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

by Ethington, Rebecca

  “It’s okay, Wynifred,” he said, his voice only a whispered breath against my skin. “I’ll make all the bad go away.”

  I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t force myself to inhale. I was too shocked, too scared. The pain in my shoulders lessened, the fire in my wrists left and my brother smiled at me, his face twitching.

  I wanted to reach up to him, to comfort him, but before I could even move, his hand flew to the skin over his heart. He clenched his fingers around the fabric of his shirt as his face screwed up in pain. He backed away from me, his back hitting the bars that separated me from Talon, his eyes wide as he clutched his shirt, tears flowing down his cheeks.

  “Cail?” I asked, unable to help myself, not understanding what was happening.

  I heard Sain gasp, in warning or curiosity, I wasn’t sure, but it barely registered. My brother was crying in front of me, his hand clenched over his heart.

  “Save me.” He hissed the words, and I froze as everything went on high alert inside of me.

  “Cail?” I had barely moved before the back of Cail’s hand connected with my cheek, the smack sounding loud and clear in the dark room.

  “Shut your mouth,” Cail snapped, the hard lines of his face back, his eyes hard.

  He looked at me once more before he left my cell, the door closing with a loud snap before he ran up the stairs, the light going with him and leaving us in the dark again. I looked toward the staircase, my eyes slowly adjusting to the lack of light.

  “What was that?” I whispered into the darkness when I was sure that Cail had gone, not daring to say more and hoping that my voice hadn’t traveled beyond my own five foot square.

  I exhaled shakily, rubbing the tender skin on my wrists, and then it hit me that I was unchained.

  The footsteps were long gone, but I still dreaded the darkness, the possibility of someone waiting just beyond the black, out of sight. My breath picked up, and finally I scooted across the small space toward the cell where Talon lay, my arms stretching through the bars as I reached for him. I clawed through air until I grabbed what I was sure was a shirt. I traced the fabric until I felt his skin, the warmth shooting through me as it always did, but without the magic behind it. Only my heart responded this time, the beats heavy and excited.

  I didn’t dare say anything until Sain gave the all clear. I wasn’t stupid enough to risk talking without Sain’s help. Ryland only howled because he couldn’t help it, or perhaps because Cail made him; either was a possibility.

  Why had my brother been so gentle with me? I wanted to find a rational excuse, a reason for what had just passed between us. Even as a form of torture, it made no sense. Why leave my hands free? Why give me what I wanted? This was absolutely what I wanted.

  I traced down the skin of Talon’s arm until I found his hand. It was limp, but I intertwined my fingers with his anyway, desperate for the connection. There was no wild flaring of joined magic when we touched. The omezující stone had done its job, but I didn’t care. The touch of his skin, the feel of his fingers was enough for me for now.

  A dim, green light flared from the other side of the prison, and I turned slowly toward Sain who sat with a tiny orb settled in his hands.

  Sain’s magic wasn’t restricted; Edmund needed the use of his sight, so restricting it was useless. Sain was also weak and Draks were mostly powerless besides their sight, so he couldn’t do much more than give us some light and shield our voices anyway.

  I kept my hands intertwined with Talon’s as Sain looked up at me, his eyes barely visible from beneath his mat of hair.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, his voice calm and low so as not to breach the shield.

  I nodded once. “Was that a trap?”

  “Cail?” Sain asked as he leaned over to check Ryland, his chest shaking as he struggled to breathe.

  “Yeah.”

  Sain exhaled, the sound as shaky as Ryland’s labored breathing. “Your brother is complicated, and strangely still with a conscience.”

  I exhaled, not really knowing what that meant, but Sain only chuckled.

  “You will see what I mean soon enough, Wyn.” Sain moved his hands through the bars of his cell as he reached for Ryland, his own chains rattling as they hit the thick bars of the cell.

  “Have you seen something, Sain?” I asked, fully aware I sounded like Ryland. In Ryland’s brief moments of lucidity, it was always the only thing he asked, what Sain might have seen.

  “I have,” he said simply. “I always see. I see you now sitting right in front of me. I see my daughter in a place of power. I see Ryland in his rightful place, and I see Cail finding his peace. You will see some of that, too.”

  He was always so cryptic. I had never been around a Drak before. I wasn’t sure if I had been born before their extermination order was given, but I wouldn’t remember anyway. I wish I did, Sain was fascinating. I wasn’t sure if it was just his way, or an attempt to keep us all safe by keeping us in the dark.

  I leaned my head back against the bars, keeping my hand entwined with Talon’s.

  “You will make it out of here safely, Wynifred.”

  I turned toward Sain, but he had already turned back to Ryland. I wanted to smile, but I couldn’t find it in me. I couldn’t smile in a place like this, with my wrists and arms covered in blood, and my husband passed out beside me. Call me pessimistic, but I just couldn’t do it.

  It hadn’t escaped my notice that Sain had said nothing of Talon.

  “Ryland?” Sain asked softly as he ran his hands over Ryland’s side.

  Ryland shuttered at his touch, his body racking with even bigger sobs.

  “No more.” Ryland’s voice was more of a cry than actual words.

  “No more what, Ryland?” Sain asked, his endless patience enduring.

  “No more pain. She hurts me… hurts me… hurts me…” Ryland wrapped himself up in a ball, his fingers clawing at his curls.

  “I hate seeing him like this,” Sain sighed as he attempted to stop Ryland’s frantic movements. “It’s so much easier when his mind is clear, before Cail started using the blade.”

  “She hurts me… hurts me…” Ryland continued to pant, his pained groans pulling Sain’s attention back to him.

  “No, Ryland, no. She doesn’t hurt you. It’s all in your head, remember? It isn’t really her.” Sain reached up and touched the boy’s hair, his fingers soft and gentle as he attempted to calm him. It had the opposite effect.

  “Let me kill her!” Ryland’s voice roared through the small, rock room, his body fighting against his chains as he moved from one barred wall to another; clawing, kicking and grabbing at the bars in his attempt to escape. “I’m going to kill her!”

  I moved into the bars I was huddled against, my hands squeezing Talon’s as I pulled him toward me, desperate for some comfort.

  “Not kill, Ryland. Save. You have to save her,” Sain pleaded, his volume increasing as he fought to convince Ryland otherwise. I could see his furtive looks toward the main door, his fear evident. Ryland’s voice was going to break through Sain’s weak shield, making our noise audible to those above.

  “It’s okay, Ryland. Calm down,” I pleaded. Ryland didn’t seem to hear; he kept rattling the bars like a caged animal. He looked at anyone he could as he yelled for Joclyn’s death, his hands clawing and grinding through the air, Sain’s soft voice barely audible from behind him as he tried to comfort him from his own cell. He needed to calm down, I wasn’t certain he could take another beating so soon.

  I looked toward the staircase, terrified that someone would hear him and come down, but no one came. So far, Sain’s shield was holding. It was obvious we didn’t have much longer as Sain’s orb of light began to flicker and dim.

  Ryland’s eyes began to droop as Sain’s muttered comforts began to sink in. His movements slowed until he dropped to the ground, his breathing still erratic and labored, but his voice now silent.

  “Save her,” he whispered, his voice strangely
dead and monotone.

  “No!” Sain suddenly yelled, the light disappearing. I stiffened at his outburst. I didn’t know much about Sain, but I did know this, he did not yell. He did not get scared.

  He was both.

  I froze, my hands still intertwined with Talon’s as loud footsteps sounded on the stairs. I didn’t move as I attempted to regulate my breathing. I didn’t know what was happening, but Sain was scared and that was enough to terrify me. I lay down and rested my body as best I could, hoping that feigned sleep would be enough to keep them at bay, praying that they would not notice me.

  Part of me wished I could re-shackle my wrists, thinking this was Cail’s game the whole time, but it was too late to fix it now. So I lay still as voices began to filter down to us.

  “I like this plan, master,” Cail said as he addressed Edmund, my insides turning to ice even more. “Now if only we can accomplish it.”

  “Is there a problem?” Edmund asked, and their footsteps froze.

  A dim, yellow light filtered through my eyelids, but I kept them closed in the hope that they wouldn’t notice me.

  “There has been more weakness. I am not sure I can—” Cail began, but Edmund’s voice cut him off quickly.

  “Use what you need Cail, and stop making excuses,” Edmund finished, the sneer on his lips evident in his voice. “I need this done.”

  “Yes, master.”

  Their voices were cut off by the deep grinding sound of a cell door opening. I tried to keep my shoulders relaxed.

  “Get out of there, old man.” I heard a kick and a grunt after Cail’s words.

  I closed my eyes tighter, not even wanting to imagine what might have just happened.

  “So compliant now, Sain,” Edmund said, his voice full of the same taunting malice I had heard in Cail’s. “It’s no wonder. You want some of that delicious water, don’t you? You can’t wait until I give you the mug.”

  I heard a groan of deep guttural need come from Sain as they locked him in with Ryland.

  “Will you do something else for me, too? Do this and I will let you eat tomorrow.”

  I tensed in the silence, every nerve in my body on alert as I fought the desire to turn and find out what was going on. I squeezed Talon’s hands as silence fell only to jerk at the ear splitting scream that cut through the silence.

  I recognized the scream at once, the same scream I had heard when Sain and Ryland had been forced to use the blood connection the past two nights, obviously this one was no different.

  The two howled, and I moved myself into the bars, my arms desperately grabbing at Talon as the screams died off.

  “When will we end this, master?” Cail asked, his voice almost sounding bored. Perhaps even tired.

  “Ovailia is due back in a few days,” Edmund said, and my shoulders tensed on their own. “Let us see what she has to tell us and then we will make our final decisions. I still have many more tricks up my sleeve after all,” he chuckled. “Now, let us go make the little girl pay.”

  “Yes, Master.”

  I let their words wash over me. Something infinitely more important was taking all of my attention. Talon was squeezing back.

  Ninety-Seven

  Joclyn

  I knew the moment I attempted to sit up the next morning that I was in trouble. My back felt like it had broken all over again, causing me to fall back against the bed with a groan as everything spun. I couldn’t wait any longer. I reached for the chain and pulled the necklace out, letting it rest in my palm.

  “Don’t let this be a total mess,” I mumbled, glancing at where Ilyan still lay, reminding myself I was not alone before plunging my magic into the necklace and closing my eyes.

  I opened them again to the same disgusting kitchen as last time, everything rotting and falling to pieces.

  The memories this kitchen induced and what the destruction seemed to mean felt like another knife to the heart. If the trend of my last few trips to the Tȍuha held true, Ryland would show up and push me out of the space. So I held still, hoping to make my time in here last as long as possible and rejuvenate my body as much as I could.

  It was ridiculous, coming to this traumatizing hell and hiding. Maybe Ryland was right...

  I closed my eyes and shook my head, trying to banish the thought. When I opened my eyes again it was to a very small, very angry Ryland.

  “I told you not to come back,” he spat, his little voice dripping with hatred.

  “You know I can’t do that, Ry.” I tried to keep my voice level in an attempt to calm him and hopefully lengthen the Tȍuha, but I could tell it was a pointless effort.

  “I don’t care about you anymore!” he yelled before shoving me abruptly. I let him. I didn’t know how to fight him, and even if I did, the very idea of fighting to stay in such a terrifying place did not interest me.

  I opened my eyes to the carved stone roof of my bunk. The light that was reflecting through the chamber seemed brighter than before, but I knew I couldn’t have been gone long considering I hadn’t been in the Tȍuha for more than a few minutes. I certainly hadn’t been gone long enough to do much good. Everything still felt heavy and painful, just not quite as bad as it had been before.

  “Well, a little strength can go a long way.” It was wishful thinking, I should probably just roll over and go back to sleep.

  Or not.

  “Good morning!” Dramin’s bright, sing-song voice echoed over me as he woke me up. The happiest alarm clock there ever was.

  “Morning.” I tried not to groan too much as I sat up to face him, happy the worst of my aches had disappeared while still wishing that all of them could have left. Dramin stood beside my bunk with two mugs in his hands. He held one out for me, and I took it gladly, grateful for the Black Water that would take away the last of the pains.

  “Thank you, Dramin.” I sighed as the water buzzed through me.

  “You seem to be doing better today,” he said over the top of his mug. “How is your mate?”

  Of course he knew. I shouldn’t have been surprised.

  “He’s fine.”

  “Hmmm.” Dramin could see through my lie like it was wet paper. I just didn’t know how to explain all that was going on. I chose to ignore his silent question by draining my cup of Black Water.

  It flowed through me and I wiggled my toes, relishing the sensation. Dramin leaned over to look inside my cup, chuckling to see it already empty.

  “You have the appetite of a child,” he said, smiling. “It’s quite refreshing.”

  I smiled back at him, handing over my cup. My body was already calling for more.

  “Oh, no,” Dramin smiled. “Not anymore, your body is healed. Your Drak magic awakened and tied to the wells. You can do this on your own.”

  He grabbed my hand and placed it firmly over the top of the mug.

  “Think of the water and how you would like to see it; warm, cold, or maybe iced. Now pulse that thought into the cup.”

  “So, it’s like ordering at a drive thru?” I raised an eyebrow at him, looking more confused than I felt. He just continued to laugh at me.

  “It’s easier than it sounds. It is second nature. Give it a shot.” He smiled and I nodded my head at him before closing my eyes.

  “I would like hot Black Water… ummm…. Please?” Warmth filled my hand, a tingling spreading over everything. When I opened my eyes to look at the cup, the steaming liquid filled it right to the rim.

  “Good job! Although you don’t have to speak your order, just think it.” He winked at me and I blushed. “Now, if you will go into your Tȍuha every day, you will continue to have the energy to sustain yourself.”

  Dramin took a drink right after he spoke, his eyes digging into me from over his mug.

  “How did you know?” I asked softly before taking another sip.

  “The question is not how I knew, child—for that should be obvious—but, why are you avoiding your mate?”

  I couldn’t look at Dramin so I
chose to look at the thick contents that swirled inside my cup instead. I guess if I had to confide in someone while Ilyan was indisposed, I should. Besides, I had started opening up to Thom, and that had turned out well. I supposed I needed to be more trusting.

  “Well, for one, Ryland keeps pushing me out. Two, I am pretty sure Cail is controlling them.” I sounded so dejected, I tried not to cringe at the sound of it.

  “You mean he is controlling the Tȍuha as well as your dreams?” I had been beginning to think there was nothing that would surprise Dramin, yet I couldn’t miss his shocked tone.

  “Yes.” I was suddenly feeling very cramped in the tight bunk. I slipped off my bed and walked right past him, my mug still clasped between my hands.

  I moved to the large chairs that surrounded the fire, trying to avoid looking at Thom who was busy healing Ilyan.

  “But how do you know?” Dramin asked as he came up behind me, already sinking into his chair.

  “Ilyan pieced most of it together, but what you said about Edmund’s Štít inside Cail, it kind of fit it all together for me.” I sat down and draped one of the many furs that were piled around the chairs over my legs.

  “But what does he want from you? Does he know—” When Dramin finished abruptly, I lowered the mug from my lips to raise an eyebrow at him in question. “Does he know that you are one of the Drak?”

  “No, I don’t go screaming out random bits of information for them to hear. I am a bit smarter than that. Mostly, Cail enjoys messing with my mind.” I tried to keep the tone of the conversation light, but I could already feel the desperation creeping into my own voice. “He finds different ways to torture me. In the dreams he plays little games or makes me relive bad memories. In the Tȍuha he has been telling what is left of Ryland’s mind to get rid of me. They are trying to get me to break the Zȇlství.”

  Dramin dropped his mug to the stone floor where it promptly shattered. I jumped at the noise, startling even more when I saw his face. For a moment I was worried he was lost in a sight.