Page 147 of The Reaping Rose

“Elorie,” Perame’s voice is raw as she speaks.

“I’m here. I’m here.” I squeeze her hand, tears blurring my vision as she blinks up at me.

She tries to shift, but pain lances her expression as she takes a sharp inhale through her teeth.

“Don’t move, not yet.”

Perame nods barely, her eyes moving from me to Esen, whose ghostly form holds the iron bars. For the first time, I notice how thin Esen is. All skin and bone. Hollow dips make caverns on her cheeks, while shadows cast dark circles around her eyes.

“I—” Esen’s words catch in her throat.

“I know,” Perame says. Her grip on my hand tightens, but she doesn’t take her eyes off Esen. “I know.”

Esen’s breath hitches, and for a moment, I think she’ll say something else. Until a crashing sound rocks the stone around us. Shadows torrent around the room, and then Esen is gone.

Chapter 49

Elorie

Shouts and bootsteps sound overhead. In the levels above the dungeon, there is movement at every corner. Until the iron door at the top of the staircase creaks open, and Overlord Farseth comes into view with Esen directly behind him.

She avoids our gazes as she has in the past when he’s around.

“We need to leave. The queen got word of your presence, and she’s sending her troops to fetch you.” He rushes into the room. “Esen, stifle them.”

Esen frowns, avoiding my gaze as the weight of the void thickens until my blood might as well freeze in my veins. Every pump is thick and unbearable.

He moves for Perame’s cell first, where she’s in and out of consciousness.

“Don’t touch her.” Callum bangs against the bars as the overlord grabs Perame.

She winces in pain as he lifts her from the ground. Her legs nearly give out as one of her wounds splits open. Without magic, she’s not healing, and she’s losing blood too quickly.

The overlord positions Perame in front of him, a dagger to her throat.

“There’s no time for chains, but if you try anything, I’ll slice her open ear to ear.” He tightens the blade against her neck, tight enough for a bead of blood to roll down the blade, and she screams. “Esen, get their doors.”

She’s frozen for a moment, staring at Perame, jumping when he yells her name again.

“Esen, now!”

Esen moves faster than I’ve seen her before, grabbing the keys that hang on the wall and rushing to Callum’s cell first. She unlatches it, and he pushes through. But the first step Callum takes toward Overlord Farseth has him digging the blade deeper into Perame’s throat.

“Callum, don’t. She’ll die.” I reach through the bars and grab his shoulder while Esen undoes my lock.

The moment the door swings open, I step through, but Esen blocks my path for a split second. So quick, the overlord doesn’t catch it. She pulls a small dagger from a slit in her dress and presses the handle to my palm.

“End it.” The words are barely a whisper.

I look into her eyes and see beyond the void for the first time since I met her. I see beyond the power she wields and the mark on her face. I see a girl who forgot there was more to her than what the overlord makes her do. She is a person who can make decisions, no matter how much she fears that, given the hurt she caused her loved ones.

Esen stares into my eyes, and she finds the strength to fight for something.

To fight for herself.

I move to Callum’s side with my hand carefully hidden so the overlord doesn’t see the blade. A strange comfort fills me with what Esen has done, reclaiming who she is when others have spent her life convincing her she’s something different. She decides who she is in this moment, reminding me I can do the same.

Long before my magic woke, I was something else. Something to be reckoned with even when the island tried to break me again and again.