by Ellie Margot
Riette felt something fall next to her. It was Zeke. Even with the chains still at his wrists, he managed to land in one piece. He met her eye, and a wolfish grin spread across her face.
Samantha was on Damian’s back as they landed a few feet away. She was all business as she addressed the others from her perch. “The clearing, up ahead.”
They followed her to a small clearing. The prison could still be seen, but they were hidden under tree cover. So much of this area was forest, and it hid them well.
Every member of the group was scratched up. Riette regarded her hands. It wasn’t as bad as she feared, but blood still dripped from them. She could feel the splinters still trying to find their way into her skin. She muffled a curse and looked at the sky.
It didn’t look any less angry, but the wind had settled some. The thunder still bellowed but from a farther distance.
Riette watched Zeke as he stood to his full height. He was taller than all of them, even Damian, though by a small margin. Zeke was wider too.
The rest of the group looked like people, tall and thin, but Zeke? He looked like something else entirely. He was too... much in every way Riette could see. It was an unsettling effect.
Zeke took up too much space, both physically and in her head.
Samantha was already trying to talk to him. Her words were soft, and Riette didn’t like it. Was she hiding something? Working another deal?
Riette walked over to where they stood, conscious of every eye from her party being trained on her back.
Zeke watched her approach over Samantha’s blonde head. He lifted an eyebrow again, and Riette wondered how often he did that. It seemed like part of his signature. It showed how smug he was, Riette decided.
“We got you out,” Riette barked, cutting off whatever Samantha was saying. Samantha turned around and raised an eyebrow of her own.
Zeke gave a curt nod, and after doing a quick glance around, he looked back at Riette. “Appears that way.”
“We’re in a deal now,” said Riette. She tried to introduce her mother’s authority in her words.
Every time her mother had spoken in Vitan, the world stopped to listen. Her father had been no match for her mother. He was one of the many that seemed to fall at her feet.
And Riette wanted that right now with Zeke. She wanted this part to be easy when so little of her life after leaving Vitan had been insanely difficult.
“Are we?” Zeke asked. His face didn’t show the laughter in his words, but she felt it as strongly as if he were bent over shaking with it.
“Your freedom for your assistance.”
Then Zeke did laugh.
Riette didn’t join him. No one else did. He looked at the rest of the group before his eyes settled back on her.
“You’d go through all of this trouble to turn me back in if I don’t agree to your deal?” He lifted his arms, and the chains on his wrists clanked together.
Riette gave a quick nod. “I would.”
He gave a look to Samantha, one Samantha returned, but neither said anything.
It gave Riette a chance to look at him. She would never say it out loud, but the chains on his wrists weren’t a bad look for him. She frowned, mad at herself at the thought. She hadn’t felt this way before, and she hated it.
“You’d be surprised what kind of decisions I would make if I needed to.”
Zeke squared his shoulders, turning his attention fully to her again. “I’m listening.”
Riette turned around, reaching for the bag on her back. Bark and Barry had slipped to stand by her sides when they had gotten down from the tree. She had been thankful they had been in one piece.
Cassian appeared by her side. He reached out a hand to still her own. “Not yet.”
Riette gave him a look. She, all at once, felt tired. Every bit of the trip weighed like stones on her shoulders. They had fought their way to Zeke, and she wanted to be clear. The sooner they started, the sooner they would know if this was all a fool’s errand. “I’m done bullshitting.”
“We need to feel him out more first,” Cassian said, stealing a glance over his shoulder to Zeke as he stood there between them.
Riette followed his gaze to where Zeke stood watching. She looked back at Cassian.
“I’m respecting him enough to be up front with him. We’ll see if we need to try a different angle after that.”
“He’s the most powerful mage in existence,” Cassian reminded her.
“And he still needed us to save him. He needed us. He needs to pay his debts.”
Riette continued her mission and grabbed her grandmother’s book. Cassian stepped away, and she held the book in front of her with both hands as she looked at Zeke. “I need you to break the spell on this book.”
Cassian stepped forward again, but this time, Trinity put a hand on his arm to stop him. He stilled at the contact and listened while stepping back by her side.
Zeke looked at the book and then back at Riette. “And what would I get?”
“To keep your teeth,” Riette replied.
Chapter 28
Zeke was calm for a moment. There was a small beat where Riette thought he might not have heard her. But then she knew he did because he laughed.
All the laughter she thought he had been holding in since she met him tumbled out of his lips. He bent over with it, and the chains hanging from his wrists hung closer to the ground.
“Maybe threatening him physically wasn’t the best idea?” suggested Samantha.
“There goes being honest,” said Mekhi. Then he winced from the sensation of Corin’s elbow colliding with his ribs.
Zeke took another minute to recover, but Riette didn’t give him the satisfaction of responding.
He stood back to his normal stature. The chains scratched against his cheek while he wiped what could have been a tear from his eye, or maybe Zeke had a flare for theatrics.
Riette didn’t doubt that he may have needed entertainment to get through the countless years he had spent behind bars, but her hospitality wasn’t going to last forever.
“Now, I’m not saying that wasn’t some impressive shit back there,” he said.
“Tip of the iceberg,” Riette said. She thought back to all of the battles they had fought, the people killed to get to this moment. They had handled more. She knew they would be asked to handle more again in their futures. Getting Vitan to not burn to embers wasn’t going to be easy, but if it was going to be easy, it would have been done already.
Zeke gave her a calculating look before speaking. “Why do you need the book?”
Riette wondered if explaining herself, an Elf, to Zeke, the most powerful mage in existence, may not be the best idea. But she had also come too far to lie her way further. It wasn’t her way.
“My land, our land, is dying, and the book has the answers to fix that,” she said finally. “My grandmother wrote the book, but she didn’t want it falling into the wrong hands. There was too much at stake. So she had a spell put on it, some kind of magic, that keeps the words hidden.”
He gritted his jaw. “Sebastian.”
“What?”
“Continue,” he barked. His voice took on a weird quality she couldn’t nail down. “Your world?”
“I noticed it years ago, but I thought I was crazy. There seemed to be a burning in the woods, just on the edge of the Vitan territory. I had told my mother, my father. My mother told me to be quiet. My father was more receptive, but he—he died before we found out why. The embers are closer now. Closer than they’ve ever been.”
Riette stepped closer. “This book. This book is what is going to save our world, and I’m not going to stop looking for a solution when I know it’s out there. My mother—” Riette looked around her, and every eye was tuned on her. She didn’t want to sound disrespectful. Even when her mother had imprisoned her, she remained loyal, and she wondered if that was love or her training shining through.
“What did she say?” Zeke asked.
“She said something about the fire later, just before I left.”
“Your mother?”
“Queen of the Elves,” added Samantha. Cassian cut her a look, but Samantha wasn’t trained to look to Cassian, or anyone else for that matter, for permission.
“High priestess,” Riette reminded her. She took a step forward, closer to Zeke. “If I can read the book, I can save my people.”
“Your mother doesn’t have the same goal?” Zeke asked, question showing in his eyes.
Riette swallowed. “She doesn’t see it for the problem that it is. Or maybe she does and doesn’t think I can do anything about it, so she doesn’t want to concern me with it.” Riette couldn’t keep the bitterness from her tone, and she didn’t know if she really wanted to.
“And her?” Zeke asked, gesturing toward Samantha even as she still stood by his side.
Seeking an entrance, Samantha stepped in front of him. “I’m the one who found her.”
“I wasn’t lost,” said Riette, verbally cutting in, though not moving any closer physically.
Zeke’s attention was on Samantha. He tilted his head, trying to figure something out that his words hadn’t betrayed yet. Then he righted himself, addressing Samantha. “I know you from a world ago.”
Samantha cut off Zeke’s words. She looked around quickly until her eyes found Cassian. She marched across the small clearing, grabbed Cassian’s arm, and dragged him back to where Zeke stood. “I’m tied to him, and she can’t cut me loose, and I got her to you.”
“What the fuck?” asked Mekhi, and Corin made a noise in her throat, concurring. It wasn’t that they didn’t understand the bond, but the desperation in Samantha’s voice was the troubling bit.
Riette realized she was holding her breath. She could feel the heat of her powers at her hands again. She tried to push it down.
Riette had already known Samantha was crazy. She had known it from day one when she saw her in the bar holding Corin away from them.
But that didn’t change the fact that she had made a deal with the devil. One that she was going to have to see through.
Zekariah looked at all of them, one by one, landing on Riette last and for the longest.
He considered it all for a second. “Too much shit.” He began to turn away from the group as they looked in confusion back at him.
“Excuse me?” asked Riette. She stepped forward then walked faster, grabbing Zeke by the arm and turning him around to face her. It wasn’t easy to do, and she would die before admitting to the shock of the feel of her hand against his arm and the tremors it sent down her own.
Zeke looked her over before speaking. “I don’t do groups.”
“And I don’t do dickheads,” Riette growled. She stood until she was dangerously close to his face. “I came here for a deal. You need me.”
Zeke did one shake of his head and turned around again. He took a step like he was going to leave them. Riette ran around him and blocked his path.
Zeke let out a breath. “I don’t need anything.”
“There’s nothing you want?” Riette asked, and she hated the desperation in her voice.
Zeke looked her over once more, his eyes pausing as heat bloomed in Riette’s cheeks. “Now, I never said that.”
Chapter 29
Zeke and Riette considered each other.
Riette waited for him to explain what he did want, but he didn’t say anything. His eyes searched her face, but his lips said nothing.
Samantha came closer and moved to take the shackles off Zeke’s wrists. The chains still hung, large and clanking.
Riette put her hands on Samantha’s and pulled them from their task. “Not yet. He’s not playing nice.”
“So you’ll attempt to keep me imprisoned?” Zeke asked. He didn’t laugh like he had before, but the mirth was still in his eyes and how he regarded her. As if keeping him locked away was a fool’s errand. He had been locked away for who knows how long before they had come for him. Who was to say they couldn’t keep it going if he wasn’t willing to work with them?
Riette hated that her mind went there. She didn’t want to be that cold and calculating person, did she? She didn’t want to win by whatever means necessary, but like her mother, she did want to win.
She needed to.
Riette tried a different angle. “No, I’m trying to reason with you.”
“First mistake,” Zeke said, and Riette pushed the angry power in her palms back.
Zeke missed nothing. His eyes went to her hands, and they looked closer at her eyes. “You are something.”
Riette growled. Cassian moved forward and tried to pull her back. “This was a mistake,” Cassian hissed. “He doesn’t want to help.”
“That’s not good enough,” said Riette. “He doesn’t get to dismiss us after we’re the reason he’s not floating above us right now, rotting away.” She let out a breath. “All he has to do is wave his magic fucking wand, and I get what I need—what we need.”
“And what do I get, princess?” Zeke barked. He was still close to where she stood. “The pleasure of your company?” Zeke looked her over. “I’m tempted but—”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Riette said. She felt the side of her lip lift in a snarl. No matter what her heart rate was doing, she wouldn’t tolerate Zeke. He did need them. He just didn’t know it yet.
Zeke looked at her and shook his head. Then, without breaking eye contact with her, he broke the chains from where they were wrapped in a binding loop around his wrists.
They fell to the ground at their feet. Corin gasped behind her. Guy made an impressed noise that Riette resented for what she knew it would do to Zeke’s insurmountable ego.
Riette swallowed but didn’t take the glare off her face. She wasn’t going to flatter him by letting him know he had impressed her too. She wondered how powerful he really was.
Zeke took a step forward, crowding her out. He didn’t pay any attention to Cassian standing beside her. His eyes were locked on Riette. “You want to know what I want?”
“I have gone through a lot of shit to find you,” Riette said, ignoring his question. She tried to step back but stumbled before catching her footing.
A sudden noise came out of the woods to their left.
Zeke immediately was on edge. His unnatural green eyes seemed to glow as he faced the woods and what could be impending danger within them.
“What now?” Mekhi barked, but they all readied themselves.
Chapter 30
“We’ve got to move,” said Samantha. Her eyes didn’t find anyone. They shifted constantly from left to right, and she was restless. Riette could see it in how she stood. Samantha was shifting her weight from foot to foot.
“I know a place we can go to,” she said, still not looking anywhere in particular. “It’s not much, but it’ll be safe while we figure things out.”
“Sensing a theme?” asked Mekhi.
“I thought you weren’t welcome there,” said Guy to Samantha. His eyes were pinched together in what Riette sensed was concern.
“Welcome where?” Riette asked.
“Yeah, what was that supposed to mean?” asked Mekhi. “Where are you trying to go?”
Samantha looked at Riette. She tried to say something but didn’t. Riette shook her head in confusion.
“It’s not important.” Samantha turned to lead them into the woods toward the sound that they’d heard.
“That’s where the noise was coming from,” hissed Corin.
“We can’t run away from everything that goes bump in the night, or day as it were,” said Guy. “Where would be the fun in that?”
“We don’t need to look for danger when it finds us so naturally either,” said Corin. She looked to Riette and then to her brother, but Cassian said nothing.
Riette looked toward Cassian too. His attention wasn’t returned though. He was looking at Zeke, who was looking back at him.
Riette let the others go ahead. She w
anted to speak with Bark and Barry to make sure they were truly okay after the fall before she went on with the others.
She knew Damian could protect them if nothing else, so she tried not to worry about them going ahead. She didn’t know what Zeke could do, but she also knew that he wouldn’t go back into a cage without a hell of a fight.
But then she felt she wasn’t alone. It was something in the way the small hairs stood up at the back of her neck and the power trembled inside of her. The different origins mixing together.
She hadn’t yet had a second to think about the siren song that had left her when they were in dire straits inside the floating prison.
It had felt right to let the terrible music fill her lungs and leave her lips, but it had also felt wrong, like there was too much otherness being pulled out of her.
Riette wondered how much the siren song would take her over eventually. It had felt bigger than her. If it hadn’t done the unspeakable to those guards, she wondered if it would have ever stopped. Did it always have a gruesome end? Could it be something beautiful instead? Did she have any say in it?
She leaned down, and Bark and Barry looked up at her. Their eyes were larger, like something from a drawing for children. She smiled at that, at them.
Bent down, she ruffled the soft blue fur of Barry’s head and tummy. She didn’t let herself flinch when she saw the red stains around his mouth. He was so happy at the attention that she didn’t want to take away from the moment. Bark watched them, and she put a hand on his head.
“You all look bigger already,” said Riette, touching both of them. She let out a breath. “I’m sorry to have kept you tucked away for so long.” She looked at each of them again. “Especially when we weren’t fooling anyone.”
Barry smiled and showed his several rows of teeth. Riette knew that just one of his sets could rip through her hand, separating it from the rest of her. She had seen as much when Barry was unleashed on the guards.
But he wouldn’t do that to her. They were bonded, and Riette knew it was for life.
