*Ryatt*It doesn’t take long for word to spread about what happened at the auction. Especially since I burned it to the ground once all of my men and women were safely out of the building and scattering toward the outskirts of Twin Rivers. I sent Amanda and Ella with Granger. He’d take them back to the camp we established in the forest, a place tucked several miles from the winding, derelict road leading toward my father’s territory. Quinn, however, stands beside me at a market stall, her hood shielding half of her face in shadow. “I take it you’re staying,” I say to her under my breath as I pick through a variety of produce laid out in woven baskets. “Someone needs to stay behind and watch the Silver Bridge,” she says in a low rasping whisper. Quinn picks up an apple and bites into it, much to the annoyance of the man selling the produce. She flips a small coin in his direction and turns to me. “You’re sure about this? Keeping her?”“You act like she’s some wild animal I mean to
*Ella*Granger drags me by the arm through the dense forest, his other hand clutching Amanda by the back of her shirt–something that hangs off her slight frame–likely belonging to one of Ryatt’s men–as he guides us away from the camp. Behind us, the sounds of battle ring through the forest. I barely have a moment to swallow, let alone think, or even catch my breath, before Granger shoves us both into a clearing that descends into a shadowed clump of tangled alders. I glance at the dark, shadowed recesses beyond the trees. A strange sensation drifts over my skin as the shadows seem to shift, beckoning me toward them. A shiver licks up my spine, making me wince and tear my eyesight from the trees back to Granger, who is currently shaking Amanda by the shoulders as he loudly, and sharply, scolds her. “You will stay with Ella, do you understand?”“Get off of me you fucking brute!” she hisses, shoving him away. He grabs her by the front of her shirt and pulls her back to him, leaning
*Maddy*Cassian looks like absolute hell. His legs are stretched out on the couch in the informal den on the third floor, a place with a high-tech stereo and several bookcases stacked with magazines and board games. It’s normally a happy, relaxing place, but his presence sucks the very life out of the castle, let alone this room. A wiry old man with bottle-cap glasses inspects the gleaming metal arm now attached to Cassian, replacing the right arm he lost in battle. I’m speechless, in total shock as I hover nearby, standing on my toes to look over the shoulder of the stooped old healer. “Now, try to curl your fingers,” the healer says in a graveling voice. His nose crinkles with delight as Cassian does exactly that, the metal fingers flexing, then curling inward. “Incredible.”Dark circles line Cassian’s eyes, and his normally handsome face is hollow and expressionless as he wordlessly goes through the exercises instructed by the healer. Isaac stands nearby, his arms crossed, with
*Ella*Three days passed. Three days we spent hiding in the cave waiting for Granger then running like hell to Granite Rise at his behest. The rest of the time we spent sitting around with no news about what happened in the clearing after Ryatt forced us to leave. For three days, I’ve gone over every harsh word I’d ever said to him, wondering if I’d been wrong. We’ve been in Granite Rise for a little over twenty-four hours now. I’ve barely left the house–Amanda’s parents’ house–since we arrived. Hannah continues her endless slumber in a bedroom downstairs, overseen by the occasional healer who dribbles water and broth into her mouth just to keep her alive. She still has that sleepy smile on her face, but her skin has become pale and glassy, and her once bright, tightly curled pale golden hair is now lackluster. I move away from her bed for what feels like the hundredth time today, my finger curling around the doorknob as I glance at her over my shoulder one last time before I forc
*Ryatt*Ella moves between the canvases in her studio, sunlight dusting over her bare shoulders. She tucks a strand of her lush, dark brown hair behind her ear, revealing her paint-smeared cheek. Tear stains shimmer in the sunlight drifting through the angular windows like little silver pieces of thread that trail down her jaw and neck. “I’m sorry,” I tell her, again and again. How many years has this been happening now? My nightmares bleeding into her own? I can’t stop it from happening. I’ve tried, trust me. I’ve taken every potion and tonic to put me into a complete stupor to stop my mind from drifting when I finally close my eyes, but that bond we share against our will ignites almost every night, tethering us together across realms. I watch as she opens a can of black paint. She pulls a vial from her pocket that glistens in the sunlight–pale white with tinges of blue. “Don’t, please–”Too late. She empties the vial of her tears into the paint and mixes it well until the conten
*Ella*I used to bring myself to tears to get what I wanted. It never worked on my mom, not once. But my dad… he was a sucker for my tears and always bent to my will if I let them flow. But I was a different person before I left my kingdom behind to come here. Now, my tears are real, and I do, in fact, feel like I’m falling to pieces. Since Hannah is still in a coma, Amanda is my only friend in this place, if I can even call her that. And right now, she’s on house arrest, or whatever the equivalent of grounding is in this Goddess forsaken place. Ryatt slowly turns around, his face shrouded in shadows. Rain patters on the top of his head, making his dark hair twist into curls. His gray eyes are sharp and focused on mine. “Go back inside.”“Are you coming with me?” I ask, hating how desperate I sound, but I am desperate. Desperate for anything from him, despite the walls I’ve built around my heart. He exhales through his nose and glances at the cottage over the top of my head. “For a
*Ella*Ryatt goes totally still. “I’ve never–I’ve never done this–” He pulls away, and I feel like someone has just dumped a bucket of ice water over my head. I snap my legs shut, a furious blush crashing over my skin like a tidal wave. Even my hair stands on end as a deep, cutting embarrassment shreds me apart. I look at him only once. His eyes are dark now, his expression made of cold stone. “I’m sorry,” I breathe, and his eyes snap to mine. “Don’t be. This was my fault. I lost control.”“No, it was mine–”The door in the front of the cottage opens and several male voices drift our way. I suck in a surprised breath, but Ryatt has already turned and left the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him before anyone can see me in my state of undress. My heart is thundering in my chest as I quickly cover my thin nightgown with a robe and head to the door, but I stop, my hand curling around the knob, when Ryatt’s voice lifts above the rest of the muffled conversation in the next ro
*Ryatt*Ella’s lips are warm and supple against mine, but there is nothing soft or gentle about this kiss. Our teeth clash, and she bites down hard on my lower lip as I lift her up so her legs are wrapped around my waist. Goddess, I would have lost control. I would have laid her on the cold, hard ground and fucked her like the bond wanted me too, like I wanted to, had it not been for the thick, metallic scent of magic in the air. She’s going to hate me for this trick. I already regret it, but what choice do I have when we’ve been followed by hellhounds for the last ten miles? She has no idea that I’ve walked us backward toward a large, jagged rock that juts out from the ground and looms behind us. She has no idea there’s a cleft just big enough for three people–her, the fox, and her maid. I break from the kiss, gasping for breath, and then turn toward the opening. In the darkness, it’s nothing but a shadow against the granite face of the rock. I toss her into it, and she chokes o