Page 112 of Unraveled
“Good,” Skylar says. “Now that it’s settled, keep the ward around the cage up. When it failed last time, he killed two people.”
I hear Ash’s bitter laughter drift through the air, and silence follows for a while before Skylar’s voice breaks through again. “Am I funny to you, beast?”
“Funny? No.” Ash leans over his knees, his golden gaze fixed on the scientist with a lazy, unafraid look. “Predictably dull? Yes.”
The hollowness in his tone pulls at something within me. I creep forward in the darkness, while letting out a fragment of my power. There are five scientists and one librarian in the room. I doubt Harper will truly hurt me, and if I’m able to wield fire, I might scare them enough to run.
“Do we even need him alive?” a scientist in the back says as he rolls his sleeves up over tawny arms. His knuckles are stained with golden fae blood.
I take one step out of my hiding spot, flames licking my fingers, and a hand covers my lips.
A needle sinks into my neck.
A man hauls me up against his body, and I scream and fight him with everything I have.
But just as I reach for a new spell, I meet a wall. Something that completely blocks me from accessing my magic.
“What do we have here?” Skylar’s steps echo off the low ceilings. His nostrils flare while he studies me.
I gulp for air, and my limbs grow so heavy I slump into the body that holds me.
“I found this shadow hiding behind the crates,” the man behind me says, and his sour breath stinks of ale. His arms tighten around my torso, squeezing so tight I can feel every inch of his rounded stomach press into my back. “She had a weird light coming out of her fingers, so I sedated her.”
I glance over Skylar’s shoulder, and Ash’s face grows slack when our eyes meet.
Skylar grips my chin roughly and twists my face to meet his eyes. His expression is severe as he takes in my dirty, sweaty face, partially covered by waves of my hair as they stick to mycheeks. Then slowly, his brows round up as he puts together who I am.
“I never expected to see you again, darling. I guess I was wrong about the beast killing you.” He studies me with renewed interest and a dash of annoyance.
Harper’s red cloak comes into the edges of my blurred vision as she calls my name. “Release her at once,” she says, reaching toward me with extended arms.
The brute behind me grunts and takes a step away from her and closer to Skylar.
“How are you here?” the latter asks, ignoring Harper and fixing his gaze on me.
“She escaped a week ago,” Ash says, waving his hand like I’m the worst pest he’s ever had to deal with, but the words don’t match the panic in his eyes. It reminds me of what he did back in Hedrum. “I thought the forest would take care of her. I guess I was wrong.”
He shakes his head almost imperceptibly. Everyone studies my reaction, like they’re about to cast a judgment that could cost me my life.
I understand. Ash wants them to believe there isn’t a connection between us. That I was his prisoner all along. I hate that he has to protect me when I came here to save him. My disappointment with myself at this failure sinks deep into my soul.
“I-I came here to see my sister.” My voice slurs, and tears prick my eyes as I look around at the expressions of the men behind Skylar, all in varying states of horror and hope as they take me in. The sedative they injected me with sinks deeper into my very being. “Please... I’ve been away from home for too long.”
Except Irene isn’t here to save me. I left her back in the forest, near the castle.
“I can take her to Irene. She is probably in her room,” a man says from the back, stepping forward to reveal a head of red curls and a pale face covered in light freckles. I fight to remain awake as my vision blurs. The strange sedative doesn’t quite knock me out, just makes my limbs so heavy I can’t move.
Skylar lifts a hand and his eyes tell me he isn’t buying our act. “And you just came into the building? How?”
“The same way I did last time,” I lie.
“And somehow you found the tunnels underground?”
I sob, letting my frustrations out through the tears rolling down my face. “My spell didn’t work on the front door like it did last time, so I came through the back and got lost. I’ve been walking for days, fighting beasts in the forest...”
Almost everyone’s faces shift with compassion, and I know I’ve won most of them despite my poor performance. Perhaps if they took me to Irene’s room, I could wait until the sedative wears off and I’m able to walk again.
Skylar’s eyes move slowly down my neck and pause on my chest. But there is no lewd intent in that horrible, distant gaze, just triumph. He grabs my blackened hand and lifts it so everyone can see.
