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“Your persistence won’t make it happen faster,” she whispered, and I opened my mouth to speak but snapped my mouth shut. “Come. We need to be outside. I need space, and for you to be quiet while I work.”
I ground my teeth and nodded, following her from the room in haste with Ysa by my side.
With every footfall that sounded in the stone hallway, another second ticked by. Another minute. Two. Three.
Walking onto the expansive lawn, Seraphina paused. “Here is good.”
Kieran rushed to us, using his speed to reach us in time. “Rhett said you needed me, but I’m not sure he got the message right.”
“If he said you needed to help carve out Elias’s eyeball, he got it right,” Ysa muttered, standing next to him. Kieran’s lips parted, and his brows pinched, forming a crease. He quickly schooled his features, assessing our surroundings, and then nodded.
I knew I could rely on him.
Seraphina looked at me, glancing down. “Are you ready?”
I didn’t respond. Flicking my wrist, I conjured a blade. It extended from my skin, the misty magic solidifying and shaping itself into a knife.
Seraphina gestured with her hands, making a downward circular motion as though she were shaping a bowl on a pottery wheel. A mystical basin formed, shimmering as it swirled in the air.
As she whispered words unknown, the magic danced. Sparking and burning. Flames licked up and outward, beckoning for its desired form of payment. She glanced at me, speaking in her foreign tongue, and nodding that it was time.
I sliced across my forearm, cutting deep, bringing heavy amounts of blood to the surface. The demands of magic would never accept meager offerings. Not for something like this. My blood poured into the basin, and the power it held sizzled, shooting bolts of electricity around in a cyclone.
The next step would be agonizing, but I didn’t care. I met Ysa’s gaze, and she inclined her head in a single nod of solidarity.
I dropped to the ground, lying down, placing my arms across my abdomen. Kieran exhaled loudly, then sat on top of me, pinning my midsection with his weight. A heaviness pressed into me, but I wasn’t sure whether it was him preparing to hold me down or the gravity of the unknown.
“Are you sure about this, Uncle?” he asked quietly.
“Don’t ask me that again,” I growled. “I’ll do anything to find her.”
“I meant, are you sure you don’t want Ysa to hold you down? I’ve taken out my fair share of eyes.”
Ysa cleared her throat, kneeling down by my head, settling her body, and resting on her shins. “You tortured people, Kieran. The goal here is to not drag this out. I need you to hold him.” She gave me a once-over, then pointed to my legs. “Do I need someone else to hold you down?”
“No, get on with it. We’re wasting time.” I breathed heavily through my nose. Seraphina gestured for us to go ahead.
Kieran tore his shirt, then rolled up the piece of cloth. He put it in front of my lips. “Something to bite down on.” I opened, and he placed it inside. I didn’t know if it was going to matter.
Ysa scooted forward, placing my head between her legs like a vice, and squeezed. Kieran pressed his weight into my shoulders as he leaned into me. They looked at each other, confirming they were both ready.
“The spell is waiting, Elias,” Seraphina said in a melodic voice.
“Do it!” I mumbled through the cloth.
Ysa grabbed my face on each side, and I watched the tip of her thumb come toward me in what felt like slow motion. I knew it was anything but. She had no intention of dragging this out.
The moment her finger pressed around the soft tissue of my eye, my body responded, fighting and thrashing. My fangs extended; an instant reaction to protect myself. Searing pain exploded in my face, sending the sensation to every nerve ending in my body.
I bit down on the cloth, my jaw clenching, a scream building, but I kept my mouth shut. Muffled throaty grunts were all I could let out. The pressure of her thumb increased, and so did the agony. My purpose for doing this battled internally with my instinctive response to having someone try to gouge out my eye.
“Hold him!” Ysa shouted to Kieran as I involuntarily bucked at the weight on me.
For Danni. I need to find Danni. Anything for her.
Ysa’s legs tightened around my head, and she pressed her thumb in deep, scooping beneath the delicate eyeball. Excruciating pain detonated, like being lit on fire from the inside of my face. Like my skin was being flayed and burned. It reached a crescendo, and I opened my mouth, letting out a guttural roar I couldn’t keep in any longer. My head pulsed, and a sickening squelch reached my ears before a dull pop sounded.
Ysa released my head, getting away from me as quickly as she could. Kieran stayed on top of me, giving me a moment to recover, making sure I didn’t retaliate against my second. “FUUUUUCK!” The word extended as I screamed in anger and pain.
