Eyes of Ember (Imdalind Series #2) (34 page)

Thirty-One

I
ran into the mansion without looking back. I knew Cail was serious. I needed to get away from him as fast as possible and figure out a way to get out of here before Cail found and killed me.

A few steps
into the house, I tripped on broken bits of carpet that had been pulled up, burned away, or maybe eaten by some form of rodent. I caught myself, picking my feet up in my run and quickening my pace. Without thinking about it I had sped through the house, taking the path I had traveled almost every day of my life until last May, the path that would take me to Ryland’s room.

My heart
thumped loudly as something told me to stop, my breath catching at the overwhelming sensation. I stopped dead, clutching my shoulder, hoping to find Ilyan’s warmth inside of me but still finding nothing. I kept my hand there as I thought through what I was doing, what I was going to do, something unsettling deep in my gut telling me to hide.

I
had gone right to where Cail would expect me to go, into what I could only assume to be a trap. I needed to figure out what to do before I came face to face with him.

I stopped before opening the door to
Ryland’s hall and instead sunk into what I knew would be a supply closet. Cail had given me a ten minute head start, surely five of that had already past. I had five extra minutes to hide or five minutes to find my way out. That was, if Cail chose to wait the full ten, which I doubted.

I
closed the door to the closet behind me as softly as I could. I would know in a few minutes if Cail would come right here in his attempt to track me down or if he would begin his search elsewhere. It all came down to how well he knew me.

I needed to be smart about how I handled this, the faster I got out of here the better
. But without being able to use magic to defend myself, I was limited as to what I could do and how fast I could leave. If it was an option, I would blast right through the man blocking my exit, but Ilyan was lying right next to me. The risk of killing him was too great.

M
y eyes trained on the dim light that was filtering in through the crease in the door. I tried to keep my mind off of the scurrying feet and other noises that were filling the small room.

I had only waited a minute before heavy footfalls filled the
air, the impact of them rattling bins and boxes of who knows what in my hiding space. The sound grew louder as Cail ran down the hall, tracing my exact steps. I slunk away from the door, holding my breath in terror that he would find me. My back hit against a shelf, causing moldy towels and mouse feces to fall over my head. My mouth opened in expectation of a scream, but I shoved my fist heavily into my mouth, desperate to keep myself quiet.

If I was going to fight, I needed surprise on my side.

I heard his footsteps stop, and I knew I had made too much noise. As quietly as I could, I shoved myself into a corner, placing my body as much behind one of the large shelving units as possible. I cringed as my foot stepped on something soft, closing my eyes as I shut my mind off, not wanting to think about what it could be.

As soon as I had moved myself into the corner the door flew open, my body flattening even further against the soft, damp wall. I hoped that I was back enough that he wouldn’t see me.
The light from the open door caught the eyes of more than a dozen large rats, each lifting their head toward the light in expectation.

The
light illuminated the stacks of molding towels, mildewed sheets were dotted with feces, and cleaning supplies rusted through their containers leaving glistening patches of dried chemicals underneath them. Everything lit up dimly as Cail stood with the door open, his breath flowing through the room in silent puffs.

I kept
my breath trapped inside me, focusing on the random objects around me so as not to think about the pain that was beginning to seep through my chest. My eyes widened when I saw the long, rusty length of pipe hidden in the piles of rot.

I
kept my eyes on the pipe as I listened to Cail’s breathing, trying to ignore the earsplitting pressure from my lungs. My mind screamed at me for air, and I screamed back that he would kill me.

T
he door slowly closed, the sound of the hinge grinding through my brain and making the movement feel even slower. I waited to breathe, but his footsteps did not retreat. He was standing right on the other side of the door waiting for me. He knew I was in here.

Cail was playing his game.

Everything inside of me was begging for air. I took a step forward, my feet soft against the floor. I reached out and wrapped my hands around the pipe, the metal cold and slimy underneath my fingers. I gripped it firmly, moving it up like a bat as I surged my magic through it. If I couldn’t use my ability as a weapon against him, then I would use it to increase the power of a weapon.

I closed my eyes
. Please don’t let Ilyan still be next to me. Please don’t let this actually move through into the real world.

My breath released as I swung t
he pipe forward, aiming it where Cail would be standing on the other side of the door. My magic filled the metal, making it grow red as it prepared to explode through the door and hopefully Cail.

I saw the shadow of Cail’s feet shift as the pipe made contact with the door, the rotted wood falling away from the impact. I had expected to hit Cail
, but instead the pipe sliced through empty air, my eyes wide in confusion before a long fingered hand wrapped around the pipe. With one pull, the hand yanked the pipe through the door, my body following as I futilely held on.

I stumbled through the shards of wood, my feet barely keeping me upright before the hand moved from the pipe to my arm, the grip digging into my skin as
Cail pulled me against him.

“Joclyn, Joclyn, Joclyn. You are going to make this far too fun, aren’t you?” I cringed away from Cail’s brittle breath in my nostrils.

“I wouldn’t call this fun, but if that’s the word you choose...” I gritted my teeth and moved closer to him, hoping to catch him off guard.

Cail’s eyes widened
in excitement before I slammed my knee in between his legs, his body toppling over me before I grabbed the pipe and hit the metal against his back with as much force as I could muster.

I didn’t wait to see if I had done
any damage. I turned and ran away from him, the pipe in front of me like a sword. I was turning a corner when I felt Cail’s magic wrap around me, his power dragging me back and slamming me against a wall.

I cringed as Cail
limped up to me, a string of profanity flowing from him as he rubbed his neck. His magic held me tight against the wall, rendering my pipe useless. I racked my brain as he moved toward me. I had already been trapped inside of the Tȍuha for the last twenty minutes by my best guess, meaning it had only been a few minutes in the real world if my math was right. Ilyan would still be sleeping right up against me. I couldn’t risk using any magic yet.

Cail came up beside me
, his one hand resting against the wall by my head while the other massaged his neck where the pipe had made contact.

“You naughty little girl,” he
said, his lip turned up a wicked grin. “Now I see what Ryland was talking about.”

“What? That I am strong enough to defeat you?” I raised my eyebrow hoping to sound confident
but knowing that the shake of fear in my voice gave me away.

What little
bravado I had used for my façade faded away as Cail began to laugh, his loud voice ricocheting around the hallway.

“No,” he taunted, my muscles tensing
, “that you need to be trained.”

I
didn’t have time to think about what was going to happen before the pipe collided with my stomach. The impact raced through my body, vibrating up my spine and ricocheting through my skull. I screamed out at the impact as Cail’s binds left me, my body collapsing to the ground.

I didn’t have time to run or even move before the pipe impacted my spine
. Once. Twice. It sent me sprawling to the ground. I screamed out and little flecks of blood flew from my mouth, splattering the ground with glistening red droplets.

“Will you look at that
?” Cail mused as he kneeled beside me. “Blood. I bet Ilyan is having a conniption. I can almost hear him, ‘Oh, my love! Why are you bleeding!’” Cail’s voice went high as he mocked Ilyan, but I barely heard him. If I was bleeding in real life, Ilyan wouldn’t be by me. Ilyan would be running for Dramin.

At least
, I hoped he would.

I didn’t wait to think. I focused my magic on the floor right below Cail, sending a pulse directly at
it. The floor exploded at the impact, sending him hurtling through the floor.

I watched the hole in the floor for a moment
before crawling away, my body slow and sluggish as it healed itself. I moved as quickly as I could toward Ryland’s room, terrified that Cail would return before I could get behind the door, terrified that I had injured Ilyan in some way.

I pulled my way through the door to hide in the shattered remains of Ryland’s kitchenette. I felt my organs knit
themselves back together as I sat hiding behind a displaced cabinet.

So, fighting him may not have been such a good idea. Wh
ile I was more than powerful enough to do away with Cail, I could not guarantee I wouldn’t hurt someone in the cave or collapse the cave itself. While part of me hoped Ilyan would place me somewhere logical, chances were higher that he would be so worried he wouldn’t leave my side. His instincts as my Protector wouldn’t let him. So if I couldn’t fight, then I had only one option, hide and find a way out...

“What are you doing here?” My head snapped up at the voice, relaxing
to see Ryland’s frame towering over me.

“Ryland?” Everything in me relaxed until I registered the panic on his face
and the anger lines on his forehead.

“You’ve got to get out of here.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me up, not saying anything before
dragging me behind him and out the door.

We moved
back toward the main kitchen, our feet slipping and catching on debris. Before we had gotten too close to the kitchen, Ryland deviated, pulling us out of the servants’ quarters and into the main living space.

Large rumbling bangs sounded through the house as we moved
. It reminded me of the battle, when we fled this place leaving Ryland behind. I had just caught sight of the main ballroom before Ryland dragged me into a large office, shutting the door behind us.

The door had barely clicked shut before he turned back to me, the anger on his face now mixed with fear.

“What are you doing here? I told you to break the bond.” Ryland’s hand shook as he moved hair away from my face, his eyes staying on mine for a moment before darting around the room. The movement of his eyes and the shake of his hand put me one edge, his paranoia contagious.

“What do you mean?”
I asked. Where was our happy reunion?

“I
told you not to come back.” His hands dug into me, his grip pushing me against the wall.

“I know
, I needed to see you…” I reached up to touch his face, my hand stopping half way at the look in his eyes.