“Aribella?” the boy tentatively said, his gaze searching. He must have recognized my voice.
I nodded, forcing a smile to help put him at ease. “Yes, Eli. It’s me.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. “I didn’t know what happened to you,” he said. “I was moved into a different cell. I was worried that Lord Stryker might have—” His head snapped toward Stryker, who he’d likely momentarily forgotten was there, and he shrunk into himself.
Stryker took a step forward and fear filled Eli’s eyes again.
I made a noise of protest and shot Stryker a look of admonishment. Couldn’t he see the fae was terrified enough?
Catching my glare, Stryker rolled his eyes but didn’t move any closer to Eli. Instead he gestured toward him as if to say,get on with it already.
“It’s going to be all right,” I assured the young fae. “I’ve told Lord Stryker that you are innocent. You’re here right now so we can prove it and then you’ll be released to return to your family.”
Eli peered back at me, his face part-hopeful and the other part still stuck in fright. “Prove it? How?”
Oh no. If Eli kept talking he might reveal I hadn’t used my magic on him to get him to tell me the truth. I couldn’t let that secret get out. Stryker would be furious.
“Remember how I used my magic on you back in the cell?” I asked, knowing he was going to nod, which he did because I’d used my magic to calm him. “Well, I’m just going to do that again. I’ll make you feel relaxed and all you have to do is tell Lord Stryker what you told me before. The truth about the smuggling and how you had nothing to do with it. And I promise everything will be okay. Can I use my magic on you again?”
I hadn’t asked any of the other fae I used my magic on if they were okay with it, but none of the others had been a terrified young boy who’d had to endure weeks of torture in Lord Stryker’s horror-filled dungeon. The boy had been through enough, the least I could do was show him this kindness.
Eli nodded, his curls falling onto his forehead as he kept a wary eye on Lord Stryker.
Taking a deep breath I tried to calm my heart. I felt it flutter,an early warning sign that an episode was coming on. I’d already exerted myself today, so I probably shouldn’t be using much more of my magic, but I wasn’t going to let Eli suffer just because I was worn out. I could do this.
Closing my eyes I took some relaxing breaths, willing my heart to slow. When I felt the beats even out, I pushed my magic on Eli like I’d been doing for days on others. I’d done this so often now that it wasn’t hard anymore to layer on the emotions and feelings I needed to in order to put a fae in a truthful state of mind.
After only a few seconds Eli’s body started to relax, then his eyelids drooped. I peered at Stryker to make sure he saw that Eli was in a suggestable state of mind. He nodded to me.
“Eli, are you part of an underground smuggling ring that is stealing gold and gems from Lord Stryker?” I asked, getting straight to the point.
Eli shook his head. “No. My family could use the coin, but I would never take something that wasn’t mine.”
Anxiety I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding onto exited my body, leaving me feeling almost euphoric. I knew Eli was trustworthy.
I shot Stryker a triumphant look. I was about to pull back my magic, but he held a hand up and told me to wait. Stryker took a step toward Eli, but this time the unseelie barely noticed the lord moving closer.
“Do you know anything about the smuggling ring?” Stryker asked.
Eli nodded and fear pierced my heart. I’d forgotten that he said his cousin asked him to be part of it. Stryker might still punish Eli for knowing something,even though he wasn’t technically part of it. But even if Eli went free, he was about to damn one of his family members.
There was nothing I could do about that now, though. If I pulled back my magic, Stryker would just force me to use it against Eli again.
“My cousin, Caleb, asked me to join, but I told him no. I didn’t want any part of it.”
I released a relieved sigh. At least Eli was clearing his own name. There’s no way Stryker could accuse him of being a traitor. Even under the influence of my magic it was clear he was a loyal citizen who wanted to do the right thing.
“When will the thieves strike next?” Stryker asked, taking another step forward so that he was practically in Eli’s face.
“I don’t know,” Eli answered calmly.
“Who is helping them get away with it?”
“I don’t know,” Eli answered again, his voice monotone.
“Well, what do you know?” Stryker ground out, a muscle in his jaw popped because it was clenched so tightly.
After spending so much time with him over the last several days, I’d picked up on some of his tells. The clenched jaw was definitely one of them. He was furious, and that didn’t bode well for Eli or his cousin.
