Her eyes, wild and afraid, look at me, and I beg her not to look any further. To keep her eyes on me. But she trails her gaze into the cell, looking for the source of the voice.
I turn to him, too, as another tear escapes to fall on my cheek.
“Let her go. I promise I’ll do what you say. But she must stay unharmed.” I don’t look him in the eye.
“Do I have your word?” He’s still leaning casually against the wall, like he didn’t just kill someone and threaten to kill me a moment ago.
“I promise. Just let her go.” I push as much conviction into my voice as I can.
“Ever, what’s happening? Who is he? What’s… arghh!”
Her scream blankets the cell as Kyra breaks free of her captors and barrels past me, straight for her brother.
She skids to the ground by him. “No. Micah!” Her sobs ring out and break my heart all over again.
“Ever?” She looks up at me. “Ever, who did this?”
“Take her. Leave the girl,” my brother commands, and the two guards who held Kyra now claw at my arms, before dragging me free of my old confinement, straight into another one.
“No, Ever. Stop. What… what’s happening?”
“I’m so sorry, Kyra. I’m so, so sorry.”
“Touching as this is, shall we get on with it?” My brother follows us out of the cell, but slams the gate shut on Kyra, locking her in with Micah.
“No, you can’t do that. You promised?—”
“I promised nothing and only agreed that she’d be unharmed. She is unharmed.”
“You snake.”
He steps closer to me, ignoring the two still gripping my arms. “You have no idea.”
He nods, and I’m hauled away along the corridor as Kyra’s shouts echo after us.
“Ever!”
We make it to the anti-room, following the path that Ten led me through after the first attack on me in this place, and, as promised, I go freely. Or rather, I don’t struggle.
There are no Kirrian Guards or Officers posted. We just walk out.
I can’t believe that is going to work once we make it out of the cells and into the Tower and The Court, but as we emerge from the staircase, my dread only increases because there are people around. Warriors, others, who just let us pass with a little nod before turning a blind eye to what’s happening.
This wasn’t just Micah. He might have been the one to get close to me, but to feed me whatever information they wanted, they needed more people than him. Micah didn’t just betray me—he’s betrayed everyone.
My brother comes up from the side to replace his fellow kidnapper’s hand on my arm. “Now, remember, play nice, or I’ll have to rethink how lenient I’ve been up until now.”
“Lenient?” I snap at him. But my words die on my tongue, as, in a split second, everything in me freezes, locks up, just like in the cell.
Outside in the light, I can see the auburn undertones in his short hair, the slight unruly curl to the longer strands, the pale complexion, and eyes just as pale and green as mine.
“If I release you, I don’t want to hear another word until we’re clear of The Court.” He pauses, but I’m paralysed, trapped. Unable to even nod or agree to his terms. “Oh, I guess you’ll be wanting this back.” I take a gulp of air as the muscles in my body become my own again. I keep my mouth shut. My eyes betray my anger, but they are useless against him. “Very good. Come on.”
He marches me through the streets, taking one of the small alleyways I’ve not explored, not surprising as I’ve barely ventured out in The Court. We weave in and around small buildings and homes, through a shop, to the back, and out of a door, and then back down onto another even skinnier alleyway. The two men with us jump down from a wall onto a lower street, and mybrothernudges me to follow.
I keep my words safely behind my teeth, but my eyes shoot daggers. I just wish they weren’t so blunt and ineffective. I land and shrug off the clamouring hands waiting to keep hold of me again.
Until he grabs my chin and levels his eyes at me.
