Page 115 of The Sacred and the Tormented

Talon took off sprinting down the hall, his movements still unsteady as he leaned too far one way then over corrected, zigzagging down the corridor. Rion followed, his breath shallow as he tried to keep up.

Talon had already torn the container’s door off its hinges before Rion stepped over the threshold. Raevina tore out of the chamber roaring and swinging. Her fist collided with the side of Talon’s face and she pinned him to the ground, snarling as flames circled her body.

“Raevina,” Rion called. The shadows stretched around her, darkening the space as those fierce eyes snapped up to him. Liquid dripped from her long braids but recognition sparked and her magic guttered. She looked down at Talon, then let herself roll off and collapse next to him.

“Are you okay?” Talon asked.

“Does it look like I’m okay?” she snapped, then sat up again, holding one hand against her head as if it were pounding just as much as Rion’s. He had no way of knowing how long the female, or Talon, might have been trapped. “Get this shit off of me.”

The scent of Talon’s magic drifted through the air and he did as Raevina commanded, pulling the strange smelling substance from her body before doing the same to his own.

“I’m going,” Rion said.

“We’ll be right behind you.”

Rion only nodded before half running down the hall again. Several doorways later and Rion roared before ripping another container apart. He desperately yanked the mask off and unlocked the shackles. Saoirse fell into his arms and Rion sank to the floor with his sister’s limp body.

Her heart beat, but her chest wasn’t rising. She wasn’t—she wasn’t breathing.

Rion quickly laid her on the floor and pressed his hands against her chest. Talon and Raevina flew into the room, their magic poised to strike. Rion didn’t bother looking at them. He wasn’t sure how much his heart could take. He put his hands together and pushed down on her chest over and over again. Raevina slid to the floor beside him, pinched his sister’s nose and blew breath into her lungs.

She didn’t move.

“Saoirse,” he called, voice desperate.

Raevina did it again.

Again.

Saoirse’s body convulsed and Rion grabbed her shoulder, pulling her toward him as she coughed and sucked in breath after breath. She grabbed Rion’s arm, clinging to it with an iron grip. He bowed his head, thanking the gods as a trickle of relief washed through him.

“Where—” Saoirse struggled to catch her breath, fighting her shaking body. “Zylah. Where?”

“We haven’t found her yet.” But if she were inside one of these containers, Rion wasn’t certain the half-breed would survive. He wasn’t sure if Vairik would even bother to keep ahalf-breed, magic or no. He hadn’t found any yet, which just solidified the theory that the male might be using these Fae for their magic.

Talon pulled the liquid from Saoirse and Rion’s clothes, then Saoirse leaned on her brother as she rose to her feet. He could feel her trembling beneath him, her body on the verge of collapse.

But his sister stepped. “Zylah. I need to find—” she retched, just as Talon had done, but Rion held her up.

“We don’t have time,” Raevina said. “We have to find Arianna and get out of here. We don’t know when Conall—”

Saoirse hissed and turned on the female. “She’s my mate, I will not leave without her.”

They all stood in shock for a moment, then nodded in understanding.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long. Talon called out from down the hall and Saoirse went running. Raevina found Gavin a few minutes later and dragged him inside the room where Saoirse was running her hands along Zylah’s body, searching for injuries.

They all split up after that, searching room after room after room until they reached the end of the hall.

“She’s not here,” Talon said.

“Because Vairik likely has her. If we find Arianna, we’ll find Ellie,” Saoirse said, her gaze still locked on the half-breed.

“Can you tell where she is?” Zylah asked, her voice just as raw as the rest of them.

Rion’s throat suddenly went dry. None had inquired about his injury, not that it was one they could see. He gripped his chest tighter, fire burning through him with every heartbeat.

“No,” he said, voice cracking.

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