I was standing in between two rows of cages. And inside were Advenians chained to the walls by their necks. There were hundreds and hundreds of them from what I could glimpse. Most shuddered at the sight of the King, others gave him death glares. Some were so far gone they could barely muster the strength to lift their heads.
Only their chains kept them from being able to touch one another. Holes were dug in the floor under them, and I assumed it was so they could relieve themselves.
The King didn’t pay them any attention.
“King Arcane.” A healer bowed. “You’ve already visited today for your dose. Do you require another?”
That’s when I noticed the Advenians’ skin. They looked more like husks than actual people. The long rectangular cell to the left housed Advenians with varying cuts scattered all over theirnaked bodies. The ones on the right had a tube sticking out of their veins that poured their blood into buckets.
“Just here for a tour. Get back to work,” he remarked.
The King pointed toward the right. “These are Alluse users. We drain and replace their blood continuously. Arcane is able to make serums and now vapors out of the blood we collect.” Healers were scattered throughout the cages, working on some of the ones who were too pale to be considered normal. “And this side,” he gestured toward the left cage, the one with all the cuts marring their bodies, “is for my personal use.”
I was pushed forward as we walked down the narrowed hall of chained Advenians. “You see, I can take whatever I want. All these people had an ability I once desired.” He stopped walking and turned to face me. “And now their abilities aremine.” He smiled as my eyes widened. “My power is unique. All I have to do is drink the blood of a Luxian, and I’m free to use their abilities. One small drop and it becomes mine.”
A ball of flames burst from his palm so close to me I could feel the heat radiating from it. I leaned back, my head slamming into one of the soldiers holding me upright. “Oh, that’s right. I forgot. You don’t like fire. It’s what killed your parents.” Then the ball of fire turned to water, dousing the flame. The King reached forward, pressing his hand against my chest. I screamed as my body revolted, an agonizing shock shooting through me. It only lasted a second, but it was enough that if I wasn’t being held up, I would have fallen over. “Electricity.”
The King vanished, but I felt his fingers slide up my arm as he whispered, “Air and invisibility.” A burning agony flooded my stomach, and I screamed.
I glanced down and blinked as I saw blood seeping through my shirt. The King materialized with a dagger. He stabbed my stomach before he replaced the blade with his hand and a blue glow radiated from it. “Healing.” He smiled after releasing me. “I possess any ability from Lux I want. All I need is a small drop of blood every day, and it’s all mine.”
“Why are you showing me this?” I whispered, my voice was barely audible. A mix of horror and repulsion were crashing into me. How long had all these people been trapped down here?
“I’m showing you this because once I’m through with you, this is where you’re going to end up. Arcane is working on a way to alter your blood so that when I drink from you,Ibecome stronger. When he does, you’ll live out your remaining days down here. But for now,” his hand possessively trailed down my cheek, “I have other needs for you.”
The King turned toward Kole who’d been following behind the soldiers. He was as pale as the Advenians drained of blood. “Chain her back up in my chambers.”
THIRTY
SIE
Dravenburg calledanother meeting in the war tent. It was the fifth one in the past two days, and no one had made any decisions yet. The camp had two clear leaders, Tezya and Dravenburg, but neither of them had the final say in anything. Everything had to be settled by a vote, which made the process agonizingly slow.
I was sitting next to the princess. To my surprise, she’d been present for each meeting. It was the only time she left the healer’s tent. She looked like absolute shit. I hadn’t seen the Fire Prince since we first came back without Scottie, but I was pretty sure he was worse.
Rainer and Kallon approached the princess. “How’s Brock?” the male asked.
“He’s doing better. They think he’ll be fine in a couple of weeks.”
“Can he see?” Kallon asked, pulling her lips into her mouth with her teeth. The girl’s eyes were swollen and it was the longest I’d seen her hair stay the same color. Even her bangs were plastered to her forehead from a layer of grease.
“I don’t know yet. They did an examination on him when hefirst arrived, but he’s been unconscious since. They won’t know for sure until he wakes up.”
I was surprised the guy was alive. Seeing his injuries made my stomach turn. He didn’t have any fingernails left and a piece of his right pinky was missing. To top it off, I overheard one of the healers mentioning almost all of his ribs were fractured, and his left foot was so shattered, they weren’t sure if it was salvageable yet. He was broken, from the outside of his skin being bruised and cut in almost every way imaginable, to them nearly destroying every organ and bone on the inside.
And I had left Scottie in the hands of the same people who did that to the massive brute…
Trust me.Her words haunted me. I was happy I hadn’t seen the Fire Prince because I didn’t think I’d be able to look him in the eye.You were supposed to protect her.The other six words that were seared into my memory.
To make things worse, they convinced me to use my total mind control on him, and I compelled Tezya to not go after Scotlind alone. I was the only Advenian alive who could force him to stay… because he was my half brother. I couldn’t wrap my head around it yet. I still had no fucking idea how the prince kept a massive secret like that hidden for so long.
I thought back to when Scotlind and I were betrothed. As if I wasn’t fucked up in the head enough, my brain kept running through constant cycles of horrible memories—from everything I’d ever done wrong to her, right up until now—to when I left her in Lux for the second time.
I couldn’t shake the night Alec brought Scotlind to the party before our tour. I kept seeing the hatred on her face when she was forced to pretend to be compelled. It made me wonder if the prince ever had to act compelled before. If it was difficult not showing that side of him and having to pretend compulsion worked on him.
I highly doubted it. He was the commander of the Luxianarmy. I doubted the King ever let any of his children go without some sort of Alluse protection. They probably were fucking coddled like babies. Everyone in Lux had to have known that, so no one would risk using compulsion on him. Not that tons of Tennebrisians were even stationed in Lux to begin with. Work visas were becoming more rare and harder to obtain. Now you had to get approval by both Advenian Councils.
But compelling him reminded me exactly why I hated using my ability. I hated how much I fucking craved the power. I could compelanyone. Well, anyone except a Luxian air user who casted shields or an Alluse user. Sometimes I hated how much I loved using it, but I loved even more that no one could do the same to me.
