Page 148 of Shadows of Ruin

Raya.

I rushed over to her like I could touch her somehow, even though we were merely illusions.

“Ian,”she shouted. Her body jerked, and she crumpled forward on her hands and knees.

What’s wrong?I reached out, but the illusion flickered, and she was gone.

She screamed my name again, screamed it like there was something I could fucking do, and my heart pounded in my chest.

I couldn’t see her in my head anymore.

I turned frantically, wondering where she could have gone.

Another scream.

Raya!I demanded more forcefully.

She appeared again, back on the floor. She looked up at me, blood running from her nose, from her ears. Fuck, from everywhere, all while bloody tears streamed down her face.

I reached for her, startled when my hands actually touched her shoulders. She shuddered once as I made contact. I could feel her, even in my mind. The pain coursing through her threatened to break me.I’m here,I promised.

Fuck, I didn’t know that to do. What she needed.

“Help,” she whispered.

And then she was gone.

Chapter 43

Lana

Iwatched Raya scream until her voice gave out.

Her screaming continued to ring in my ears, even after she stopped. I don’t know if I’d ever heard such a tortured sound before.

She pulled herself to my chair and worked to untie me.

“You can do this,” I said, my voice low. I didn’t want to startle or scare her.

Fates, her crestfallen expression was so unlike the strong woman I’d come to know.

“We’re with you,” Storm added. “You aren’t alone.”

“You should hate me,” she whispered. “He is too strong.”

“You’re fighting now,” I said as the rope dropped away and my hands fell forward. I rubbed my wrists, begging the circulation to return.

She moved to Storm and produced a key from her pocket, leaving me to untie the ropes at my feet.

“I don’t know how much time we have. I haven’t been able to release his hold until now,” she murmured. “He must be distracted.”

“You need to be careful,” Storm said as she reached up to work on unlocking his chains.

I stepped out of the ropes, my muscles locked up from sitting with my hands behind my back.

Raya didn’t answer him, so he pressed harder. “We don’t know the damage fighting his mind magic causes, and I can barely see your face through the blood.”

“I’m fine,” she snapped. The lock clicked around his wrists.

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