Page 42 of Shadows of Ruin (The Broken Prophecy #2)

Chapter 41

Lana

I struggled against the restraints tying me to the chair that faced Storm’s bloodied body.

The king stood across the room, murmuring to Raya.

Raya, who had betrayed us.

Even if it was outside of her control right now. Kade’s biggest fears were coming true. No wonder they never told her everything. The king’s ability to push past her defenses and see her thoughts was just as dangerous as they all suspected.

“Storm?” I asked.

His eyes were trained on mine, and he gave me a strained smile. “I have endured torture before, and he will have to try harder than that to break me,” he said calmly.

“Why are we here?” I asked.

Storm shook his head. “I don’t know. We’ll be okay though.”

I winced because there was no way he spoke the truth when his body appeared as mangled as it did. He had endured far too much in such a short period of time.

“Go stand guard outside of the door.” The king’s voice echoed through the large room. I glanced over my shoulder, locking eyes with Raya as a small rivulet of blood fell from her nose. Her eyes hardened as she walked out of the room, obeying the king.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” The clap of his hands made me jump. He brought those hands down hard on my shoulders. “Shall we continue?”

Nausea churned in my gut hearing his voice and the glee dripping from his lips for what was to come.

I met Storm’s gaze, refusing to look away as the king approached him, standing at his side. When he circled behind him, as if he needed to admire what he had done to him, Storm mouthed two words to me: “Be strong.”

Then he schooled his expression into a stone-faced stare.

King Dargan stood on the other side of Storm, his focus shifting entirely to me. “The time has come to set him free.”

Him? Thames.

I tried to relax my breathing. We were out of time and completely unprepared to face the threat of Thames’s wrath.

The king backhanded Storm across his face so hard his lip split. The rings on his fingers left imprints on his skin.

“I will be the one to do it and will be abundantly rewarded.” He shifted in front of me and smacked Storm again on the other cheek. “Oh, I didn’t mean to block your view of my handiwork.” The king gave me a smug smile. He grabbed Storm’s chin in his hands. “Hmm, this one didn’t leave enough of a mark. We’ll have to try that again. Ready?” he asked. “Of course you’re not.” He smacked him harder this time, splitting skin to match the other side of Storm’s face.

“Stop!” I cried out, tugging at the restraints futilely.

But the king didn’t stop. Instead, he grabbed a candelabra resting on his desk only a few feet away. The large three-pronged decor dragged across the table. My stomach clenched watching the king wield the dense matte black weapon. He heaved it sideways, crashing it into Storm’s side. The crunch of bone ripped through the air, and I gagged at the sound .

I was going to vomit.

Storm’s eyes widened in obvious pain, but he didn’t dare utter a sound.

This torture was real. Unlike the torture Andras used against Ian, where it was all an illusion, this was actually happening. And there was nothing I could do to stop it.

I pulled harder at my wrists, still bound to the chair. “Let him go. Stop this. What do you want from us?”

The bite of the rope burned my skin. I had to get free. I had to save Storm. I couldn’t do this again.

Storm’s head hung low, and his breathing rattled, labored. He surely had a broken rib, and I hadn’t been here for his initial torture to see what else might be broken. Even if we could escape, I wasn’t sure if I could move Storm’s body. He was a strong Fae, but was he strong enough to walk out of here after everything he’d endured?

I prayed to the Fates, begging with all I had for Kade to appear. His shadows could save us all, and then Dargan would be outnumbered.

King Dargan flicked his wrist and a whoosh sent the air swirling in the room straight down Storm’s throat. Stuffing it into his body, essentially choking him.

Storm tried to close his mouth, but the force of the magic was too strong.

“Stop!” I yelled again. “Please stop.” Pure desperation laced my pleas. I had to do anything and everything to draw attention to myself and away from Storm if he had any chance of survival.

Dargan turned, narrowing his eyes as he stalked toward me. “Apologies, dear,” the king said, smoothing back his hair. He flicked his hand again and Storm gasped, falling against the chains holding him up. “I merely needed to ensure I had your attention.”

He kneeled in front of me. “It is time to free Thames.”

I schooled my features, forcing myself not to react .

“He promised me power, even more than he has already gifted me. I will never have to make a sacrifice to the amulet again.” He grinned, knocking me underneath my chin. “I can live forever.”

I jerked my face away, but he didn’t allow it for long, grasping my neck.

Storm’s head rolled to the side, and he spit a mouthful of blood onto the floor before choking out, “Who the fuck is Thames?”

“Someone you can never defeat.” The king laughed mirthlessly.

My eyes flicked over the king’s shoulders to Storm. He hadn’t been in the training ring when we relayed what Cassandra told us earlier. “Thames is trapped.”

A sly smile spread over the king’s face as he watched me argue. “Ah,” he chuckled, “you know about Thames, Princess? But what you obviously don’t know is there is indeed a way to set him free. There is always a counterspell.”

I didn’t dare say a word. I refused to reveal anything in case my knowledge would help the king. Even if I barely possessed any about this threat.

The king stood and walked to his desk. He ran his hands over the candelabra, stroking it with his fingers like a pet. “Even a sorceress cannot defy the Fates, Illiana Dresden. Thames told me all about a sorceress’s attempt to interfere with fate’s calling. She may be powerful, may have trapped him temporarily. Yes.” He hummed. “Despite her meddling, her time is coming to an end. Her hold over this kingdom. This world. It will soon be over.

“Imagine my reward when I find her after I free him. Deliver him the sorceress who trapped him all these years.” King Dargan spoke almost to himself.

He had no idea Cassandra was the sorceress. I held on to hope that his desire to free Thames was just that: a fool’s yearning for power .

Storm groaned and looked like he struggled to maintain consciousness. His body beaten to a pulp. “Stay with me, Storm,” I begged quietly. “You can do this. Fight.”

“You can save him, you know,” the king sang.

I snapped my attention away from Storm over to the king.

“All of this can be over in a matter of minutes. You have the power to choose, Illiana. You have the power to save your—” He spat at the ground near Storm’s feet. “Friend. All I need is your blood. Offer me your blood willingly, and all of this can be forgotten. You can take him and go.”

I sat there in shock, trying to remember anything about blood in Cassandra’s words. “My blood?”

My heart rate increased, wondering if there was something we missed.

King Dargan slammed the candelabra into Storm’s gut. He shouted, crying out in pain for the first time.

“No,” I cried. My eyes watered, shedding tears for the warrior who had become a friend.

King Dargan approached my chair again, gripping his makeshift weapon. He ran a hand over my hair and licked his lips. “All I need is your blood and I promise not to touch Storm again.”

“What could my blood do?” I asked, trying frantically to move his hands off me.

“Though locked away a thousand turns, the final battle has yet to burn. When light and dark unite, prepare—freedom is granted with the willing blood of two heirs,” the king chanted prophetically.

I dragged in a shaky breath. That sounded too close to a prophecy. But how? Cassandra hadn’t told us of a prophecy about Thames being freed.

The king smiled, as if he could taste my panic. “If you don’t want to see Storm die a slow, excruciatingly painful death, you will hand over your blood.” He brought my face closer to his and he whispered in my ear, “The choice is up to you.”

“Do not break, Lana,” Storm muttered. “This world can survive without me, but it cannot survive without you.”

Vivienne’s wild ramblings at The Knotted Willow replayed through my mind. She knew. She had a vision and knew my blood was needed. Those exact words, “blood of the heirs,” had spilled from Vivienne’s lips. They were also written on the wall in Cassandra’s room.

Our blood. Kade’s and mine. What did the king say though?

Willingly.

That was the key. If we refused to give our blood willingly, Thames would never be free. He needed the two heirs to make their own sacrifices in order to be free.

Deep lines formed between my brows. “I will never give you my blood.” I prayed the king didn’t hear the tremble in my voice. I wasn’t sure I could watch him kill Storm and not succumb. I had to try though.

King Dargan chuckled, barely audible. “I think you will.”

He threw out his hands, fire spurting from his palms. He had the power of too many elements. Wielding magic that couldn’t all be his, just like Andras.

He sent his flames to Storm’s body, and although he maintained his composure at first, the pain eventually became too much and Storm cursed, spewing at the king.

“Do not say anything, Lana,” he shouted through his agony.

I closed my eyes. It was Ian all over again. But this time I had what the king wanted to make him stop. I may not possess magic that could have saved Ian from Andras’s torture, but my blood I could give. I pursed my lips, holding back with everything I had. I could end his pain though. I sucked in a breath and the flame receded.

The king narrowed his eyes. “Interesting. You may not do it for Storm. But I’ve seen how you look at my son. I bet you would do anything to save him. To save Kade.”

Panic coursed through my veins. Pure terror. I would do just about anything to save Kade.

The king smiled. “I will give you time to decide. When I return, loosen your tongue or prepare for Storm to die. Then we’ll move on to my son.” He glided around me, his hand dragging across my collarbone before he left.

I didn’t speak until the door shut behind him. “I’m sorry, Storm,” I sobbed. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t you dare apologize,” he groaned. “But you can tell me what the fuck is going on.”

“Kade and I learned that a thousand years ago, a Fae named Thames had grown too powerful, threatening the entire world. With a sacrifice from a queen and king, he was trapped in the void, splitting the world in two. Apparently, now he wants to get out.” I tried to recap quickly without saying Cassandra’s name, knowing the king had no idea his own seer was the sorceresses he sought. “We thought there was no way to free him, but apparently, he has his own prophecy just as Kade and I have ours. Fucking seers.”

“You can say that again.”

“What can I do?” I asked.

“You’re as trapped as I am right now, Lana.” Storm coughed. “Kade will come.”

I shivered, and even in pain, Storm noticed.

“He won’t kill Kade. Not if he needs his blood willingly too.”

I looked up and met Storm’s eyes. There was so much courage there. He hung, bloodied, burned, and beaten. Yet he still sought to reassure me, and perhaps himself too.

“You’re right.” I inhaled an unsteady breath. “Are you able to access your healing abilities despite what he’s done to you?” I tried not to let my voice crack.

Storm nodded once. “It will take time in this state. But yes, I can heal the major injuries to make them bearable with this reprieve.”

“Good.” I nodded back, letting his words comfort me. Hopefully Dargan took his time coming back.

“When I was younger, Andras tortured me to try to get my magic free,” I said softly. “He would bring Ian down and make me think he was hurting him, even though Ian’s pain was all in my mind. If there had been a way to fake having magic, I would have done it to save him.” I sighed, emotions clogging my throat. “But this time, I can save you from the pain. I don’t know that I will be able to deny him if he comes back.”

“You can and you will,” Storm commanded. “He knows if he kills me, Kade would never cooperate. You wouldn’t either. You must stay strong. I can withstand this, and so can you.”

I didn’t respond, but I refused to look away from him. Holding eye contact right now grounded me, reminded me he was able to handle it.

“I was right when I said you would care for me as much as Ian one day,” he laughed.

I smiled through my tears. “Never.”

“If you repeat what I am about to tell you, I will deny it.” He sighed dramatically, but I noticed the rattling had lessened in his voice. “And then find a way to retaliate.”

I widened my stare, waiting for the rest.

“My first name is?—”

He paused, watching me just as I watched him. “Tell me!”

“Chester.”

I laughed, my entire body shaking as he shook his head at my reaction.

"A little torture and you are spilling your deepest secret,” I teased.

He smiled before wincing. “Never speak of this weak moment.”

The door flung open, startling both of us from our conversation. The sound of the door creaking on its hinges was the only thing I allowed to pull my gaze away from Storm.

Raya stumbled forward, falling to her knees.

“Raya!” I shouted.

The chains holding Storm clinked and I saw him fighting against the hold. He didn’t fear the king, but right now, his determination told me he was worried. “Whatever he’s doing, fight it, Raya,” he shouted across the room.

Raya crawled, slowly inching forward. Her haggard breathing was evident, but she didn’t stop. Even as she barely made progress, she continued.

She looked up, tears streaming down her face, and still, she moved toward me.

“You’re all right,” I lied, trying to reach her with my words. The pain etched on her face was too much. “Raya, it is okay.”

She pulled herself up on her hands and knees in front of me. Her body convulsed, shaking uncontrollably.

Then she let out a terrifying, blood-curdling scream.