Page 16

The next day, I sat at the training grounds as the sun climbed towards its zenith. Despite Dyani’s behests, I had no intention of visiting Maddock. The thought of him sitting in that cell, waiting for me, made me gloat.

I hoped that if I never visited him, he would eventually give up and leave. Though something told me, he wouldn’t. He’d already happily sat in prison for over three months.

It aggravated me beyond belief that a man behind bars could appear as happy and free as he did. Meanwhile, I wandered the open air, feeling more imprisoned than he looked. The mental chains around my mind seemed worse than his actual cell.

I half-heartedly stretched on the dry grass by myself. Rowen felt comfortable leaving me on my own because of how adamant I’d been about never seeing the prisoner again. So he’d taken this time to meet with Takoda for a mind-mending session.

Rowen asked if I would like to come, but I declined. I didn’t need someone poking around in my head. It was a frightening place I wouldn’t want to subject anyone to. I’d rather be doing the poking.

The thought hit me like a ton of bricks. The sun had just reached its peak; there might still be time for me to slip in and talk with the prisoner. I hated that Dyani was right. I was curious.

I made my way back to Maddock after swearing I would never step anywhere near him again. For a moment, I was worried I had waited too long, but true to Dyani’s word, the guards parted like water, letting me pass yet again.

I don’t know what I expected the prisoner to be doing, but what I saw was beyond my worst expectations. Ven, my inquisitive little friend, was engaged in conversation with the Wyn’s number one prisoner.

Fury surged through me as I charged toward Ven and his white wolf, Sabra. “Don’t you dare talk to them,” I said, stepping between Ven and Maddock. Would this kid ever stop getting into trouble?

“They were talking to me!” Maddock proclaimed, gesturing to the majestic beast seated innocently at his feet. It pissed me off that Sabra was letting him pet her through the wooden bars.

“No, they weren’t,” I said for no other reason than to disagree.

“Yes, we were,” Ven replied innocently, and I shot him a glare, realizing he’d had a growth spurt since I’d been gone.

The soft roundness of his cheeks had faded, giving way to the sharper planes of his maturing face.

And where he and Sabra used to be about the same height, he now towered inches over her.

After our encounter with Graem, when I feared the giant would snap his neck, I was filled with joy that Ven was aging. Yet I desperately hoped he would never outgrow the wonder he held for the world, that spark of mischief and curiosity that made him so uniquely him.

I refocused my anger back on Madds. “You hanging out behind these bars is ridiculous. Why haven’t you left? ”

“Looking for free rent,” he said with a grin, scratching Sabra behind the ears.

My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. “I hate to break it to you, but nobody wants you here.”

“Remember when nobody wanted you here either?” Ven asked, popping his head around my arm. “No one would talk to you or look at you. Then I showed you around and?—”

I stepped in front of him, cutting him off.

“Ven, do the guards know you’re here?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Um, no. I know a secret way in. And the guards check on him at the same times every day,” he answered, feeding Sabra a treat from his pocket. “They really should be more unpredictable.”

I attempted to look furious, but deep down, I was genuinely impressed.

Why didn’t I think to ask Ven to do a little spying for me?

Of course he had a secret passageway to the forbidden prisoner.

“Then I suggest you go out the way you came in. It’s good to see you, but don’t let me catch you here again. ”

“It’s good to see you too,” Ven said before skillfully sneaking back into the wall of trees, quietly opening the branches for Sabra to pass through.

Maddock chuckled as the boy and wolf vanished into the foliage, leaving no trace that they were ever here at all. I huffed and shook my head, my eyes snapping back to the prisoner.

“So you’ve been in my situation before, huh?

” Maddock said, rising to his feet from where he pet the wolf that wouldn’t even let me touch her.

“Ven was also telling me you happened to trap a pretty powerful Dark Spirit in a cave. Sounds really interesting. Could this be the same cave I was in? But wait. You wouldn’t do that. You would never do something so awful.”

Was there anything Ven didn’t tell him ?

“So what? I trapped the Dark Spirit in the same crevice as you. You’re not in there anymore.”

“But you didn’t know that,” he replied, his eyes sparkling. A lustrous black curl fell down his brow. His hair was longer and artfully disheveled, more relaxed than when I’d seen him in the hospital.

“I . . .”

He stepped closer to the bars, “You were going to imprison a destroyer of worlds in there with me. Weren’t you?”

I held my ground, grateful for the bars between us, even though they were a false sense of security. “I didn’t exactly have a ton of options. It was the only place I could think of. But it’s not holding him very well.”

“Ah. Great. Next time you want to make me feel horrible for what I did to you, I’ll remind you that you almost made us even.”

Suddenly, the earth shook violently beneath our feet, and I tumbled forward.

I fell into the prisoner’s arms, my body bracing for him to convulse.

But he didn’t so much as flinch. Instead, his hands gripped me tighter and steadied me.

Repulsed, I pushed off him with all my might and grasped onto the wooden bars.

When the trembling finally subsided, Maddock said, “Yeah, those happen a lot here. Is that normal?”

“As I said, the crevice isn’t holding Erovos very well. He is trying to break free. Hence, the earthquakes we’ve been experiencing. He is trying to tear the mountain apart to escape the crevice,” I replied, backing up and straightening my vest.

“Who is this Erovos guy anyway?” he asked, his eyes scanning my body as if checking for injuries.

“I came here to ask the questions.”

“What’s with the ears?”

“Stop,” I ground out.

“Where’s Rowen? ”

“You know I could just leave, right?”

“Fine. What do you want to know?” he asked, retreating from the bars.

“How well do you remember what happened in the crevice?”

“You healed every part me, even my mind. I remember everything. Regrettably”

My lip curled. “I’m assuming you’re the only one who can touch me because you stole a piece of my Light.”

His dark brows furrowed. “Not being able to touch you must be driving Rowen mad. Especially with your bond.”

His words pierced through my heart like a jagged lightning bolt. “Don’t you dare bring up my bond with Rowen,” I seethed as dark clouds gathered overhead. “How do you even know about that?”

He paused before shrugging. “It’s pretty obvious you two have something going on.”

My bond with Rowen was sacred and not something I would ever want to discuss with the man who’d violated my mind. My blood boiled that he knew about my connection with my soul flame. “How did you end up in the crevice after your accident?”

Maddock worriedly glanced up at the storm brewing overhead before looking back at me. “As my bike shook and I lost control, I knew I was going to die. All I remember thinking is that I deserved to go to hell. So I guess that’s where I ended up.”

My gut lurched. He had created his own hell. A moment of empathy welled up inside me, but I pushed it down. I would never let him know that I understood the feeling. “What were you going to do with my body once you owned it?”

A painful sound left his lips. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. I was desperate and crazed, like a rabid animal foaming at the mouth for you. For your body. Any body.”

“Did you enjoy it? ”

“Keira,” he warned, his angular face looking the most pained I’d ever seen it.

“Did you enjoy taking over my body memory by memory? Tearing apart my mind as you made room for yourself?”

He groaned.

“Did you?”

“Yes!” he shouted. “I did. Every second of it. You were one of the greatest things I’ve ever felt. But like I said, I was crazed and unwell. I am appalled by my actions?—”

“Why are you still here?” I cut him off as my hair and fingertips sizzled with electricity.

“Ask me anything else,” he said, nervously eyeing the sky. After being so open and honest, him clamming up like this was suspicious. “You’ll only hate me more.”

I needed to end this conversation; my emotions were spiraling out of control. “Tell me why you’re here or we’re done.”

Thunder cracked above us.

“I can’t. Please. I’ll answer anything else,” he pleaded.

“This whole act you’re putting on, I’m not falling for it.” Dry lightning whipped overhead, raising the hairs on my arms. “Goodbye, Maddock. I hope I never see you again.”

I turned on my heel and walked away, trying to maintain a calm facade despite the lightning brewing overhead and the growing panic in my chest. The parched ground was like tinder waiting to catch fire. If lightning struck, flames would catch, and take, and spread.

I needed to get away.

As soon as I rounded the corner, I broke into a sprint, desperate to reach the edge of the village where I could finish my panic attack in peace.

I entered the rotating door of the dome, looking like a stray cat covered in twigs, scratches, and dried tears.

“Keira,” Rowen said in a relieved exhale. “Are you all right?”

“I am now,” I said, taking in the sight of Rowen’s shirtless body.

His muscles rippled down his stomach, each block of his abs looking like marble.

Every inch of him resembled a statue chiseled to perfection.

And though his massive body looked as hard as stone, there was a softness in his eyes that welcomed me home.

“You weren’t at the training grounds,” he said, his eyes worriedly scanning my body.

“I went to see the prisoner,” I answered, changing out of my clothes.

Rowen tensed. “You spoke with him alone?”

“I wanted to ask him about that night.”

“What did he say?” my soul flame asked as he raked a hand through his hair, his muscles rippling and flexing with the movement. My whole body flushed, first with desire and then with rage. How cruel to have a half-naked god in my bedroom—one who loved me, would die for me—yet couldn’t touch me?

It seemed I was suffering from more than one dry spell.

Not only was I deprived of water, I was deprived of my soul flame.

Being in Rowen’s presence, so near yet untouchable, was its own kind of cruel thirst. Much like the glittering ocean in the middle of a drought, they were both beautiful and tempting, yet ultimately off-limits.

I reeled in my thoughts with a deep breath. I couldn’t afford another panic attack.

“He acted like he was sorry and was weirdly concerned that you can’t touch me.

But when I asked him why he was still here, he refused to answer,” I said as I changed into a silky chemise and crawled into bed.

I was beyond exhausted, cranky, and just downright pissed.

I didn’t want to think, or fight, and I couldn’t fuck.

Sleeping was all I could do. “I can’t tell what angle he’s playing at.

But if he wants to rot in a cell, that’s fine by me. ”

“You can still try talking to Takoda,” Rowen offered as he crawled into bed beside me.

“Talking leads to thinking,” I said, rolling away from him and pulling the plush blankets up to my chin, fighting the tears in my eyes. Rowen could go and talk his little heart out. I wouldn’t be participating.

He whispered, “Goodnight, I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I whispered back. Maddock’s smug face was the last thing I saw before sleep consumed me.