I wasn’t sure I could even hand her over to my sister.
“Oh, I will, little fugitive.” The rasp in my tone betrayed the primal pleasure rising at the thought.
“You cannot break me,” she spat.
With her still twisting and jerking, I flew us higher until we summited the nearest cliff.
Wind whipped about, though it wasn’t nearly as ferocious as Sylaira. I didn’t dare land, didn’t dare give her feet purchase in which she might leverage to escape me again.
She’d never be free of me after this.
Exposed on the slab of stone, I yanked more magic from mywell and bound her in it. Even with our precarious position, the Seer didn’t surrender her struggle.
Cuffing her in bronze would stop any chance of her fleeing again though. I edged closer to a rock face, where she’d be pinned between it and me with the threat of death should she throw herself off the cliff behind me.
“Let me go,” she shrieked again, the sound ear-piercing, and somehow desire surged through me, sick and twisted as it was.
When I didn’t, she sank her teeth into my arm. A jolt shot through me, a dark pain that shouldn’t have been as intoxicating as it was.
“Fuck!” I swore, releasing her. She tumbled to the rock, legs and wings still bound by white light. On all fours, she attempted to crawl away from me. But it wasn’t nearly fast enough to worry me.
Jaw clenched, I shoved a hand into my bag and produced the shackles. In three long strides, I stood in front of her, ready to sunder her from her power.
Her eyes slammed shut as I knelt. Yanking one arm up, I snapped a cuff over her wrist. A shiver swept over her, so subtle I thought I’d imagined it. Shaking my head, I secured the other side. She sank back on her heels, head lolling. My white power dissipated without the need to hold her.
Bronze shutting down her magic, I stepped back.
She didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Didn’t show an ounce of the defiance I’d seen during my pursuit of her.
A silver curtain obscured her face. Yet it didn’t hide the defeat and despair that had hollowed her out. That kept her on her knees, forehead nearly touching her chest from the slump in her back.
Not even a tremble of fear wracked her slender frame. Not a prayer passed her lips for the Goddess to save her from me.
It was as if life had drained out of her in the span of seconds it took me to shackle her.
I’d expected rage. Fire. Fury.
Fuck, it would have been better if she had continued to fight me.
The sight of her, a storm gone quiet, was wrong.
And somehow, that was worse than if she’d stolen a dagger from my thigh and driven it into my body.
But I had a mission to complete. Emotion wasn’t welcome in my life.
“Go on then, drag me to yourmaster,” she gritted out, the edge to her tone scraping against my nerves.
Her words aimed to wound—and they landed exactly as she had intended.
Teeth clenched, I gripped her upper arm and hauled her to her feet. She weighed nothing, more like a bird than an Angel.
When I marched her forward, she did not look up. Did not offer me the hateful glare I had expected after so long spent running and fighting me.
Shaking off my annoyance, I caged her in my arms and flew us down to the stream again. Overhead, Ilae followed, his keen sight no longer needed to hunt.
Because after allowing the chase to continue far longer than I should have, I’d finally captured my little fugitive.
But I didn’t feel triumphant. Satisfaction didn’t curl in my bones.
