CHAPTER THIRTY
Time passed differently for the young maiden. Days disappeared, memories were lost, and she began to have strange thoughts, unable to distinguish the voices in her head from her own.
—Fabia’s Fables, “People of the Stars.”
Pain blazed in my chest. Was it physical, or was it from that terrible rip in the connection? Had something happened to that soulbinding thread? A wave of hysteria washed over me, and my heart pounded in panic.
Another icy hot blast slammed into my chest, cracking bone.
A voice in the darkness, a command. Hands gripped my arms, hauling me up. My arm barked in pain as it was wrenched behind me. I was being bound.Wake up.
My consciousness drifted between that state of darkness and the light that accompanied the pain.A flash of light before icy air filled my lungs as I gasped into the night. I blinked rapidly, trying to take in my surroundings. My elbow ached, and I tugged against the rope binding me to a post. Or a tree?
A dark room. Small and fucking cold. I blew out a breath that clouded in the pale blue light seeping in from a tiny window in the ceiling. A groan rumbled behind me, and I jumped, fiery pain ripping through my elbow and ribs.
Something wiggled at my lower back, and I yelped, trying to squirm away from it. I craned my neck, trying to see who was tied behind me, feeling long arms resting beside my own.
“Wake up,” I croaked, my voice hoarse from ingesting the languidus smoke, whatever the hell that was.
Another moan. I wiggled my arms against whoever sat behind me.
“Wake up!” I hissed.
The person stiffened and jerked their arms forward, sending an unbearable sharpness through my elbow. I let out a soft whimper, biting my lip to keep from screaming.
“Fuck.Fuck,” he growled. “Bonscaíh?”
Godsdamnit.
“Where are the others?” I whispered. “Did you pass out?”
“Obviously,” he murmured. “If you can shift your elbows to the sides, I can probably get us out.”
Bracing myself, I sucked in a breath and attempted to move my elbows as pain ripped through my arm. “I can’t,” I breathed. “I think my elbow is dislocated.”
Lord Astraeus let out a low swear.
“And I think my ribs may be cracked,” I added, noting the sharp ache accompanying each breath.
Lord Astraeus’s head turned. “Sounds like you did more than pass out.”
I frowned. “You think they tried to revive me?”
“I’d say they did, seeing as you’re awake and talking to me now.”
I gritted my teeth as an insufferable edge of sarcasm rode his voice.
“Well, what do you plan to do about this?” I snapped. “You got us into this mess. Fucking disaster.”
A deep, throaty chuckle reverberated through his arms that made me want to claw his face off.
“You’re seriously laughing at this? Fuck you,” I hissed.
“Mmm, maybe another time,” he crooned.
Heat rushed to my face despite the frigid room, and I scoffed, the movement sending an ache rippling through my chest.
“Why not? You’ve got a thing for pirates,” he mused. “Though I’d hardly qualify the honorable Captain Ravindra as a pirate.”
