stream down both of their faces, and they whisper reassurances to each other as they wipe the sadness away from each other’s cheeks.
Their reunion is beautiful and intimate, and it feels wrong to be some uninvited bystander peeking in at their love, at their bond. My throat grows tight, and I try to blink my vision clear of the emotion that wells up in my eyes. Keegan is in a similar state as Lachlan, skinny, malnourished, suffering, and I’m once again completely baffled by how they’re this bad off in such a short amount of time.
“Awww,” Adriel coos loudly. “Isn’t it just lovely to witness? The love, the devotion. Did you know, pet, that they both chose to be tortured so the other wouldn’t have to be? Now that’s true devotion, don’t you think? We drained them time and time again, and they still wouldn’t turn on one another. It was truly admirable. Dumb, really, in the end, because look at them. Neither escaped interrogation, but they just refused to be the cause of the other’s pain.”
I feel sick at Adriel’s declaration, and Lachlan and Keegan hold on to each other tighter.
“Would you have made the same choice, pet? Would you do everything that you can to keep someone you care about from getting hurt?”
My stomach drops as I realize that Adriel is going to fucking torture them to force my hand. Panic rises inside of me, and I frantically try to think of a way to get all of us out of this.
“Come here, Vinna,” Adriel commands.
I glare at him with all the hate and loathing I feel right now, because I can’t think of a fucking thing I can do to stop whatever he’s about to do. Either I give him what he wants and everyone suffers under the wrath of a psycho with too much power, or I watch as he tortures Lachlan and Keegan.
“Come here, or I will kill one of them right now,” he bellows like a spoiled little brat, and I move toward him, even though every instinct I have rebels against it.
I approach him and mentally roundhouse the smirk he’s wearing right off his fucking face. Normally, pulverizing someone in my head helps me, but right now it just makes me feel fucking helpless because I can’t do shit. I reach his side, and he smiles up at me. I debate if I were to punch him right now whether or not it will connect, but I know who he’ll punish if I even try it. I clench my teeth and stare at him, promises of pain radiating from my gaze, but he just looks amused by it.
Adriel rises from his throne and casually moves to stand behind me. It makes my skin crawl to have him at my back, and when I turn to keep him in my line of sight he tsks at me.
“Face your family, Vinna. I want you to have a clear view of who you’ll be hurting if you refuse me.” I breathe faster as adrenaline starts to surge inside of me and fear trickles up my spine. I turn to look at Keegan and Lachlan, and Adriel steps closer to me until his chest is skimming my back. I quickly scan the rest of the room to find a couple sets of guards and Siah standing off to the side at attention. His eyes are fixed on a wall, but the tic in his jaw is prevalent.
Adriel sweeps my tangled mess of hair from my right shoulder to my left, and I go rigid from his unwelcome touch. I close my eyes for a moment and try to calm myself down. I try to convince my body that we can’t fight or flee and to breathe through his too close proximity and the alarms caused by his breath on the back of my shoulder. I open my eyes to find Lachlan’s enraged gaze and tears dripping down Keegan’s face.
“I’m going to feed from you now, Vinna. There’s no point in fighting me. If you do, they will get hurt. If I have to pin you down to taste your secrets, I will, but if you force me to do that, I’ll let my elite have some fun with you while you watch your family suffer. Understood?”
I don’t answer him; I just keep my eyes trained on Lachlan and Keegan and fight the scream that’s building in my chest.
“Vinna, don’t,” Lachlan shouts out, but I close my eyes and will myself not to move as his protest echoes around the room.
I can feel Adriel waiting to strike at my shoulder, and I know the sick fucker is reveling in the fear and anticipation. He moves in closer, and just when I expect to feel fangs piercing my skin, a blue shield explodes out of the runes on my shoulder, and it sends Adriel flying back. Pain ricochets inside of me from the unexpected flare of magic, and I swallow a pained groan and try to stay on my feet.
Adriel’s furious roar fills the black, polished stone room, and his guards spread out like they’re preparing for a battle. I turn just in time to see Adriel flash up from the ground and blur toward me. He roughly jerks my head to the side and viciously tries to bite my shoulder, but my shield activates again and hits Adriel with such force that he smashes into the wall behind us. The pain the collar causes me is worse this time, and it brings me to my knees. An agonized grunt escapes me, and I place my palms on the cool polished stone floor and wait for the pain to recede.
I look up, and Lachlan takes a step in front of Keegan, his eyes fixed on what has to be Adriel’s enraged face. I can tell by his stance and the look in his eyes that he’s prepared to die, and surprisingly he looks okay with that. I expect Adriel to come charging from behind me any second now to face off with Lachlan, but in the time it takes me to blink, I realize just how fucking wrong I was.
A guard flashes behind Keegan in less than a second, and before I can even open my mouth to warn Lachlan, the lamia grabs Keegan and tears his throat out. My eyes go wide with horror, and my scream of rage fills the room. Lachlan turns too late and bellows out an anguished cry when he sees what’s happened. The lamia pushes Keegan’s body away from his own, and Lachlan catches him. They sink to the ground together. I crawl over to them, and my heart shatters as I watch Lachlan hold his dying mate.
Keegan’s eyes are wide with shock, and he’s choking on the blood that’s pouring out of his mouth and throat.
“I love you, I’m so sorry,” Lachlan tells him over and over, and Keegan grabs on to Lachlan’s arm, his grip panicked and shaky as he slowly drowns on his own blood. I put my hands on the wound in Keegan’s neck and call on my Healing magic. Agony rips through me, and I can’t help but scream, but I keep pushing as much as I can into Keegan. I close my eyes and try to focus on the teal color of my magic and not on the searing pain that I’m experiencing because of this fucking collar.
I’m sobbing, it hurts so bad, but I clench my teeth and keen out my torture and push more magic into Keegan. I open my eyes, and my heart falls when the injury starts to knit together, but it’s too slow, and I know it won’t be enough. Lachlan leans down and kisses Keegan and whispers words from his soul against Keegan’s lips as he takes his last shuddering breaths. The light in Keegan’s blue eyes disappears, and his body grows slack in Lachlan’s embrace. An animalistic cry tears out of Lachlan as he cradles Keegan’s lifeless body, and I look around the room for the target of the rage that’s boiling inside of me.
22
Adriel is standing next to his throne with a smug smile on his face, and I growl at the amusement I see in his eyes as he takes pleasure in Lachlan’s agony. My blood sings for retribution, and the familiar bloodlust and demand for action fills me, dulling the pain that’s reverberating through me. Adriel turns to focus on me, and his amusement grows at the fury flowing out of me. I call on a throwing knife, and I’m surprised when the pain I feel from this use of magic is less than what I was feeling when I was trying to heal Keegan.
Maybe I’m building a tolerance, or maybe the use of different magic brings different levels of pain. I shove the observation to the back of my mind and focus through the burning sensation I’m feeling and take aim. Adriel’s amusement quickly turns into shock as his view of my anger turns into a view of my dagger flying directly at him. He flashes away with a surprised shout, but my blade still nicks his arm. Satisfaction trickles through me, and I pant through the torment as I call on another dagger and take aim.
In a blink, a guard flashes in front of Adriel, and my dagger sinks into his chest instead. Guards rush to get between Adriel and me as I stalk forward, d
etermined to get to him. I call on a short sword and have to take a second to shake the wooziness from my head as the burning in my blood gets worse. I pant, not able to breathe any deeper with the torment wracking my body. A lamia moves in front of me, his smile self-assured and confident as he watches me struggle. Before he knows what hit him, I slash at his throat and watch as his head slides off, and his body collapses to the ground.
I step over it, just as the guard’s body turns to ash, and I slowly move toward the next guard that stands in my way. This one isn’t as stupid, and I thank fuck for muscle memory as my body works to avoid his hits and land my own. I dodge and strike without giving it any thought, and I give a triumphant shout when his head leaves his body and his blood spatters across Adriel’s fucking throne. Unfortunately, I can feel the toll the fight and effort to hold my magic is taking on me, but I don’t care if I have to granny-sloth work my way through these guards, I’m going to end this once and for all.
“Stop! Or I will kill him,” Adriel’s voice rings out.
I turn expecting Adriel to be threatening me with Lachlan, and I drop my hold on my short sword and call on another dagger. I know Lachlan would rather I kill this fucker than save him. Lachlan is screaming like a feral animal and trying to get out of the grip of the two lamia who are holding him, but I sweep my gaze right past him in search of the fucker I need to kill. I find him and his smug fucking smile, but when I take in whose throat he has his hand around, I freeze.
Becket stares at me wide-eyed and afraid, and his sudden appearance throws me completely off.
“Fuck!” I scream out, frustrated and enraged and once again completely fucking impotent. I release my hold on the small dagger and feel too much of my energy drain away with my magic.
“Whooooo!” Adriel shouts out excitedly, and his eyes fill with fire. “I knew you would be the one, pet. All that power just waiting for the right vessel to wield it. Did you see her?” he asks no one in particular. “None of the others could ever work through the pain to do what she just did,” he announces to the room, and I swear if he didn’t have to keep a threatening hold on Becket’s throat, I wouldn’t be surprised to find him jumping up and down and clapping like a kid at Disneyland.
