Page 63 of Once the Skies Fade (Immortal Reveries #2)

Chapter 63

Calla

I didn’t know how long I’d been stuck in that white emptiness, but when everything began to dim, panic gripped my heart.

The poison had killed me, the Assembly had won, and I would die without ever hearing my mate’s voice again.

The stars were cruel indeed.

Something sharp pricked my arm, and I recoiled from the pain.

Pain.

I’d felt it. Hadn’t I?

Calling to my power, I waited for it to answer, but my palms remained empty. My heartbeat quickened as the bright white faded into complete darkness that didn’t bring the same comfort as my shadows.

Until I heard him.

“Killer, I’m here.”

Where?

The question whimpered in my thoughts, but my body refused—or couldn’t—give it a voice.

This new darkness closed in around me, keeping me from seeing him.

“Can you hear me?” he asked softly, and I could almost imagine the warmth of his breath on my ear.

Still, my reply remained silent. Yes, I hear you.

“Are you sure it’s working?”

I pinched my brows together. Who was he talking to? Where was I? Was I still in the dining room? Who else was with him?

“She might be out for a few days,” another voice—a female—answered him.

A few days?

It might be days before I can see him?

No. I needed to get up now.

Despite the black void surrounding me, I called for my shadows, hoping perhaps they could speak to him when I couldn’t. They slipped from my palms, though blind as I was, I had no way to confirm they did as I commanded.

“Whoa there, Killer. We’re not alone here,” he said huskily in my ear. His deep rumble of a laugh warmed my heart. “We can do that when you wake up, but not until then.”

Directing my shadows up toward his face, I hoped he understood how I longed to get back to him.

“Matthias,” a voice, soft and distant, called to him.

Isa! She would make all of this right. She would help me against the Assembly.

My shadows snapped back into my veins of their own accord, as if frightened by my friend. I strained to make out what she said, but it was so quiet.

“Where did you get it?”

Get what? What was she talking about?

“Can we speak somewhere else?” Matthias asked.

No! I growled, but no one heard me. They couldn’t leave. I was still here. I could still hear them.

Don’t leave me, I silently begged.

Matthias’s voice came closer. “I’ll be right back, Killer.” Peace washed over me, soothing my panic, until he added, “I hope.”

The darkness finally lifted, reality drifted back into my consciousness, and the strong scent of herbs hit my nose with a hint of woods and leather. When I opened my eyes, though, Matthias wasn’t there, and I couldn’t hold back my frown.

“Don’t look so happy to be alive,” Isa joked, though there was an empty shakiness to her tone.

“What’s wrong?” My weak voice was further strained as I tried to push myself up onto my elbows.

My friend shifted forward to help me. “Steady, Calla,” she warned. “Let me help.” Before I could protest, she was fetching another pillow to place behind me so I could sit back against the wall.

When I was finally settled—my breath ragged from such little exertion—I shot Isa a sharp look. “What happened? Where is he?”

Isa’s gaze plummeted to her hands, taking my heart along with it. “The dungeons.”

My shadows were out of my palms before I’d even sat up fully, but I reined them back in before they could grab Isa’s chin and force her to look at me. Slowly they settled into my lap like a guard dog reluctantly lying down by its master.

“Why?” I growled, though I knew from the regret on my friend’s face that this hadn’t been her doing.

“You’re lucky they didn’t immediately execute him, Calla.”

“Don’t make me force the words out of you, Isa, because I will. Now, speak!”

“There was no antidote left at the end of the trial,” she explained as quickly as she could in the meekest voice I’d ever heard from her. “And there was no poison left to create any more.”

“How am I alive then? What does this have to do with?—”

It wasn’t the speed with which she looked at me that stopped me mid-question, but the tears lining her eyes. Isa never cried, at least not that I could ever recall.

“You’re scaring me, Isa,” I whispered. “What happened?”

She shook her head, her lips pressing tightly together for a moment before she sucked in a deep breath and answered.

“He had poison with him, Calla. He brought it with him from Emeryn, embedded in a dagger’s blade.”

The room spun wildly as my thoughts swarmed in a confusing mess.

“Why would he have—what was he going to—it must have been for the tournament,” I concluded finally, but Isa was shaking her head again, more resolutely this time.

“He won’t tell me,” Isa said. “He refuses to talk to anyone but you.”