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CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE

Ellery

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Tucker was usually the reasonable one.

The events of today had thrown them both back into their pasts, and neither of them were thinking straight. Watching the torture the king and nobles unleashed had caused Ryker to relive his childhood and time in the ophidians’ dungeon. Tucker was also once again in that prison.

I understood how atrocious it was for them, the pain, terror, and helplessness they’d felt while watching their friends fall to the ophidians’ evil, but this couldn’t happen. It was far too risky.

“I know what you both endured, and I can’t imagine how horrible and frustrating it was to watch your friends die at the hands of monsters while you couldn’t help, but you’re letting your emotions and past rule you,” I said.

“No, you can’t imagine, and for that, I’m grateful,” Ryker said. “But you saw some of what we endured today, and while we couldn’t stop what happened in the past, we can stop this.”

“Are you talking about what happened while you were in Doomed Valley?” Ianto inquired.

“What do you know about it?” Tucker asked.

Ianto rocked back on his heels. “Just the rumors that ran rampant through the realm after the war ended. I’d heard the Scourge was captured and was a prisoner of some salamander thing.”

“Not salamanders, snakes,” Ryker said. “The ophidians were half man and half snake.”

Ianto’s upper lip curled into a sneer. “I’d prefer salamanders.”

“It wouldn’t have made a difference. They were monsters,” Tucker said.

“You were there too.”

Ianto hadn’t asked a question, but Tucker responded. “Yes, I was there too. I was one of the many who went in and one of the few who survived.”

“And these ophidians tortured you.”

Again, not a question, but this time, Ryker responded. “For months.”

Ianto exhaled a loud breath as he ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair. “I’m sorry you went through that, and it’s awful, it really is, but I agree with Ellery on this. I think you’re letting your emotions rule you.”

I hadn’t expected Ianto to be an ally, but I was glad to have the giant on my side. He was also a voice of reason, and I hoped Ryker and Tucker would listen to him.

Instead of responding to Ianto, Ryker turned to stare into the forest. “And what do you think?”

My eyebrows rose at his odd response of talking to the trees. Nothing stirred within the shadows of the woods, but Ryker’s eyes didn’t waver from that spot.

Despite not seeing or hearing anything, my mouth parted when a woman responded. “If you’re going to free my friends, then I’m coming with you.”

“So am I,” a male voice stated, and I recognized it as Callan’s.

From behind the trunk of a large tree, Callan and Luna emerged. The siblings had been hidden from view, but somehow, Ryker knew they were there. I didn’t know if he’d sensed or heard something I’d missed, but he hadn’t seen them as his back had been to them.

Callan and Luna eyed us all as they came closer. Both looked paler than normal, but defiance radiated from them.

“We’re not sitting this out,” Luna stated.

“Then you’ll have to prove you’re worthy of being there. We’ll only take the best with us for this. You’re quiet, I’ll give you that, but I still knew you were there,” Ryker said.

“We’ll prove it,” Callan said. “We trained for the ball.”

“And look at how well the ball turned out,” I said, not because I wanted to hurt them but because someone, besides Ianto, had to realize this was a terrible idea. “They want to do this because of what happened at that ball.”

A muscle twitched in Luna’s cheek as she glowered at me. “We won’t make the same mistakes twice.”

“You already are!”

Luna’s hostility toward me didn’t lessen as she stopped a few feet away. “Those imprisoned men and women are my friends . You have no idea what all of us endured at the hands of the earl. If you’re going to rescue them, then we’re coming.”

“No one is going anywhere,” I said. “I understand you want to save your friends—” I looked at Callan and Luna before shifting my attention to Ryker and Tucker. “—and I understand why you want to stop those amsirah from being tortured, and rightly so, but we already have so much going on. We have too much to lose by putting ourselves in danger when we don’t have to.”

And I just lost my mother. I can’t lose you too.

But I bit those words back because the possibility of Ryker dying was like a knife to my heart. I could barely breathe as I stared pleadingly up at him. He had to see reason.

“Not you,” Ryker said. “You won’t be putting yourself in danger. It’s best if you stay out of it.”

I gawked at him before releasing a bitter laugh. “Oh, so you get to put yourself needlessly in jeopardy, but you intend to have me sit on the sidelines while it happens. Absolutely not. If you go through with this, then I will be there, no matter what you say. And there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

Ryker’s eyes narrowed as I folded my arms across my chest and glared back at him. Callan and Luna stared at us in shock. They probably believed Ryker Locke, the Scourge of the Ghouls, son of the duke, and only known lightning bearer could stop anyone, and he probably could… but he couldn’t stop me .

“I understand why you’re thinking about doing this?—”

Ryker cut me off before I finished speaking. “I’m not thinking about it; it will happen.”