Page 22 of Of Blackened Blood (The Blackened Blade #3)

MICAI

I make my way into the kitchen, Annex following closely behind. My cheeks and body are still flushed and my clothes a little dishevelled as I take a seat next to Mallyn and Creed.

Ezra slowly paces back and forth near the kitchen table, his face still pale but now slightly tinged with anger and pinching his brows together.

Annex groans. “Just tell us, Ez. We have no patience for this dramatic shit. Spit it out.”

Ezra stops in front of the table, his eyes darker than before and filled with a mixture of anger and confliction. But as soon as our gazes meet, the rage on his face quickly fades, and a look of sadness blankets his whole features.

“What is it, Ezra?” I ask, wanting not just the answers, but to help him find some relief in sharing whatever burden he seemed to be hesitating to share with us.

His brows pinch together, his eyes turning slightly glossy.

“The bracelet ... that metal ...” He brushes a hand down his face, his voice breaking and struggling to get the words out. “It wasn’t just absorbing your powers, Micai ...” His gaze meets mine, and clearing his throat he continues, his gaze growing firmer as he watches me.

“Jericho was wondering if the bracelet we had was the same material as one he had previously collected.” His voice grows steadier as we all fall silent, listening intently.

“It was a cuff-like piece from an elven General in the Calvera War two hundred years ago that he managed to get his hands on at a black-market auction.” He glances toward Creed before his gaze turns back toward me.

“The general had a dark and thick metal cuff embedded into his wrists during captivity when he was taken by enemy forces. He managed to escape, but he could never remove the metal with any sort of magic ... not without amputation.” Ezra’s lips pull downward into a frown.

And I want to reach out and smooth all the creases forming on his beautiful face.

“The metal was rougher and darker than the bracelet, but from how it felt and looked, Jericho thought that it could be something similar.”

“That’s what you went to confirm today?” Creed asks, his brows pinched together, an unreadable look swirling in his amber eyes.

Ezra nods as he drags a hand down the back of his neck, his face growing sombre again.

“Jericho said the metal had been embedded into the general’s arm after he was taken. He learned most of his information about the metal from scripts he found and kept from the general’s memoir. The general also began to weaken soon after the metal was placed on him.”

Ezra’s gaze flickers to me. “Jericho showed me them. The general wrote of feeling weak but not realising it was the metal at first. After he escaped, he realised it was becoming worse. He was unable to do even the simplest of things the longer it was stuck on him, like running or fighting or calling to the elementals. His power was slowly being drained from him and ...” Ezra stops, the words seeming stuck again in his throat.

“Tell us, Ezra,” Creed demands, his tone more cutting than I’m sure he intends.

“It wasn’t just taking his powers or strength .

..” He glances around the room to each of us, his expression turning completely devasted as he continues.

“It was draining him of his life’s essence.

He realised too late and died. His family continued the memoir, noting he passed within ten years of that cuff being embedded in his arm .

.. An elf’s life cut to a mere fraction of their lifespan because of it. ”

The room falls silent. And I can almost hear my heartbeat echoing around the room as Ezra’s eyes meet mine. There’s sadness laced in every inch of his voice as it falls to a low whisper. “That bracelet ... was killing you, Micai.”

A cold chill seeps into the air with his words, the room silent and tense, before Annex suddenly erupts, jumping from his seat.

He smashes his fist into the nearest wall, his anger and rage spilling out, reaching its limits as he lets out a yell before slamming his fist into the wall again and again.

A large hole forms with cracks growing up and down the wall as he pulls back, looking to pulverise it into dust.

“Annex!” Creed yells, getting up to stop him. But he doesn’t make it in time before the hole grows larger and a small glimpse of the room next door shows through with all the damage being done. “For fucks’ sake,” Creed curses.

Mallyn sits frozen in place, his eyes narrowed at the table, flashing back and forth between grey and bright blue.

His fists are clenched so tight that they begin to shake as his palms begin to bleed.

His whole body seems like it’s fighting against some invisible force inside as he sits painfully rigid at the table.

I glance toward Ezra, his eyes looking toward Annex but seeing past him and seeming even more lost than before.

Devastation pulls his features down as his shoulders drop and his turquoise eyes turn empty; a look of absolute pain and grief covers every inch of him and paints his beautiful face in complete darkness and despair.

I glance around the room to each of their faces.

Grief. Misery. Death . They were all enraged and distraught with Ezra’s words.

The bracelet was slowly draining me of my life ... and I could have died.

But what they don’t know is that I have already experienced death before.

I died in that fire in The Facility. Their shackles were already draining me just like with Seria’s bracelet, but on a higher level.

And that’s when it hits me. Even without the fire ... I was slowly dying in there. They planned to torture me until my last breath. There was no escape or hope of getting free, and they knew it.

An empty ache twists my insides.

Whether in the academy with Seria or in The Facility, they were both taking every last drop they could from me, dashing and crushing any thought of hope for freedom or for a better future.

Ezra’s words slowly sink deeper inside me ...

I had been slowly dying in that prison for years, my life tainted and my days tallied. I never stood a chance as they slowly ripped the remaining years from inside me. The old me ... was always going to die.

My body grows cold with the realisation, and a small tremor works its way into my hands. Images of my previous life in that hell flash before my eyes, each one crueller than the next. Why me?

My breathing becomes shallow, the air feeling too thin and tight to grasp?—

Suddenly, I feel arms wrap around me, pulling me back as bodies surround me. Their muffled voices call my name, slowly dragging me from my darkening thoughts.

“... cai ... Micai ...” Ezra is kneeling at my feet, his gaze filled with worry as Annex wraps his bloody arms around me, pulling me back and flush against his front as we sit near the table. When did I get over here?

“Are you okay?” Ezra asks, his eyes flickering back and forth mine.

“Stupid question, Ez,” Annex grits out, his arms tightening around me and warming my chilled body. “How the fuck would anyone be okay after hearing that?”

Ezra sighs, dragging a hand down his weary face before slowly nodding.

“This whole situation is fucked up.” Ezra takes my cold hands within his, a small shake working through them as he lifts them to his lips and places a soft kiss against each one of them. “But we’ll make them all pay.”

The sombre look dissipates from his gaze, the lilac flecks growing in his turquoise eyes, swirling like fiery stars with his promise.

“Damn fucking straight we will. That black-hearted snake giving you that bracelet ... I’ll rip her heart from her chest and make her eat it, the evil bitch.” Annex releases me, pulling himself straight as his tone grows dark and laced with murder.

“No.” Ezra shakes his head, his own rage growing as he narrows his gaze in thought. “That’s too quick. She needs to suffer unimaginable pain ... and for as long as possible.”

Annex grins, no warmth in his eyes as he takes a step closer to Ezra.

“I have a guy out in Delmar who breeds magical beasts. He has a couple of small carnivores that’re quite feral.” His grin widens, his eyes more manic and deranged than I’ve ever seen them.

“I say we throw her in their pen, let them play with her for a bit before we take her out, heal her, and then throw her back in.” He shrugs.

“We can let them chew away at her for months or longer, only healing her just enough to keep her alive. Let both her mind and body corrode slowly like the bitter life-sucker she is.”

Mallyn rubs a hand along his jaw. “That’s one option. But I think we can do even better than that for her.”

Ezra nods. “That could be part b of our plans ...” he murmurs, becoming deeper in his thoughts and their plans for torture and homicide.

“We can’t kill her,” I add, finally standing up and glancing to each set of eyes turning my way. “She’s connected to these attacks in some way, and we need answers. We won’t get any if she’s dead. She’s a strong lead to use.”

“She’s right.” Creed meets my gaze and nods as Ezra and Mallyn begin to protest.

“ Oh , we’ll get answers from her, Red.” Annex cracks his knuckles. “I’ll make sure to leave her throat intact for just long enough to get what we need.”

“We can use other means to make her tell us what we need before we make her suffer, Micai,” Ezra adds, taking a step closer and taking my hand in his again.

“What you’ve suffered ... what she was doing to you .

..” Ezra’s face scrunches up, as if in pain himself.

“If we hadn’t met you, if you hadn’t removed that damn bracelet, it would have continued to drain you .

.. until you were dead .” His voice cracks before he clears his throat and shakes the thought from his head.

He quickly steadies himself, his eyes turning dark as he continues.