Page 92 of Once the Skies Fade (Immortal Reveries #2)
Chapter 92
Matthias
T he scent of sugared berries and purple blooms slowly pulled me out of the darkness, though I still couldn’t open my eyes to find her.
“I hate you, general.”
Most would have found such words to be daggers to the heart, but for me they were a stars-blessed balm to my battered soul—a lifeline cast out to me on four simple words. I tried to move, but pain stilled me once more.
Don’t leave me, I silently begged her as I leaned into her palms and cherished the softness of her lips against my skin. Her warmth fell away too soon, leaving my skin cold and lonely.
Come back!
She couldn’t hear me.
I tried to pry my eyelids open, desperate to see her, hopeful that perhaps the sight of her might give my body the boost it needed to help us survive these damned mountains. They refused, though, remaining tightly closed.
“Alek,” Graham’s voice pierced my consciousness—the last voice I wanted to hear. “Where are the others? She wouldn’t have come with just him.”
“We shot one of the dragons down in the canyon. The other two stayed with him, but we managed to secure them easily enough.”
“Hear that, Calla?” Graham hissed at my mate. “You’ve lost. Your friends have been captured. Your mate’s at death’s door. You came all this way, only to fail at the last moment.”
“Until I stop breathing, I have not lost,” Calla seethed.
If there were more words exchanged, I didn’t know, as a bolt of pain shot through me—but it wasn’t mine. It was Calla’s.
The tightness around my ankles and wrists eased, though. The pain subsided as quickly as it had come on, replaced with that same burst of excited anticipation I’d experienced before. Testing my restraints, I shifted one of my legs as far as I dared.
The chains no longer held.
I was freed, but how?
This time when I tried to open my eyes, I managed to lift my lids enough to see my mate’s shadows slipping away from the chains. Raising my chin a bit—and swallowing hard against the resulting twinge in my back—I found her staring past me, but her eyes slid quickly to mine.
I yearned to brush her tears away, but not yet. There would be time for that.
“Take her to the humans, Alek,” Graham commanded, and my heart stopped. I finally had her back, and they were going to steal her from me again.
Alek laughed darkly. “I don’t answer to you, Mr. Harrison. They aren’t particularly happy that you brought dragons to their doorstep. I’m not sure they’d accept any gift you offered.”
Graham scoffed. “I admit he’s worthless, but his mate? Have you not seen her powers? They could be of great use to the humans’ cause. With their penchant for extracting and harnessing power, imagine what they could do with her shadows…or the dragons’ shifting abilities?”
A soft hum filled the cave, and then Alek spoke again. “Don’t let this go to your head, but you do make some good points.”
Light footsteps approached, and Calla growled. “I’ll end you before you can even lay a hand on me.”
“I don’t think so,” Alek said. “You do that, and there will be no one to advocate for the release of your friends or your mate.”
He stepped closer still, and Calla crawled away from him, circling around the chair and staying as close to me as she could. Leaning over her, Alek’s hand shot out and grabbed her by the hair, yanking her to her feet. Shadows sprang from her palms and darted for the man, but he clicked his tongue.
“If you want them to live, you’ll put the darkness away.”
He started to drag her away from me, to take her to the humans, to put her through unimaginable pain.
She had come to save me, and there was no stars-damned way I was going to sit here and let her go this easily.
Roaring from both the agony and rage, I launched myself up from the chair with every drop of remaining energy in my body and—clutching one hand to my gut to keep my insides in place—barreled into him as hard as I could.