“That's what I thought,” he mutters, noticing that Sabina lowers her head in shame while Sylara simply remains impassive.
“The Sphere of Emet and the Mirror of Alétheia await you,” he announces, releasing the pressure on my throat. “I'll send you the necessary information during the next few days.”
“Oh, no, no way. I've fulfilled my part,” I protest, shaking my head quickly. “The deal was to steal the arrow. We already did it. Now leave me alone forever like we agreed.”
“Niletta, did you really believe it would be that simple? I need all three artifacts, and I need you to get them. What you want or what you believed were the terms of our deal, is irrelevant in practice.”
“Well, you can go find another idiot to do your dirty work,” I growl.
Kaelisar sighs dramatically, like a father disappointed with a misbehaving child.
“Colt Riordan,” he whispers, watching as my face tenses with fear. “Chad Parker. Cherie Williams. Seth Donovan. Gilbert Franks. They'll go to prison for the rest of their pathetic human lives. Or thinking about it, maybe I'll pay them a visit myself. I'll leave you alive so you canremember their names and their cruel fate for the many years you'll live as Fae.”
“You're a monster,” I spit, feeling tears of rage roll down my cheeks.
“No, you're wrong. I'm a king,” he corrects. “And you're a piece on my board, Niletta Collins. You're going to play this game, whether you want to or not.”
Chapter 20
Nell
“Did none of you feel that... that giving the arrow to Kaelisar was wrong?” I ask with a long sigh, looking at them one by one. “I mean, deeply wrong. Like the arrow itself didn't want to go with him and was begging us not to let him take it.”
Althea frowns, spinning the obsidian stone between her fingers much faster than usual. Small sparks occasionally jump from it.
“I felt discomfort,” she admits. “But not at the level you're describing.”
“I also sensed something,” Sylara confesses, lowering her tone until it becomes a whisper. “A kind of... resistance, I think that would be the right word.”
I turn toward Sabina, who keeps her gaze fixed on her wine glass.
“I also felt something weird. The water around the arrow was agitated,” she acknowledges. “It was subtle, but it was there, I have no doubt about that. A vibration of... fear,maybe. It seemed like fear to me, but it doesn't make any sense because the arrow is an inanimate object without any kind of feelings.”
I let out a breath. I'm not crazy after all.
“For me it was like a scream,” I explain, hugging myself. “Like the arrow was asking for help. That's why I felt the impulse to attack Kaelisar to take it from him and run away.”
Althea gets up from her seat and sits next to me. She presses against me and her body transmits a warmth that contrasts with Sabina's coolness. I feel strangely good between them.
“There was nothing you could have done,” the Kobold assures, putting an arm around my shoulders and pulling me against her. “Confronting Kaelisar is suicide. You saw it with your own eyes.”
“I know,” I murmur, leaning against her shoulder. “But that doesn't make me feel better. I can't shake the feeling that we failed that arrow, and now the consequences could be disastrous.”
Sylara approaches and kneels in front of me, taking my hands in hers and squeezing them slightly.
“Kaelisar is too strong an enemy and a manipulator,” she whispers, seeking my gaze.
We remain like this for several minutes, in a strangely comfortable silence that seems to heal something inside me. Sabina strokes my back in small circles, while Althea keepsme anchored with her arm over my shoulders. The elf hasn't released my hands, and her thumbs trace patterns over my knuckles.
It's very strange. I feel protected. Valued. And something more I prefer not to think about.
“What do we know about the other artifacts?” I ask, breaking the silence. “The sphere and the mirror.”
Sabina sighs, and her breath caresses my cheek.
“They're very powerful objects, just like the arrow. We'll worry about them when we have additional information. None of us wants to hand them over to Kaelisar, you can be sure of that. But we don't have another alternative.”
“And when he gets all three?” I ask.
