“What?” she demanded, twisting slightly to look at him over her shoulder. “What is it? Is there something on my back?”
His jaw clenched. “It looks like you’ve been…brutalized. There’s fresh scars. They’re deep, like something was carved into you. And—” His voice faltered, his hand hovering near her skin but not daring to touch. “Esmyra, your back is covered in black veins. They start at your spine and spread outward, like they’re growing under your skin.”
Black veins. Her mind emptied as silence filled her ears.
She turned fully toward him, and his expression was dark with fear and pure, utter fury. “They put something inside of you.”
Pardon the damage dealt to that pretty little body of yours, the words of the man who captured her with the net tore through her mind. Her lips parted in horror.
Draevyn picked up one of the candelabras from the desk and whipped it across the room as he let out a scream of wrath. And then he began to pace in front of her, running a hand through his hair. “Atlasput velsinyte inside of you, or in the very least, his men did at his fucking command. And it’s still there.”
CHAPTER 47
Draevyn
The sight of those black veins seared themselves into Draevyn’s mind. Even after Esmyra slipped her shirt back on and wrapped her arms around herself, he could stillseethem. Creeping along her back in the most unnatural way while they strangled her magic and lifeforce.
His pulse thundered in his ears, his jaw aching from how tightly he clenched it. He wanted to scream, to shatter the windows, to tear the ship apart with his bare hands.
It wasn’t only that this was yet another horrible thing happening to her. It was thatAtlas, of all people, was the cause of it. His brother hadn’t just tried to break her…he fuckingpoisonedher. It wasn’t enough to just shackle her power in chains, but he had cut her open. Atlas had violated her, slicing her flesh and tearing her body apart to place the velsinyte inside. Somewhere she would never be able to find or see on her own.
No wonder she couldn’t access her power. No wonder the warmth hadn’t returned to her cheeks the moment the cuffs fell to the floor… And no fucking wonder she appeared to be in pain. The exhaustion on her features was evident, but they all wore it the same.
Draevyn should’ve dug deeper. He should’ve inspected her, accounting for every cut and bruise.
But he didn’t want to get too close to her right away. Not for his benefit, but for her own. Draevyn knew what happened when Esmyra felt trapped, and that was the last thing he wanted. He still couldn’t even believe he’d gotten this far with her to begin with, but he’d never been more thankful.
No longer was this just a feud between brothers. This was personal now. If Atlas wanted a true war, then by all the fucking gods, Draevyn would ensure he got one.
Atlas had taken what was most sacred to Draevyn, and he knowingly defiled her. Not to mention that if Esmyra wereanyoneelse, the velsinyte would’ve killed her the moment it reached her veins.
Draevyn forced himself to breathe, to keep the fury from spilling out where she could see it, but judging by the way her glacial stare roamed over him, he knew it was useless. She sat on the edge of the desk, still trembling slightly, while her eyes remained shadowed.
The urge to stay with her, to hold her, to never leave her side was nearly overwhelming. But he knew he needed to act. The mark was on her spine, and he refused to risk it on his own.
Draevyn refused to riskher.
He stepped closer and cleared his throat, gently brushing a strand of hair from her face. “You’re going to be alright,” he said, though the words felt hollow against everything raging inside him. “I swear it. I fucking promise you, nothing will ever happen to you again. I just need to figure out how to fix this.”
He turned from her, fists clenching at his sides.
“Drae—”
“I have to get Jak.”
“Draevyn,please…” Her voice cracked, and he turned to face her. “I don’t want him to see me this way. It’s bad enough you have to. I don’t want you to have to endure dealing with this.” Her stare dropped to the floor, as if she couldn’t bear to meet his gaze.
The sight of her sitting there with her arms wrapped tight around herself, eyes glistening with something more than pain, felt like a blade piercing straight through his heart.
For a heartbeat, he just stood there, his chest aching. Then hemoved back across the room in a few strides. Before she could pull further into herself, he dropped to one knee in front of her, his hands gently taking hers, prying them from where she clutched herself as if to keep from falling apart.
“Don’t youeversay that,” Draevyn demanded. “Don’t you dare think you’re something I ever have to endure.”
She sucked in a sharp breath, but he didn’t give her the chance to protest.
“I would hope,” he continued, his voice softening, “that you’d never keep something like this from me. Not this. Notanything.” His hands tightened around hers. “Because there is nothing about you I would turn away from, Wildfire.”
“I know,” she admitted, tears brimming as she gestured to herself. “But this isn’t me.”
