With my left hand, I wiped away the tears filling my eyes. Had I killed my family and the love of my life?
How could I live with myself if I had? What did I do?
A choked sob escaped before I stifled it. Samael had been with us too, but I had no attachment to him. However, I didn’t like the idea of killing him, even if he was a twat.
I leaned my head against the jagged rocks behind me as my lightning played off the walls of the prison I’d created for myself… and for those I loved most. Someone had to find them.
If they lived and weren’t still fighting a war, the others would try to find us, but the palace was a monstrosity of a building, and we’d fallen into a rather large town deep below the earth. There was so much wreckage that it could take years to dig us out.
What would we be by then?
I shuddered at the possibility of that bleak future and winced when it jarred my still-healing wrist. Holding my breath, I chanced a glance at the injury and recoiled when I discovered the bloody, broken bone still poking through my skin.
Do not look at that again!
For once, I agreed with the annoying little inner voice that normally pissed me off. But this time, that bitch was right.
Okay, so it would take a while to dig us out. The gargoyles would help, I hoped, but it would still take a lot of time to free us.
“Hello?” I called, hoping someone would hear me and respond.
I’d never felt more alone and sought some proof that life still existed somewhere in Tempest. Same as the last time I tried this, no one responded.
Sorrow encompassed me as my mind raced. Did I doom us all? What of Tempest and the amsirah? Were they at least free, or had they lost the battle?
They had to be free; they had to have won. And even if they did have to retreat, they were closer to being free than they’d been in years.
The duke was probably trapped down here too, and we’d destroyed all the aristocrats… or at least most of them. Those who survived our night of slaughter were most likely in the palace when it fell.
If they were still alive, there weren’t enough of them to mount a war against the amsirah. They were far outnumbered now.
Without the palace and central ruling figure to hold it all together, they wouldn’t beat the amsirah back. I had to have faith they’d win and take control of the realm, that even though I’d sacrificed everything, they’d have the lives, freedom, and love they deserved.
CHAPTER SEVENTY
Ellery
I bowed my head as more tears fell. I felt weak and foolish sitting here crying; it wasn’t going to solve anything. But I’d been suppressing my grief because there was always something more important to focus on. Now, there was nothing except this shroud of silence.
I wept for my mother, who never got to see the palace fall. For my father who’d fought and died for the realm he loved so much. I sobbed for the amsirah battered by Ivan’s tyrannical rule and then the duke’s. I bawled for my friends, Ryker, and everything I might have lost.
My shoulders shook, I gasped for breath, and snot rolled down my face, but I didn’t try to stifle it. I’d spent far too much time doing that. The dam had broken, and it was all coming out in a torrent that might drown me.
But while I wallowed in self-pity, I also cried for all we’d gained because I truly believed this day would grant the amsirah their freedom. I had to have faith in that, or I’d never stop crying.
I wasn’t sure how long I sobbed, but eventually, my tears ran dry and the awful, choking noises subsided. Then I was left to the stillness once more. When I wiped the wetness from my cheeks, I realized my broken wrist had healed while I wallowed.
I twisted it and brought lightning to my fingertips to better illuminate my surroundings. There had to be a way out of this. I couldn’t just sit here and wait for someone to dig us out.
Scarlet, Callan, and Luna were trapped down here without light. I couldn’t imagine what they were going through, how terrified they must be.
Resting my fingers against the rocky ground, I pushed myself into a hunched position so I could better explore my small confines. My back protested the position, but I was happy to stretch my legs again.
Lifting my light, I used it to examine the wooden crossbeams above me. Those precarious beams were all that kept the stones above them from crushing me.
When that energy tore out of me, it eradicated everything in its way. Could I do something like that again and destroy all these rocks?
It was a good possibility, but in doing so, I might kill my friends or bury them under more rubble. I had no idea exactly what they faced now, but I was certain it wasn’t good.
