AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“My family are no doubt halfway to Overcast by now. That is where they would go in a catastrophe, and if there is one thing they are good at, it’s caring for nothing but their own preservation.”
I met his eyes, squinting to see him in the low light. That might be true, but I could find no comfort in it until I know for certain that Bael was not locked in a cage while the castle burned around him. “I need to find Bael.”
“No, you don’t. Bael can take care of himself far better than you can.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No, you don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. You need to stay here, and I need to get the damned crown back.”
“Why?” I practically yelled.
“Without that crown, there is no way to break the curse. There is no monarchy, period. It’s not only some bit of jewelry. The mere act of owning it matters.”
Any other time, I might have bothered to marvel that it was the first time he’d mentioned their curse to me in so many words. Perhaps he was under too much pressure to realize that he’d said it. Regardless, the thought flew from my mind only a moment later.
Shadows rose out of nowhere, just like they had on that first day in Inbetwixt. The dark, translucent ropes snaked around my arms and torso, binding me so tight I could hardly breathe. I felt my arms yanked behind my back, and then I was flying backward against the rough wooden wall.
Bile rose in my throat, sending the revolting taste of this morning’s breakfast back up to brush the back of my throat. “Get off!”
He merely took a step back, barring his teeth. “Stay here. I’ll come back for you when it’s safe.”
Electricity seemed to travel through my body, different somehow than the heat that always licked up my skin whenever I got this angry. “Like you came back the last time you locked me up, you mean?”
His serious gaze flashed like a strike of lightning, burning, charring me from the inside out. “I will never apologize for protecting you, even if you hate me for it.”
“Don’t you mean protecting the kingdom?”
He stepped away, holding me trapped in that look as he faded into nothing. “Don’t delude yourself, rebel. You know I can only ever say exactly what I mean.”
41
LONNIE
THE CITY OF EVERLAST
Ididn’t allow myself to wallow in pity or self-loathing.
As soon as Scion disappeared, I frantically tried to pull at the shadowy ropes binding my wrists, ignoring how it squeezed tighter into my skin with each desperate twist and yank.
My fingers merely passed though the cords like vapor, only for them to solidify again within seconds. I let out a sound, somewhere between a scream and a gasp. Sweat beaded on the back of my neck and around my hairline, the exertion and the heat in the air already starting to take its toll.
He’d run his twisted shadows through and around the door to one of the horse’s stalls, giving me barely a foot of space to move. Perhaps if I could only break the wood?
Panting, I tried again, dropping all my weight until I was hanging by my arms.
The wood creaked, but did not budge.
I paused again, gasping for another breath. Through my efforts, my hands felt less constricted, but the rope around my waist and torso seemed to have been pulled even tighter to the point that I had to stop for fear that I would suffocate.
I screamed in frustration.
When I got out of here—and I would, it would not be like last time—I would kill Scion. No matter how long it took, I’d end him. Perhaps by blade, or better, by feeding him to the serpent in Inbetwixt.
I took a deep breath through my nose, willing myself to calm down, but only succeeded in raising my pulse higher. If only I could walk through the shadows, then it would not matter that he’d bound me, I’d simply take the damn ropes with me.
Realization hit me like a physical blow…could I do that? Could I have done that all along?Aisling, if so…no, best not to dwell on all the things I couldn’t change now, especially not when I was not yet sure it would work.
I had no worldly idea what made up the minute differences in power that the Everlasts seemed to view as if to have different gifts nearly made you different species. Who was to say where shadow walking fell within that spectrum?
