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I bend over and sink my teeth into Idris’s arm.
A second of freedom is all I get before a punch lands on my chest. I wheeze in agony, spittle flying from my lips. My next breath comes out rasping and gurgling, the taste of copper dancing on my tongue. I close my eyes, desperately trying to find the leak of my energy, and patch it. Before I can even take the next breath, the cold metal of a gun’s barrel meets my temple and two guards grab me from behind.
“On your knees, rebel scum,” Siro orders.
My knees already weakening, I wonder if it’s not such a bad idea, but the firm grip on my arms only hoists me up. I crack my eyes open in time to see Valdus turn toward us. His gaze runs over my features. No matter how hard I try to hide the pain, I have no doubt he can still see blood in the corners of my lips.
Valdus takes a step in my direction, but halts as Siro cocks the hammer. “Take another step, and I’ll shoot her.”
“You wouldn’t dare. Not the Lost Jewel,” Valdus says and yet he doesn’t move.
“She’s been a thorn in my side for at least a decade, so don’t tempt me,” Siro says and shoves my head to the side with the barrel of his revolver. “Now, throw your weapons to the floor.”
Valdus locks his eyes with mine as he tears the holsters from his belt and sends them skidding across the floor. Siro catches them with the heel of his boot before they can sail past us.
“On your knees, then.” When Valdus doesn’t move, Siro taps my temple with the gun. I can barely take a breath with the broken rib, and yet he steals the last one away. “Don’t test my patience.”
His nostrils flaring, his gaze never leaving mine, Valdus falls to his knees. The guards still take one tentative step after another to get closer to him, but The King of Rebels doesn’t move. He won’t even fight, and it’s all my fault.
“Don’t. Let them shoot me,” I whisper, but it’s too late.
Valdus closes his eyes with a frail shake of his head. He won’t fight. Not any longer.
I was his undoing.
It’s only when the guards have bound his arms in shining chains running from his wrists up to the shoulders that the captain returns the gun to his belt. He crosses the cell in a few strides and kicks Valdus in the stomach with the steel tip of his boot. Once, twice, and when Valdus doubles over spitting blood, it earns him a punch to the chin.
“Stop it,” I mumble between pained gasps. “Please.”
Siro doesn’t hear me. Or he doesn’t care to hear what I have to say.
Another punch lands in Valdus’s stomach. Blood is flowing in rivulets down from his broken nose. Numerous scuffs and cuts decorate his face, and I can only guess how many bruises are spreading on his skin.
I close my eyes, unable to watch him get beaten to death. Even his heartbeat is feeble, sending dimming sparks of energy toward me, as if trying to hold me close one last time.
I cry out, and a burst of energy erupts with it. It reignites the light in Valdus’s chest, and it’s all I need. He has asked me to fight for my life if things didn’t go as planned. He made no such promise, but I’ll fight for both of us if he can’t any longer.
My burst of energy must have made the guards’ grip lessen, and I break free. I dash across the cell, but before I can take even a few steps, my face meets a fist of bone and metal studs. My head jolts to one side, glowering sparks invading my vision. Blood pours from my lip split all the way up to my cheek, and I can no longer take a proper breath. Even less when my arms are wrenched behind my back and clasped in a tight hold of manacles tearing at my skin. I search for my energy, but can’t feel anything.
My knees buckle, but a tight hold on my arm yanks me back up. The guards all click their heels together and stand at attention when another pair of footsteps joins us in the cell.
Someone grabs my chin, and my vision clears enough to meet Rev’s eyes of endless black.
“This is not your mission,” Siro barks from somewhere in the spinning cell.
“You seem to always forget who you’re addressing,” Rev answers in a flat tone as his eyes run over my face, where bloodied marks and recent bruises make for one charming combination.
Pain grips me from within and I empty my stomach on his boots. Blood trickles drop by drop on top of the mess I’ve already made, but I can’t muster a speck of a reason why I should care.
“Shouldn’t you be elsewhere?” Rev asks.
I’d spit at him, if it wasn’t for the fact, I’m yet to fill my lungs with anything other than blood.
Siro doesn’t answer and pushes by Rev to grab me by the arm. He pulls me toward the door, but I’m not ready to leave Valdus. Digging the heels of my boots into the stones, and kicking with the last bits of strength I have, I hamper his efforts. It only earns me another painful punch at my chest. A rib cracks, punctures my lung, and leaves me moaning with pain.
“You hurt her another time, and I will personally cut your hands off and feed them back to you finger by finger,” Rev starts and Siro’s grip on my arm tightens until a sting marks another blooming bruise. “Now, let’s see if a simple order is clear enough for a captain of the guards, or if he needs to be reassigned to guard our borders at The Light Trail.”
With a huff, Siro pulls me toward the door again. The last thing I hear is a grunt from Valdus, and I can’t struggle anymore. My fight is with my own mind, keeping the darkness at bay.
