The chains rattled loudly as I shifted, but she didn’t look back or say another word. She might have brought me water, albeit in a strange way, but she must’ve thought I was ungrateful to march out like that.
In the next cell, Varna spoke, her voice muted by the stone and metal between us. “Well done. You’ve managed to irritate the only one who doesn’t hate you.”
“Youdon’t hate me,” I pointed out.
Turning my head took more energy than I was willing to expend, so I let it hang forward, my arms burning from being forced out to my sides for so long. If I could have sat, my legs would have wept with joy, but the chains wouldn’t allow that. The closest I could get was slumping against the wall as the chains stretched taut, and even that was painful.
“You get used to it,” Varna said, her voice softer than it had been before.
This time I did turn my head, wondering about my newest…maybe not a friend but certainly someone who understood what I was going through.
Who was she? Why was she here? Did it have something to do with magic, like me, or were they holding her for another reason? I knew about her talent, but surely there was someone else who could have done the same without being held prisoner. How had they learned about her gift in the first place? How had she ended up here?
I couldn’t think of many in the Montrose-Caputo war who weren’t related to magic in some way, but I also would never have considered holding someone captive and starving them to see what their magic would do.
My cheeks warmed, hot as a fever. I was no better. I did not hold anyone captive, but I had killed. I had killed with my magic, and I had done it well. I had only done it because Ehuna asked me to, but this was a war, and I had contributed to the piles of bodies, to the weeping family members left behind. I was not better than they were, just different.
Perhaps when I got out of here, I could try to be better. To do better.
I drifted my gaze to my big toe, tracing the delicate silver bracelet I’d stolen from Legacy. It had a break in the side, almost as though it could be used as an earring. Regardless, it was my key to freedom, a tool to harness and control my magic in order to break out of this prison.
My heart quickened with anticipation. Now was the time, and I was determined to take Varna with me.
Using my whole body and with agonizing pain, I slipped the bracelet up the wall behind my back with my foot, and then I bent and twisted my arm, using the chains to help guide the bracelet toward my wrist. Then, finally, I worked it onto my wrist, feeling its cool metal against my skin. The air thickenedwith tension and the faint scent of smoke as I focused on channeling my powers.
This was my chance, and I wouldn’t let it slip away.
Chapter
Ten
"Come on," I muttered grimly under my breath as I forced my magic into one of the chains that bound me.
Every muscle in my body strained as I tugged and pulled at the unyielding links of the chain. The metal was cold and unforgiving against my skin, causing my fingers to ache with every attempt to break free.
Hours had passed since I began this futile task, but I refused to give up. My movements were slow and deliberate while I tried desperately to avoid any noise that would betray my escape attempt. The silence was deafening as I fought against the chains, each passing minute feeling like an eternity.
But I couldn't stop now, not when freedom was within reach.
Every time I heard one of the guards go by my cell, I froze, pulling my magic back into myself and doing my best to hold the chains in place in case one of them decided to look through the bars on my door. There should have been no real reason for them to care what I was doing in my cell, considering that I was chained up and had been for days. Not to mention they had taken to beating me for fun.
Still, I wasn't about to take the chance that one of them would discover what I was doing and try to stop me. Not if Varna and I were going to get out of here alive.
Finally, hours later, with my hands shaking from exhaustion and my body coiled stiff with tension, I managed to snap a link on each chain, enough to free me from my bonds.
My limbs felt numb and weak from being chained for so long, but I forced myself to my feet, standing shakily. The chains still hung from my wrists, though. The last thing I needed was to have finally freed myself only to be caught by the guards because I jingled around like some sort of angsty ghost.
So I wrapped them around me as tightly as I could and looped the ends into a loose knot. As soon as we were out of here, I would find a way to get them off and give my poor skin a break, but for now, this would have to do.
I took slow, measured steps towards the wall that separated Varna's cell from mine. As I reached out my hand to knock on it, my fingers trembled with anticipation. The sound of my knuckles hitting the cold stone was barely audible over the hushed whispers and occasional cries from other cells.
But despite this, I could still hear her response almost immediately—a soft yet distinct rustle of movement from the other side of the wall.
“Why are you so close?” she asked.
I coughed, my throat too dry to swallow. "I snapped the chains. I'm loose. Now we have to get you out of there."
"How?" she asked.
