I slammed my fist against the balcony’s edge, cracking the black stone.
“You have no right to keep her against her will,” I said. “I demand to know where you are keeping her.”
“Do you not tire of this game? Your incessant attempts at heroics are entertaining, but I am afraid the joke has worn thin. There are many of your people you could be expending such time over. This girl is not of this Realm, yet you worry for her as if she were your lover,” Ezreal said. “Bring this to me again, young prince, and it will be your actual lover that pays the price.”
I had been soin love with Melanie, and I could not imagine anything happening to her.
How ironic and cruel fate could be.
This must be because of him.
Ezreal.
The man that forced me to lie to Anna, lest she learn he was the one behind her mother’s murder. An insane blood mage she had no chance of defeating.
She could never know, or she would die trying to kill him for what he did to her and her mother.
“I will get her out, Blake,” she said, never looking at me. “I know that my heart will never feel what you do, but I can see that you can feel it. Let this be how I earn your trust back.”
She vanished back into the corridor.
I stared where she had stood, stunned by her admission. She was different, and I was not sure it was for the better, but one thing was certain—she was not playing games anymore.
Melanie had not been gone two minutes when the door opened again.
Anger closed ranks in my mind as Ezreal Kalmont entered the room.
“You,” I growled.
Ezreal briefly looked at me from the corner of his eye, a slight glint in his eye enough to set my muscles ablaze with rage.
“Prince Rykiren,” he said, sounding bored. “There is someone I would like for you to meet.”
My fists tightened as I imagined wrapping them around his neck. My fury was raw as I sharpened my everi to attempt to slice through these everi manacles, but a sudden change in theair sent a jolt of pain through my body, arcing my back as I yelled out. Sweat poured down my forehead and into my eyes as the door opened.
The pain was throbbing already, but the man that entered the room brought in radiating waves of pressure that made my vision blur. His cloak was long and thick, his stature tall and lean. I could hardly breathe in his presence, and fear spread throughout me like a cancer.
It could not be.
He turned his head toward me, his expression calm, his eyes lidded. They were the most intense red I had ever seen in a blood mage—like the deepest red of the setting sun after a bloody battle. They were haunting, blazing, yet familiar.
Because if they were their usual color, I was sure they would have been a cool steel just like mine.
Chapter 50
Ezreal Kalmont
ANNA
The storm outside was still raging. I saw my reflection in the glass, but I didn't recognize what I saw. I panted, my chest rising and falling rapidly as I stared at the window, my fist bloody and not a crack in it. I had poured everything I had into trying to destroy the glass to escape, but nothing worked.
How was this room so secure? I tried everything. I’d pulled every book from the shelves and injured every part of my body trying to break myself out forcibly. Ezreal’s office was a fortress.
I cried out in frustration and kicked the desk, unable to even splinter a piece of wood.
“Damn it!” I muttered, lowering myself to the floor. I wrapped my arms around my knees and rested my forehead against them.
I wanted to see Blake. I wanted to get out of here. I wanted to leave Nightfall far behind and never come back. I wanted to be free of this pain.
