To everyone else in the stands, it would look like an honor guard, but in reality, I was trapped. Even if I transformed into a bat to fly away, there was a magical barrier over the fighting part of the arena to keep flying creatures contained.
No, my only chance was to wait till I was in the dimly litconfines of the preparation room, then I could shadow-step away.
But I never got the chance.
I had to be fully out of bright light to use my shadow-step and Golana was right at the entrance waiting for me. She grabbed my arm and some enchantment washed over me. I collapsed into darkness, unconscious.
And when I woke, despite being in an even darker place… I couldn’t shadow-step for some reason. Also, Saldrea was right beside me.
Her smile was cruel, with a hint of curiosity.
“Tell me, you little shit, who helped you? How did your collar lose its binding? Who gave you those fancy steel wings?”
I couldn’t move. I lay on a cold stone floor with Saldrea kneeling next to me and the rest of her crew close by.
Fuck. This wasn’t good.
“Tell me,” Saldrea hissed. “I’ve already bound you to this place unable to move. I could bind you to tell the truth, but if I have to do that, you’rereallynot going to like it.”
I believed her.
“Izzy,” I said, my voice tight. It felt like there was an iron band around my throat pinning me to the ground. There might actually be, though I guessed it was the force of Saldrea’s binding. “She snuck in, pretended to be the succubus, she altered me and broke the binding on my collar.”
“That cheating little bitch,” Saldrea spat the words as she rose. “Not playing by the rules, are we?”
I didn’t point out that Saldreaneverplayed by the rules, since I should be free right now.
“I’ll make her pay for that,” Saldrea murmured with a hint of glee. She looked down at me. “But first… you’ll pay for your part in her treachery.” She laughed. “If you thought those jailors were tough on you… I’m a thousand times worse.”
I believed her. There were lurid legends of Saldrea’s torture. Nothing could prepare me for what would come next.
IZZY
Myel was missing.
Everyone had been looking, even Rook, who’d found us after Myel had won the fight. The incubus had wished to congratulate Myel and also mentioned wanting to talk to me, but he hadn’t yet had the chance. Myel hadn’t been in the victor’s room, where we’d expected. And when Koar had unsubtly “questioned” the arena staff, we’d found out Golana and a bunch of guards had hurried the shifter away.
After that, I’d turned inward, to my bond, seeking out my mate, even as a sinking feeling had filled my gut with cold dread.
West.
Myel lay somewhere to the west, among the many residences. I feared I knew exactly where he was, in a certain false princess’ clutches.
“Fuck,” I hissed, then told the others what I’d felt.
We all hurried in that direction, crossing a bridge over the river which ran through campus. Some other time, I might have stopped to admire the beautiful view off one side of the bridge, where the river almost immediatelydropped off a waterfall, and beyond lay the sparkling ocean. But I barely noticed the view in my periphery, focused on Myel and the mounting sense of doom churning in my stomach.
Please God, don’t let him?—
A wave of agony hit me like a ton of bricks, stopping me dead. My momentum carried me forward, falling down the last few steps off the bridge to the hard stone path, where I writhed in the street, screaming.
Pain radiated through my bond with Myel, wracking my body, dominating my thoughts. I couldn’t think, couldn’t speak. Myel was being tortured, probably in Saldrea’s dungeons. I knew it to be true but couldn’t communicate it to the others.
Vyns collapsed to one knee next to me, teeth gritted.
“Izzy? What’s wrong? I can feel…” Some of this raging agony must have transferred from my spirit to his. That’s how all-consuming this torment was.
Just when the pain in one area began to lessen, some other place exploded in dazzling affliction.
