He doesn’t look happy. He says, “I’m sorry.”
There’s a lot for him to be sorry about. “For which part?”
He presses his lips together; his jaw clenches. “Come with me willingly and it won’t hurt as much.”
Likethat’sgoing to make me go with him. “I don’t think so.”
On the other side of the cavern, the Elven Commanders point at the wall, running their fingers over it, finding particular grooves, pointing at others.
Grayson says, “You don’t have a choice. You saw what they did to Indira. The gargoyles guarding these springs won’t survive a fight and you know it.”
So hedidsee the gargoyles outside the springs.
When I dig my heels in, he shakes his head at me. “Why are you so hell bent on stopping us from ascending? I thought you’d want us to go.”
“And let you destroy the springs?”
He shrugs. “The gargoyles will be like everyone else—reliant on healers.”
“Grayson… destroying the springs will collapse our world. These springs are the pivot point on which our world was built. The Earth city above us will also be destroyed when this enormous pocket of air beneath it caves in. If it was a matter of just letting you go, trust me, I want you gone.”
He flinches. “You want me gone.”
Of all the things I just said, he’s going to focus on that. I glare at the Commanders who continue to run their hands over the wall as though they are painting on it. “I wantthemgone. You… oh… I can’t figure you out. But I won’t let you kill my people.”
Grayson’s eyes become narrow slits. I suspected that the Elven Commanders hadn’t told him about our world collapsing but if this news means anything to him, he doesn’t show it. A rope made of light springs up around me, twining around my waist and chest. Unlike Priscilla’s, this one is surprisingly strong. I guess I keep telling him things he doesn’t want to hear.
He orders, “Come with me. Or they will kill your friend first and then the gargoyles outside.”
I struggle against the binding. “They can’t touch Indira in the springs.”
“No, but they can curse her to drown.”
I don’t know if that’s true or not. After a glance at Indira, I follow Grayson, but reluctantly. When we reach them, Elwyn takes my chin in his claw-like fingers. His hands are wet and slippery from poking at the wall and it makes me shudder.
“When the ancients descended, they built a fail safe to protect the pathway back to Earth’s surface. Only royal blood can open it.” His fingernail trails down the side of my neck and rests against the sensitive hollow at the top of my left collarbone. “In fact, we need the living blood ofbothroyal lines. Lucky for us, you carry both.”
Off to the side, Priscilla gives me a mock curtsey. “Don’t worry, my Queen, we aren’t going to kill you. Unfortunately.”
Elwyn’s fingernail grows longer, sharper, about to pierce my skin. “We just need you to bleed a little.” He yanks me forward and thuds a fist into my stomach, forcing me to bend around Grayson’s ropes. “Right here on this spot.”
There are markings carved into the rock—both on the wall and the ground. The spot over which I bend is right above a large carved circle. As soon as his fingernail pierces me, I will drip blood onto the cavern floor. I close my eyes as his fingernail turns iron-hard and sharp as a dagger, its tip cutting a hole in my skin.
I will not do it.
Virtuous flares and my skin closes over, healing as fast he can cut. Elwyn scowls. Presses harder. Makes his fingernail sharper.
I continue to heal. At the same time, my Incorruptible power grows. Quietly. Slowly. I need them all close by so I can end them at the same time. Then Indira will be safe.
I close my heart to any regret I feel about killing Grayson too.
I grit my teeth. “I refuse.”
He gives up on his fingernail and grips my throat, his fingers tightening around my neck as he lifts me, choking me. “I will drown your friend. I will burn your gargoyles. I will kill the traitor elves—”
I snarl, choking, “I will still fight you!”
Power grows around me now. Not so quietly. Not so slowly. My eyes fill with lightning, my heart fills with strength…
