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I smiled wide and clasped my hands in front of me. “You know me well. Yes, we were able to track the prince’s location and know where he is hiding out.”
Alisha held out a transporter to me. “Input the destination. I’ll go and investigate before we make a move. The main battle is close to the inner-city gates.”
Taking the rod, I pressed my thumb into the rune. The rod heated my thumb until a flow of energy coursed up my arm, my shoulder, and to my head. I visualized the location in the caverns and the rod beeped, setting the waypoint.
“There,” I said, feeling slightly relieved. “I can come with you. If—”
The atmosphere in the room changed and I wasn’t quick enough to pick up why.
“Kelia . . .” my voice dropped in a whisper, half misbelief, half confusion. “What are you doing?”
Kelia stood behind the queen, her blue lasso wrapped around the queen’s throat. “What you taught me to. Now give me the rod.”
No, she couldn’t be doing this. This was a trick of some sort. “Release the queen and we can talk about this.”
Alisha shifted to the left and Kelia’s magic glowed. The queen gasped and fell to her knees.
“Kelia!” Holding out my hands in a plea, I moved closer.
The black mamba shot out from the queen’s robes, launching at Kelia’s outstretched hand. I went to shoot fire, to stop it from biting Kelia, but she moved aside and using her power, shot out a thin blue spear and stabbed the snake to the wall.
The queen howled and moved to a knee, her power manifesting in a torrent of rage, but Kelia’s grip would not loosen. She squeezed her magic around the queen’s throat, forcing her back to the ground.
“What are you doing?” I said, holding my hands up in an attempt to keep things from exploding into chaos. “This is a mistake and it won’t end well.”
The female I thought I knew disappeared, replaced by the magi servant I remembered. There was no warmth, no empathy in Kelia’s gaze just determination. “Hand over the rod or I will kill her and the two of you just like I killed her pet.”
Anger pooled in my belly.
She had played me.
The wolf in me begged to be released, to take Kelia up on her promise. If she wanted a fight, I’d give her one. I was an idiot to think someone associated with the magi could be trusted. Everything she had said and done had been a trick.
“Give it to her,” Alisha said.
The queen’s shoulders slumped. She tried to speak, but the words came out garbled. I tossed the rod at Kelia. A blue spurt of magic released from her free hand, and she captured the rod, floating it back to her.
My chest seethed with fury.
If Kelia had any regrets in the decision, she didn’t show it.
“Goodbye, Callum,” she said, with no hint of emotion in her voice. Activating the rod, the portal opened and Kelia and the queen vanished through it.
I sprinted forward, slamming into the wall where the portal was only a moment ago. Screaming, I punched the smooth stone surface cracking it, knocking a painting from its veneer. My body heaved with anger and deep-down shame.
I’d shown Kelia a side of me no one had seen, and she used it against me, played me. My emotions coiled around one another, and I screamed, the sound ending in a howl as I fought back the urge to shift.
“Come on, Callum!” Alisha yelled behind me. “Get us there before it’s too late.”
Tossing me another transporter, I set the location, my entire body shaking with rage.
“This is what you get for playing with a human instead of one of your own,” Alisha hissed.
Steadying myself, I breathed in and out until the wolf went back to sleep. Why would she kiss me? Was this all part of her plan from the start? I thought back to my lessons and wanted to kick myself for thinking Kelia was so naïve she’d never survive in my world. She reminded me again and again how powerful she was and why the magi chose her for this mission. I’d thought her true power was in that little blue flame of hers when her greatest asset was her mind.
I should’ve killed her.
Fisting my hands, I breathed in deep, trying to wrap my head around this situation and ignore the hurt. Kelia betrayed me and I was a fool for thinking she’d do anything else. My prison sentence had softened my resolve and that ended now.
