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His face cleared, and he sat quietly, as if we didn’t hold his life in our hands.
I nodded at the guard. “You don’t know what you’re doing,” the guard said.
“Put the key in the lock,” Galon growled.
The guard’s hand was shaking so much, it seemed to take him an eternity to unlock the first manacle. Gone was the man who’d bargained for his life. Now, I wouldn’t be surprised if he lost his bladder.
There were nine locks in total, and the guard began panting as he got to the last lock. “Pull the chains away,” Galon ordered. We could touch them, but fae iron often felt like acid against our skin.
The guard shook his head but complied. The boy smiled and stretched languidly, as if waking from a long sleep. One glance at the guard, and the man began choking.
Galon’s ward jumped into place. The guard was slowly turning purple, the air stolen from his lungs. He gasped and clawed at his throat, eyes bulging as the boy watched closely. Finally, the guard slumped to the ground.
Jamic’s eyes met mine. “Forgive me,” he said with a long blink. “That guard was particularly cruel.”
I could understand that. Still, I nodded to Galon, who kept the ward in place.
Jamic slowly unwound, shuffling forward, out of the cage. His knees straightened, as if he would take his first step of freedom.
His eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed.
Galon caught him, and I went still, staring at the object that had slipped from the neckline of Jamic’s shirt.
“Is that…”
Galon nodded. “One of our amulets. Regner has been using it to channel power into him.”
Despite myself, I laughed. “Oh, if only I could be there when he learns about this. We can’t remove it now. The power withdrawal could kill him. We’ll wait until we have a healer close by.”
Galon leaned down, heaved the boy over his shoulder, and glanced at me. “Truthfully, I prefer him like this.”
I met his eyes. “If he wakes up, you drop him.”
He didn’t look pleased at the order, but he nodded. The boy was jumpy, clearly traumatized, and over-powered. If he woke up while Galon was hauling him around, there was a chance he would steal his air before asking questions.
I wouldn’t lose another brother.
* * *
While the guard towers burned and chaos reigned, our people fled. They took only what they could carry, but unlike the prisoners we’d rescued, these hybrids were healthy and prepared. With as little notice as he’d had, Vicer had still used Lesdryn’s hidden tunnels to save close to two hundred lives.
Even with the hourglass around my neck, I was almost out of power. Yet no blood dripped from my nose, and the headache I usually suffered was thankfully missing. Still, I could sense the threads becoming weaker and weaker as I lifted them.
I pulled that power toward me, freezing time so the hybrids could sprint past the burning guard towers and the guards themselves, who were slashing at anyone who moved.
Vicer had insisted on sending the hybrids northwest to Kaelin Stillcrest’s hybrid camp.
We’d argued bitterly about it, but I’d been forced to concede when he’d pointed out that our priority had to be getting Jamic down to the fae lands where we could protect him. We couldn’t risk drawing attention to ourselves by attempting to lead one hundred and eighty hybrids south—through a forest currently crawling with Regner’s soldiers.
But I could see Vicer’s underlying tactics. He was hoping that when these hybrids arrived, desperate and terrified and speaking of the horrors they’d seen in Lesdryn, Kaelin Stillcrest would be forced to at least consider moving her people to safety.
As soon as those who couldn’t fight began traveling toward the hybrid kingdom, the hybrids we’d freed today would leave Stillcrest’s camp—either to also travel through the gap to Lyrinore or to move down to the fae lands to join our army.
Both Vicer and I were hoping at least some of Stillcrest’s people would travel with them. But at the very least, Vicer had assured me she would protect the hybrids who would arrive at her camp in the next few days. He’d also ensured they were taking as much food and other supplies with them as possible to contribute to the camp.
I swayed on my feet, my head spinning, and Vicer grabbed my elbow, steadying me. “Your power is almost drained.”
Another group of hybrids made it to the tower we’d taken, and I steeled myself as a little girl screamed her displeasure in her mother’s arms. “I can probably freeze time once more.”
