Page 93 of A Tempest of Intrigue (Tempest of Shadows #4)

CHAPTER NINETY-THREE

Ellery

The sweat dripping from my forehead plopped onto the ground between my feet. It wasn’t the first drop. It wouldn’t be the last.

My heart raced so fast I was certain it had bruised my ribs. I couldn’t breathe as the surrounding bodies crushed me between them.

I’d lost Ruby and Scarlet after that woman fell. I hoped they were safe, but it was better if they weren’t near me. Once the guards took me, they might have a chance of escaping this atrocious place if they were far away.

The women’s sobs tore at my heart and battered my conscience until I yearned to scream, “I’m here! I’m right here!”

But I kept my lips clamped shut as I tried to figure out if there was a way to get out of this without anyone, besides me, getting hurt. I couldn’t wait long, as all these women and children were suffering because of me .

I could stop this. I could lift my hand right now and tell them it was me.

Doing so would put an end to it all and sentence me to a life of misery.

And not only me… Ryker would go down with me.

Ivan and his father both knew we’d had a sexual relationship. Neither would believe him if he told them he hadn’t known about my lightning-bearer ability.

If I went down, then he would go with me. While I could handle whatever came my way, I couldn’t condemn Ryker to more time in a prison cell, as well as more beatings and torture.

But what about all these women and children? What about Scarlet and Ruby?

If I didn’t say anything, I would condemn them to more terror and sorrow.

I strained to maintain my composure and strength as breathing, something once so natural, became a struggle. I was so focused on trying to draw air into my lungs that I tripped over one of the many rocks churned up from the earth and nearly went down.

I staggered forward before crashing into someone’s back. The impact jarred them forward and earned me a nasty look, but it righted me before I fell.

I couldn’t go down here. If I did, they’d stomp on me like they did that other woman.

There are more of us than there are guards. We can fight.

But what could we do against them while we remained chained? They had effectively quelled our powers; that woman couldn’t open a portal, and while I’d tried, I couldn’t pull lightning from within me or the earth.

The chains bound not only us but also our powers. We were at their mercy, and they knew it.

They also had all the weapons and enough of them to keep a stringent patrol going through the crowd. Yes, we could fight a little and might win if we all turned on them, but not everyone would fight, and many would die.

Some were too scared to make a move against these assholes, others were too complacent, and some were just trying to survive to return home. I didn’t blame them for that.

Lifting my head, I searched the area, and my heart sank further. I’d been so focused on the gallows and the stage that I hadn’t noticed the marksmen lining the parapets and walls of the palace.

They had their bows and arrows ready as they surveyed the crowd. They weren’t as good with those arrows as me, but they’d inflict a lot of damage.

I lowered my head, and more sweat dripped from my brow. When it landed on one of the few pieces of grass still left in the earth, the clear bead hovered on the blade before sliding out of view.

The dirt swiftly absorbed the drop that followed. How easily those beads escaped while I remained trapped here.

A murmur ran through the mob; fear rippled across them, and the sobbing increased. Blinking, I tried to bring the field into focus again, but the sweat rolling into my eyes made it difficult to see.

My hand trembled, and my manacles clinked when I wiped away the sweat from my forehead and cleared my vision. Taking a deep breath, I tried desperately to bring fresh air into my lungs, but they resisted.

Through the sun’s burning rays, I saw what had frightened all the others. Dozens of guards led Ivan through the crowd toward the stage near the gallows.

The guards surrounding the king held metal poles over him to keep him safe from any female who might send a bolt of electricity up his ass. While all but one of the prisoners could do such a thing, I was sure most of them would love the opportunity to try.

My fingers twitched to draw on the lightning, and I felt the thrum of electricity beneath my feet, but the chains kept me from drawing it to me. Besides, so many lightning rods surrounded the king that I’d never be able to kill him.

But it was more than Ivan walking through the crowd and up the stairs to those steps…. My heart plunged when I spotted Ryker amid the entourage of guards and powerful men.

He was supposed to be delivering the money, but something had gone wrong, just as it had with me. And now we were both here, trapped in this hell.

I rubbed my chest in a useless attempt to ease the growing ache there. If I came forward, then Ryker would go down too.

Before they brought him here, they would have had to hunt him down. Now, he was theirs .