She could hear the hope in Elyssa’s words as she replied, “We’ll have to make a detour before going to the temple. We’re gonna need backup, and there’s someone I want you to meet.”
Chapter49
Lora
Breathing hard, Lora’s eyes snapped open. Her room was dark, only a bit of moonlight streaming in through the curtain, but she recognised her surroundings. Someone must have brought her back here. She leaned up on her elbows and felt a twinge in her stomach.
Drawing the blanket back and lifting her bloodied shirt, Lora saw a bandage had been placed over her wound. Who had treated her? She shuddered at the thought of Saydren touching her while she was out cold.
Soon after Eyden had teleported away, the guards had caught up with her. They’d taken her, but at that point, she’d lost so much blood that she must have passed out. She had a vague memory of someone pulling the arrow from her stomach, hot pain radiating through her, but it was all blurry. A day must have passed, at least, Lora decided. Had they drugged her? She couldn’t believe she’d slept for so long.
Where was Karwyn now? Scheming her torture before the ritual? Lora fisted her hands into her bedsheet, trying to keep calm. At least she’d tried. She’d tried to find a way to survive. And Eyden and Farren had gotten out relatively unharmed.
Slowly, Lora dragged herself out of bed and moved her tired feet to the bathroom. Her reflection in the bathroom mirror almost knocked the wind out of her. Her hair was knotted and sticking to the dried blood on her throat. Even though someone had cleaned her stomach wound, no one had treated the bruises and scratches on her neck. It looked grotesque.
Clenching her teeth against the tears forming in her eyes, Lora grabbed a washcloth and started scrubbing the blood away, but it did little to better the twisted marks her cousin had left on her.
Lora left the bathroom to grab a change of clothes just as she heard the door open. Her blood froze. Was it Karwyn?
The door creaked open fully and revealed Layken, a plate of food in his hand.
“I heard you moving around,” he said, walking in further. He put the plate on her desk. “You should eat.”
“Why are you bringing me food?” Lora asked. She hadn’t forgotten that they’d attacked him too. Eyden had knocked him out—nearly killed him. Yet Layken seemed unbothered by his wound. Eyden’s knife hadn’t pierced his heart, but it must hurt.
Layken crossed his arms. “Because you’re not supposed to leave this room and I’m to make sure you don’t die on me.”
Lora glanced at the chicken and rice dish on her desk. She was hungry, but she was even more stubborn, and questions lingered in her mind. “Where’s Karwyn?”
“Why? Do you want a rematch?” Layken’s lazuli eyes challenged her. “In that case, you should really eat first. You look like you might fall over from just standing.”
Lora didn’t move from her spot. If she did, she might actually sway, and she didn’t want to admit he was right. “I’m not looking for a rematch, but you underestimate me.”
Layken chuckled. “Oh, trust me, I don’t. I know first-hand what you and yourfriendsare capable of. I thought I told you to quit it.”
“If you want an apology, you can wait for alongtime.”
“I don’t do apologies.”
She frowned. What the hell kind of statement was that?
“You’re on thin ice here, Adelway. Don’t force my hand.”
Lora watched him closely. “I don’t think you’ll do anything. You had plenty of chances to turn me in and you didn’t take them.”
“I didn’t do it for you,” Layken said before turning to the door.
“Wait,” she said, another thought hitting her. Layken glanced over his shoulder. “Did Saydren leave something for my neck?”
Layken’s gaze flickered to her exposed throat. She fought the instinct to cover the bruises. There was almost a look of pity in his eyes. “No. Saydren only treated the wound from the arrow because it was a deep one. Karwyn instructed him not to touch your neck.”
Because he wanted her to remember what it had felt like to feel his cold fingers pierce her skin. Layken didn’t say it, but Lora knew.A bloody psychopath.
Lora shuffled to her desk and sat down to eat. She didn’t pay attention to Layken as he left the room, not wanting to see that pity in his usually impenetrable gaze.
* * *
A shower was exactly what Lora had needed. Refreshed, she had dressed in a loose light blue shirt and soft stretchy trousers—the fae’s equivalent of sweatpants. She felt too tired to wash her hair, so she’d pulled it into a messy bun.
