Page 34 of Dark Heart (Elven Kingdoms #2)

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Jai held out his arms and dared Priya , “ Then kill me.”

“ You know I will.”

He snorted. “ Aye , because that’s what people do to the ones they claim to love.”

“ You rejected me,” she bit out angrily.

“ Did I reject you when you decided to pretend to be captured when we were taken? Did I reject you when you watched as they forced me into slavery? Did I reject you when you lied for four years on the ship? The answer is nay for every fucking one. Because you made those decisions on your own. Anyone with any shred of decency would be outraged and bitter, just as I am.” He pointed a finger at her and said, “ If there had been any romantic love between us, it would be gone. Pummeled and pulverized with every misrepresentation, every deceit, and every duplicity fashioned by you. You did this, Pri . You put us in this situation.”

She shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. “ I didn’t put us here. That was Arya .”

“ Stop blaming others! By the gods. How can you not see?” he demanded, throwing out his arms. “ How can you not take responsibility?”

Priya stared at him for a long while. “ Are you ever going to love me?”

“ Not in the way you want.”

“ You say that as if I won’t retaliate.”

Jai thought about Arya and her radiant smile, her beautiful laugh. Her intoxicating kisses. With his next words, he could very well be condemning himself to the death he had been expecting. He held Priya’s gaze. “ I say it because it’s the truth.”

“ And if Arya were gone?”

His stomach twisted at the thought—and the coldness in Priya’s tone. “ I will never stop loving Arya . If we’re together or not, if I’m dead or not. Even if her life is taken. I will always love her.” He emphasized each word as he said, “ No one can take her place.”

Priya calmly dropped her arms to her sides. “ You should have told me what I wanted to hear.”

“ Why ? To keep pretending? It doesn’t do either of us any good. It’s time to face reality.”

“ You should have told me what I wanted to hear,” she repeated. “ Maybe then I might have allowed Arya a quick death.”

Jai glared furiously at her. He knew Priya was using Arya against him, but he couldn’t stop himself from pleading. “ Tell me where she is.”

“ What would be the fun in that?” Priya asked with a grin.

“ You’re the one making a mistake now.”

She mockingly shivered. “ What are you going to do? Use magic?” She rolled her eyes. “ Oh , wait. You can’t. That’s too bad. Really ,” she said, nodding slightly.

“ I’ll be the one to take your life if you hurt one hair on Arya’s head.”

Priya laughed. “ I’ve done much more than that.”

She reared back her hand to release a burst of magic when the door flew open. When Jai saw it was Yasmin , he dove at Priya , knocking her to the floor. He got his hands around her throat. Yasmin rushed to them to help detain Priya , but she delivered a blow of magic to Jai’s side that knocked him off. And then she was gone, taken by shadows.

“ Jai ,” Yasmin said, rushing to him. “ What happened?”

He gingerly pushed to his knees and looked down at another ruined shirt and the bruise already forming. A rib or two might be broken. “ I’m not sure.”

“ Come . We need to get back.”

“ I can’t,” he said with a shake of his head. “ I have to find Arya .”

“ We’ll find her. But we need to get to Dain and Ravi first.”

He didn’t fight Yasmin when she helped him to his feet. He placed a hand on the wall to stay upright. His side hurt more by the moment. What had Priya done to him? He followed Yasmin out of the room and down the hallway, pausing at times and running at others. Jai moved much slower than he wanted. Even Yasmin was getting peeved until she noticed him holding his side.

“ I’m fine,” he told her.

She nodded and kept going. The route to the room they had first arrived in felt like it took an eternity. He realized the stones must have led Yasmin to him. He was thankful because he’d be dead otherwise. And if the stones had found him, then they could also find Arya .

That gave him hope as he kept up with Yasmin . They didn’t speak as they went up two levels and eventually made it back. Yasmin opened the door. Jai looked over her head to see Ravi pacing and Dain scowling in the corner.

“ Yaz ,” Ravi said, hurrying to her. He looked her over before yanking her against him. “ Where the bloody hell have you been?”

Jai met Dain’s gaze. “ Finding me.”

“ Where’s Arya ?” Dain demanded.

Three pairs of eyes locked on him. Jai quickly detailed what had occurred from the time he and Arya left until he and Yasmin returned.

“ Is magic like that possible?” Yasmin asked. “ I mean, you’re saying Priya took Arya’s form.”

Dain rubbed his eyes. “ There has been talk of something like it, but as far as I knew, it was only speculation.”

“ I’m here to tell you Priya can do it,” Jai said.

Yasmin licked her lips. “ Arya said Priya stopped her while she was using shadows. Did that happen again?”

“ The shadows pulsed , for lack of a better word. I was looking at Arya the entire time. I don’t know how or when Priya changed places with her.”

Dain grunted. “ But she did.”

“ Aye ,” Jai replied.

Ravi released a long sigh. “ We need to keep all of that in mind going forward. Not just with Priya , but with all our enemies.” He looked down at Yasmin and wiped at some dried blood below her ear. “ The stones told you about Jai ?”

“ They did,” she answered.

“ And hurt you.”

Yasmin nodded toward Jai . “ They knew he was in danger.”

“ We knew something must have happened to make you leave.” Dain pinched the bridge of his nose.

Jai implored, “ Ask the stones where to find Arya .”

Yasmin swallowed loudly. “ I have. They went silent. They’ve never done that before.”

“ Arya is in trouble. I have to find her,” Jai stated.

Dain caught his gaze. “ We can’t continue the mission and look for Arya .”

Jai started to argue, then realized the truth of Dain’s words. “ Priya took Arya , knowing it would hurt me, but also to distract us.”

“ I’ll keep working with the stones,” Yasmin promised. “ We’ll find her.”

Jai leaned against the door. Were the stones silent because Arya was no longer part of this world? Jai hadn’t believed Priya when he’d seen the dagger. He wouldn’t contemplate such a fate for Arya until he saw her body.

Ravi cleared his throat. “ Our plan is working. The kitchen mishap caused chaos as we wanted. Dain and I began a few rumors. Now , it’s time for the bath.”

“ Aye ,” Yasmin said, her gaze sliding to Jai .

He nodded. Arya would want them to continue. But he wouldn’t stop looking for his beloved. Ever . If he had to turn over every stone in the fort, in the entire Below , he would.

“ Ravi and I will get back out there and let others overhear more rumors—and listen for anything about Arya ,” Dain said.

Jai pushed away from the door. “ There’s no doubt Priya somehow took Arya . She didn’t send the guards after us, which means she doesn’t want the Masters to know about her multiple blunders.”

“ You think she gave Arya to the Masters ?” Yasmin said.

Jai ran a hand down his face. “ It would be my move. She needs to give herself time. What better way to do that than to occupy them with one of the elves they’d been hunting?”

“ I’m going to kill Priya ,” Dain said.

Jai clenched his hand, remembering how he’d had his hands around Priya’s throat. “ Get in line.”