Page 77 of Ocean of Silver

“Peter,” I choked on a scream as I ran to my friend. He stirred, his green eyes flaring to life as he saw me.He’s alive. He’s alive. He’s alive.

My feet leadened as Kole compelled, “Stop. Leave him there.” Tears sprang from my eyes as I helplessly watched my friend. I needed to get to him. I needed to do something. “You aren’t allowed to touch him,” Kole said as he bent down to pick up the bloody whip. “I caught yourLuxianmaid trying to approach Sie before the meeting,” Kole said as he lifted his arm again. “So I followed her, or should I sayhim.”

“No. Please. Kole, don’t do this.” I pleaded. “Please,” the word broke from my lips, sobs wrecking me. Kole paused long enough to look at me, and for a second, I thought he might give in. Hope swelled in me. “Peter did nothing. He’s innocent. You’re angry at Sie and me, not him, please. Please, don’t do this.”

Kole laughed only once, the whip still clutched in his hand. “He’s not innocent, and even if I wanted to help, it’s too late. The Lux King is already aware we captured Tennebris’ second in command. That he’s been pretending to beyourmaid. You’ll be questioned too, you know,” he said as he looked at me. “The King is on his way down here right now.”

No, no, no.This couldn’t be happening. Fear tore through me. I didn’t know how Peter would make it out of this alive if the King already knew about him.

“Why?” Peter asked. His eyes fluttered open and closed, like even they were too heavy for him. His voice was too soft, too faint. I could hear the struggle and effort it took to say each word. “Why… are you working for… the Lux King.” Peter spit as blood poured from his mouth. “You’re Tennebrisian.”

“The Tennebrisian High Council sent me here. I’m supposed to—” Kole stopped talking mid-way through. “Enough of this. I have my orders.” I couldn’t tell if Kole looked more defeated or furious. He lifted the whip. “Until the King gets here, I’m not allowed to stop.”

His arm reached the sky as he threw all this strength against Peter’s already flayed back. Peter screamed. The sound echoed against the dungeon’s walls and vibrated against my chest. A pool of blood rested under his bare feet. There was too much of it that it was clogging, unable to flow down the drain, and his cream-colored gown was staining, changing colors before my eyes…

“Peter, shift,” I cried as I watched Kole’s hand strike down over and over again. “Shift into something. Break out of the chains.”

His eyes were closing. He was losing too much blood without a healer. My best friend was dying before my eyes. He was dying. I didn’t know what to do. My feet were still frozen on the ground as I was forced to watch, forced to do nothing.

“I… can’t…” he panted. “The chains… too much.” He winced as the whip cracked his open flesh again. He no longer had the energy to scream. I watched as his body sagged further toward the bloody ground. He stopped fighting against the pain.No, no, no.

Anger rose in me. I would not let Kole take anything else from me. I would not let him kill Peter. A memory surfaced from the lake.I’ll show you mine when you show me yours.He was so jovial, so free-spirited. Peter never stopped smiling, no matter what was going on, but now… Now he couldn’t even lift his head. Tears poured from me. I was going to show my friend my ability. I was going to see him smile again. He would live. He had to—

I poured everything I had into him so he could work against the Alluse shackles he was chained to. I could feel his ability stir. The urge to transform, the urge to shift into anything. My skin tingled as Peter met my stare.

“I. Said. Shift.”I seethed at him. Peter’s green eyes widened as he realized what I was doing, as he felt my power flowing into his. I gave him everything. He didn’t hesitate as he used the last of our combined reserves to transform into something else entirely. I watched in awe as he grew. His wrists thickened, and the chains clinked off effortlessly, unable to support his mass. Fur replaced his bloody skin, and claws grew from each limb. His back arched, his teeth elongating. Green eyes narrowed in on Kole’s brown ones, ready to kill.

“Make him pay,”I smiled as I looked toward the beast. Only his eyes were left the same. I wanted to watch as he killed Kole. I didn’t want to miss a second of it. I felt my reserve depleting as I used all of my enhancement on Peter, giving him all my strength, giving him everything I had. Blood dripped from my nostrils as I tasted the metallic liquid. My vision was starting to blur, and my body was shaking so profusely that it was an effort to stand upright. But I didn’t care. My friend was out of the chains. He would escape. He would make it out of here. But first, he would kill Kole.

Kole retreated a step, fear taking over him as he abandoned the whip. Then his eyes flashed, and he turned to me. “Stop breathing, Scottie,” he compelled.

The air left me. My chest tightened, and that burning fire in my lungs returned. My lungs wouldn’t move—couldn’t expand—they were stuck, frozen in place. I wanted to inhale, to gulp in air, but I couldn’t.

“I won’t let her breathe again until you shift back,” Kole said, a tremor in his voice. “If you kill me, she dies.”

I wanted to scream at Peter to do it anyway, to kill Kole, but with the air out of my lungs, I couldn’t find my voice. I could do nothing but watch as whatever beast form Peter took vanished in a heartbeat. He returned to his normal body, still in the torn dress, still covered in blood. “If you try to attack me again, I’ll compel her to stop breathing and not stop. Got it?”

“Yes. Just… let her go,” Peter pleaded as he collapsed onto the ground, his knees scrapping against the bloodied grate. Kole released me. My lungs could finally expand, and I sagged onto the floor.

A loud clap echoed throughout the room as I greedily gulped in the air. The Lux King was propped against the wall, assessing us from the shadows like he’d been there the whole time.

“Well done, Mr. Sanders. Your presence here continues to amaze me. Not only have you caught us a very important Tennebrisian prisoner,” he gestured his head toward Peter. “You also may have just discovered Miss Rumor’s abilities.” The King’s icy gaze fell to my spot on the floor where I was still struggling to breathe. My hands were clutching my throat over the small scar from when Kole first attacked me back in Tennebris. I tried to crawl backward, away from him, still gasping for air as realization sunk in. The Lux King just witnessed me using my enhancement on Peter.

Kole bowed. “It is my honor, Sir.”

The King smiled. “And you, Miss Rumor, are also proving to be beneficial in more ways than one.” He turned to Kole. “Hook her up to the monitors. I want to access her memories from her training with my son—”

My body was shutting down. I couldn’t hear what else he was saying. I used too much of my ability going against the Alluse Peter was wearing that I had nothing left. My vision was fading. The last thing I saw before I fully blinked away the light were two fully silver eyes.

THIRTY

SCOTLIND

“Bring him down,”the King ordered. My eyes lifted open. I blinked, adjusting to the light. I had been moved, but it still looked like we were in the dungeons, just a different section. I was chained to the floor and could feel the Alluse in the shackles, blocking my abilities.

Everything came back to me. Peter was captured. The King saw me use my enhancement. He knew…

With that, I jolted up, searching for my friend. He was nowhere to be found. There were no windows in here, unlike the cages I was kept in, so I had no idea how much time had passed. I sent a prayer to the Goddesses that Peter was still alive, that maybe somehow he still managed to escape.

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