But her words echoed in my head, over and over again.He opened a gateway. It seemed impossible; I wasn’t a mind mage, and as far as I knew, there were none in my father’s bloodline.
And yet…she wouldn’t lie about that, unless it was a trick. Unless Dante changed her words…
I squeezed my eyes shut and searched for him in my mind. His presence was no longer there; maybe Elias scared him off, or maybe something else was happening. He never stayed long anyway.
In the very back of my mind, where I knew Dante usually resided, I found the impression of his presence. The dark wrongness that seemed to spread through me whenever he entered my head. There was a flood of the dark magic in the back of my mind.
“The healer is back,” Blythe said, her voice cutting through my thoughts, pulling me away from Dante’s darkness.
For the first time since they entered the cell, I could open my eyes again. The sting of tears when I finally took in the pair was nothing compared to the exhaustion wracking my body. Dante might have been weakening me, but there was something about having them in here that made it worse.
He wants me alone. Isolated, I reminded myself as I watched Blythe open the door a fraction wider and take something from the healer. Elias wasn’t anywhere in my line of sight, but I felt him somewhere nearby. Maybe at my back.But why?
Blythe closed the door, and in her hands was a small ceramic cup she brought to me. Her dark eyes were bright with magic, which seemed to spill from her as she stopped in front of me.
For a moment, she looked over my head at the wolf behind me. Her lips didn’t move, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t speaking to him.
But the moment passed quickly. Her eyes dipped to meetmine. “I’m going to bring this to your lips,” she said, voice so eerily gentle, it didn’t quite suit her. “And you will drink it all.”
My skin prickled with another shiver that didn’t have me wincing in pain.
Without responding, I let my lips part. The cool ceramic hit my bottom lip as she tipped the liquid into my mouth. It was thick like syrup, tasted sweet and almost sugary. I winced each time I swallowed, taking all that she offered, unable to complain until the cup was removed and I was left gasping for breath.
Nothing happened, unless you counted the way it churned as it made its way through me. It took all the control I had not to throw up.
Blythe stepped back, her eyes darkening. “It should work its way through him over the next few hours,” she said, looking at me but directing those words to Elias. “I’ll keep an eye on him, if you want.”
Behind me, I heard him push off the wall he must have been leaning against. “Good. I’ll check in later. There’s a meeting I need to take.”
Blythe nodded once. From the corner of my eye, I watched Elias move to the door. He only cast a single look back at me. “Did he say anything?”
I blinked hard, swallowed, and groaned. “Yeah,” I managed, the word grating in my own ears.
Elias stopped at the door. “What did he say, Kingsley?”
“Only that he knew what Sable was hiding from us,” I croaked. “That Ivy knows. And it’s bad.”
The wolf’s throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. “Good work.”
Then he was gone, leaving me with Blythe. The witch didn’t move for a long moment, her eyes narrowing on me. There was a slight flush to her cheeks, something about her seeming…different.
“You understand what I meant?” she asked, crossing her arms. “He can’t stop you.”
I shuddered, looking away from her to the door.Unintentionally, I reached for that wrongness in the back of my mind. My heart rate spiked with fear at the thought of having to follow it tohim.
But you might see Ivy again, I told myself, the thought bringing me some peace.You might be able to help her.
“Will it get him out of my head?” I asked.
“Maybe,” she replied. “But it will weaken him.”
That was good enough for me. The weaker he was, the less damage he could do to my mate. Maybe it could help her.
Anything to stop feeling useless. Like I couldn’t do anything to help her.
I tore my gaze from Blythe and closed my eyes again. As I focused on the darkness where Dante resided, I heard the door to my cell open and close. A small shiver of fear rushed through my body at the thought of her leaving me, too. Knowing I would go through this alone.
But there was nothing she could do to help me. I was the only one who could get through to him.
