I know Sinister fully believes it’ll be okay. In his mind, if all of this goes wrong, we’ll walk away from it. We’ll run as far away as we can just as we did when I was a mage running from her past and he was a hellhound always by my side.
That’s not how this is going to play out this time, though. The people here, they’re important to me. So I can’t run away.
Not this time.
There are rules here and I have to follow them.
My fingers fist in his shirt, bringing the warmth of his body closer to mine as the tension in my shoulders lowers. I meld against the hard panes of his chest. His lips press to the side of my messy brown hair, and all I want is to sleep here in his arms. For someone who’s found complete perfection in this village, I’ve lost a lot of sleep since I’ve gotten here.
It isn’t safe here. I know it isn’t. Something dark and dangerous is swarming this village. And yet I refuse to let that scare me away. I won’t leave until the promise I gave to Chaos is set in whatever ritual he needs to seal a mating bond.
I want to be their mate more than I want anything else.
So whatever it is that’s haunting this place, will have to kill me too before I ever walk away.
“It’s not a very secure prison.” Her voice is calm. Smooth and melodious.
Sinister’s arms flex tighter around me, but then my gaze collides with hers.
She’s fearless. She must be to be here.
“Ellise.” I pull back from Sinister and the mage continues to trace the broken hinge on our jail cell.
“I heard they imprisoned you, I just didn’t believe it.” Her thin, graying brows lower over her emerald gaze.
A beat passes and during that settling quiet, Sinister takes a step closer to me.
“They should be praising you not imprisoning you.” The sheet of long white hair shifts back and forth against her features. “They have no idea what you’re capable of. How much you could improve their world just by existing. And this is how they repay you.” It’s then that her gaze lifts to mine.
“It’s just a misunderstanding,” I say to her with little conviction.
She pulls the heavy white fur closer around her delicate shoulders.
“You know this very thing happened decades ago, before either of you were born. They imprisoned mages by the hundreds. Everyone from peasants to royals. Locked them all up out of fear. Just as they’re doing right now to you. And those mages said the same thing.It’s just a misunderstanding.”
At the sound of her eerie voice, a chill crawls so slowly down my spine that I openly shudder.
“You mean when they outlawed mage magic?”
She nods slowly to me.
“They slaughtered my family.” Her voice never wavers but the tightness of her throat as she swallows makes me realize how much it hurts her to say it. “People who once adored me, cared for me, loved me, tried to murder me just because of what I am. And now they try to pretend it never happened. They try to wash their history books of the race of people they nearly cleared from existence. That’s what’s happening to you right now, Arlow.” Her temple rests against the metal bars as her sincere eyes hold on mine. “Believe me when I say, they don’t want you here. There’s nowhere on this earth where they won’t turn against you the moment the wind changes.”
Sinister’s fingers slip into mine, but I don’t feel his reassuring touch. Because I feel her words so much more than I’ll ever feel anything else in my entire life.
I’ve never related to something someone’s said in all my existence.
Ellise is right. I’ve never truly been accepted by society. I’ve always hidden a part of me shamefully away.
“What would you do if you were me?” I take a step closer to her.
“You’re capable of so much more, Arlow. I hate to see how you shut it away. I’ve seen you train with your friend.” Her gaze lifts to Sinister.
“You look familiar,” Sinister says to her.
A pretty smile pulls at her lips, lining her deep green eyes.
“If I were you, I’d find my tribe. Find your people.”
