I bit back a laugh.“If it wasn’t for Billy, I could kill you.”
Gaius grinned at me.“Well, why do you think I have the boy?I’m here for you, milady.No one else has to get hurt.”
“And what do you plan to do with me?”I asked.“The duke willneverlet you keep me.”
“He doesn’t have to know I have you.Where’s Ryker?”He focused on the open portal behind us while waiting for Ryker to emerge.
“He’s not here,” I told him.
When his eyes returned to me, they glittered with malice.“He didn’t kill the king and risk everything to get you off that field only to disappear now.”
“He’s not here,” I said again.“He had something else to do.”
“You’re lying.”
“Scarlet, close the portal,” I told her.
She never tore her eyes away from her brother as she waved the portal closed.I kept my attention on Gaius and Billy as I tried to figure out how to get him away from that monster.
“Ryker’s not here now, but he’s coming soon,” I said.“If he finds you here, he’ll kill you.”
“Will he?”Gaius asked.Billy squawked as more blood trickled from under the blade before Gaius eased up on it.“If that’s so, then we should probably leave.”
“And gowhere?If you plan on hiding me from the duke, then where would we go?He’ll have everyone in the realm looking for me; he’ll probably be here soon too.”
“He will,” Gaius confirmed.“I came as soon as I lost sight of you in the crowd.I knew you’d return fortheseamsirah.”
His mouth curled in distaste as if the idea of my love for Scarlet and her family was one of the most disgusting things he’d ever encountered.
“So, if the duke is coming soon, you should leave,” I said.
The idea of that man showing up here made my palms sweat, but I stared at Gaius as if it didn’t matter.
“Not without you,” he replied.
“If he finds you here and realizes you’re going against him, he’ll kill you.”
“Which is why you should join me now, Ellery.”
As he spoke, he dug the blade further into Billy’s neck.The boy lifted his chin to avoid having his skin sliced more.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
Ellery
“Stop it!”I commanded.“He’s a child.”
Lightning flared across my fingertips.If I could kill him without harming Billy, I would, but the coward ducked behind the boy and peered around his shoulder as he grinned at me.
Iloathedthat smile.
“Oh no,” Gaius admonished me.“We’re not going to have any lightning flying around here.”
My teeth gnashed together as I dug my fingers into my palms.“Release him, and I’ll go with you.”
“I know it won’t be that easy,” he said.“You’re averygood liar, Ellery.Everyone truly believed your relationship with Ryker was over, and you didn’t so much as flinch when I said there was a female lightning bearer in the realm.You were so fucking calm.”
I’d been a tumultuous mess of raw nerves, but he didn’t have to know that.“One does what one must to survive.”
