Eyes of Ember (Imdalind Series #2) (33 page)

“Maybe tomorrow
,” I said.

“Tomorrow
? I say now!”

I jumped a bit at Thom’s
tone, Ilyan jumping into Protector position automatically. Thom was obviously a little too cooped up in here.

“I’ll spar you tomorrow, Thom,” I said from behind, Ilyan. “I’m t
oo weak today.”

Ilyan turned, his body dropping to my level, his face instantly concerned.

“Is it too much? We can do it today.” I smiled at how he instantly knew what I was talking about and at his willingness to fix it. I felt his magic surge as he tried to repair any current damage that was being done to my body.

“Not today,” I cringed
. “I can wait one more day.”

“Are you sure?
It’s already been two days.” Ilyan asked, his finger tracing down my neck. I jumped involuntarily when the shock sped down my spine at Ilyan’s contact with my mark.

“Yes,” I said somewhat breathlessly
. Ilyan smiled at my reaction.

“Let me know if you change your mind.”

“Ugh!” Thom groaned loudly as he flailed around on his couch in obvious discomfort. “Will you two get a room? With a door?”

I blushed and looked away, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. Ilyan stood and moved away from me to stand before Thom, the two beginning to fist fight each other playfully. Dramin took a long drink of his
Black Water and I did the same, sighing and sinking into the chair.

I watched the two men fight, their odd banter bouncing
back and forth as they jumped around the large space. Dramin chuckled at their play. I sunk back further and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

My eyes opened to Ryland standing alone in the middle of the clearing.

“Jos.” He whispered my name before running to me, his body strangely strong and whole again. His dark curls bounced as he came to me, his bright blue eyes cutting into my soul.

“Ryland?” I didn’t dare hope, but right then I was so happy to see him, after everything that he had said before,
and I needed to know.

I opened my mouth to ask
if it was really him, but never even got one word out. His lips covered mine as he pressed into me, his hands and mouth encompassing me with a kiss I could have never imagined would come from him. It was deep and needy in a way that made my toes shake. I sighed as a spot deep inside my belly spun with joy.

He pulled away, his eyes looking deep into mine. His look
was suddenly desperate and panicked.

“Ryland?” I asked, growing worried.

“You know I love you, right?” he asked, his eyes darting frantically over my face. “More than anything?”

“Yes,” I answered breathlessly.

“And you know I would do anything to save you, to protect you. Right?” My veins turned to ice. I didn’t like where this was going.

“Ryland?” I asked, not willing to give him the answer to his question.

“Break the connection, Joclyn. Now. Have Ilyan show you how. Do it the second you wake up.” He grabbed my hands tightly and pulled me down to the forest floor, my knees crunching against the dead leaves.

“Ryland, why are you asking me to do this?” I could barely get the words out, my throat felt so tight.

“It’s the only way to keep you safe, Jos. I should have never completed the Zȇlství. I thought I was strong enough, I thought I could…” He shook his head and looked away from me.

“I can’t. Ryland... I can’t
.” I clung to his hands tighter, pulling him into me. “I need you.”

“No you don’t!”
he yelled loudly, his voice reverberating off of the trees. “I can’t save you. I can’t protect you. Not anymore!”

“Ryland,” my voice was a squeak,
my heart thumping wildly in my chest.

“You have to break...” He stopped and his eyes went wide, h
is gaze was beyond me, the panic evident on his face. I went to turn, terrified at what I might see, but Ryland forced me back to look at him. Quick footsteps were coming up behind me; a hand grabbed my hair and pulled me to standing.

“B
reak the connection, and don’t go in...” Ryland’s voice was silenced in my ears as I felt a body behind me, a knife against my throat, and heard Cail’s wicked laugh before I woke up clutching my neck. My breathing came in sharp panicked spurts, but I did not scream.

I stared at the roof of the bunk as I waited for my breathing to calm, my mind playing Ilyan’s song for me inside my head. I listened to it until the panic was gone, most of the vivid images of the nightmare fading into the netherworld that
exists between sleep and waking. I curled into Ilyan’s chest, partially wondering why he was already in my bed before I drifted off to sleep again.

Thirty

I
woke up the next morning and almost yelled out with my first movement. My body was filled with the aches of having avoided the Tȍuha for so long. I shifted my weight in Ilyan’s arms and my back seized, the muscles calling out in protest.

I knew I couldn’t wait any longer
to go into the Tȍuha, but I was still scared – more so after last night’s dream. Dramin had told me to wait to talk to Ilyan about breaking the bond until after I had decided what course to take, but I didn’t know how much more time I could wait. I needed to talk to someone.

It scared me the way
Ryland had begged me to break the Zȇlství, begged for me to do it right then. And then there was Cail.

Cail lived off of his taunts, his torture,
but he hadn’t even hesitated before killing me. The lack of his usual games made my teeth clench.

I shuddered at the memory,
my heart rate accelerating in an unhealthy way.

I rolled over again, turning to face Ilyan. I moved the hair that had fallen over his face, his mouth slightly open in
his sleep as usual.

I knew what I had to do,
as much as I didn’t want to. As much as it hurt, I needed to break the connection. I needed Ryland; at least I thought I did. Ryland had protected me as I was growing up. He had loved me and taught me how to love when I wasn’t sure I knew how to anymore. He protected me from his Father and used his body to shield me, and now he was trying to protect me by breaking the connection.

I loved him more than I ever thought I could love someone. That’s why it hurt so much every time he asked me to break the connection. I didn’t want to
lose that. I didn’t want to lose the last normal thing from my old life.

But I wasn’t normal anymore, and I had changed. I had grown stronger and more confident th
an I had ever felt.

I think I knew
I had to break the last connection to the old me, no matter how much it hurt to say it. And once that connection was broken, I would be free. Free from the torment. Free to become what I was born to be.

The Silnỳ.

“For it is only by your side that she can find her true purpose, that she will find the strength to kill those that would end the magic of the world.” I whispered the words of the sight to myself, the sight that told of me, and what I was born to do.

I knew it was true
. And although part of me shattered at the thought, I knew it needed to be done.

I needed to break the connection.

“Ilyan,” I said his name loud enough for him to hear me, my hand still on his bare chest.

His eyes opened sleepily, blinking a few times before he fully registered where he was.

“Jos,” he sighed, his voice heavy. He reached up and placed his hand over mine pushing it into his scared chest.

“No nightmares?” He was so hopeful, I only smiled and shook my head
. After all, that would be the last one.

“I am so glad.” He freed my hand from his chest to pull me into him. I cringed at the pain the movement and pressure caused me
. He stopped immediately, his magic flaring abruptly as he searched through my body. He looked at me alarmed and I knew he had found something.

“I’m scared, Ilyan,” I whispered, my voice as weak as my body felt.

He leaned over to me and gently kissed my forehead, his lips soft against my skin.

“I will be here the entire time, Joclyn.
Be quick.” I smiled at him and nodded. When I got back I would tell him. I would need strength to break the Zȇlství anyway.

I pulled the necklace out from under my shirt and pushed my magic into it before leaning into Ilyan’s chest
and letting his arms wrap around me.

I
closed my eyes only to open them to the same dilapidated kitchen and instantly started hyperventilating. Cail stood right before me. His face was pulled into a wicked grin, his eyes blacker then I had ever seen them.

The dark eyed man.

“Why hello, Joclyn,” he said. “You don’t seem happy to see me.”

I stared at him, unsure of what to say.

“What are you doing here?” His twisted joy grew at my fear.

“Why, Joclyn, isn’t it obvious I’ve been here all along.” He smirked and stepped forward, causing me to step back instinctively. My foot hit the table
leg and I stopped, trapped, as he continued to move forward.

“I was here when Ryland showed you the Vilỳ, I was the one who told him that you didn’t want him, and I was the one that took away the pretty overcoat Ryland had
given this place.” He gestured around him to the rotting kitchen, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.

“
For the last three months I have slowly brought you into Ryland’s mind. This is what your mate’s mind truly looks like: destroyed, rotten, forgotten. There is no love here, which is why you don’t belong here.”

He con
tinued to move toward me, but I couldn’t move. The memories and fear of every encounter with him weighed me down.

“You’re the one who has been telling him to force me out
.” I gasped as I pieced it together. But instead of smiling, Cail seemed to get very angry.

“Now, that’s an interesting thing. I actually have not been telling him to do that.
It would ruin my fun, after all. But Ryland’s mind is an interesting place. Not only does he remember enough about you to realize you’re in danger but he also brought himself into your dream last night. He was desperate to get you to break the bond to keep you from this mess. Thankfully, you didn’t listen.”

Cail emphasized his last words, each syllable shooting through me like I had been slapped. It was
Ryland; he had been trying to protect me all this time. I felt the wind suck out of my lungs.

“And, now,” Cail continued, “here you are. Trapped.”

“Trapped?” I repeated the little air that I could hold in my lungs gasping out.

I spun around to
look for the black door that I had always been able to exit through. My heart dropped to see a tall man standing in front of it, his eyes boring into me dangerously.

I took a step forward, my hands raising toward the tall guard, I was getting out of here. I felt my magic crackle between my fingers, it felt more
alive than in the nightmares; more powerful.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Cail taunted, freezing me in place. “E
verything you do here, you do in the waking world. You attack him, or me, and you will throw that weapon at Ilyan. I bet he sleeps right beside you, holding you. Protecting you. It would be a shame if you killed him. An absolute shame.”

Cail came up behind me, his hands moving to rest
on the table on either side of me, pinning me in place.

“Now
, I bet you are thinking,” he began, his voice wickedly soft in my ear, “that you could just find a way to fight him and leave. But then, Ryland hit you with that barstool last time, and I bet when you woke up you were bleeding.”

He let his
words drift off, his hand moving to trail up my arm. The touch shot through me and I spun around, grabbing his arm and twisting it awkwardly into the table. He yelled out as my strength pinned him down. His discomfort lasting a minute before I felt his magic surge, and a conjured knife pressed against my neck as he motioned me away from him. I gasped and jumped away, the memory from my last dream still fresh. My movement only caused Cail’s joy to increase, his smile widening.

“Did Ilyan heal you when you
woke up? Do you think he could heal you if you didn’t wake up?”

I looked toward the man who stood in front of the door, his eyes following me greedily as he
flexed his fingers, red energy crackling between his knuckles.

“What are you saying?” I
immediately regretted asking, but I couldn’t help it. I silently prayed he wasn’t saying what I knew he was.

“This is not like your dreams, Joclyn.
You attack me here, you attack Ilyan there. You conjure weapons here, you do the same there. You will not wake in the arms of your true love if you die here, you will simply – die.”

I gasped and he smiled more. He grabbed a rotten apple and balanced its weight in his hand for a moment before throwing it against one of the teetering cabinet door
s. The door fell to the ground as the apple exploded.

“Boom!” Cail yelled joyfully, causing me to jump. “Dead
. Gone! Which in all honesty is how we want you. But I figure, and Edmund agrees with me, why not have a little fun first? Why not play a little game?”

“No,” I
gasped in panicked desperation. I clutched my shoulder where Ilyan’s Štít lay, but felt nothing.

“Oh yes
.” He smiled and my breathing picked up. “If you try to get through that door,” he pointed to my normal exit “he will kill you. Which means the only way out of this room is through that door.”

Cail grabbed my shoulders and moved me to face the door that led into the mansion.

“Now through that door are the depths of Ryland’s mind. In there, he may remember you, he may not, or he may hate you enough to kill you himself. But do not fear, I am not sending you in there after him. I am sending you in there away from me. And when I find you, I will do away with you in the most painful way I can think of.”

I cringed as he produced
his knife and rested the blade against my chest. I tried to move away from him, but he held me tighter.

“Don’t worry, I will give you a head start
. It’s only fair after all.” He dug his fingers into my shoulders, causing me to gasp at the pain.  “But don’t forget, whatever magic you do here, you do in the real world. Though if I do my job right, in a matter of hours you won’t even remember you have magic inside of you.”

“Let me go,” I snarled as he continued to hold me. I stumbled when he released me
with a little push, surprised he had done it so quickly.

“If you insist,” Cail said
. “But you’d better run, your ten minute head start starts now.”

I spun around to face him, Cail stood with his face screwed up in manic excitement.

Cail had trapped me in here with the full intention of torturing me in a way that would only end in my death. But I needed to get out of here. I knew there had to be a way. I could already feel my soul call to it, a promise of showing me a way out that would not end in my death.

My eyes darted to the guard who stood in front of the black door, blocking my exit. I knew I could defeat him easily, but I also knew that Ilyan still la
y right beside me, his arms wrapped around me. Anything I would do in a fight, would go right into Ilyan.

Cail caught my eye, his lip curling as he interpreted my thoughts
, knowing his plan was working.

“Run.” Cail said
, and I didn’t wait. I turned and ran into the pits of the house, what was left of Ryland’s mind, tears already streaming down my face.