Onlyher.
“They weren’t positive,” he admitted. “Though they believe the king has taken her.”
My affinity leashed out, grasping onto the lives of those around me as I nearly lost control. Red filtered through my vision, my eyes narrowing as I turned toward the Solis Court. I could feel their heartbeats weakening, but I could only see red.
My thoughts turned toward her in concern.
Pure, unadulterated terror for my starbound.
“Stop.” The word had me halting in my tracks. “You need to control it.” Axel’s voice sounded over the rage running rampant in me. “Now, Blackwood. Rein it in.”
“He has her.” The words were a barely-constrained snarl as I stared at my second.
“And we will get her back,” Axel shot back, his voice fierce. “Butnotuntil you can control it. Look around you?—”
I took a breath, then another, letting the rage filter through me as I turned in a circle, taking in the sight around me.
Every enemy in a twenty-foot radius lay shaking on the ground, their bodies collapsed, weakening as they fought for their lives throughout the rubble.
“Youneedto control it, if you want to get her back.” Axel’s voice was firm as he glared at me, hard lines set on his features as he waited for me.
I took another breath.
Then another.
Every thought in my mind focused on Raelyna.
I focused on the starbound mark connecting us, wondering why I couldn’t feel any pain, any fear,anyemotion.
He would pay. Whatever he’d done to her, he would pay. I’d make sure of that.
41
RAELYNA
I awoketo something cold dripping onto my cheek. In the distance, I could hear shouts and screams of terror filling the air. I had no idea when I’d finally passed out, unable to break free from the cuffs restraining my affinities. I’d been deposited in this room in a rage last night, once Lucanus discovered that Orela was not in the Solis Court as he’d believed.
I could still feel the blood trickling from a gash on my arm from when Lucanus had taken his fury out on me after discovering my sister had escaped his clutches.
Another drop of chilled liquid splattered on my face, and my nose scrunched as it trailed off my cheek. I strained my hearing, attempting to discern if I was alone in the room, but the sounds of shots firing in the distance kept distracting me.
When I couldn’t take the suspense anymore, I slowly cracked my eyelids open, peaking through my lashes to find I was indeed alone. Struggling to push up, I leaned against the wall behind me, taking in my surroundings.
Above me, a thin window sat in the wall, just out of reach had I been standing. The afternoon suns shone in through thethin strip of glass, casting a bright hue over an otherwise gray space. With a quick glance around the space, I found it to be devoid of chairs—no furniture of any sort, really. The space was empty, save for me and the marbled floors. My gaze snagged on a crack in the ceiling, thin droplets of water dripping down onto the floor in a slippery patch, and my nose wrinkled at the thought of old ceiling water dripping onto me. A camera flashed in the corner of the room, the device more than likely recording my every movement and relaying it to the guards tasked with monitoring me.
I’d nearly decided to stand when loud shouts echoed from outside the door. A door I knew was firmly locked from the outside, from the length of time I’d spent attempting to pry the lock off last night with my bare hands. I pressed myself further against the wall as the lock began to rattle. Then the door was thrown open, a vicious-looking guard stalking through the doorframe before Lucanus entered behind him.
His face was full of rage as he stared at me with malice in his eyes.
“You lying little bitch!” His roar filled the room as he threw the full force of his affinities toward me, and a cry of pain left my lips before the air was forced from my lungs as his water affinity circled my neck.
“How long have you been working for the Guild? How did you help them destroy The Wall?”
I could only stare in shock, clawing at my neck as I struggled to breathe.
“TELL ME HOW YOU DID IT!” His voice was a malicious demand as he stormed toward me, yanking me to my feet and releasing my airway.
“How?”
