Page 7 of The Curse of a Kingdom
It wasn’t like she was proud she’d ended up in this prison, making a deal with someone she hated. She wasn’t sure if her shaking knees had anything to do with the tightness in her chest due to her betrayal of this town or the growing weakness in her body. It was likely both. She hoped Arkimedes would forgive her for calling a life debt in his name.
“So, how are you breaking me out of here?” Devon’s voice was gruff and dangerously deep, his face disjointed with rage.
Nava took a step back, keeping a healthy distance from him. “I’m not, not until you say how you’re bringing us to save Arkimedes.”
He surged forward, taking a few steps to the cell bars but not reaching for them. It was then that Nava realized the palms of his hands were blistered, likely from holding onto the spelled iron bars. She almost pitied him. “It’s of no use to me to reveal anything to you if I don’t believe your skills will get me out of this fortified prison.”
Her mouth became sandpaper, and the word “imposter” flashed through her mind. Even after learning she had a bigger destiny than just being a potion maker, she was unsure of her strength, in whether she was indeed worthy of all this.
Ari often told her this crutch stopped her from achieving her full potential, but what if the universe had been wrong all along? What if she couldn’t do it?
She swallowed down the knot that had formed in her throat and took a step back before turning around to leave. Two could play this game. It wasn’t like he had anyone else lining up to release him.
“Wait!” His eyes nearly bulged out of his head. “Where are you going?”
She shrugged, keeping her expression neutral as she fixed her gaze back on him. “I don’t have time for your games. I will leave you here to rot and find another way.”
He straightened to his full height, towering in the small room as he took her in a different light. Like he’d never truly seen her before. “I can create a portal that will get us both there.”
Dark magic. A warning bell rang inside her head, and she blinked in silence. “You can make one that strong? What do you have to sacrifice in order to gain such power? Kill a baby?”
“Perhaps a kitten.” His lips tilted up, but the gesture didn’t reach his eyes. “You asked what I could do, no? I find it rich for you to judge me when you’re so desperately trying to break a prisoner out of jail.”
She hadn’t been able to shake the damn nickname he’d given her a year ago after his bounty hunters took her as a prisoner. Violet had thought the nickname fit, and it had stuck. “What’s the price?”
“One I won’t be paying, that’s for sure.” He turned, walked to the bed with lazy steps, and let his body drop on the mattress, crossing his legs and putting both hands behind his head.
She scowled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know there’s a price to open a portal, and I’m telling you I won’t be paying it. It means you will be the one sacrificing something dear to you.” He lifted his head and his eyes danced with mirth. “A hand? Perhaps your teeth? Your sight? The possibilities are endless.”
Her stomach dropped; her skin prickled like a thousand ants were crawling over her.
“Does Arkimedes mean that much to you?” he asked.
“Yes, he does.”
Devon sat up, his eyes wide like circles before he caught himself. “Fine. Now get me out of here. Because you, kitten, are on borrowed time.”
Nava studied the cell in front of her. They’d secured the iron frame that held the bars to the wood with thick metal hinges and bolts.
“How are we going to make it out of this building? Have you even thought about that?” Devon’s voice broke her concentration.
She was making her plan on the spot because no one had prepared her for the fae coming to her home and stealing the love of her life away in the middle of the night. She was also growing sicker by the minute and had gotten no help from the Commander or this town.
Gavin, Violet, Cameron, and Laurie were elsewhere, unable to support her. Her only companion, Ari, couldn’t leave her behind and save Arkimedes on his own. She was alone.
“I have thought about it,” she snapped back. “You will open the portal here.”
He barked a laugh. “Here?”
“Shh, yes, here. You speak English, no?”
Devon crossed his arms and stared at her with an indifferent expression. “This shall be interesting.”
Nava ignored his words and studied the tree. Her bees crawled on the roof and the energy of her surroundings became thicker as she called for more. She needed the wood to expand and contract, to weaken the iron gate, to crush it enough for them to kick it aside.
A tremor ran beneath her feet, and Devon stood from his bed. “I’ll be damn—”
