Page 55 of A Fate of Blood and Magic (Fated #2)

Chapter

Twenty-Four

ELIAS

Our castle and its grounds were demolished.

It now sat on piles of ash and rubble that continued to burn.

While Brenton had offered to go through the destruction along with several other fae, I wasn’t ready to face it.

Lives had been lost there while other lives hung somewhere between life and death, waiting for someone to rescue them from beneath the wreckage.

Those were the ones Brenton searched for as he listened for even the faintest sound of a heart beating.

I respected him for it. Appreciated him for it.

All the while, I kept myself far from where my mother and Grandma Richter lay. It wouldn’t serve as their tomb. No, I wouldn’t permit that. Not for them or anyone else.

Already, Teddy and Everly had started preparing our people for a kingdom-wide ceremony to honor those who had died. Although I hated the idea of watching my mother’s body disappear to join my father in the stars, I wouldn’t deny her or anyone else that final journey.

Once we retrieved each fallen body, our kingdom would honor our dead. Again .

Until then, we each did what we could. I hated separating from my mate.

I hated the idea of me not being at her side should danger find her again, but I was needed here while she worked with Alastor, going to establishments throughout Somnio and Reignom where large groups gathered so they could cast a spell that would protect the establishments and its people from those who wished others harm.

The protective barriers they put in place would ensure places, such as the tavern, would remain safe from those who terrorized our people.

Far from the castle, where my uncle once called home, Javier, George, and I worked together in building a prison made of iron.

Unfortunately, because of the material, Javier had to do most of the work.

Despite the gloves George and I wore, the iron stole our energy, making George’s magic flicker in and out of existence.

I sensed Evander and Silas before they stepped beside me. Kieren and Aidas followed them, wearing matching frowns.

“How can we help?” Silas asked.

I pointed my chin toward the foundation of the prison cell we were working on. “If you have gloves to protect your hands from the iron, we could use your assistance in building the cell.”

It was a large cell that needed to fit sixty-three people. All humans, ranging from someone as young as twenty-one to as old as seventy-six.

Javier wiped sweat from his forehead and tossed the pair of gloves I’d brought him to Kieren.

“I don’t need it,” Javier told his friend.

“It’s strange that such delicate hands can withstand such volatile material.” Aidas smirked .

“It’s stranger that you never cease running your mouth,” Kieren said.

The magic of Kieren’s mind speak grazed across my mind, the brush reminding me of the way my magic had once swam inside me. Would the longing for that missing piece of myself ever go away? Or would it forever keep me a prisoner in a body that now felt foreign?

From their inner pockets of magic, both Silas and Evander pulled out thick work gloves. Both gloves were worn with tears and discoloration that spoke of how often they used them. It made me wonder what kind of work they’d done in the human realm that would wear down the gloves the way they were.

“Shall I serve as the day’s entertainment?” Aidas asked with a quirked eyebrow.

George stammered out a reluctant laugh. I understood his trepidation. It felt wrong to laugh amid all the deaths, especially when many of those responsible were still alive. I wouldn’t say they were well, though. They were, at the very least, fed.

While I wouldn’t be able to put the prisoners of battle in our dungeon, Alastor had suggested keeping them in the large cottage my uncle once called home. It was far away from any city in Niev, while it bordered the area where Tera Insaldame began.

I didn’t like the idea of putting his people in danger, but his lirio and nyxx could camouflage with their surroundings, serving better as guards than the fae of my kingdom. Should any of the prisoners escape, they’d have to contend with Alastor’s warriors.

George and Alastor had stripped my uncle’s cottage of its magic, leaving it cold and uncomfortable for the prisoners. While we’d left them clothed, we didn’t offer any other luxuries.

Honestly, they deserved far less than what they received, but I did it for Donnie, who should’ve been the one in charge of our prisoners. Or maybe not in charge but, at the very least, given an opinion on their well-being and future.

Still healing from the illness that had overtaken his lungs, Donnie spent most of his day asleep while Leah tended to him.

Her own magic seemed to be malfunctioning from overuse.

And while I hated working her so hard, what else could I do?

Niev was suddenly short on healers, and with so many injured, there was no way to care for them all. But our healers tried.

A part of me wished my warriors had killed every human they’d battled with after the attacks on our military school and castle. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about housing or feeding them. I wouldn’t have to worry about them escaping and causing even more harm.

But George had been right in not executing them. After all, the dead couldn’t speak, and we still needed answers.

They just didn’t need to speak quite so loud. I glared at the cottage that now served as a prison, rage flooding through my veins as one human male shouted.

“Someone better put a barrier around the cottage or I’m going in there and shutting him up myself,” I said, staring at my gloved hands in disbelief. But was this really my life? No longer able to erect a simple barrier.

“Maybe we should see what he needs,” Javier said, casting a nervous look at the ground when I growled.

“What he needs is to cease screaming.” Using his magic, George lifted the snow from the ground and sent it through the cracks in the old cottage. More screams followed .

“Please!” the male bellowed. “I want to see the king.”

My lips tugged up in a grin, and when I pushed the door open, George followed me inside. I pulled my sword from the sheath on my hip.

“Who requests an audience with me?” I asked.

The prisoners parted while a lone male strode forward.

“I do.” He licked his chapped lips, keeping his fisted hands at his side. “I know the fae who’s betraying you. I . . .”

His words cut into a scream when fire erupted, licking across his face and trailing down his body. Several prisoners ran past him toward the open door while others raced toward the far end of the cottage. I lunged on the male’s burning body, rolling him on the ground to try to quell the fire.

George summoned the snow again, this time covering the male with it. It did nothing to subdue the fire that flamed even higher, consuming the male in another sharp burst.

Just as suddenly as it’d started, the fire vanished.

Breaths heaving from my tight chest, I stood on trembling legs, looking at the charred flesh that peeled away to show shattered bones.

The humans’ screams reached deep inside my mind, squeezing it until I was dizzy from the sound. Their fear didn’t just surround me but engulfed me in its sour scent so that I tasted it on my tongue.

“Enough!” I shouted.

The humans stilled, those along the furthest corner pressing their backs against the wall, as if they hoped the very walls would soak them in.

I stared at each terror-stricken human, my own throat bobbing with theirs, and when I turned to George, his features mirrored my emotions.

“They’re all bound by magic,” I whispered .

He nodded, lips pulled down in a deep scowl as he considered my words.

With Silas and Evander on either side of them and two lirio behind, they ushered in the several humans who’d tried to escape. When a female stumbled, Evander moved to help her, but she scooted away from his outstretched hand.

“It isn’t I you should fear,” Evander said.

I snarled to emphasize his words. The remainder of the prisoners huddled together on the other side of the large room. When I stepped back outside, the others followed.

“He said a fae is betraying you,” Evander said, licking his lips as if he could still taste the magic that had emanated from the flames.

I nodded.

“What if the one responsible for this fire magic is a fae from your kingdom?” Evander asked.

Uncomfortable with that question, I put my hands on my waist to keep myself from balking. But that traitor could also be one of his people. “The truth-tellers would’ve found them when they interrogated everyone.”

“That’s not exactly true,” Kieren said, a hand rubbing the back of his neck.

“There are ways to hide lies and ways to hide the truth. It’s a matter of controlling your emotions.

Our magic allows us to calm our heart rate and breathing, even if we’re lying.

We can do the opposite and purposely heighten our emotions while telling the truth. ”

“He’s right,” Silas said. “We have a game where he tries to figure out what I’m lying about while I keep myself calm. Kieren only knows my lies because he knows me so well.”

Shaking my head, I stammered out a breath. “Why would any of my fae align themselves with humans to kill our own?”

“To make us hate and distrust all humans more,” Evander answered.

“Think about it. You moved humans into Niev without speaking to them about it. Many have lost loved ones because of humans, while many abducted fae remain missing. I’d wager there are plenty among your people who . . . distrust the humans.”

Silence stretched between us, and even George seemed to take that suggestion seriously. It wasn’t a possibility we could ignore simply because we didn’t like it.

If we had a traitor among the fae in our realm, we had to find them before they caused any more harm or deaths. They’d know our realm better than any human or shifter fae. They’d know our weaknesses, our way of life, and our thinking.