Imdalind Ruby Collection One: Kiss of Fire | Eyes of Ember | Scorched Treachery

by Ethington, Rebecca

  I spun away, regaining my balance as quickly as I could, and stumbled away from them, arms still dangling as they tried to repair themselves. I sent another stream of energy toward them, hoping to restrain them before they regained their bearings, but Ovailia caught sight of what I was doing and blocked my weak magic with a powerful shield of her own.

  I immediately moved to attack, sending a bright light toward them, only to have Timothy block it as Ovailia sent her own attack in my direction. I dodged and blocked a moment before the attack would have hit me, only to see another force in my direction.

  “Come on, princess,” Timothy taunted, “let your ol' dad give you a present!”

  I blocked his assault, but just barely. I could feel the heat graze my shoulder as the muscles in my arms tensed, the warning of what my father's magic would do to me as clear as if he had said it. The attacks kept coming, one after another, and I knew what they were doing. With my arm still dangling lifelessly I wasn't fast enough, wasn't strong enough, to fight off one, let alone both of them. I could only hope to hold off their attacks long enough to give myself enough time to escape.

  I fell to the side, heat swirling through the ground with my skin contact, the earth responding to my touch. I rarely had control over what my touch would do in these caves, but this time, I focused. I forced the magic into my desired outcome and watched as they crumpled to the ground, their mouths opened in horror as their bodies heated up from the inside.

  I picked myself up and ran, stepping over them in my haste to get away, to find Talon.

  I spun around the corner and slammed into the thick barrel chest of a man who smelled of death and smoke. I didn't need to look up at him to know who it was. I pushed my hand into his chest and sent a stream of fire into it, only to be met by a shield that blocked my pointless attack.

  “My, my, Wynifred. You would think that after a few hundred years you would know better,” Edmund hissed, his thick fingers curling around my tiny forearm.

  I tried to pull away, but I wasn't even sure why I did. There was no escaping now. His fingers met the small indentation of my spine through the skin in the back of my neck, and the white-hot heat of his magic shocked into my spine. His magic surged, numbing each and every one of my nerve endings and muscles before I could move even so much as an inch. The ripple of the attack moved through me before everything went dead, my body going limp as I fell into his arms. He held me against him, my head lolling. My unfocused eyes came to rest on the bruised, bearded man Edmund had been dragging around by the chains attached to his wrists.

  I couldn't even move my eyes, I realized. I just stared at the intense green gaze of the battered man as Edmund placed a smooth stone on my tongue, his magic pulsing just enough to force a reaction that would make me swallow it. The tiny stone slipped down my throat and toward my stomach. The further it traveled into my body, the more numb and unresponsive my magic felt.

  An omezující stone. The rare rock that was given to prisoners as a magical restraint.

  I felt it as it lodged itself in my stomach, my numbed body unable to fight it. I felt my magic slow to a stop, freezing in place before it traveled to surround the rock, where it would stay until I could find someone powerful enough to remove it.

  Silent tears rolled down my cheeks, my body accepting my defeat without my permission, accepting my loss.

  “Wonderful,” Timothy said as he came up behind us. “I was hoping someone would grab the little whore.”

  Timothy grabbed my hair and pulled my head back, my eyes drifting to the roof of the cave tunnel, unable to focus on their own.

  Edmund chuckled at my father's comment. His rumbling voice vibrated through my head as he hoisted me over his shoulder and carried me down the hall, my desire to find my mate pulling me in the opposite direction.

  Eighty-Six

  Joclyn

  Cail and Ryland didn’t deviate a millimeter from where they stood on the grass lawn of the house, their dark eyes were focused up at us with as much intensity as Ilyan stared down at them. Ilyan’s arms stiffened around me, his magic flaring as his shields grew. Even with Ryland right there, I couldn’t feel the pull of his magic through the shield. Which meant Ryland couldn’t feel it either.

  My eyes fluttered between Cail and Ryland, my heart beating stronger the more I looked. The last I had seen of Ryland had been in the dream, and in the dream he had been himself with his memories back. The man before me, however, looked up with black eyes and a menacing snarl as he plotted all the ways he could hurt me.

  They both laughed and Ilyan pulled me closer. I was scared, and by the erratic pulse of Ilyan’s heart, so was he. One of his arms moved away from me, his hand gently facing the two figures below us as he prepared to fight.

  “Relax,” Cail drawled in a falsely bored voice, “we are not here to kill you, at least not yet.” He smiled as his teeth flashed in the dim light.

  Ilyan’s magic swirled angrily under his skin, the power of it growing hot in my shoulder.

  “Then what do you want?” Ilyan yelled down to them, neither of them flinched.

  “To give you a message. You must have heard by now that your precious safe house in Prague is gone. The wells of Imdalind are now ours. Imagine what we can do with all that power! And you, the last of the true Skȓíteks, have failed in protecting it.” Cail laughed, Ryland’s musical chuckle joining in. Ice ran over my skin. That laugh was almost identical to how it used to be.

  It isn’t him.

  But he had been so real in the dream. Even now, his hair fell over his forehead the way it always did. I wished I knew a way to pry him out of his prison. I jerked forward only to move back when his black eyes met mine.

  It isn’t him.

  “Then what is your message?” I heard the strength in Ilyan’s voice rumble through his chest.

  “It is for Joclyn,” Cail said, and I reluctantly looked over to him. “We have found you, as I told you I would, and we have your little friend locked up where you will never find her.”

  “No!” I called out without meaning to. It was just like in the dreams, his smile. The taunting. Except now I could do something. My magic was already boiling. I was ready.

  I tried to break out of Ilyan’s arms, to soar down there and throw every air conditioner on the street at the two of them, but Ilyan pulled me back. Cail smiled at his panic, his eyes dancing in pleasure.

  “Oh yes, and you still have one month to turn yourself in to us. Twenty-nine days to be exact, or your little friend is gone along with the love of your life. You can save him, Joclyn.” He stopped as he placed a hand on Ryland’s shoulder. My insides froze, terrified as to what he was going to do.

  “Unless you don’t need him anymore,” Cail finished, his head turning to Ryland. “Look how cozy they are up there, Ry.” As Ryland turned his head to face me, I almost expected blue eyes, instead I only saw the black. “It almost looks like she doesn’t need you anymore, don’t you think?”

  “You’re right,” Ryland said. I tried to pull away from Ilyan when I heard Ryland, but Ilyan’s strong arms kept me there. “Have you told her then, brother? Have you told her of her true purpose and what she is to you?”

  “What is he…?” I began the question, only to freeze at the fury that dripped from Ilyan’s eyes.

  “Well then,” Ryland said, “if you have, I suppose you won’t be needing me.”

  In a flash of blue I saw a spark of light bounce off a golden sword that appeared in Ryland’s hands. He spun it once before swinging it violently through the air only to plunge it into himself. Ryland didn’t even flinch as the air streaked with gold as he prepared to end his own life.

  “No!” I screamed louder and burst out of Ilyan’s arms, halfway to launching myself when Ilyan pulled me down. Cail may be strong, but with the fury I felt flowing through me, I knew I was stronger.

  “You can’t, Silnỳ,” Ilyan hissed, his voice shaking. He was actually scared.

  “Stop!” Cail c
ommanded, Ryland’s sword stopping only millimeters from his body. “You haven’t told her, have you Ilyan?”

  “I take it Sain has told you then?” Ilyan yelled down to them.

  “Oh! Bravo! You know we have him then. You figured it out. You will make your father so proud. He was beginning to think you had lost your touch. I sure hope it didn’t take you the full three months to realize that we were controlling her dreams?” Cail took a step forward, his hands moving as he spoke. I couldn’t take my eyes off of them, terrified he would attack at any moment.

  “Not even close,” Ilyan laughed humorlessly through his lie. “See, I know the full story, and no matter what you have done to Sain, I doubt you have managed to get it all.”

  “Sain may not have told us everything, but he has been a wealth of information both now and before. We have been waiting for her to make an appearance as long as you have, and we are willing to wait just as long to find the secret of how to destroy her. Another month or so and we will know everything.”

  “I wish you luck with that,” Ilyan laughed, his deep joy rolling through the main road.

  “At least you continue to make this whole game more interesting,” Cail said.

  “It’s not a game,” I yelled down to him, interrupting their banter.

  “Oh, really?” Cail sneered, “I think it’s a game. Ryland thinks it is a game. Edmund knows it is a game. Your Protector up there, seeing as he hasn’t told you everything, he must be playing the game as well.”

  Ilyan pulled me back against him and my insides went numb. Cail’s loud voice boomed as he laughed and the yard to the house suddenly lit up with artificial light as a door was opened. Cail’s attention turned to a man in the doorway, his laughter stopping as his face went hard.

  “What’s going on out here?” I heard the old man yell shakily through the yard, Cail having obviously scared him.

  “Nothing that concerns you, old man.” I realized what was going to happen a moment before it did. Cail raised his hand and placed his palm toward the old man then, as he had with me the first time, he let the power grow. His amusement at scaring his target was stronger than his intent to kill. In that next instant, Ilyan left my side to intercept the ball of energy Cail sent toward the old man. Ilyan’s powerful energy redirected the fire toward a field of trees off to the side of the house with only a thought. Cail’s red light connected with the trunk of a tree, sending it into a roaring inferno that spread inhumanly fast to the other trees in the small grove. It was ablaze in seconds.

  The man yelled out in fear and the door closed, the yellow glow leaving the yard with the click of the door as the flickering light from the fire began to take over.

  Ilyan stood before Cail, his tall frame towering over him while I turned to see the family coming out of the other side of the house and running away from whatever altercation was about to take place. I calmed a bit, hoping they would get away from this.

  “Do you really wish to fight me, Ilyan? I told you we were not here to hurt you. Not today.” Cail’s voice was strong, but I heard the fear that lay behind it.

  “Then do not attack the innocent,” Ilyan said, his magic growing and spreading through the Štít as his shield encompassed me.

  Ilyan took off into the sky, presumably back to my side, before his body was pulled back down to the ground and restrained against the damp grass by Cail’s magic.

  “I will attack any that gets in the way of my job for my master,” Cail said.

  “You serve the wrong man, Cail.” Ilyan glowed with golden light before he burst into the sky, Cail’s magical restraints flying off him. When he had moved enough to put himself between me and the two men on the ground, Ilyan flexed his fingers, electricity crackling between his knuckles.

  “I guess that is a matter of opinion.” I froze as Cail raised his hand toward Ilyan. Ilyan did nothing, though. He stood there as his hair danced in the wind, his muscular body lit by the firelight. I felt his magic surge through me.

  Light exploded out of Cail’s hand, and a half-second later, Ilyan sliced his hand to the side, sending Cail’s magic uselessly into the already blazing trees. Ilyan flexed his hand as the ground exploded around Cail, showering the yard with dirt and rocks.

  I shielded my face from the onslaught of dirt, only to come face to face with Ryland when I emerged. I didn’t wait; I raised my hand to attack; but before I could do anything, his hand wrapped around my neck and forced me against the house.

  “Now, now,” he said, his wicked voice cutting into me. “You know your magic has no effect on me, and as fun as a scuffle with you would be, my job is not to attack you. My job is to keep you here.”

  He snarled at me and increased his hold, and my vision popped and swayed from the lack of oxygen. I grasped at his hands, my magic not responding to my mind’s weak calls.

  “Oh, sorry,” he said, although I heard no sympathy. “I guess it would be better not to kill you yet. It was nice of Ilyan to leave you here for me to play with. I guess his desire to kill Cail is greater than his need to protect you.”

  Ryland smiled greasily as I squirmed underneath his hold.

  “You’re wrong…” I gasped, foolishly wasting oxygen as my magic continued to spark uselessly between my fingers. “Ilyan… he’s… Ryland!”

  Ryland released his hold enough to give me breath, though not enough to move, I let my magic swell at my increased freedom, one spark slamming into Rylands gut.

  It must have tickled with how he laughed.

  “Nice try,” he growled through clenched teeth and slammed me against the house again, the impact ricocheting through my skull. He smirked, the look was the same one he had given me for years, but there wasn’t any love for me in him anymore; not in his eyes, nowhere.

  “Stop trying to fight me,” he snarled, slamming my head against the house again.

  “Never. I know… you’re there.”

  “No! There is nothing you can do. You see there?” Ryland squeezed my neck tighter. My head was spinning from lack of oxygen as he then forced me to look toward the side of the house where a cluster of Trpaslíks had gathered in the shadows out of Ilyan’s sight, their hands against the house.

  “And there,” he moved me roughly, this time to the other side of the house where even more Trpaslíks stood.

  “They are going to blow you and this house clear into the sky while your dear Protector is in battle, too busy trying to kill Cail to save you.” Ryland’s black eyes were shining. I stared at him, my jaw working as if it was trying to bite the oxygen out of the air.

  The house shuddered under me, the joined magic of the Trpaslíks congregating beneath us. The vibrating house continued to shake as I gasped for a desperate breath in my attempts to yell, to scream, to fight him. My voice was caught, though; my magic a limp spark. It wasn’t enough.

  “Oh, and I have a riddle for you. Straight from Sain’s own mouth.” I froze. My father?

  “‘Two brothers stand beside you, both know of your true fate. They each have love in their hearts, but different needs to gain. One seeks power, the other light. The one with light in his heart may love you more, but he is the foolish one, the one who will die first.’ I will give you one guess as to who that one could be,” he said, releasing my throat as the vibrating reached its peak.

  I gasped for breath again, trying to regain use of my magic, knowing there was only a matter of seconds before the house exploded.

  “Ilyan!” I screamed with all the air I could gather, hoping that he would hear my call or feel my pain in his magic that pulsed through me. What I didn’t expect was Ryland’s answer.

  “Correct.” My eyes widened as Ryland’s smirk increased. I didn’t get a chance to ask him what he meant before Ryland pushed away from me to escape the impending blast.

  I fell to my knees as the house began to collapse in on itself and tried to push myself into the air, my body too weak to answer my call. Seconds later, Ilyan’s arms wrapped around me as the house im
ploded. The heat of the explosion on my feet burned as the blast grew, the sound of destruction ringing in my ears. I looked back and knew we couldn’t escape it.

  “Hold on to me, Silnỳ, and whatever you do, don’t let go.”

  Ilyan wrapped his body around mine, his hold tight as his magic rushed into me with more pressure than he had ever used before. The pressure broke through my barrier, but instead of making me feel as if I was going to explode, I experienced the exact opposite. My body was squished even further against Ilyan as the pressure melded us together. What little air I had gasped was pushed out of my lungs, and my body felt as if I was being forced through a toilet paper roll.

  I was convinced that the blast had found us until, suddenly, the sensation left. My body crashed against Ilyan’s as we fell to the ground, his arms going limp.

  Frigid air swirled around me, my hair and clothes whipping through the winter storm that had come out of nowhere.

  I sat up and looked around in a panic, confused at the mountain landscape I was surrounded by.

  “Ilyan?” I asked, my body beginning to shake with cold. “Where are we?”

  I looked at the tall, snow-covered peak that towered over us, my eyes scanning for some form of shelter. I turned toward Ilyan when he didn’t respond. My stomach immediately dropped into the icy landscape.

  Ilyan lay still, his body surrounded by snow while his blond hair whirled in the air, but he didn’t move. His lips and eyelids were tinged with a sickly shade of blue, his body limp and still.

  “Ilyan?” I couldn’t stop the panic that seeped into my voice. I pressed my hand against his cold cheek, surprised not to feel the warmth that usually lay right below his skin.

  I moved my hand to my shoulder, trying to focus on his magic inside of me, but all I felt was a weak and dying pulse of latent energy. I pressed my hands against his skin, pulsing my magic into him, trying desperately to figure out how to help him, how to heal him.