Page 69 of Lies That Blemish
Maxim reached out and took my hand, freezing it in his palm as he led me down the hallway. My heart thumped wildly with each step. The fight to kidnap Victory had been bloody. Elaine almost died and could be dead for all I knew. If they hurt Victory…
Smoke began to rise off of my skin. Maxim turned his head ever so slowly to look at me. “Stop it,” he commanded in an even but firm tone. The smoke dissipated, and I felt my powers freeze.
Dammit. He’d figured out how to use my one power to control the other.
He shot me a smug grin, but it never reached his eyes. They were like two cold, dark pits. If I stared at them too long, I got chills.
There was a male guard standing in front of a bedroom door, with a wolf creature beside him. He bowed to Maxim and then opened the door. I steeled myself, prepared for my sister to be bloody and chained to a chair with a gag over her mouth. But when the door opened and we stepped inside, I was shocked.
Victory looked up from where she’d been sitting on a pale pink rug and talking to another girl her age. She looked freshly washed, in a clean blue dress, and unharmed.
“Aisling!” she sobbed and ran to me.
Maxim allowed me to walk to her and open my arms. We crashed together as I had a vague knowledge of the other little girl running to Whitney for a hug.
Was that her sister?
“Maxim can hear your thoughts when Ricov is around,” I whispered into her ear and flicked my gaze to the bearded bastard at the door.
She pulled back, fearfully looking at both Maxim and then Ricov.
“Is Elaine…? Are Valor and Virtue… alive?”
I nodded. “All of them.”
It wasn’t a lie. Elainewasalive when I left.
She sagged in relief, almost sinking to the floor.
“Are you hurt? Hungry? Have they been treating you okay?” I asked her.
She nodded. “I’m fine. They feed us and let us bathe. They said I will start lessons tomorrow and live here from now on.” Her voice caught, her face begging me to answer that question:Is this our life now?
Maxim smiled at my sister. “That’s right, Victory. Your sister is going to surrender in the war, and we are going to get married, unite our people, and bring peace.”
Her eyes widened in fear. She looked at me, and Maxim forced my head to nod.
“No.” Victory moaned, clutching her chest. “Our home, my sisters.”
“Your sisters are welcome to join you here,” Maxim said coyly.
“No,” I growled.
Maxim shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
I stroked Victory’s hair. “Everything is going to be okay,” I told her.
She opened her mouth to speak, probably with a hundred questions on her tongue, but then looked from Ricov to Maxim and closed it.
“Okay,” she said, dejected.
“Who is this?” I asked Victory, pointing to the thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girl with blonde hair who was standing next to Whitney. Now that I looked at them closely, I could see they were sisters.
“This is my new friend, Ana,” Victory said hesitantly.
Ana waved to me, and I shared a tense smile with Whitney. So much was unsaid between us. We both wanted to keep our sisters safe. And we both hated Maxim.
“Well, I’m glad you’re not alone here,” I told Victory in a pleasant voice, trying to go along with things and not anger Maxim.
