Page 47 of A Curse of Breath and Blood (The Mind Breaker #1)

46 AELIA

I tugged at the enchanted iron shackles binding me to the table. The magic-laced iron burned my skin and blocked my powers. I recognized this scene, this table, these shackles. This is where Erissa made me the monster I am today.

She clicked her tongue at me. “Now, now, you know you can’t escape these.”

“What do you want from me?” My voice shook with rage.

From between her spindled fingers dangled a ruby encased in gold. “Is this what you were looking for?” The pendant sparkled. An engraving I couldn’t make out carved on its glassy surface.

Pulling against my restraints, I howled in pain. “Just let my sister go! Why do you want her in the first place?”

“I don’t. I needed you, and I knew you would come for her.” Erissa twirled the pendant as she paced the room.

“For what?” I shook the shackles around my wrists, earning me a punch to the face from Ramus, splitting my lip. The taste of metallic blood filled my mouth.

“You do not question Mother,” he said, stepping back into the shadows.

Tightness consumed my chest at the familiarity of it all .

“Thank you, Ramus.” Erissa pulled a beaker containing a bright pink liquid from its burner and set it down on a little table next to me, then she uttered an ancient language.

The mixture swirled like a dervish before taking the shape of a scorpion.

My stomach turned sour as the creature sprung to life, crawling up Erissa’s pale arm.

Stroking its back, she whispered something to the creature.

Suddenly the door behind me swung open, and Gideon entered, leading Caiden in chains. My heart stopped at the sight of him.

Caiden’s head hung low.

“Excellent, our first guest of honor is here,” Erissa said, motioning for Caiden to take a seat on a bench.

“What is this all about, Erissa? Who is this?” He nodded his head in my direction.

Caiden’s indifference to me cut like a knife. I bit my lip to distract myself.

I hoped Tharan did the smart thing and headed back to the Woodlands.

My hopes were trampled a few moments later as Remus led in a bloody-faced Tharan.

“Found this one in the study. Just like you said, Mother.”

“Excellent.” Erissa clapped her hands with delight as Tharan took a seat next to Caiden.

Gideon ran a finger down my jaw. “Not so tough without your dagger, are you?”

My skin crawled at the sense of his touch, but I could not escape. Pooling blood into my mouth, I spat it at him.

Blood dripped down his muscled jaw. “You’re feistier than you were when we were together.” He wiped his face. “I like this Aelia better.” He pressed his lips to mine in a sign of dominance.

I futilely pulled at my chains, trying to push him away .

“Does someone want to tell me who this is and what is going on here?” Caiden said.

Erissa scoffed at the question. “Oh, Prince, do not act dumb. Everyone knows you and Aelia shared a bed for years.”

I closed my eyes. Nothing like having your romantic history laid bare in front of your current lover, your husband, and your ex-lover, whose mind you erased.

“He’s telling the truth, Erissa.”

The mage cocked her head to the side.

“I erased myself from his memory.”

Blinking, Caiden stared at me, his mouth twisting as he searched his mind for me.

A light brightened in her eyes. “You have become powerful since we last met. How fortunate for me.” She stroked the scorpion perched on her left shoulder.

“What do you want from us, Erissa?” Tharan asked as blood snaked its way down his face.

“Glad you asked, Alder King.” She nodded to Remus and Ramus, who placed an iron collar around my neck, holding my shoulders down.

Panic ran through my veins.

“Each of you has original blood in your veins. Meaning the magic flowing through you is older than time itself. Caiden, your bloodline is as close as we can get to the original sylphs. Tharan, you possess both elf and sylph originals in your bloodline, so you will make up for whatever Caiden lacks, and Aelia…” She turned to me, a wicked gleam in her eye. “Aelia has the blood of Fate running through her.”

“Why do you need originals?” Tharan asked.

Erissa laughed as if the answer was plain as day. “To unlock Trinity Wells. Where the ancient magic of Moriana is stored, of course.”

Tharan tugged at his chains. “Those are a myth, Erissa.” Fire burned in his verdant eyes. “What are you going to do? Pull the magic from our veins?”

“Precisely, my fair king.” Erissa held out her arm, urging the scorpion toward me.

A scream built in my throat as the insect crept closer. Its legs like tiny needles on my skin. Powerless, I could not stop the creature. Screams burned my lungs as I looked on in horror.

The door to the lab swung open, and two crossbow bolts flew through the darkness, hitting Remus and Ramus. They released my arm and howled in pain. Blood gushed from their necks.

I wiggled as best I could, trying to throw the scorpion off its course.

Reaching my elbow, the creature dug its tail deep into my artery, ripping my magic from me.

I screamed as pain spread through me like fire through a dry brush. Every nerve firing, overloading my system.

Time slowed.

I floated above my body, watching a fight break out below. Lucius freed Tharan and Caiden, and now all three battled Gideon, the twins, and Erissa.

Caiden’s lightning lit the room while Tharan unleashed a deluge of thorns onto Gideon and Erissa.

Blocking the thorns, Gideon fired his own dark magic back.

Erissa stared at the insect with its stinger in my skin. Whispering something, the scorpion returned to her hand.

A sharp sting hit my forearm as Tharan crushed the bug under his grip. I returned to my body.

“No!” Erissa shouted, reaching her hand out for the dead insect. “You will pay for that.” Magic sparked at her fingertips.

Vines appeared through the cracks in the floor, splitting the granite, creating a wall between Erissa and us. Tharan tore the shackles from my body, crumpling the iron like old pieces of parchment .

Flames appeared in Erissa’s hand.

“You’ll take this castle down with flames like that,” Gideon said, deflecting a shot of lightning from Caiden.

“So be it,” Erissa said, hurling a ball of fire at me.

Blasting me into the wall, the flames threatened to engulf me, but they could not penetrate my skin.

My breath hitched in my throat as pain seared up my back. The room spun. I touched my hand to my head. Blood coated my fingertips as a muted battle raged around me.

“I can still collect your blood if you’re dead.” Erissa stalked toward me.

“You can have all the blood you want if you free Baylis,” I said, frantically looking for anything to grab onto.

Erissa opened her mouth to speak, only to be cut short by a deluge of lightning slamming her into a shelf of potions.

The glass vials shattered, covering her in different mixtures. Erissa cried out in agony as her skin shriveled and died, leaving her face a mess of mangled tissue and bone.

Caiden’s eyes hungered for revenge as he approached the mage. “This is for my wife.” He plunged the blade through Erissa’s clavicle and into her heart.

A high-pitched screech pierced my eardrums, making the world go hazy again.

Tharan ran to my side, helping me up. “We have to go now,” he said, shooting another poisonous thorn at the twins.

“I want the twins,” I said, my eyes locked on Ramus. “I will spare Gideon, but give me them.”

Tharan nodded, focusing his vines on Ramus.

“What’s happening?” the big man shouted as the vines snaked their way up his torso and around his limbs.

Remus hacked at the vines imprisoning his brother. The blades dulled with each strike .

Summoning every ounce of strength left in me, I got to my feet. “Let me go, Tharan.”

He did as I commanded.

I narrowed my gaze at Remus, who tore at the vines with his hands. So distracted, he did not notice as I hobbled closer, using the nightmares they inflicted upon me to fuel my feet. The smell of Remus’s desperation tasted sweet on my tongue.

Calling my dagger to my hand, I gripped the hilt tight before plunging it into Remus’s thick neck.

“Who’s the little bird now?” I whispered into his ear.

The three men looked on in awe as I became what nightmares were made of.

“Lucius, your sword.” I held out my hand.

He offered me the hilt.

Taking the weapon, I lifted it above my head, letting my rage fuel me.

“No!” Ramus called as I brought the sword down on Remus’s neck, severing his head from his body. Blood pooled at my feet as Remus’s head rolled away.

A guttural scream rattled my lungs.

Gideon ran to Erissa, who lay slumped against a cabinet. “We have to go,” he said, hoisting her to her feet. Through trembling hands, she conjured the last bit of her power. Snapping her fingers, they disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

The flames spread, crawling up the walls of the laboratory like spiders.

“What are we going to do with him?” Caiden asked, examining Ramus, who squirmed on his cross.

“He’s mine,” I said as Tharan helped me over to where Ramus hung. “Do not resist me.” Reaching out my magic, I linked our minds. Inside sat a small boy with a head of curls, warming himself by a fire, surrounded by stars.

“ Hello ,” he said in a cheerful but guarded voice .

“ Hello ,” I replied.

Standing, the boy dusted the dirt from his pants. “ I know why you’re here .”

I gave him a reassuring smile. “ Why don’t you show me where you keep your memories? ”

“ This way ,” he said, the fire gilding his features, making him look innocent.

Smoke formed a door. Taking a key from his pocket, the little boy led me through.

The inside of the room resembled a library, but instead of books, memories lined the shelves. In the center of the room sat a small bed with the sheets down-turned, waiting for him.

“ Why don’t you hop in? ” I said, helping him into the bed and tucking him in tight.

“ Will it hurt? ” he asked.

“ No .” I brushed the dark hair from his eyes. “ Now go to sleep. ”

He gave me a little smile, then drifted off to sleep.

Lighting a match, I touched the flame to every memory.

The bookshelves burned, but still, the little boy slumbered. I took the memory of Remus dying and set it on a loop in the little boy’s mind before locking the door behind me.

When I opened my eyes, Ramus sat drooling in front of me.

“Let him rot here,” I said, collapsing into Tharan’s arms.