He walked slowly toward the bed and picked up the red shard. “I like this one. I’m going to keep it.”
My heart sank as he strapped it to his back. But if he at least left the others?—
“You can’t be here alone,” he said. “I can control them. You saw. But they’re beasts at the end of the day. So you’re coming with me. It’s the only way I can keep you safe.”
“Where?” I asked.
“To the mines.” He hauled me up to my feet, and dragged me against him.
“Can you untie me?” I asked. “Please.”
“No.”
“I won’t … I won’t run away from you. You protected me. Like always. I want to be with you, Rhyan.” A tear fell. “You know that. That’s why I came to you. To find you. But the others—you saw what they were like. You have to untie me, just so I can defend myself.” His eyebrows lifted.
“Against the others,” I said. “Because I’m yours. I won’t let them touch me.”
“They won’t touch you. Because I won’t let them,” he said and reached below the bed. There was another piece of rope. He looped it around the one already around my arms, and then took the opposite end in his hand.
A leash. He’d made me a Godsdamned leash.
“And I’m not stupid enough to fall for that, Lyr. You’ll stay by my side until the work is done. And then, I’m going to make you one of us.”
“Rhyan!”
He tugged on the rope. “Come on, partner,” he said, his voice cold and cruel.
Then he walked out of the alcove, pulling on my leash until I was forced to walk forward, lest I be dragged. Because this Rhyan wasn’t going to stop if I fell.
A heavy rock lay outside the opening of our alcove. He pushed it between the walls, effectively turning it into a door, cutting me off from the room and all of my things. My swords, my stave, my armor. All of my weapons.
The cavernous walls loomed over me, and I could hear grunts in the distance. Rhyan moved forward, the red shard on his back glowing a faint red, before it blacked out leaving me in darkness with no choice but to follow him.
Chapter
Thirty-Two
LYRIANA
Rhyan led me down the length of a long dark tunnel. I nearly gagged with each step. The smells wafting from the ground were awful. There were things I couldn’t, and didn’t, want to identify. But the main smell I recognized easily—the rancid scent of piss. It was like the akadim just relieved themselves wherever they were. Whenever they wanted.
I was willing to bet that Rhyan’s little alcove was maybe the only enclosed space here that didn’t smell completely disgusting. Another piece of him that had stuck. His hygiene.
A light flared ahead signaling we were reaching the end of the tunnel, and indeed, we walked out onto a stony pathway. The space opened up beneath high ceilings of dark, uneven stone. The footpath sloped upward, the incline almost breathtaking in its sharpness. And after a minute of walking, it had become so steep I felt like I was climbing up a mountain. I guess in a way I was, I was just on the inside of it. I had to lean all my weight forward to keep from falling. Between my arms being tied behind my back, and the way it attached to the leash in Rhyan’s hand, my balance was completely thrown off. It was taking all of my effort to remain upright. Rhyan barely seemed to notice.He marched to the top with ease, his arms swinging carelessly. He didn’t slow down, not even once. Not even to pause and look back, to check if I was okay.
My calves were already burning—even with all of my training as I climbed, desperately trying to match Rhyan’s new pace. It was more than the fact that he wasn’t slowing. Being a foot taller than before, his stride had widened. The ground was so rough, if I fell, he’d keep going and I’d be completely banged up as he dragged me along. Or worse, if he lost his balance, and fell with me, I’d plummet to the bottom. And thanks to my fucking leash, he’d crush me completely.
I tried not to think about it. The thought of falling. But mostly of Rhyan not caring—of Rhyan—Rhyan—putting me in harm’s way. He was always so careful with me, always calculating our risks, looking out for every kind of danger we might face. I never knew anyone more prepared for threats than him. My chest panged. The Rhyan I knew would have already found a way to escape. He would have scooped me into his arms, gathered my weapons, handed the red shard back to me, and traveled us away from here. Somewhere safe, somewhere where we could be alone, and hold each other and …
Akadim Rhyan grunted, pulling me back to the present. And then literally, by pulling me forward with a rough tug that had me tripping over a small rock.
It wasn’t him. It wasn’t him. I had to remember that. Whatever features he kept, whatever memories he had, or personality quirks, it wasn’t him, he wasn’t inside that body. It was only a void for where his soul had once resided.
My feet ached from the sharp incline as I took another step, tightening my core to keep from falling over. Sweat beaded my forehead and the back of my neck. It started to itch. Gods. If only I could use my damn hands.
Finally, the ground evened out beneath me, and the walls opened up. We emerged from what was essentially a collapsing tunnel, into an expansive stone cavern. With each step we took, the ceiling rose higher and I caught the slightest breeze of air from ahead. It was stale, but it was moving.
I took a deep breath, trying not to consider the danger around me, or the danger I was bound to. I just had to survive. Not think. Not worry. Survive.
