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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Ellery

When Callan emerged from the stall with the clinking chains dangling before him, my skin crawled at the idea of having those things locked around me again.

I’d finally accepted my lightning and the amount of power it brought me; I’d finally learned to control it, and Gaius would take it from me again.

I’d kill him for this.

The chains jangled and rattled as Callan drew closer. I didn’t tear my eyes away from Gaius as I held my wrists out for Callan.

“Lery,” Scarlet whispered. “Lery… I don’t… oh.”

She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want me to do this but wouldn’t sacrifice her brother to keep me here.

I understood. It wasn’t because she didn’t love me; she loved us both, but she couldn’t lose her brother for me, and neither could Ruby. He was an innocent child, and I was a woman who could fight.

I was also far from innocent in all of this. I hadn’t asked to be born different and with these powers, but I was gifted with them, and I’d known what I was doing when I used them and gotten us into this mess.

“Put them on,” I said to Callan.

“I don’t want to.”

“Do it.”

“You can’t let him take you.”

“I won’t let him hurt Billy any more.”

Callan’s gaze flicked to Gaius and then to Ianto. I didn’t look at the giant or the others. I couldn’t stand to see the terror etching their faces. Scarlet and Ruby had fought for me, and now I’d put myself back in chains for them.

“Put on the chains,” I told Callan.

I’d find a way out of this, but Billy mattered most. When no one else spoke, Callan moved closer. He secured first one manacle and then the other around my wrist.

The heavy, hated weight of the chains tried to pull my arms down, but I held them steady before me and grinned at Gaius; I wouldn’t let this fucker think he scared me. His smile didn’t waver, but uneasiness glimmered in his eyes.

“Her ankles too,” Gaius commanded.

Callan shot him a look. “You’re not going to survive this, you know that.”

Gaius laughed. “What are you going to do about it?”

“I won’t be the one hunting you.”

The color had never fully returned to Gaius’s face after he spotted Ianto, and he paled further. “The Scourge doesn’t scare me.”

“Yes, he does,” I said calmly.

Gaius’s eyes narrowed on me, but I didn’t have to pretend anymore. I’d go with him to save Billy, but I wouldn’t hide who I was, and I was done playing political games. I wouldn’t bow to this bastard.

“And I also terrify you.” I lifted my hands higher so the chains rattled. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be shackled right now.”

His hand clamped on Billy’s throat. “ You’re the one who should be afraid, milady.”

I lifted my eyebrows but refrained from saying anything more while he still held Billy.

“Come here,” Gaius commanded.

“Ellery, don’t do this,” Callan said.

“I don’t have a choice,” I told him.

“Yes, you do,” Ianto insisted.

Scarlet and Ruby didn’t speak.

“No, she doesn’t,” Gaius said.

He pushed the blade further into Billy’s neck. Tears streamed down the boy’s face as blood spilled down his neck, and Ruby let out an anguished cry.

I wouldn’t let anything happen to her child. She’d held me back from helping Scarlet, but her daughter was a woman who could make her own choices; Billy was a boy who was already far too wise for this world but hadn’t lived in it long enough.

“Come here,” Gaius ordered again.

I bristled over his command but threw back my shoulders and closed the distance between us. Gaius kept the blade against Billy’s neck as he used his free hand to open a portal.

I had no idea where the portal led, but if I went through it, I’d be at his mercy, and he would make me pay. He’d said he would keep me from the duke, but that could change.

Once I went through his portal, I’d be at his mercy, but I wouldn’t let him or any of the aristocrats destroy me.

Gaius moved the blade from Billy’s neck to point it at the portal. “Go.”

I planted my feet and didn’t move. “Let Billy go first.”

“No, for now, the boy comes with us.”

“No, that’s not part of the deal.” There was no way I was going to let this asshole keep Billy. “I’m shackled and going with you willingly, but he stays .”

Gaius brought the blade back to Billy’s neck. A fresh trickle of blood ran down his throat.

“Move, or I’ll kill the boy.”