I swung my head around and nailed Laous with my bitchiest glare. Piece of shit asshole of a father. Hiding Rao away. I wanted to ask him why, but I was afraid it was about his face, and then I was afraid I might stomp on Laous’ throat. Which might get me hit again.
“Daniel is a good man,” I said to Rao. “He would have been a great friend to you. Laous should not have kept you apart.”
His eyes glittered at me and I realized they were a golden brown. I hadn’t noticed before now, because he was so tall and tended not to look directly at me. The color was like Daniel’s, but less cinnamon and more gold. Truly beautiful eyes.
When I told him that, he started to shuffle his feet, and my instincts were to hug him tight, but that was not going to happen. I didn’t hug strangers who had hit me, no matter how much they tugged at my heartstrings.
Laous stirred beside me and I sucked up as much energy as I could, jumping to my feet. As I expected, I wobbled like crazy once I was standing; my legs just didn’t want to hold me any longer. Heaviness pressed down on me, like darkness seeping into my soul, and I ached. My eyes burned as I fought back tears.
The weariness was one thing, but this … depression … which was closing off my mind and sucking away all will to live, was the most worrisome of all. I knew what I needed, what my body needed.
Daniel. This was the side-effect of the bond he’d mentioned.
“He won’t hurt you now,” Rao said, distracting me, and I realized he thought I was shaking because his father was waking.
I tried to smile. But there was nothing happy inside of me, so it no doubt looked more like a grimace. “I need to get back to House of Imperial,” I mumbled. “I am tied to that land, and not … strong enough … to be … away … yet.”
I was back on my knees, but at least I was about six feet from Laous, who had his eyes open, right hand rubbing across his forehead. Rao blocked my view, his strong hands sliding in under my armpits as he lifted me up.
I slumped against him, desperately wishing I could stand on my own, but knowing there was no chance. “Don’t let him touch me,” I murmured.
I felt Laous’ presence as he stalked toward us, that malice he carried drifting just ahead of his angry stomps. “You’re lucky I need you alive, grubber!” He was a few decibels short of shouting. “But you will be punished. Plenty I can do to keep you alive and unhappy.”
I’ll bet. From the corner of my eyes I could see him looking around, seeming to notice where we were. “Why have you brought us here, Rao? Was this the only transporter you could get? How long have we been here? The council could be on their way right now!”
I remained slumped against the big guy’s chest, and when Laous went to roughly haul me off, his son moved me just out of reach. “No,” he said firmly. “You hurt her.”
Laous snarled then, very animalistic. “I didn’t give her that black eye. So maybe you should be more worried about your temper.”
I patted his chest. Gentle taps was all I could manage, but he felt it. “You didn’t … hurt.”
Yeah, I was done with the forming and speaking of the words. How annoying. I could handle a lot of things, but not being able to talk was not one of them. Angry glaring did not sufficiently portray my true annoyance. I needed witty one liners.
“Give her to me, or you will find yourself in the cell next to hers.”
I wanted to punch him in the head again. So badly. Rao just moved me even further away. “No.”
I was cheering him loudly in my head, as another wave of darkness pushed in on me. “She needs to get out of here,” Laous told him. “I will use one of my pre-arranged transporters to the edge of Imperial. I planned it that way, because I know she needs the energy. So hand her over right now. Otherwise she will die and end up in the justices. Her soul … it’s fading away.”
At least the council was doing something right. Laous was struggling to get around without being able to use this network freely. Still, he’d obviously figured out some way to get to House of Imperial undetected if he needed it.
When Laous’ cold, hard grip wrapped around my forearms, I shuddered. His touch was probably the worst thing I had ever felt, but my fight was gone for the day. If I had been more in my right mind, I might have freaked out by how close I was to death. I felt it rattling around inside of me, the slow wheezing of my breath the only sound I had left to focus on. But I sort of just accepted that if it was my time to go, it was my time to go.
Would Daniel die too?
Something I really should have asked him before now. Our souls were bonded, his keeping mine alive. But did it go back the other way as well? I seriously hoped it wouldn’t. The thought of Daniel dying was like being stabbed with a rusty blade, right in the chest.
What felt like hours later, I was roughly hauled to the ground, feeling like I’d passed through a sauna on my way down. Warm and damp air surrounded me, dampening my skin. As I landed, my already sore head slammed into a hard object, and everything went really fuzzy and dark around the edges.
I must have lay there for some time, until eventually cold seeped into my skin, which had my body violently shaking. With this came a sliver of clarity. My eyes flicked open, and my sight adjusted faster than I expected. I was in a gray room; it looked like a cross between a jail cell and a room in a mental hospital, minus the padded walls. Rolling over, I got to my feet, surprised by how steady I was. My energy felt like it was kicking back in as well. I was somewhere in Imperial.
That had been way too close. I would take Daniel’s warnings a lot more seriously from now on. A soul-bond was not something to mess around with.
Moving freely took me a few moments, but once my body was functioning again, I examined the full scope of my surroundings: four gray walls, a hard, dirt-like floor, and a small square glass window on the wall in front of me. No door.
I dragged myself across the room to stare out of the square, but there was nothing except darkness outside. Either it was night or I was in a place devoid of all light. My cell was lit, though, the brightness at the point of hurting my eyes.
The room held no bed. Or toilet. Nothing which would improve my situation. I didn’t need to pee right this second, but eventually I would. Slumping against the wall, I tried not to think about Daniel. My yearning for him did not need to gather any speed. We were a team, that was true, but I was also going to hold on to as much of my independence as I could. No waiting for my knight in shining armor to arrive. I had to save myself.
