I followed, but a part of me wanted to go back and check on Izzy. I wasn’t sure why I needed her to live. Except… she was unlike any woman I’d ever known, strong and resilient and fierce, but without the usual arrogance which went with those traits. Perhaps it was an act, but I had a feeling what I’d seen today was Izzy’s true nature. It was hard to put on airs when you were being tortured.
And once again, I couldn’t help but wonder how different this world might be if Izzy was queen. A world of acceptance, restraint, moderation, and equality? A world where my sister and I would be safe.
It seemed preposterous.
Impossible.
But as long as Izzy lived… there was hope, however faint. Maybe, once my sister was safe, I’d do more than free Izzy and her shifter. If her goal was to overthrow Saldrea and Valnea… I just might help.
AMARHUK (ROOK)
“Izzy?Fuck. Izzy? What’s going on? Izzy!”
“What’s wrong with you?” Lhorine hissed, voice low. “Quiet!”
I hadn’t realized I’d been speaking aloud till the elf pointed it out, but I couldn’t help myself. It was this damned mental link with Izzy. A part of me was glad I didn’t share a mate bond or spirit link, as then I might have felt what the woman had just gone through, whatever it had been. Instead, I’d caught her thoughts, but they’d been so jagged and disconcerting and horrible that I’d still been confused, filled with mental anguish.
Not all of her thoughts reached me, but when they were screamed at me with such distress, they rang through my mind so loud it was hard to concentrate.
The horrible part was, I had no context. I assumed Saldrea was doing something to Izzy from the scattered thoughts I’d received, but I had no clue. And whatever it was, it had been dreadful and painful and terrifying.
There had been some snarky mention of Saldrea earlier in Izzy’s thoughts, which was the only reason I knew thefalse princess was involved. But… wasn’t Vyns supposed to be ensuring Izzy wasn’t hurt?
Though, come to think of it, if Saldrea and all her goons showed up, there wouldn’t be much Vyns could do to stop them. We probably should have considered that.
Too late now.
And there was nothing I could do to help Izzy. Lhorine and I were far from campus, staking out the prison compound Bayn had told us about, where his sister was being kept. I still couldn’t believe the big titan wouldn’t help us until his sister was free, but then… if it had been my family… I might have done the same.
The prison was hidden in the woods, far from prying eyes, about a half-hour’s walk from the city of Yrensil. Veilblood Academy was in the opposite direction, miles and miles through dense woods. The easiest way to get here would be to take the campus sigil point to Yrensil, then walk into the forest, but we’d wanted to avoid the known routes. So, Lhorine and I had walked through the forest. Luckily, Lhorine had an earth-based enhancement which allowed her to move extremely fast through nature while seemingly only moving at a walking pace. She’d gotten us here in just a few short minutes.
“Rook? You with me?” Lhorine whispered, intently. “Here comes a guard, you ready?”
Nope, not remotely.
We’d stationed ourselves along the simple path from the prison compound to Yrensil, in hopes of capturing a guard on his way home after his shift. Lhorine would then bind him and get him to tell us any passwords or other security measures inside the underground bunker. But after what I’d just experienced, I was distracted as hell. It didn’t help that, after all that screaming, Izzy’s mind had suddenly gonesilent. That could mean she’d passed out, but what if Saldrea hadn’t waited for tomorrow? What if she’d killed Izzy and none of us had been there to help?
I couldn’t get that thought out of my head as Lhorine took action.
“We need to go now!” she hissed at me, then leaped out from the bushes. She tackled the surprised guard, but he was quick, and an elf like her, so he fought back with everything he had.
I should do something, but given the frenetic chaos in my head, I couldn’t concentrate, and I might hurt Lhorine instead of helping her.
“Rook! ROOK!” Lhorine hissed as she struggled with the guard.
I reached out to Lhorine, hoping to enhance her spirit to help her fight… only I was muddled, and I didn’t use the right power. I did what came more naturally to me and surged her lust.
“Fuck!” Lhorine gasped, low and heated. “Not helping!” The guard had the upper hand now and was about to get free.
I sapped her lust and surged it into the guard instead. The guard gave a startled moan. We’d see how well he fought with the world’s hardest erection in his pants. Then, I leaped out of the bushes and managed to clock the guard, stunning him. After that Lhorine overpowered him and subdued him easily enough.
“What was that?” she asked, out of breath, as she dragged the guard’s body into hiding. “What happened to you?”
“Sorry,” I said with a heavy sigh. “I’m connected to Izzy’s mind and she just endured something horrible. I was distracted.”
Lhorine huffed.
“What is it with that woman and binding herself to men?”
