“When a threat to you is nearby, it—”
The ruby exploded with crimson light.
“Glows?” I asked weakly.
A hand grabbed the back of my neck and yanked me through a portal. I barely glimpsed Ari’s shocked face before the darkness closed in.
I landed on my back on a stone floor. Dazedly, I stared up at herbs hanging from the rafters. Between the barrels on the walls and the cool air, this seemed to be a windowless basement. No one would hear me scream down here.
My sister Ysabel’s scowling face loomed over me. She was flanked by Alzira and Kaine, both fixing me with equally murderous glares. Ysabel wore a white silk dress and silver high heels. Even with the heels, she was short and thin as a wraith. Despite her sticklike wrists, she’d put on weight recently, entirely located on her stomach—wait a moment. That was a baby bump.
I gasped. “Hey, I’m going to be an aunt! I’m so excited!”
Ysabel planted the heel of her boot directly on my neck and ground down. “You have ten seconds to tell me where to find my little sister, or I’ll kill you.”
Chapter Thirteen
Igasped and choked, unable to breathe. The pointed heel drove directly into the most vulnerable part of my neck, bringing burning pain. My vision narrowed into a black tunnel with a single ray of light. I had the horrifying realization that despite the comedic nature of this situation, I could seriously die like this, murdered by my own sister. The pain of my buckling throat threatened to swallow my mind. I could barely speak. “P-please …”
Ysabel very slightly lessened the pressure. Hatred twisting her face, she hissed, “Five seconds.”
“It’s me! Bora!”
Ysabel stared at me. I’d prepared myself for disbelief, but I only got total incomprehension.
I spoke rapidly while I had the chance. “If you’ll only ask Donya—”
“Don’t address Donya by her first name as if you’re friends!” Ysabel stomped on my throat again.
I gurgled. Red spots danced before my eyes. As my neck jerked, I glimpsed Donya lying on top of a blanket on the floor with a bandage around her head.
The instant the foot raised and air returned to me, I screamed, “What did you do to her?”
Kaine and Alzira immediately pointed at each other and said at the same time, “He did it!” and “She did it!”
“You blew up the wall with one of your thousand interminable gifts,” Alzira growled.
Kaine pouted. “You got in my way when I was trying to pull Donya to safety. I saw you elbow her in the forehead.”
“I did not!” Alzira reached for her sword hilt. “How dare you blame me for your errors, you unworthy dog.”
“You want to go at it again?” Kaine rolled on the balls of his feet, his palms starting to glow.
“You’re both responsible,” Ysabel said.
Immediately, the two of them stopped and hung their heads. “Sorry, Ysabel,” they mumbled.
“Why are you two picking a fight instead of healing Donya?” I shouted.
“How dare you cast aspirations on the Holy Maiden’s generosity!” Alzira cried. “Ysabel promised Donya to never use a day of her own life to heal her, and she wouldn’t take a day of Donya’s life without permission unless the injury was lethal. She said Donya would wake up shortly. Are you questioning Her Holiness’s healing knowledge?”
“Oh, that makes sense.” That was just like my older sister, to be unwilling to take even a day of someone else’s life without asking first. Too many people had done that to her already. It was only recently that she’d obtained the ability to use someone else’s lifespan instead of her own to heal. “Yzzy, you’re such a good person, even if you did step on me. Still, you didn’t recognize me, and I know you must be worried, so consider it forgiven.”
For the first time, I noticed my sister’s disheveled condition. The bags under her eyes left her face hollowed out. She clearly hadn’t combed her hair, which for Ysabel was quite unthinkable. Dirt stained her dress and, to be honest, she didn’t smell like she’d had a bath lately, either.
Tears filled my eyes. “You must have rushed here to save me. Thank you. But you shouldn’t be overstraining yourself if you’re pregnant. Please sit down and rest.”
Ysabel fixed me with a glare that could melt steel. “Now why are you acting likewe’refriends, you bitch?”
