Page 95 of The Storm of the Empire

“I’m a necromancer. I’ve harnessed death to my benefit. They’ll have to try a lot harder to kill me and they still won’t succeed.”He sneered, then turned to his guards. “We’ll keep them with us. Give them the same treatment you gave Kol. I don’t want anyone to be able to find them.”

“What do we do if someone comes looking for them?” Kalon asked, avoiding my eyes.

“We’ll be long gone by the time they do. Give the temple the same treatment as you gave the island.”

Kalon bowed his head. “It will be done.” He moved to close the cell door but hesitated. “Are you sure we should leave them in here together?”

“He has no magic. What’s the worst they can get up to?” Octavian laughed again.

Then the door slammed, and they were gone.

I waited for them to walk away, feeling the weight of Hazel’s glare and the moments passed, once it was safe, I turned on her with pleading eyes. “I was lying,” I blurted. “I was saying anything I could to try and get out of this. Please believe me.”

“I know.” She put her hand over my mouth.

I studied her eyes in the sliver of light from the corridor, and I saw the truth in them. She was chasing to believe me when I knew she had her doubts. My chest swelled, and I smiled behind her hand. Even locked up and in some serious danger, I had her, and that was enough.

She removed her hand and wound her arms around my neck.

“Do you trust me?” she asked.

“Of course I do.” I didn’t hesitate.

Her eyes glittered. “That pendant is coming off now.”

‘What? Why?” I baulked.

“Because if you have even a drop of magic, we need it to get out of here!”

“I don’t have any magic, Hazel. We need to think our way out of here, not pretend a ‘what if’ will solve it.”

“I know you have your reasons, but you want me to trust you, so you have to trust me. Okay?”

I opened my mouth to object, but she was right. I couldn’t ask for trust repeatedly without giving some in return.

THIRTY-ONE

HAZEL

“Okay?” I asked again. I had to know he was sure because once it was done, if it unblocked any kind of magic he had, there would be no putting it back.

“Okay.” He looked me right in the eyes, confirming his choice. He didn’t shy away from it or agree to it reluctantly. He faced everything with his eyes open, and that was one of the things I loved most about him.

I pulled my power from all my cells and from the stone we stood on and through it from the earth and the deeper nodes. This was my land. My power was connected and harnessed through this soil and through the storms the Goddess gave us. I harnessed that power, knowing I’d need a big boost to break the chain holding the pendant in one go.

I prayed, readying myself. I’d need any power he might have to escape this place, and if this didn’t work, I would have depleted myself, and then we stood no chance of breaking out of here. I stopped myself from doom spiraling and relaxed into the feel of my lightning power. It reassured me.

“Are you ready?” I checked.

He cupped my face, keeping close. “For you? Always.”

I laughed and let the power wash over me. Focusing on one single link in the chain, I let it loose. I pushed the power to increase until the atoms themselves began to separate. I was almost there, only a little more…

Luka flinched, and I worried.

Not now,I implored, not taking my focus off the task.Don’t pull away,I urged him mentally as if he could hear me. But he held steady.

Footsteps clicked down the hallway, and I gasped. If they walked in when the necklace came off, they’d know. There’d be too much ambient magic in the air—it would be impossible to hide. But I also couldn’t stop. If I did, there would be no telling when I’d regain enough power to try again, and they were going to cut off my power like they had Kol’s.

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