She was gone.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Nienna
We stopped after what felt like an eternity.
Motion snapped away without warning. My body kept fighting long after it ceased to matter. Scratching. Biting. Twisting in his grip until my muscles burned. The world lagged behind us in a sickening blur, stone walls flashing past while we moved with unnatural speed. His shoulder rammed into my gut with every stride, grinding breath from my lungs.
Bile surged.
I spewed the remains of my meager lunch down his back, the sour taste burning my throat.
Egath dropped me. The impact jarred through bone, and my head cracked against the stone. White stars burst across my vision, bright and dizzying. Cold seeped through my palms as I tried to gather myself, fingers slipping on damp rock.
“She stabbed my foot!” Tallon’s voice broke beside me.
He sat with his back to the wall, propping up his injured leg. Greaves’ dagger still jutted from the top of his boot, the hilt slick with blood.
Weary satisfaction uncoiled through my chest. A small, vicious ember.
Egath crouched and seized Tallon’s ankle. He bent close, studying the blade as if it were a puzzle. “Don’t shout,” he ordered.
Tallon gave a tight nod, jaw clenched, and the Velli yanked the dagger free.
I seized the moment andscreamed.
A rough palm clamped over my mouth, skin calloused and hot, cutting the sound short. The cry had already ricocheted through the tunnel, bouncing off narrow walls. Egath’s face hardened in the faint light, shadows carving deep lines around his mouth.
“I can run,” Tallon said through clenched teeth. Sweat beaded along his temple. “We will get her there.”
“I know that blade, boy. That’s tainted.” The Velli’s gaze shifted to me.
Not with hatred.
Confusion.
As if I were something inconvenient he hadn’t planned for. His hand curved carefully over my mouth, fingers arced away from my teeth. “That’s from the Nightmare. He coats his blades in Drowning poison.”
The name struck cold against my spine.
“What does it do?” Tallon’s voice lost its arrogance. Youth bled through, thin and frightened. More like a boy than the bratty prince I knew. “Am I gonna lose my foot?”
“Your life if we don’t move fast.” Egath scanned the empty hall, nostrils flaring as though he could scent pursuit. Damp earth and iron hung thick in the air. “I can’t trust another with her, and the poison will slow you down. You won’t be able to run with me.”
“Then leave her!” Tallon shrieked.
His good leg lashed out and caught my ribs. Pain flared sharp along my side. My nails dug deeper into Egath’s forearm.
If he left me, I would bolt. Escape. I wouldn’t sit here and wait for chains. The promise must have burned in my eyes.
The Velli saw it. His lip curled, teeth bared in a low snarl. “I’ll return for you, Tallon.”
His fist twisted into my hair, and he hauled me upright, scalp screaming as strands tore free.
“No! Leave her! We can come back for her!” The prince shoved against the wall, struggling to stand, breath hitching as blood soaked into his boot.
Egath’s shoulder drove into my belly.
