“Listen, Atta, I don’t know how much we can trust Rise. If something seems strange, I want you to run. Just take off and run as fast as you can. Do you understand?”
The kid looked confused, but he nodded.
She knew Atta wasn’t any more confident in this plan than Liv was, but she certainly didn’t want to see anything bad happen to the kid. For all she knew, they were walking right into the firing line of Rise’s personal army.
She wanted to believe the best of Rise now that she knew how he had been one of the good parts of her horrible childhood, but he had threatened to take her to her father as a bargaining chip. And there was still so much she hadn’t told him, mostly because she hadn’t understood who he was until now. Yet, her father had already hurt Rise so much, had taken so much from him, there was no way he would continue this journey if he understood what they were facing.
He seemed so determined though. And that determination is what worried her more than anything. If his animosity for Grawl even came close to how she felt about the man who had made her young life hell, then she wouldn’t put it past him to use any means necessary to get his revenge, including betraying her trust.
As she stepped through the spinning disc and felt the disorientation that followed portal walking, she tensed as total darkness surrounded her, and she felt a sudden, sharp blow to the back of her head, causing her to go to her knees and fade into unconsciousness.
12
As Rise slowly regained consciousness, he realized two things. He’d been attacked as he had come through the portal, and now there were chains around his hands and feet, making him seethe in anger at the idea of being someone’s captive once again.
He hadn’t even seen the attack until it had been too late, and he was mentally kicking himself for being caught so unaware. But who had attacked him? Who had known he was coming through the portal?
Had Liv found a way to message someone outside of his pocket dimension?Impossible!
His conclusion was confirmed as he heard the rustle of another body and the clank of a chain, followed by Liv’s muttered curse.
“What the hell happened?
“We were ambushed.”
“Ambushed? How? By my father?” She extended her arm, pushing to a sitting position. “We have to get out of here!”
Rise pulled himself to a sitting position with his back against a canvas tent wall. He glanced around the dim interior, spottinga cot covered in animal skin, a pair of small, women’s boots, and a tiny table that looked like it had been quickly assembled out of forest debris. This was not the domain of a psychopath.
“I don’t think Grawl is the one who chained us.”
She paused in her panicked motions to try to pull her wrists through the round, metal shackles. “How can it not be him?”
“Look at those boots.” Rise nodded toward the discarded footwear, and Liv followed his gaze.
“Those don’t belong to Grawl.” She let her attention roam around the small space. “Grawl wouldn’t be caught dead in this dilapidated hovel. Where are we?”
As if she’d been requested, a woman rushed through the tent flap and stopped at the sight of the two, now clearly conscious people staring at her.
For several heartbeats, Rise stared at the woman with his heart in his throat. She was the spitting image of his mother, from her vibrant blue eyes and rosy cheeks to the pair of deep silver wing tips towering above her head. She was stooped over, but her wings still looked silky and healthy as she moved past them to grab the boots that had held both their attention.
“Who are you?” Rise asked, his focus unwavering as he took in every inch of the likely owner of the boots.
She seemed to shake her self as she said, “When they told me they’d captured Riserion Sahale T’Arbol, I told them they had been fooled. Yet, here you are. How was the mighty Rise made to fall?”
Rise dropped his gaze to the dirt and grass just at the edge of the rug that covered the ground beneath them. He had been far too easily captured. What had made him lower his guard so much that others had snuck up on him and overtaken him before he had even heard them coming?
“I think you are mistaken. I’m not who you think I am. I am Riserion Ward.”
“No, I’m not mistaken. You know who you are. You were given that name after you were captured.Wardis not your name. It never has been.”
He tightened his jaw. She was right, but the men who raised him told him to never reveal his true name to anyone. He glanced over at Liv before searching the space for Atta. “Where’s the boy? What have you done with him?”
All horrors entered Rise’s mind as he recalled his own childhood nightmare.
“Don’t worry about Atta. He’s filling his belly, though I gave him quite the earful for trying to hide on his own instead of coming to us. I assume he found you in your pocket dimension?”
Rise’s head snapped back. She knew about his abilities?Wait!She knew his full name, his real name. “Who are you?” And this time, he really wanted to know.
