AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Then what?” I questioned.
“I won’t allow you to go back to them,” she spat, glancing up as if she hoped her family could hear her. “I know they’ve told you how to kill me, and if you don’t tell me, then I will destroy everyone you love.”
The seriousness in her voice made me believe she wasn’t lying. That’s why she’d kept me captive in the south, not letting me die just yet. She needed to know what they’d said to me, although it was so little. I felt a lump in my throat as I thought about how I had been left to fulfill the prophecy on my own, with little help from the gods. Hell, they didn’t even tell me about the prophecy at all. But I had to trust it was for a reason. They created this world, us, and they sent Azia to guide me, that much I knew. But I hadn’t seen him since coming here and feared what she’d done to him.
Sebastian let out a second, more intense scream, his voice strained from the effort of trying to contain it. I could feel it in our bond, a pain igniting between us. I scrambled for something, anything, to sedate her so she’d stop.
“Maybe you need more motivation,” she snapped, her silver eyes narrowing into slits as she faced Erianna. “I will kill her, then I’ll find your other friend and kill him, too.”
My pulse pounded in my ears as I desperately fought against the cold metal of the chains. “Please, don’t.”
“Then tell me what they said,” she exclaimed between clamped teeth. She moved to Erianna, her fingertips gently brushing against her neck. “Last chance.”
I rubbed my hands over my face, struggling to think of any lie convincing enough as the anticipation built, desperation clouding every thread of thought. Erianna gasped as Salenia’s fingers tightened around her throat.
“There is no weapon,” I admitted. “Nothing except for me. They gifted me with the power to rip out your heart, with my powers.” I prayed she believed it, hoping if she thought only I held the power to destroy her, then she would only kill me.
“Ah.” Her eyes widened, her judgement distorted by the paranoia of her siblings. “Vaneria always had a flare for the dramatics, sending you as the weapon.”
“Iamthe weapon,” I confirmed, although I had no clue how to kill her while she was in her true form.
She loosened her grip on Erianna, shoving her back. “So, she’s given me no choice,” she said, and I assumed she meant her sister. “If I turn you into a vampire, removing your magic, you’ll meet them on the other side, and they’ll keep you safe from me until they can use you later.”
I realized she was mainly talking to herself, her white robes sweeping in her path as she stepped on the broken bone fragments that crunched underfoot.
“I can’t kill you,” she continued. “Because they’ll bring you back, and if I keep you locked up here, you can always escape.”
She paused in front of me, her lower lip quaking as she peered into my eyes. I’d never seen her afraid before, and that made her all that more dangerous. Her glance swept across my face, a single tear accumulating at the corner of her eye. “They never wanted me to be happy here. They were jealous because I found a place I belonged. They never understood this world, even if they created it,” she announced.
She was so fucking delusional. But as I kneeled in her presence, feeling the power emanating from her being, I’d never felt so terrified. Not for myself, but for Sebastian and Erianna. It was only so long before she took it out on them.
“I won’t kill you,” I said, but she wasn’t as easily manipulated as Astor, when I’d tried the same tactic.
“You will. I killed your father. I’ve destroyed your life.”
“You haven’t. I never loved my father. I have Sebastian and that’s all I need.”
Her eye twitched. “Ah, yes, your soulmate.”
“Yes.”
“Do not attempt to manipulate me!” she screeched, jolting me. “No, they knew I would live in fear with you prisoner, enjoying nothing again, always waiting for you to strike. But like I said, they never understood you people as I do.” Her face contorted, and my heart skipped a beat. “Because you mortals will always sacrifice yourselves for the people you love,” she said, her nostrils flaring. “Especially your soulmate,” she spat, as if she hated the word. “That love can be used against you. I don’t have to worry about you if I keep your husband and your friends as prisoners.” She slowly rose, nodding to herself. “Yes, I can keep you all locked up in different locations, have Avyanna keep your magic numbed, and then you won’t come after me. Because they’ll die if you do.”
“Please,” I begged, gasping for air at the thought of us all being separated forever. “I’ll do anything. I know you don’t believe me, but if you leave us alone, I won’t come after you. I don’t care about the gods,” I lied. “I don’t care about being queen. I just want to be with them,” I said, glancing at Erianna, clamping my eyes shut as terror coursed through our bond. “Just stop torturing him. I’ll do anything, please.”
Her gaze widened, and she stepped back. “Anything?”
“Yes,” I said breathlessly.
“There’s a ritual. It’s called the blood tie.”
Erianna climbed to her knees, pulling on the chains. “No, Olivia. Don’t.”
“What is it?” I asked, realizing it must be bad if it evoked that kind of reaction. Sebastian yelled from the other side of the dungeons, and I winced. “I’ll do it. I don’t care, please.”
“Olivia, no,” Erianna pleaded. “She’ll connect your life with hers. It can’t be undone. If she dies, so do you.”
“None of you will come after me,” she announced. “If you’re tied to me, then I can keep you locked up. I will sense where you are if you escape.” A slight smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth, and a shiver ran down my spine. “But I need your consent.”
