Carefully, she put the curtain back in place and snuck back to the stone wall. She had to act fast. Saydren could come back any moment. Her hand searched for a switch, but she couldn’t find any strange asperities in the wall.
For a second, she panicked. What if the wall was spelled and she needed a password to open it? But then her finger came in contact with a smooth stone and the wall opened in front of her. The noise of the mechanism echoed in her ears.
“Saydren? Is that you?” Karwyn called out.
She ran out of the room and almost twisted her ankle on the way out. Her mind kept going back to what she had witnessed as she made her way out of the underground. What was Karwyn doing with fae’s blood?
Amira ran all the way back to her room, barely controlling her erratic breathing. In her haste, she bumped into someone walking in the opposite direction. She was almost back to her room. Just a few more steps—
“You in a rush?” the fae she ran into said with a teasing tone.
It took her a few seconds to recognise him. Thyl’s sleek black hair was pushed away from his face, revealing his dark emerald eyes. He had the same cheeky smile as the night she had met him.
“I’m sorry.” Amira’s eyes searched for her bedroom door. She was so close. She took a step forward but Thyl moved in front of her, blocking her way to the door.
“Wait, I might have something to help you.” Reaching into his pocket, he took out the same shiny silver and red pill. “Here. It will take your mind off things.”
“I don’t want it,” said Amira, remembering Tarnan’s words.
He grabbed her hand and placed the pill in her palm. “I really think you should take it. Who knows, you might need it someday,” he said as his eyes searched hers. And before she could reply, he disappeared around the corner.
Back in her room, Amira looked at the tiny pill, wondering what it would feel like to just swallow it. She had never taken any sort of drugs. Hell, she hadn’t even known about fortae until a few days ago. Would it be so wrong to feel good, worry-free for only a moment?
She closed her eyes, imagining an hour of pure bliss where nothing could touch her. Where she could forget about all the pain in her life, all the pain she had caused and witnessed.
Tarnan’s voice growled at her ear, “You’re better than that, Amira.”
She didn’t want to disappoint him. And she couldn’t let herself forget what she had just witnessed in the underground.
Karwyn’s behavior reminded her of the Dark King. Using fae blood could mean his witch was playing with dark magic. Everyone knew where that path led. To destruction. The Dark King had paid a high price for his involvement with dark magic. It had twisted his very being, made him dependent on feeding on other fae’s life sources.
Amira didn’t know Karwyn’s intention, but she was sure it wasn’t good.
If she told the foreign advisors, they could discredit him as a viable option for the contest. That would mean that the blood contract between Karwyn and her would be terminated. It wouldn’t free her of her brother, but it might very well be her way out of this particular nightmare.
Chapter53
Lora
The journey back to camp was less than pleasant. They didn’t dare stop for too long, but none of them could walk very far with their injuries. They took multiple breaks that lasted for short stretches of time, and even at night they never rested for long. Whenever they stopped, Lora would pass out from exhaustion until it was time to make it through another brutal section of the desert of Rubien. When she was awake, her mind raced restlessly, fearing someone had followed them even though they had no indication of being trailed.
Lora was still highly aware of her injuries. Every step she took felt exhausting. The wound in her stomach pulsated if she only slightly moved the wrong way. At least her head wasn’t screaming in pain. She assumed it was her fae side healing the concussion she must have gotten. The wound on her stomach took the longest to heal.
But she didn’t have it as bad as the human woman, who was still in critical condition. They carried her on an improvised stretcher. They didn’t have the tools or enough healing items to fix her up completely right then and there. Fae healing items worked much better on fae. Farren had stitched the woman up as well as he could at the cave, but he needed to take a closer look at home and make sure the wound didn’t get infected.
Home.If everything went right for once, Lora would be home in a matter of days. She didn’t think she could count on Eyden’s help anymore, but she’d figure it out. She didn’t survive all this to give up now.
She had glanced at her phone during one of their breaks. Her family had been worried by her radio silence the past days. But it was her brother’s private message that had twisted her heart.
“Mum doesn’t want me to tell you, but she’s getting worse fast. If you can’t get a cure, please come home. I need you here. We all do,” he had written this morning. The words became blurry on the screen as a sinking feeling turned her insides.
She tried to catch Eyden’s eye, but he avoided her gaze at every turn and kept as far away as possible, talking to Elyssa and Farren most of the time without uttering a single syllable to Lora. She had tried to get to him, but refrained from talking to him in front of the others. Elyssa might already know what Lora’s awakened powers meant, but the others would assume Lora was fae. They wouldn’t guess she was half-fae, not knowing she’d crossed over from Earth, and she’d rather keep it that way.
Even if he chose to avoid her forever, did it really matter in the end? Maybe she’d put too much thought into their relationship. Maybe it was nothing at all. After all, they had both lied. They had both been holding back. It seemed like that would never change. They had known each other for just over a week. It had been stupid to explore a meaningless crush when she had known from the beginning that she would be gone soon. That she wouldn’t—shouldn’t—ever return.
Her gut twisted as she thought about how she’d been led astray from her mission. No more distractions. She’d find her way home tomorrow no matter the cost.
They were nearing the camp now, making their way through the woods. It was starting to get dark again. Lora felt the fatigue deep in her bones even as a shimmer of power seemed to continuously simmer under her skin, making her jittery. It felt like she was a bomb recharging, waiting to go off again. The thought sent shivers through to her very soul.
