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“Elyse,” Sera breathed, her voice careful. “I know we’re all eager to find Ymaritis, but we can’t take on a walker—especially not without magic.”
“We don’t have a choice,” Elyse growled back. Her shoulders were tight, her hands flexed by her sides, as if she were ready for a fight. “There’s no way we’re wasting any more time here than necessary.”
Manny’s voice was equally as sharp. “We can’t stop Ymaritis if we’re dead.”
“Then we’ll have to make sure we live, won’t we?” Elyse hissed back.
The room burst into argument, Elyse vehemently defending her decision while Sera, Manny, and Zubir tried to make her see reason. Killian’s attention was on Jaime, though. He knew if there was any chance that they could make it past the walker and to the dock, Jaime would side with Elyse. Instead he sat there, silent and tense.
“Enough,” Killian commanded, and silence fell over the room.
Elyse’s eyes were a mixture of pleading and anger as she stared up at him, waiting for him to speak. Her back was straight, her chin high. She looked beautiful—that fierce woman he knew her to be, who always did what she wanted and never cared what anyone thought. Killian felt a pull toward her, like something in his chest was reaching for her, but he pushed it down as he turned to face Sera. “How dangerous is this creature?”
“Extremely,” she replied immediately. “It’s fast, it’s strong—it’s deadly.”
“But we’re strong too, even without magic,” Elyse argued. “We have two highly trained soldiers, and me.”
“You can’t fight against a creature that slithers through shadows!” Sera shouted. Killian had never heard her raise her voice before. “You’re strong, but you’re not invincible.” She gave Elyse an unyielding look, one that Elyse returned.
Elyse didn’t blink, didn’t cringe or cower, but Killian could still see the betrayal seeping through her expression. A fatal cold emanated from her, chilling the crowded room.
“If that’s how you feel,” she spoke through gritted teeth, her brows lowered over her dark eyes, “then I’ll go by myself.” She pivoted and stalked toward the door.
“Absolutely not!” Killian and Jaime said at the same time.
“Are you crazy?” Manny shouted. “If you die or get injured or lost, we don’t stand a damn chance against Ymaritis.”
Elyse reached the door and laid a hand on the knob without turning toward them. As she twisted the brass fixture, Killian freed his knife from his belt and hurled it toward her. It lodged itself into the wall, not two inches from Elyse’s face.
Slowly, Elyse turned. Her chin was lowered, her teeth bared. She looked absolutely predatory as she glowered at Killian through her fair lashes, her onyx eyes burning. They all stared at her, waiting for her to explode. Zubir let out a whimper.
“Wake up,” Killian commanded. His voice was low, but it tore through the fraught silence. He marched toward Elyse, unfazed by her glaring. “Get a hold of yourself. If you walk out that door, you let Ymaritis win.”
He ripped the knife from the door jamb and calmly slid it back into his belt, maintaining eye contact with Elyse the entire time. She didn’t flinch at his gaze, but the resolution on her face had cracked, letting an ounce of fear show.
Despite himself, Killian’s heart ached for her. He knew she wanted nothing more than to avenge herself, and those she hadn’t been able to protect. That was something he could understand well. But she wasn’t thinking rationally, and she was going to get herself killed.
“We’ll get him. Okay?” Killian said softly. They stood so close, he could feel the heat radiating from her. “We’ll leave at dawn. We’ll have time. But we can’t afford to lose anyone—especially not you.”
She didn’t say anything as she looked toward Jaime, a final plea for help.
He looked away.
“Fine,” she ceded, crossing her arms.
Killian could have sworn he saw tears blooming in her eyes, but she didn’t say another word.
Chapter 43
- Elyse -
Elyse watched as the last rays of sunlight disappeared beyond the trees.
Killian, Manny, and Jaime had spent the last thirty minutes replenishing the oil supplies around the property. It seemed Zubir had set up a gutter system along the top of his fence to hold the oil for the enchanted flames. With a simple flick of a match, he’d set the oil ablaze, and fire had encircled the entire property.
“Zubir, what if it rains?” Manny had asked with a concerned look at the sky. There wasn’t a cloud in sight, but of course Manny still found something to whine about.
“Oh, not to worry. The fire is enchanted against everything—water, wind, you name it. It can’t even be smothered. The only way to put it out is with a special solvent.” Zubir proudly pointed toward a jug sitting near his small house.
