Page 51 of Cold Hearted
He was wearing a guard’s uniform and had a gaping wound in his stomach, yet somehow was still alive.
“Help—” he began, and I released a spike of glass right into his throat without a second thought.
I felt no pity for the guard. There were several things I detested in this life, and slavery was one of them.
Dropping the collar, I spun to see Omen trotting toward the cell, his nose to the ground. Now more than ever I needed to find her. What if she was hurt?
Omen then faced toward the Eastern Kingdom and went stiff, sticking his head up to the sky.
No.
A stone sank in my gut at that.
Not Stryker.
But she must be heading toward his kingdom. This deep into the Midlands, his castle was by far the closest, and that struck fear into my heart.
I hadn’t notified Stryker about Dawn for good reason. My eldest brother didn’t have the tolerance and compassion I did. At the time, I had little faith that he would heed my wishes to leave Dawn unharmed, but I now regretted not sending a letter. Perhaps he could still be reasoned with, because if he discovered Dawn on his own, knowing him he probably wouldn’t be content with simply ending her life. He’d want to make sure she paid first. And pay she would.
Stryker’s dungeon struck fear into the hearts of the most vile and hardened criminals. Fae were said to go insane from being left in the abyss-like darkness, and those who went into the void, the bowels of the dungeon where no other Ethereum lord but Stryker had ever been, had seldom returned.
The thought of Dawn spending even a single day in that torture chamber made my heart race. I wasn’t above begging my brother for mercy on her behalf. He was the least reasonable of my brothers, but now knowing she was headed in his direction I had to try, for her sake. It was too late to send a message to him by raven, but there was an old magic I could use to reach him, something I hadn’t done since we were kids. It would drain me of energy the rest of the day, but the risk was worth it.
Taking a deep breath, I knelt to the ground and dug the fingers of both my hands into the soil. Omen stood patiently behind me as I pulled my power and mixed it with the earth, searching for my eldest brother.
My magic went out in all directions across the land until there was a tug, something yanking me in that direction. How I longed for this to work on anyone instead of just my brothers.I would use it to find my little bird. But it was reserved only for the Ethereum lord bloodline, a way to contact each other in an emergency across long distances.
“Stryker,” I spoke out loud, still rusty with this way of mental communications.
“Hello, brother.”His response was clipped. He’d been through a nightmare the past two years, and I wasn’t able to be there for him with my own war to worry about, but I hoped he still had a soft enough heart to hear my request.
“A cornsilk-haired fae with green eyes and sunlight magic rides your way. I need you to keep her safe for me until I can get there. She is dear to me.”I moved the mental communication along the lines of power I had carved out in the earth, and then held my breath for his response.
My request was met with silence. Too much silence. My heart thumped in my chest as I awaited his response.
“Stryker, she’s my—”
“Sunlight magic? A Summer fae from Faerie, then? So she’s an assassin, here to take my heart and my magic, our magic? Just like everyone in her family has.I’m not surprised she hoodwinked you, but I won’t be fooled. I will take my time torturing her to send a message to her descendants. The Ethereum lords are done being hunted by witches of Faerie.”
Then his magic yanked away from me so quickly I was left breathless.
No!
I stood quickly, feeling the power drain out of me from the effort of communicating over such a long distance. Shock and anger rolled through me in equal measure.Stryker was just as unreasonable as I remembered him, and that meant Dawn’s life was truly in danger.
Omen nestled against my neck, and with great effort I climbed onto his back. Hunching forward, I felt the pull of sleep, much needed in order to restore the power loss I’d just had.
“Find her, Omen. Find my love,” I whispered, and then succumbed to the darkness.
Chapter 15
Dawn
We traveled for several hours before stopping to make camp just outside the gates of Easteria. It was in stark contrast to the icy cold climate of Zander’s realm. Everything was green and bright. Spring flowers bloomed around the base of the city wall. A light rain shower had just moved through the area, but now the sun shone high in the sky and my Summer fae skin was loving it. I peered down at the sunstone dagger once again stowed at my hip and sighed.
Zander. Even thinking his name caused an ache in the center of my chest. That kiss we shared, it felt special,hefelt special, and yet I drugged him and left him lying in a room alone.
Was he mad when he woke up to find me gone? Hopefully my taking care of the rondak was a small consolation prize.
