Charen rages, but his mouth remains shut, and the others beat on the bars and try to get to me. Despite their efforts, we all know that if Selene wants my life, she can take it. I’m battered, losing blood, out of magic, and far from the sun I need to replenish my abilities.
“What do you want?” I croak.
She sighs. “Entertainment.”
“What?”
She swirls the moss in her hand and whispers to it, then puts her ear to it and laughs. “It says the last person who was in this cell died after the rats chewed into their wrists.” She lifts her palms and blows the moss toward me, its pungent scent like smelling salts.
I blink, everything in me becoming more aware, more awake. The pain begins to fade, and I feel that sharp tug of my bond to Emma. She’s right here. So close to me that I can almost feel her heartbeats.
“That one’s free. Think of it as an ‘I’m sorry I cursed you and your entire realm and triple crossed you but not really because it has been quite a ride and I can’t wait to see what happens next’ token.” She stands and claps her hands as if dusting them off. “Now, I have a mating to attend. You all best freshen up. You’re the guests of honor.” She jumps onto the stones overhead and clambers up, her obsidian skin crackling as she folds and shoves herself between the metal bars, her spiderlike legs twisting and twirling until she’s free. “Don’t forget the stone,” she calls as she disappears into the damp gloom.
“What stone?” Bladin asks.
“We have to kill her.” Everett runs a hand through his hair. “I don’t think I can take being jerked around by her—like a marionette on a cursed string—any longer.”
Charen stares into the darkness where she disappeared. “I underestimated her.”
“We all did.” Tristano jumps and grips the bars overhead, the ones that feed directly into the stone wall. “But if she can get out, maybe …” He kicks a leg through but gets no further.
“At least you look better.” Bladin sits and watches me. “The wound is closing. You still haven’t turned.”
“She’s not fully a seeker. Not enough to infect you with her venom.” Charen finally drops his gaze to me. “She isn’t fully one of them.”
I know what he’s getting at, where his thoughts have been ever since he realized she’d been bitten.
“You think she can be saved?” Everett stumbles right into the silent part of our conversation.
“I will save her.” I stand and stretch, my limbs loosening as the pain dissipates. “Even if she was a full seeker, I’d find a way to save her.”
“She bit you, then left you to Eraldon’s horde. Not to mention the way she field dressed you.” Tristano jumps down and gives the bars overhead a nasty glare. “Maybe she’s not fully a seeker, but she’s with him now.”
“She’s my mate, not his.” I don’t care if he’s bitten her or tried to stake his claim, she’s bound to me.
“If he mates her, he—”
“He won’t.” I can’t think about it. I can’t, or I’ll go mad and never be able to rescue her from Eraldon’s grasp. “He’ll never get that far.”
“We have to be realistic. You said he planned to mate her as soon as—”
“She ismine.” My feral’s voice reverberates off the walls.
Charen pulls Tristano away. “We need to form a plan to get out of here alive. If we can manage that, we can deal with the rest as it comes.”
I want to fight Tristano, to grind him into the grimy floor, but my anger is misplaced. He’s only speaking the truth out loud. I simply don’t want to hear it. We are caught, surrounded by our enemies, but I won’t give up. I will fight for Emma until I’m called to the Glowing Lands. But that means I need a plan.
“Gather round.” I grip the bars separating me from my warriors. “We need to plan our attack.”
“How can we?” Everett grumbles. “Selene’s bound us.”
I lower my voice. “For now. But I suspect she’ll dispense with that spell once we’re in Eraldon’s presence.”
“She’s already betrayed us, my lord.” Charen shakes his head. “How do you know she won’t do it again?”
“One simple reason.” I smirk, finally having some insight into the witch’s dark workings. “More entertaining for her that way.”
22
