“No, she's a traitor,” Kyrian declared. “To her race, her king, and her fucking morality.”
“Se Esaria, are you sure you're all right?” Cyprian asked.
“I'm fine, darling,” I went to the front of my cell and started openly searching the room. “And even if Ugela can find a way to survive the transfer, she'll never get my immortality.”
“You're immortal too?” Rain asked me.
“Yes. I'm immune to just about anything.”
“Decapitation?” Talon asked with a wry grin.
“Immortal, not invulnerable,” I amended. “Losing my head would likely do the trick.”
“How the fuck are you immortal?” Rain gaped at me.
“Short version—my father was a scientist and developed an elixir. He gave it to me to save my life but destroyed all evidence of it afterward. That woman killed my father for refusing to give the elixir to her. She and her cohort have been hunting me ever since they got wind of my survival.”
“That bitch killed your father?” Rain snarled.
“She killed both my parents—her and a few others.”
“Then they burned down her home,” Malik added with a deadly rumble.
“Where were you when that happened?” Talon asked me.
“In a cupboard.” I gave him a heavy look. “On fire.”
“Fuck!” Rain hissed.
“And you survived it?” Talon cocked his head at me.
“As I said, just about anything. I still felt the pain, but I lived.”
“And that woman wants to take it from you,” Talon concluded. “Your 'just about anything' immortality.”
“Yes.” I sighed. “I'm so sorry you got dragged into this.”
“Dragged into it?” Talon asked in shock. “You freed me from a supe prison. I'm not going to hold you responsible for some lunatic who thinks she can steal your juju.”
“But you said she can't take it, Amara,” Rain circled back to the initial subject. “Why not?”
I looked around, suddenly realizing that Ugela could be listening in. But I supposed it didn't matter if she heard what I said next. In fact, maybe it would be good if she learned that her plans won't work.
“Because it's in my blood, not my magic,” I explained.
“Yeah, she said something about blood,” Talon murmured. “So, if she knows that, why is she bothering with all this?”
“One of the other people who murdered my parents experimented on me,” I explained. “He determined that the elixir can't be extracted from my blood. It's already settled in.”
I slid a look Malik's way. We both knew that wasn't true, but Mal had helped me hide the truth so no one would come after me. Little did we know, they'd come up with other ways to steal the elixir—ways far more heinous than experimenting on me alone.
“So, she's trying this as a last-ditch effort?” Talon gaped at me. “All those people are dead on the off chance that she can take your immortality along with your magic?”
“It would appear so,” I said softly.
“Oh, that woman is going to die screaming,” Talon growled and cracked his neck.
“Indeed,” Malik agreed.
