“Elora,” his voice came again, soft in her ear. “What are you planning?”
She held his gaze across the crowd, across the gallows and guards and Master Thorn’s smug silhouette, as she drank her own potion.
“Go,” she whispered, keeping her mouth still as her voice threaded through the magic. “This isn’t your mess.”
“Not a chance, Sunshine.” There was no lecture. No plea for her to stand down. Rell wasn’t trying to talk her out of it. He knew she wouldn’t turn back, but he wasn’t going to let her do it alone.
She let out a slow breath. Rell was damn stubborn, but she didn’t have time to argue. Her eyes flicked between Rell and Tehvan, calculations scrambling for space in her head.
“There’s access into the sewers beneath the north gate—contestant entry. If you can get there with him, I’ll open it. You’ve got one shot at this.”
Elora’s gaze followed the subtle gesture he made, tracking to the thick metal gate nestled far behind the arena’s platform. Two guards stood nearby, half-bored, watching the crowd more than the prisoner.
Elora moved closer to the brazier. Her hand slipped beneath her cloak, fingers brushing the fire elemental shard at her belt.
She uncorked the shard and poured it into the brazier, letting the liquid hiss and vanish into the flames. The reaction was subtle,at least to the untrained eye—the fire flared, flared again, then settled into a hungry, unnerving dance. But she felt it. In the back of her mind, like something waking. Waiting.
She turned her attention back to the arena, heart hammering as she leaned over the stone railing. From here, she had a perfect angle—Thorn in the center on the stage, Tehvan beside him, head low, chains glinting in the light.
She just needed to wait for the perfect moment—
A hard shove and suddenly air was rushing past her with a stomach-lurching drop. She hit the dirt hard, knees buckling beneath her. The crowd fell silent.
Guards hauled her up, grip bruising-tight on her arms. She could feel the weight of Thorn’s eyes, the slow turn of his attention. “There you are, my dear. I was wondering when you'd join us.”
Above her in the stands, the brazier flickered where she’d left it primed with the elemental.
She could unleash it now—burn Thorn out of his smug suit, fry the guards too close for comfort—but she’d never reach Tehvan before they cut their losses and ended him. The gamble was too risky.
Instead, she let them see her falter.
A little girl lost in the big bad world.
Rell’s voice hissed through the panic in her mind. “Please tell me this is part of your plan.” She nodded. This had to be her plan now.
The guards hauled her toward the stage. Toward the man that claimed he owned her. She was terrified to look into his eyes, to see every cruel punishment he had planned for her in his gaze.I’m not alone.I’m not weak anymore.She reminded herself.
The stands above her, cramped full with people excited for the show, seemed to hold their breath in unison as she was shoved onto the platform, right into Thorn’s waiting arms. He grabbed her shoulders and examined her with his eyes. The slitted pupils, her claws itching to rake across his face.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. You don’t get to play with my experiments.” A jolt of electricity ripped through her body. Her muscles seized, locked. She bit down on her scream so hard her vision blurred. All her defenses receded back in on herself.
And then he reached down.
She tried to pull away, to jerk her hand out of his reach. His fingers closed over the ring on her right hand.
“No,” she gasped.
He slid it off. Pocketed it. The cool weight vanished from her skin. With it, her connection to the shift. Her power. Her teeth. Her claws. Her only damn advantage.
Thorn smiled wider.
He slipped her satchel from her shoulder and handed it to one of the guards.
“That’s better,” he said, drinking in her anguish like her escape had left him dehydrated in a desert.
Her eyes darted to Tehvan, searching for something—anything—that might give her strength. But all she saw was his resignation, his silent apology etched in every line of his face. He looked so small, so fragile, and the sight of him chained and broken pierced her to the core.
Thorn grabbed her chin, forcing her eyes to his, demanding her defeat. “Did you really think he could help you escape?” He watched her reaction for the terror andsubmission he demanded.
