Josie didn’t look away from Aleissande’s face, not when the general’s gaze was locked on her like a lifeline. Her breath was coming in shallow bursts, her eyes fluttering shut with more frequency.
“You can’t die,” Josie said, her teeth grinding as she tried to rid herself of the tremor in her voice. “I forbid it.”
The corner of Aleissande’s lips twitched, a weak, breathy huff of air escaping her. “I am…your general…”
“And I am your princess,” Josie shot back, adjusting her grip on Aleissande’s hand and dragging it between them. “As such, I command you to survive.”
Aleissande had no idea just how stubborn Josie could be.
Her hold on Josie’s hand loosened.
“Aleissande!”
Aleissande’s eyes fluttered shut, her head going limp in Josie’s hold.
“Do something!” Josie begged the Anima. The woman sent one last glow of healing light over Aleissande’s stomach before moving to her chest. Her hands pressed there, gentle, her eyes closing as she focused on the matter at hand.
“The pain rendered her unconscious. Her pulse is weak, but steady.” She moved to Aleissande’s leg, brushing Natali and Cole’s hands out of the way as she set to work there. “The more we can staunch the bleeding, the better.”
Josie slowly released her hold on Aleissande’s head, but she could not bring herself to release her hand.
“And then what?” she asked, watching as the healer scrubbed an arm across the sweat beading on her brow. The Anima’s face was grim as she met Josie’s gaze.
“And then we pray Mora takes favor on her.”
20
Aya had stopped keeping track of the times they pulled her from her cell. She did not struggle whenever the guard arrived and barked a gruff, “Come on,” tugging at the chain that connected the irons around her wrist.
But she knew, even without a way to track the time, that they had left her in the dark cell for far longer than ever before.
Aya hadn’t seen the sun for…
Well.
It didn’t matter.
There was just the cold of her cell on her bare feet, and the pressure of the shackles on her wrists, and the weight of her power trapped in her well.
The Anima stopped by to check her vitals. To make sure she was alive. To force water and food down her throat.
But Aya had stopped counting those visits, too.
Perhaps they’d gotten what they needed from her and were merely waiting for a more convenient time to kill her.
Or perhaps they were trying to break her further.
Evie would like that. She would want her broken and desperate. An empty shell ready to be filled with the saint’s desires.
Aya closed her eyes.
It was no different behind her eyelids.
It was all dark.
Just dark.
21
