Page 174 of The Revered and the Pariah

Arianna ducked to avoid another spindly body that leapt at her with its arms stretched wide. It growled like a feral animal and hit the ground screeching.

“How much further to the river?” she asked, surrounding herself in boiling water that spun rapidly around her body. It sizzled against the rain still pouring from the sky.

“Not far.” Thank the gods. She could practically taste Talon’s panic. The high pitched cry echoed through the branches again and Arianna cringed at the sound, her feet pounding against the ground harder and harder as she sprinted.

There. She could smell it, even through the downpour.

She could hear it, too. The rain had swelled the river already. It crashed against the bank, but Arianna didn’t have time to consider it as she took a deep breath and leaped from the edge, plunging right into the freezing water.

The current ripped through her, tossing her body along its wild path. It tugged her down, down, down and she tumbled along, no longer able to discern a direction. Arianna wrapped her arms around her head, hoping to protect it from the rocks below.

Calm, she told herself. It’s just water.

Arianna summoned her magic, pulling everything around her to a violent halt. A log flew by, nearly colliding with her head and Arianna adjusted the current directly in front of her and sent a stream to intercept anything else that might be barreling her way.

So many things flew by at such a rapid pace that Arianna couldn’t focus on any one object. The water was too murky to see through and she couldn’t find Talon within its depths.

Then she felt magic and relief flooded through her. Talon, thank the gods. She swam toward it, calming the swelling current one inch at a time. She needed to surface for air.

Then tiny shards of ice began to fly past. Arianna looked through her calm sphere of water and dread sank into the pit of her stomach when frost began coating it.

Hurry, Talon.

The ice crawled faster and faster. Something touched her arm and Arianna spun around to find milky eyes and yellow teeth mere inches from her face.

Chapter Seventy-two

Rion

Time held no meaning. Rion just kept slamming the weight of his body against the chains over and over and over again.

He ignored the blood rolling down his arms and the sharp pain that radiated from his wrists. His body begged for a break and his bones threatened to crack with each agonizing movement.

Rion wouldn’t relent. Not until he was free. And he’d shatter his entire body if that’s what it took to get there.

A single thread. That’s all that tethered him to the one person he cherished above all others. And he was holding onto it for dear life.

Kaylee watched him, young eyes wide with worry. She’d found him a tool. A dull one, but a tool nonetheless. An ax. She’d done her best to drag the worn weapon that was twice her size all the way down the hall. He’d find a way to make it work; otherwise he was going to be here a lot longer than he intended.

Rion slammed against the chains again and again, the rhythmic rattling echoing like a broken song. He winced when new pain bit through his shoulder and burning seared the uppermost muscles of his left arm.

Great.

Rion let his body fall limp and his chest heaved with every breath. Kaylee ran forward to offer him water as she always did whenever he took a break. He was covered in sweat and his stomach growled, but Rion only stopped long enough to consume a few bites before he was at it again.

Iron wasn’t going to keep him away from his mate. Nothing was.

Rion pulled again.

Again.

Again.

A groan. His heart jolted and he pulled harder. A slight shift this time.

Rion glanced up at the brackets that held the chains to the ceiling. They didn’t look like they were loosening, but—

“Step back,” he ordered Kaylee. She obeyed. She always obeyed and Rion hated the amount of fear that still radiated from her small body. As if he could hurt her even shackled.

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