Page 66 of Broken Hearted
“I’ve missed you,” I said.
The words tasted vile in my mouth, but I managed to deliver them with a smile. I wasn’t sure I was convincing enough though because Elisana’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly and she pulled back a little.
A spike of apprehension ran through me, telling me it was time to act. I was just about to unleash my shadows, trapping Elisana within them, when there was a prick at the center of my chest and a familiar and unwanted heaviness settled over me. Every shadow I’d conjured in the room behind her dissolved into nothing.
I reeled back, but it was too late.
Looking down, I spotted a dark purple glow and realized with growing horror that she’d put a rune on me, but this one felt different from a dampener and wasn’t the normal sickening green color. The rune on my chest wasn’t just smothering my powers, it had also started to trickle into my mind, making me foggy and seemingly allowing Elisana’s potion to do its work—not enough that I fell completely under her control like I had before, but I knew I was impaired.
Fear clawed its way through my chest for the first time since I’d consumed her tea tonight.
When I glanced back up at Elisana, she stood a few feet away from me, holding her wand. There was a haze in the air around her, and my feelings of anger started to soften even as I tried to hold on to them.
“Ah, that’s better,” she said with a smile on her face.
I blinked a couple of times, shaking my head against the fog of confusion that dulled my senses. “Why did you do that?” I asked.
Stepping forward, she patted my cheek affectionately. I didn’t lean into it, but I didn’t swat her away like I wanted to either. “Just as a precaution, darling.”
I tried to rouse my fury again, but it doused itself almost the moment it was ignited.
Setting down her wand, Elisana took my hand, holding it between both of hers. Part of me wanted to yank it away from her, but another part of me welcomed the contact. I stood still as the two opposing forces warred within me. The potion was strong, but my love for Isolde was stronger. I had to fight this.
“I know I was pushing for a big wedding, but all this has made me realize that I don’t need that. I just want you,” Elisana said, and I looked into her brown eyes. They were quite beautiful, with gold flecks interspersed throughout the bronze. Had I ever noticed that before? I wasn’t sure.
“Now that you’re back to yourself,” she continued, “we’ll finally be married like we should have been. I’ve already started preparing for a ceremony right here in my hometown.”
I found myself nodding without meaning to, and a huge smile broke over Elisana’s face, even though inside I was screaming, thrashing in a cage of my own mind.
Married? No. I would never marryher. There was … someone else. There was …
As I stared at Elisana, another woman’s image appeared in my mind’s eye. A raven-haired beauty with ice-blue eyes and full lips. Curves that were made for my hands and a husky laugh that made my blood sing.
Isolde. My mate. My love.
Fight it. Think of Isolde, of her stunning blue eyes and the way she laughed,I told myself.
I fought to hold on to her image, knowing my feelings and connection to my mate would be my only saving grace. The longer I held Isolde’s image in my mind, as Elisana prattled on about our wedding, the more I returned to myself. The disgust and wrath I felt toward the blood witch helped burn away some of the effects of her magic still trying to get a stronghold on my mind.
It was going to be a battle, but I knew that I somehow had to keep control of myself while still convincing Elisana I was under her spell. Because if I couldn’t use my magic on the witch or physically hurt her, I was stuck with only one option: to play along until I could figure out a way to break her soul-tie to Seraphina and kill her. Or wait for Isolde to return and do it for me.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Isolde
Iburst from Elisana’s house and nearly ran right into a group of Adrien’s spies. “He’s … I …” I couldn’t speak, I was so distraught.
“We heard. Eldon is staying back to make sure the lord is safe. We will flee with you and help your sister,” the man in the black face wrap told me.
I simply nodded, on the verge of a breakdown as I clung to my sister and fought the urge to run back to Elisana and freeze her solid.
Adrien drank the tea and then looked right at me and said he loved me. That was for me, not her, right? I had to hope he could fight the powers of the potion while I sought help.
“Isolde,” my sister whimpered, nearly tripping over her feet. She’d lost a lot of blood and I felt so guilty that I’d been the one to cause it. If only I had listened to Adrien, and not lashed out at Elisana, my sister would be okay.
“We need a healer,” I said frantically to one of Adrien’s men aswe ran full speed to where we’d stashed the horses. My hand was applying pressure on Seraphina’s wound but that wouldn’t last.
When we reached the horses, one of the men ripped off his black wrap and began to tear it to shreds. “I’m not a healer, but I’m trained in these situations,” he said.
