He had no choice. He needed to give her a chance to share what she knew.
“Very well.”
Savine waved over a guard, who rushed to bring a goblet of wine.
He allowed his coiling essence to loosen, letting the brambles fall to the ground.
Once she was free, Savine gave Morgan the glass. Morgan didn’t hesitate to drink the wine in quick gulps.
“Did you or any Nepheli have any involvement with the disappearance of Avery Hollis?” Savine asked.
Morgan didn’t fight her answer. She never looked uncomfortable as if she struggled against the tug to answer his question truthfully. She didn’t even hesitate in her reply.
“I have no knowledge of her disappearance. This has nothing to do with King Rylo or any Nepheli.”
Savine cursed. He had even less idea where Avery could be. He racked his brain for where she could have gone without her close companions. It wasn’t like her to say nothing about a hike through the woods or a soak in their private hot springs. No, there was something very wrong.
If it wasn’t Rylo, then Morgan’s presence here really was for other purposes.
Savine felt his essence still.
But if it wasn’t Rylo, then it had to be the Hunters.
Garnel approached Savine’s side. He’d been sent to search the surrounding forest, while others looked in town.
Savine pressed his hands into his face. He’d failed Avery again. Let her be taken by someone who wanted to harm her. He’d thought she’d been safe with that crown on her head, but yesterday and now this proved that he was wrong.
“The Hunters took her.”
“Darby is missing too,” Garnel said.
Chapter 43
Avery
There was no way in hell Avery was being sent back to Earth like this. Avery kicked at the Hunter holding her leg in place as to her horror, Darby picked up the wooden bowl from the ground. As she twisted, she threw her head back, smacking it into the Hunter holding her upper body. The crunch of his nose on her skull reverberated off the humming of the portal.
It was enough to distract her captors and Avery gave one solid kick as the now bleeding Hunter dropped her upper body. She fell to the ground with a soft thud, landing in blood splattered snow. The body of one of the murdered guards was close enough for her to smell the metallic tang of his blood.
She didn’t let his death distract her. Not now. Not when her survival counted on quick actions, and Avery’s ability to save herself. No, she couldn’t rely on Savine to always be there to protect her. Avery was the only one who could prevent her disappearance from Aeritis.
Avery ran at Darby, hands still bound behind her. The force she hit Darby with even surprised herself. Darby fell to the ground, the relic sinking slightly into the powder. Immediately, Darby was crawling toward the bowl. She knew exactly what it was.
Avery ran as fast as her body could go, sinking into the freshly fallen snow with every agonizing step. She made it to the relic first, but with her hands tied she’d need to secure the bowl and its magic before Darby could get to it.
She dropped to the powder, sinking her face into the snow as she grabbed the bowl between her teeth. Immediately, she felt a rush of power stir within the bowl. Thinking of how naturally the deep magic had flowed into her the previous day, Avery opened herself to the magic, despite being bound, despite the Hunters closing in on her.
The deep magic ripped into her like the icy waters of a rapid, tearing at the bindings and snapping them into tatters at her feet. With her hands free, Avery wasfucking donewith these creeps. Done being a victim, and done being seen as an enemy because of some arbitrary prophecy.
“Don’t let her attack!” Darby shouted at the Hunters. Avery unsheathed the iron axe at her side. The axe that those cowards would never touch, too concerned about what that pure, cold iron would do to them if they touched it. Just as the day before, she let her magic flow into the weapon, buzzing with as much power as the portal at her side.
Then she unleashed the axe, watching it soar through the air in a perfect arc as it landed at her target.
Darby fell to the ground. Blackened blood and brain matter splattered into the already stained snow. Her body continued to twitch even with the magic infused axe lodged in her skull.
Good riddance.
Avery didn’t have time to retrieve her weapon before the Hunters began closing in on her, corralling her toward the ringing of the portal behind her. This portal was different somehow, more accessible, like it had been tampered to always be open.
