Page 56 of Wings of Lies (Daughter of the Seven Circles #1)

Chapter

Thirty-Three

“ O kay, but how are we carting Aspen around?”

Oliver glanced at the cuffs in my hands, then Aspen’s wrists. “We’re not. He’s walking, and we’ll cuff his hands so he doesn’t get any ideas.”

“You want Aspen to have the cuffs that’ll take you to your sister?” I asked, raising a brow.

He shrugged. “Not really. But I also rather not have an enemy prince with the ability to use his hands and chop off my head with his sword.”

“Good point.”

I stood slowly and handed the key and cuffs over to Oliver.

Oliver turned to Aspen’s twitching form, weighing the cuffs in his hand and contemplating.

Assuming what he was thinking, I said, “Lock them in front. If we run into anything, we may need the little help he can give. ”

“I was thinking the opposite. But with your Binding Rune and my sapped powers, I guess we could give the evil princeling the ability to choke us in our sleep,” Oliver mumbled while securing Aspen’s wrists in front of his body.

Then he proceeded to search for and remove every dagger stored on Aspen’s person.

As he was about to touch his sword, Aspen came to, lurching up and smashing his forehead into Oliver’s nose.

“Fuck-a-duck!” Oliver fell back, blood seeping through his fingers. “You’re lucky she wants you alive!”

I scrambled forward before Aspen could use the cuffs he was glaring at as a weapon. “Stop!”

The rage on his face had me stepping back. “I don’t let anyone touch me, prisoner.”

Prisoner?

“Aspen?” I whispered, staring in horror at the rune underneath his chin. The red looked almost black.

“Do not address me in such a way. It is Prince Aspen, prisoner.”

I just stared at him, listening to the haughty disgust in his words. What the hell did the rune do to him?

“The way I see it, princeling, is you’re our prisoner until we figure out what to do with your sorry ass. If I had it my way, I’d leave you here to be pulled apart by the Ethereal Kingdom.” Oliver glanced at me, making a face. “Speaking of, we should probably leave so that doesn’t happen.”

He was right, but how the hell did we get Aspen to follow us? At my concerned face, Oliver took the lead, putting a knife in one hand and thrusting the other forward. “Get up, unless you want me to hit you again, princeling. ”

“With your fucked up illusions?” Aspen snarled, wrists wrenching against the cuffs.

Oliver shrugged, wiping away the last of the blood dripping from his nose. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, princeling.”

Did he think the memory was fake? From the certainty I felt from him and the disgust curling his lip, I think he did.

“Aspen?” I tried again.

“I am not Aspen! I am the Prince of the Tenebrous Kingdom and the right hand to the queen. And when I remove these cuffs, you will be coming with me.”

“To the queen who murdered your mother?” I asked, needing to see if he was in there.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I took a step closer. “Marcus murdered your mother. The queen murdered your first love!”

“I will obey ! They mean nothing to me!” he raged.

“They brainwashed you!” I yelled back, begging him to remember. I had the real Aspen back for a split second, and she was taking away the male I met in the woods, who gave me the courage to want more, who made me see there was more to life than hiding away in fear.

“How would you know, Lucille? You’re barely surviving in a world you know nothing about that will only use you up and spit out the useless pieces.”

My mouth dropped open. He had said other terrible things to me, and I knew this was the rune talking. It had to be. “Says the male being used. Let’s go, Oliver.”

Aspen’s glare darkened. The muscle in his jaw ticked as he gripped the hilt of his sword .

Oliver eyed the intricate metal. “I feel like I should confiscate that.”

“Even if you thought you could take it from me, it’s infused with blood magic.”

“Let’s go, Oliver,” I said, walking away as I clutched my sides.

Oliver pointed his dagger at Aspen. “Oh no, he’s walking in front. Lucy, you’ll stay by my side. We shouldn’t be far from the border, but let’s not dilly-dally.”

I agreed, clutching at my ribs.

“You okay?” Oliver asked.

I should be asking him that after he had to rewatch the memory of his mother’s murder.

Aspen walked in front of us and turned back to stare at me.

I ignored him. “The bounty hunter broke my ribs.”

Oliver frowned. But Aspen… He turned around and glared at the lifeless body like he’d like to set it on fire. For a moment, I thought he cared, until he spoke.

“No one damages the queen’s property.”

How could my mom do it? Watching Aspen right now, listening to him, and seeing how thoroughly a magical symbol controlled him, I didn’t understand.

Sure, my mom pushed the positive on me, but how was that any better?

We were both puppets. But I hoped I finally had learned my lesson.

As for Aspen, I needed to figure out how to remove a rune.

That’d be another question I asked the witch.

Oliver hip-bumped me, making me gasp. “Shit, sorry. I was just trying to get the glazed look out of your eyes. Do you want me to stab him? ”

I snorted, blinking away the blur of pain. “Let’s not give him any opportunities to steal your weapon and use it against you. At least he can’t remove his sword cuffed.”

“True. Did you want to find a healer before Magda’s?” Oliver asked, following Aspen as he walked further ahead, never straying too far from us. Aspen would never leave the queen’s property .

“I don’t think there’s much to be done about broken ribs. They’ll heal eventually.” I lowered my voice. “Has he said anything?”

“No. You?”

“I don’t think he’d be able to reach me with the Binding Rune.”

“You’re probably right,” he said, his eyes drilling into Aspen's back as if the option to stab him was still under consideration.

“You want to ask him about your sister, don’t you?”

“It crossed my mind a few dozen times. But the princeling seems quite put off. I doubt I’d get anything from the bastard.”

He wasn’t wrong. A brooding cloud of anger swallowed Aspen.

Between his tight shoulders and the dark red light casting a vile halo beneath his chin, it didn’t matter his steps were soundless; someone could feel him coming a mile away.

I was glad we walked behind him, and I pitied the person who stumbled into his path.

We sloshed across the shallow river, Oliver holding my elbow to steady me and Aspen on the edge of the bank, watching our steps with guarded eyes.

Once we reached him, he turned his back and stepped through the barrier.

We followed, stepping into the field of metallic gold grass, back into The Divide.

“So which way to Magda’s?”

Aspen stopped. “We are not going to Magda’s. ”

“When we need the input from our princely prisoner, we’ll ask. Otherwise, best to keep your thoughts to yourself,” Oliver chirped back.

The muscle in Aspen’s jaw pulsed as he strode back to us and pushed into my space. “I said no. She’s dangerous.”

“More dangerous than Lilith?”

He grimaced as the rune flickered to red but didn’t go out.

Confusion furrowed his brows before the rune reverted to black and shifted his frown to an expression of displeasure.

“My queen will be the only one to claim you.” His arms jerked up, attempting to encircle me with his cuffs, only to freeze when Oliver pressed the tip of his knife against Aspen’s neck.

“ Lucy will be had by nobody. I think she’s had enough cages to last her the rest of her life.”

I agreed, gesturing forward, glaring into a face I barely recognized. “How about you return to your useful spot up there and lead us to where we want to go.”

Flickers of his rage and panic intruded on my mind. “I can’t—” He clenched his teeth, forcing out words, and the rune pulsed between black, red, and skin. “Protect—you,” he gasped out.

Immediately, I placed my thumb on his rune, hoping to help him. The same agonizing pain shot up my arm, making me whimper. My Aspen, the one that peaked through for a moment, wrenched his face out of my grasp to save me from the pain.

“Don’t touch me.”

I couldn’t tell which Aspen spoke. The one who stared at me with scorn, thinking I was an object to be used or the one who wanted to murder the queen’s army after finding me malnourished and bruised. But from the emptiness I felt from him, I assumed it wasn’t my Aspen.

It hurt to look at him while he was like this. I didn’t know what to say or do.

“Start heading to the Damatha Forest, princeling, and leave protection duty to me, seeing as you’re looking at her like she’s a thing again,” Oliver said, keeping the knife between us and him.

Surprisingly, Aspen complied after looking Oliver up and down and sneering. He jangled his way through the golden field, heading towards the trees, as I stared at his back, feeling hopeless.

Oliver lightly placed a finger under my chin and turned me to face him. Blonde and black wisps of hair tickled his light eyelashes, bordering his intense gaze. I swallowed.

“I know we agreed to go there. But in all seriousness, if the prince is right and it’s too dangerous, we leave and wait for the king to contact us.

” I didn’t know what to think about this Oliver—fierce and somber, holding me under his penetrating gaze.

“Because he’d probably freeze my balls off if I let anything happen to you.

So, let’s try and keep out of danger if we can.

” He wrapped his arm around my neck and gave me a noogie, like an annoying older brother.

I laughed and batted him away, then gasped. “Shit.”

“Might as well get used to it, Luce. If you broke your ribs, you got a while with that pain without your fast healing. Unless we can find someone to remove your rune.”

I sighed. “I hope we can find someone then.”

“And I’ll hope for a bowl of stew and the chance to stab the princeling. One’s more likely than the other.”

Looking up, Aspen stood waiting for us in the distance, watching our exchange with narrowed eyes .

“You know he might’ve been good once. Before she brainwashed him.”

I bit my lip. “He still is.”

Oliver gave me a sympathetic look. “Lucy, he’s been with the queen for his entire life. He’s carted female after female to her. He may not harm them, but he’s still guilty. Even with some magical rune compelling him, does that truly excuse his actions?”

I followed Oliver, having no answer for him. But he was right, and I didn’t want him to be.

Still a few yards away from Aspen, Oliver stepped in front of me, gripping my shoulders, and captured me with the sincerity on his face.

“I see how you look at him.” My cheeks flushed.

I tried to look away, but Oliver held me there, forcing me to hear his words.

“I’m not judging you.” He reconsidered. “Okay, maybe just a little bit. But Aspen will never be what you want him to be. You need?—”

“Someone who doesn’t cart females against their will? Someone to sweep me off my feet and catch me when I fall?” Although, once upon a time, he had swept me off my feet back on Earth when it was just us in the forest with all our secrets.

Oliver shook his head, his gaze intense. My stomach flip-flopped. I so wasn’t used to this Oliver.

“No. We all fall, Lucy. It’s a part of this strange life we live.

We need to fall. You don’t need a knight in shining armor or a broken prince to catch you on the way down.

You need someone to hold you in the mess.

Someone to find strength in you as you mend your broken pieces. From the ground up, not the sky down.”

“But what about his broken pieces?” I whispered.

Oliver wiped away my tears, pursing his lips and shaking his head. “What if he’s broken beyond repair? ”

“What if your sister is? What if my mom is? Are we going to just give up on them?” I demanded.

He sighed. “Not give up, but distance ourselves. I said, find strength in as you mend your broken pieces. But you can give a person only so much strength before you’re giving too much. You aren’t obligated to sacrifice yourself for someone else.”

I opened my mouth to protest.

“Lucy, you said you had the Binding Rune on you for years. Don’t you think your mom could’ve taken it off or found someone who could’ve?”

“She was scared of people finding us,” I explained.

He nodded. “So instead of helping you to be excellent in all that power you have and give you the strength to stand on your own two feet, she kept you suppressed and then poisoned you.”

I frowned.

“She let her broken pieces win. She let her fears win.”

I threw up my arms. “So what? I need to give up on my mom now, too?”

Oliver gave me a dry look. “No, my point is that you should value yourself as much as you value others and vice versa. If the other person is too broken or taking too much from you, it’s important to let them go so they can heal themselves.

It’s called taking care of yourself, and it’s not selfish; it’s necessary. Okay?”

“Okay,” I sighed, even if I didn’t entirely mean it. He lifted one side of his lips, leaned in, and kissed my forehead.

Who was this male, and where was the carefree insufferable Oliver ?

He kissed my forehead once more before wiping away the rest of my tear streaks. “So, when you kick Aspen’s ass to the curb, I’ll be your wing-woman.”

I gave a wet laugh at his wiggling eyebrows. There he was.

“You?” I asked. He was pretty bold with his methods. I wasn’t sure I wanted his help, even if I was giving up on Aspen. Which I wasn’t.

“Yeah, me! I’ve got years of practice. Where do you think all that sound advice came from, huh?

” He shot me a look. One that had my cheeks heating once more.

It was easy to forget how old they were when they looked so young.

I didn’t even want to think about all the females Aspen’s been through.

And how inexperienced I was compared to… Well, most.

Oliver pulled me closer. “You need a wing-woman. Lucky for you, I have all the time in the world to fill that position—when we aren’t running for our lives or finding answers. And as of right now, I’m saying Aspen’s off the potential getting Lucy laid list.”

I sputtered, the flush reaching my forehead at how loud he said that.

He full-bellied laughed as we walked toward the glowering prince. I hoped that whatever god was out there, Aspen did not hear that because underneath the evil prince was the Aspen I hoped to set free.

But was he a prince? He wasn’t related to the queen. He was no demon. His mom had blue rings in her eyes, not purple, so what did that make her? Aspen was part angel, but what was the other part?

Aspen turned and led us to the witch. I hoped she held our answers.