Page 150 of The Book Reader
I can feel her; her eyes are like my own. Everything she sees flashes through my head like flickers of photos. Her intrigue for this new place makes her check everywhere possible.
We both have the same feelings for this place. We want to burn it to the ground.
Rex stays by my side, ready to fight if he needs to.
“He is gone,”I hear Lexus in my head, and it makes me frown. I shimmer to where she is, but the cell that I left Gaelan in when Leah shimmered me out is empty.
Lexus is crouched down looking at a puddle of blood. She knows it belongs to our mate, and we both growl low. “We have only been gone a few hours, where could she have taken him?” As soon as those words leave my lips, dread fills my stomach. The last time she had him, she forced herself on him. “Bedroom,” Lexus and I say at the same time.
“Go find him,” I say to her, and she fades from my sight, leaving me in this dark cell.
Glowing red eyes appear in the dark followed by a whine, Rex appears after following me, he can smell Gaelan and like any loyal pup, he wants to protect his owner, I walk over and rub his head, “We will get him, don’t worry,” I reassure him, or at least I try to, part of me knows that my words were more for me than him.
I walk around, looking at the state of the cell. How can they just throw people down here? If they are bad, I guess I would understand. However, having people who have done nothing blows my mind. I walk over to the far wall, where writing has been scraped into it; I must move closer to read what it says. It’s faint and appears to have been here for a long time.
Drake.
Seeing his name on the wall, carved there, sends a wave of uncertainty crashing over me.Was Drake locked in here?
I reach out and run my hand over the bumpy letters.
Did he escape?
I start to wonder what he would have done to be in a cell like this. Everyone who comes here, from the look of things, is tortured and killed most horribly. I shiver, then move toward the door and look down the corridor. My eyes lock on the Blood Bringer’s cell again. I want to walk down the hall and pull the door open, but I know I must wait. I need to get Gaelan out of here first.
“Ari, I found him,” I turn, hearing Lexus. She has tears running down her cheeks, and it’s at that moment that I can feel her hurt and fear for our mate. “Where is he?” I ask her, and she points upwards. “A bedroom up there,” her face full of dread, as I rush past her and move down the hall. “He wouldn’t wake up Ari.” Her words struck me, causing me to pause for a moment. I pull in a shaky breath and draw her back into my body, then shimmer to where she had been.
The room is dark; the windows have the curtains drawn. I can hear chains and smell blood thick in the air; I can feel my anger starting to build alongside the fear I can feel coming from my mate.
“Gaelan?” I whisper as I lift my hand, “Lux Est,” and the light illuminates. Gold balls lift from my hand and float up into theair, lighting the room, my eyes frantically looking around the red and black bedroom.
There is a massive, unmade bed in the center; the sheets appear to have been slept in, and the person didn’t make the bed when they got up. On one side, there is a vanity table covered in mirrors and makeup. Above it is a massive painting of Macy naked, holding her sword. If she were a good and friendly person, I would say she is sexy as hell, but knowing what she is like, it’s a disgusting portrait.
I hear the chains again and spin around, heading for the door they come from. I push it open and gasp, “Gaelan?” My hand goes to my mouth as I take in the view in front of me.
Gaelan is chained to some kind of wooden cross, naked. His arms and legs stretched out as he hangs. He has slashes across his stomach, chest, and arms, all of them so deep that his blood still drips onto the floor below him.
I rush over to him and take his cheeks in my hand and lift his head up to mine. “Baby, wake up.” I lean forward and kiss his lips lightly. He winces away from me, then starts to thrash his head from side to side.
“Fuck you, I don’t fucking care what you do to me.” his voice is strong; he has no idea it’s me. He’s still trying to fight her.
What the fuck did she do to him?
“Gaelan, it’s me, your Rose,” I whisper, trying to soothe him. He tries to pull out of my hold again, and tears start to run down my cheeks, my heart breaking for all the pain he has had to go through. For me.
“Gaelan, it’s okay, I got you.” I lower, trying to get into his view enough that his half-closed eyes can see me. “Rose?” his voice a plea and a wish.
“Yes, it’s me,” I say, my voice cracking with my emotions. I wrap my arms around his neck and hold him close to me, trying not to hurt him anymore. “I got you.”
“I want her to fucking die,” he croaks out, “I want her fucking head,” he says, and then I feel his body slump into me as he passes out again.
Whatever Macy has done to him, I am going to make that bitch pay for this. I feel Lexus growl, both of us knowing we will hold her heart in our hands when we are finished with her.
I pull back and lightly tap Gaelan on the cheeks to wake him up. He groans, then his eyes flutter open, and a look of pure disbelief shines in them. He's looking at me as if he can’t believe he is seeing me. “I’m going to get us out of here, hold on,” I say, kissing him on the lips. Then I move to one of the cuffs and try to open it. The lock on them is held in place, and I can feel the magic coming off of it. Stepping back, I close my eyes. I can feel the book coming to life in Westrey. The pages flicker as they search for what I need. It lands on a page of power, and the spell lifts off the page, then fades into the air. I can feel the burn as it appears on my stomach. My eyes open and I whisper“Meo magia ligatum, quod erat illis, meum facit”
My magic binds what was theirs, makes it mine.
The locks on his chains and every single chain and lock in the palace click open.
