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Chapter 21

I’m horrified as he rips her from the room. I try to stop him but the chain around my ankle won’t allow me past the doorway. I yell and scream for him to stop as he drags my friend away. Abigail had come to warn me, but I already knew their plans. I could sense she was holding back something, something she wasn’t even sure she could trust me with. When Silas pulls her from the room, I know instantly he noticed something this morning. I can feel his suspicion rolling off him in waves, feel his anger toward her. I already knew their secret, knew what they needed so I knew Abigail telling me wasn’t what angered him.

I try ripping on the chain, so much that my ankles start bleeding, but nothing I do can loosen its grip on me. Dragus comes running into the room and I guess he must have felt the pain radiating out of me from my shackles, felt my fear for Abigail as he rushes in, alarmed, looking for any danger until his eyes rest on me, my fingers covered in blood from trying to force the chain down my ankle.

“What are you doing? Stop, you’re hurting yourself!” Dragus yells, gripping my hands.

“He took Abbie, help me get it off,” I snap at him. Dragus stands, backing away. Guilt floods into the bond and I know he is aware of what Silas has done or is planning to do.

“You know, don’t you?” I accuse. Dragus looks away confirming my suspicions and goes to leave.

“You walk out that fucking door without removing this chain, I will reject you Dragus!” I scream making him freeze on the spot, his body tensing, and I watch his fists clench at his side and he turns back to me. “Silas will kill her. Help me out of these chains.”

“You don’t know that,” he replies, looking uncertain.

“I do because I know what she is. Now undo these fucking chains and help me,” I demand.

“No, I can’t Elora even if you reject us. Do you really think he will let you go? He will never let you leave; you belong to us. Were made for us. Silas won’t allow you to walk away from us; he would rather have you prisoner than give you up.”

“Then help me, please,” I beg.

“I’m sorry, Lora,” he says, walking out and shutting the door.

I drop to the ground. He is going to kill her, I know it. He truly is a monster, and I’m powerless to stop him—or so I think until somebody else runs into the room. It’s Marian, with a frightened expression on her face.

“He is torturing her in the dungeon,” Marian whispers, and tears burn in my eyes, spilling over. Marian peers down at the chain, her frail hands trying desperately to pull it over my foot.

“You can break this, Elora. Just use your magic,” she says.

“How?” I know nothing about magic.

Dragus walks back in, a determined look on his face. Then he finds Marian kneeling next to me.

“If he finds you here, Marian, he will kill you. Go,” he says, staring at her. He grips the chain and snaps it next to my ankle. Marian looks at him, shocked, rushing out. Dragus hauls me to my feet.

“Don’t piss him off. You said you know what Abigail is hiding?”

I nod, and he sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“You better not make me regret doing this, Elora. You’re not the only one who has to put up with his wrath.”

I race past him, sprinting down the stairs; Marian is moving quickly up the corridor toward the kitchens. She pauses when she hears me, a look of relief on her face when she realizes Dragus let me go to help Abigail. I run as fast as I can toward the dungeon when I hear her screams echoing off the stone walls. Throwing the basement door open, I rush down the stairs. The temperature is extremely hot, and I can hear Matitus yelling at Silas. Reaching the bottom step, I look toward the cells and see Abigail on the floor, her skin blistered and the air so hot it is hard to breathe.

Silas, noticing me, opens the cell door, ripping me inside. I instantly rush to Abigail.

“Who let you out?” he growls at me and Matitus walks into the cell. Abigail gazes up at me, her skin red and raw. But she is alive. Parts of her skin have melted off on her hands and I realize she didn’t fight back. She was going to let him kill her.

“Abbie, please it’s not worth your life,” I tell her, her eyes fluttering open as she fights to remain conscious.

“She is my life,” Abigail whispers so low I know they can’t hear her as her voice barely made it to me.

“One of you will speak, one way or another, Elora,” Silas screams, making me flinch. I feel the air start sizzling, my skin burning, and Abigail screams. Her skin blistering, as I watch her burn. He is raising her core temperature, boiling her from the inside out as I look on helplessly. Her agonized scream tears my soul apart as I turn to look at Silas. He is somehow enjoying watching her writhe in pain, enjoying her screams, which makes anger burn bright in me. I can feel my anger bubbling, boiling like hot lava in my veins about to erupt. Matitus looks at me and I know he can sense my anger. Silas’s eyes are trained on Abigail, and I can see the fire behind his eyes, feel his hunger to inflict pain on her, and something breaks in me.

I stand and shove Silas. Only when my hands connect with his chest, purple light shoots out of them, and he goes flying into the bars. I have no idea what I have done or how I did it, I just felt it building, my anger becoming blinding as my hands hit the center of his chest. My anger erupts out of them.

Matitus shock registers first, and Abigail’s screams of pain die out. Silas is thrown against the metal bars so hard they bend from the impact, and he hits the ground. His rage at what I did nearly knocks me over as he gets to his feet. My anger dies down, replaced by fear. Matitus grips his arm, trying to yank him back as he stalks toward us, and I step back, tripping over Abigail and landing on my ass. His eyes blaze as he reaches for me, and I know whatever he has planned isn’t anything good.

“She is a Fae,” I lie, knowing if I say Witch, she is as good as dead. “Please no more, leave her be,” I scream frantically, making him freeze. He stares down at us, and Matitus’s grip on him tightens. Silas growls loudly, and sharp pointed teeth elongate as he reaches for her; I move using my body to shield her unconscious form. Silas grips my hair, pulling my head back.