Page 64 of The Chains You Defy

Narrowing my eyes, I growled at the male as he dared to approach me. Oh no, no one would stand between me and my retribution, especially not that one. Teeth bared, I charged. My skin was coated in deep onyx mists, swirling, caressing, urging me on.

Hunt. Find. Kill.

“Fuck.”

Suddenly, the ground trembled underneath my feet and broke away. With nowhere to hold on to, I landed in the rubble. The fury in my veins blazed even hotter, and then…then a heaviness clamped down around my power, subdued the darkness, and wrestled the ancient magic back into submission.

“What—”

I shook my head hard to clear my brain. The past few minutes were nothing but foggy.

My body felt heavy, so heavy, as I attempted to dig myself out of the debris around me.

Fuck, I’d lost control. That hadn’t happened for so long. I couldn’t even remember the last time, and my throat constricted as I realized that no other episode had been as severe as the one I’d just woken up from.

Oh fuck, I’d been a breath away from attacking Fig. And if my patchy recollection was to be trusted, I’d meant business.

He must have broken the floor with his magic, but even that wouldn’t explain how I snapped out of the state I had been in. And why was all my magic just gone? The usual humming in my blood was silent, as if I’d drunk alcohol. What had Fig done?

“Dion?”

“Fig.”

“Kalag be blessed, you’re back.”

“Yes. I don’t appreciate being buried under half a house and whatever you did to my magic, but well, you acted how you thought you had to.” Saying thanks wasn’t in my nature, not only because such sentimentalities simply weren’t my style, but also since I had to distract from the fact that something very unusual had transpired.

“I didn’t do anything to your magic. But I know what’s messing with us.”

Why did he say us? “What?”

“The floor is encased in hematite.”

What in the name of Noelk? “Hematite?How?”

Moments later, I emerged from the rubble, massaging the back of my head, and once I stopped, my hand was coated in blood. Thank Kalag for the accelerated self-healing of us fae. Except—

“Oh fuck, do you see that, Fig?”

“There’s more to this merchant than meets the eye, hm?”

“This wasn’t where he kept Nayana.” My jaw locked so hard, even the muscle that normally ticked was tensedinto submission. I didn’t need to be a genius to understand the situation with a simple visual examination.

Only because we were surrounded by rows of cells with floors and bars built from hematite, the force that had earlier taken over me had been subdued.

“There are dozens of cells. And who knows how many more are located out of sight?”

“Well, yes. Also, in case you’re missing this—we’re in one.” Magicless. Was this a trap?

“Yes, with a fucking hole over our head.” Fig approached me. “I’ll lift you, and you pull yourself out, then you’ll find something to help me out of here. That is, if you’ll be able to keep yourself under control once you’re not contained by hematite anymore.” His eyebrow rose.

Fuck, he only didn’t badger me about what had gotten into me because we needed to escape first.

And considering his question, could I? I wasn’t sure. The metal around us had muted the ancient call, but as I listened to myself, I could feel the wild energy pounding through me with every pulse of my heart. “Guess so.”

Of course, Fig didn’t eat my lie. “Too vague. We need a definite solution so your magic won’t slip out of control again.” His gaze roamed the dingy dungeon cell containing us. “And you’ll hate the one I came up with.”

“No chance, Fig.” Folding my arms in front of my chest, I glared first at the wall he was examining, then at my general.