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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Ellery

“Stop it!” I commanded. “He’s a child.”

Lightning flared across my fingertips. If I could kill him without harming Billy, I would, but the coward ducked behind the boy and peered around his shoulder as he grinned at me.

I loathed that smile.

“Oh no,” Gaius admonished me. “We’re not going to have any lightning flying around here.”

My teeth gnashed together as I dug my fingers into my palms. “Release him, and I’ll go with you.”

“I know it won’t be that easy,” he said. “You’re a very good liar, Ellery. Everyone truly believed your relationship with Ryker was over, and you didn’t so much as flinch when I said there was a female lightning bearer in the realm. You were so fucking calm.”

I’d been a tumultuous mess of raw nerves, but he didn’t have to know that. “One does what one must to survive.”

“Yes, one does.”

To emphasize his words, Gaius wrapped his hand around Billy’s throat and lifted him until his toes barely touched the ground. Ianto grunted and stepped forward, the thunderous expression on his face making it clear he didn’t require a weapon to sever Gaius’s head from his body.

“Don’t,” Ruby whispered, gripping the giant’s arm. “That’s my baby.”

Ianto stopped moving but glowered at Gaius, who smiled back at him. “You’d better listen to the woman, giant. I have no problem with killing a child.”

I inwardly flinched at the words and the fact anyone could be so indifferent to a life… especially an innocent one.

“Yes, you do,” Ianto replied. “Because if you kill him, I’ll tear you limb from limb.”

Gaius’s smile remained in place, but he paled a little. Ianto was an imposing figure that couldn’t be ignored, and until now, he’d stayed off their radar. If Gaius escaped, the giant would become one of the hunted.

“There’s a set of chains with my horse. He’s in that stall.” Gaius jerked his head to the stall a few feet away from him. “Have the pretty boy get them and put them on you.”

Callan shook his head. “I’m not chaining her.”

“Then I’ll kill the boy.”

“If you kill him, you have nothing standing between us and you,” I said.

And he had to know he wouldn’t die an easy death; I’d ensure that.

“That’s true, but it’s not a risk you’re willing to take,” Gaius said.

“You’re betting your life on that,” Ianto stated.

Gaius chuckled. “Easy, giant.

“Let him go, and I’ll come with you,” I said.

“You’ll come with me, but it will be in chains,” Gaius replied. “And pretty boy is going to place those chains on you, or I’ll start cutting off pieces of the boy.”

Gaius locked his arm around Billy’s throat and placed the blade to his ear. It would only take a little pressure before he sliced it free. Tears welled in Billy’s eyes, and his lower lip trembled.

“No!” Ruby gasped.

When she took a couple of steps toward them, Billy cried out as the blade bit into his flesh. “Stay back!” Gaius snarled.

Ruby came to an abrupt halt as she clasped her hands before her and twisted them until her skin turned red. Her bones had to be grinding together, but the pain of them was nothing compared to seeing her son suffering.

My heart ached for Billy. Scarlet reached for her mother before lowering her hand; Ruby was too far from her, and she didn’t dare move closer to Gaius. She’d do anything to protect her brother.

I was sitting outside with Scarlet on the day Billy was born. We’d huddled together, our heads bent close as we waited to learn if she had a little brother or sister. She was hoping for a sister.

She’d been so disappointed he was a boy, but that vanished when she held him for the first time. I could still hear her whispered promises to always look out for him.

When Scarlet finally released him, my mother placed Billy in my arms. I’d been in awe of the tiny baby. I hadn’t believed anything could be so small.

I’d cradled him close as his tiny fingers gripped my pinky. In that moment, I’d considered him to be the best thing ever. Throughout the years, Scarlet and I sometimes played with the boy and, at other times, yelled at him to leave us alone, but we both loved him.

He was smart, funny, and brave, and he was a little brother to me too. I wouldn’t let anything happen to him, and I wasn’t about to let Scarlet and her family suffer anymore because of me.

“It’s okay,” I assured Billy as his brown eyes met mine. “I’m going to get you out of this. Callan get the chains.”

“Ellery—”

“Get the chains!” I snapped, unwilling to argue with Callan over it.

If it was between me and Billy, then the choice was obvious. Plus, we all had to get out of here before the duke arrived; there’d be far more bloodshed if we didn’t.

Callan sighed before retreating to the stall; a second later, the lock on the door slid open. Rustling sounds came from behind me before the familiar click of those awful chains broke through it.

“We can’t let you go, Ellery,” Ianto said.

“Yes, you can,” I replied without looking at him.

“Ellery, if you go?—”

“I’ll be fine.”

“We might not get you back.”

“I’ll find my way back.”

I held Gaius’s eyes as I said this. I would find my way back, even if it meant going through this man to do it.

Once those chains were on, they’d repress my powers again, but I didn’t need lightning to kill him. He might think I did, but that was because he’d always underestimated me; I didn’t doubt he’d continue to do so even after knowing I’d already fooled him once.

This man was too arrogant to believe I could escape from him. He was a moron, and while I’d be at his mercy, I’d make him pay for his stupidity.