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CHAPTER FOUR

Ellery

I jerked at the chains shackling me and my powers. “I have to get these off!”

My broken arm was healing, but it wasn’t happening fast enough, and my violent movements created a jarring pain through my shoulder that radiated into my jaw. I didn’t care about my suffering; I only cared about getting to Ryker.

“I have to help him!” I cried.

“Here,” Ruby said.

She seized the chain connecting my manacles and dragged it toward the ground. She must not know about my broken arm or was in too much of a rush to care, but either way, I didn’t protest.

Ruby placed the manacles on a rock on the ground. Her fingers scrabbled over the grass that had been churned into dirt before discovering another rock.

She pulled it free of the dancing feet surrounding us without getting her fingers stomped on and lifted it over her head. I winced but didn’t say a word as she brought the rock down on the lock keeping the manacles clasped around my wrist.

With determination etching her features, she continued bashing the rock into the lock as the crowd streamed around us. The prisoners were like trapped animals with wolves bearing down on them; they couldn’t decide if they should run, remain meek, or maybe play dead.

So far, they weren’t crushing us, but that wouldn’t last as their rising panic reverberated against me. As their feet shuffled around us, our chances of getting trampled increased with every passing second.

“He killed the king,” I breathed. “Ryker killed the king.”

Sweat beaded Ruby’s brow when she glanced up at me. Strands of red hair had fallen from her bun to frame her pretty face; her warm brown eyes shone with determination.

“He did it for you,” she said.

The crowd pressing close to us shut out the sun. They reeked of body odor, piss, and the sharp tang of terror.

Over their muffled cries, arrows whistled as they flew. My heart leapt into my throat as screams echoed through the day.

Despite the heat of the August sun beating down on us, I was suddenly cold. The icy chill permeated my skin, seeping into my muscles and deep into my bones.

I couldn’t see past the legs surrounding us, but those arrows were shot at Ryker. Those screams were coming from the women near Ryker and possibly him .

They were all suffering because of monsters determined to uncover me . And Ryker could die.

I can’t lose him.

“Stay back!” Scarlet shouted.

She held out her arms like a barricade, trying to keep the frightened amsirah away from us. Ruby continued bashing at my chains as sweat dripped from her forehead and blood stained the tips of her battered fingers.

Small sparks shot from the metal as the rock fell against them, but the chains didn’t so much as dent. Holding the rock high over her head, Ruby brought it down as hard as she could against the manacle.

The chain remained perfectly formed, but the rock splintered apart before falling from Ruby’s bloodied fingers. She slapped her palm against the ground.

“Are you okay?” I demanded.

“We have to find something else,” she said.

We also had to stand up before the crowd trampled us. Scarlet couldn’t hold them back forever.

“Get up,” I said.

I ignored the grinding bones in my arm as I grasped her chains and jerked them up with me. My gaze searched the crowd as I sought some sign of Ryker, but the amsirah had swallowed him.

Guards streamed through the mass as they pushed toward where I’d last seen Ryker. The archers all had their bows raised and aimed at a section of the crowd; he had to be there, and they were going to kill him.

My heart raced, and everything in me screamed to help him. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do much while shackled at the wrists and ankles.

Determined to break free, I twisted my wrists to try pulling them out of the metal encasing them and nearly screamed.

It wasn’t a scream of agony, even though my broken bones grated together and I was fairly certain they dug into my muscle, but one of frustration as my skin peeled away at my wrists, but my hands and powers remained trapped.

Ruby grasped my wrists. “Stop it. You’re hurting yourself.”

“They’re going to kill him!”

My words drove a dagger straight into my heart as my breath sucked in. I couldn’t lose him too, not when I possessed the ability to save him… if I could get out of these chains!

But that was proving impossible.