Island Shifters: Book 03 - An Oath of the Children (19 page)

Come!

The dog was not a wild beast, but
it
would at least provide a distraction while she fought off the Ellvinian.

Come!

The hound bayed loudly
outside of the window. It was coming closer.

Oren
charged after her and jumped
over
the sofa. She
ducked just out of his reach and
ran for the door.

Come!

Her fingers closed on the handle and she managed to open it a few inches
before
Oren tackled her to the ground.
She landed hard on the floor
with a grunt, and the tall Elf fell
on top of her and pinned her arms over her head.

“Please, don’t!
Get off me!”

The Elf ignored her pleas and leaned
his face down
close to hers
as if to kiss her. She
slammed her forehead into his face.

He screamed out in pain and released her arms, but still sat straddling her body
with
a contemptuous glare as she clawed at him with both hands.
“I just might have to use Ascendency on you after all, wildcat.”

A vicious growl sounded in
the
hallway.

Kill!

Outside the door, the hound’s
feet scrabbled for purchase
on the marble
floor
as
it
rushed to do her bidding.
Oren flinched in fright as the animal slammed through the partially open door and lunged
for
him.
The Elf
twisted off her
and cried out
as the
dog
tore a chunk of flesh from his arm.

Digging her heels into the floor,
Izzy
crawled
away as fast as she could.

Kill!

The animal tore into Oren with renewed frenzy
at her command
and blood splattered the floor as the dog carried out
a
relentless assault.

Izzy got to her feet and
ran once again for the door, but skidded to a
stop when
she saw that another
dark Elf stood blocking her way.

“What is this?”
the
Ellvinian
demanded.

Izzy recognized him as
the
Ship
Captain,
Chandal.

“Help me,
please,” she begged.

Oren groaned
and writhed on the ground
from the hound’s vicious
bites.

Chandal pulled out a small crossbow and aimed it at the dog.

“No!” Izzy screamed, but it was too late.

He let loose the bolt and it slammed into the
hound, sending it
into a violent roll.
The dog came to rest against the legs of the sofa, where it lay
still.

Chandal looked at her
as though seeing her for the first time. “A white Elf? Why have I not seen you yet?”
He reached out to touch her hair and sniffed the air. “And, a magic user. How delightful.”

“Help
me,” Izzy pleaded once again. She pointed toward the Elf on the ground. “He
was trying to
hurt me.”

Chandal smiled. “Do not worry, little one. I will not let him harm you.
What is your name?”

Izzy breathed a sigh of relief.
“Izabel
Falewir.”

“What a beautiful name
for a beautiful child. Mine is Chandal and I will
keep you safe.” Chandal walked over to the prone
Oren
and kicked him. “Get out! You are reassigned back to the ships at once and you will not set foot on Massa again.”

Oren held his
bleeding
arm
and
lumbered
to his feet.

“Get out!” Chandal
yelled.

Leaving a trail of blood on the floor, Oren sprinted
through the door.

“My apologies,
Izabel,” Chandal said and moved back to her side. He
gently
lifted her chin. “You will come with me now.
You
do
wish to go with me,
Izabel, don’t you?”

She smiled at the soothing inflection of his voice.
“Yes.”

He
ran his hand slowly down her hair.
“Do you
like this, Izabel?”

“Yes,” she murmured.

“Izabel,
from this point on,
whenever you think to use your magic, you will become violently ill. Do you understand?
You must not use your magic.”

“I understand.”

“Aye, that is
a
good girl,
because you are
now
mine, Izabel Falewir. All mine.”

* * * * *

Kenley pulled her knees up close to her chest and let her head fall back against the wall of her prison. Loose clumps of dirt fell in her hair, but she ignored it as she struggled to stay awake.
Struggled to think of a way to get her and Baya out of this earthen snare the Draca Cats set for them.

She knew it must be nearing dawn when the black of her world began to turn gray. Exhausted and dispirited, her eyes grew heavy
and closed.

Kenley twirled in front of the mirror, holding her white gown up at the sides as she admired her reflection.

She could hardly believe that it was finally happening. Today was the day she married the man she had loved all her life.
By now, he would be
standing at the altar of the church waiting for her in his red and black uniform, his unruly curls pressed into place.

The door opened and she knew it would be her mother.

Mother, how do I look? she asked breathlessly and turned to face the door.
The
smile melted from her face at the sight of her mother dressed in all
black
with
a lace veil covering her face.
What an odd choice for a wedding.

Kenley! Why do you have that dress on! Take if off right now!

Kenley blinked in confusion. But, it is my wedding day.

Even through the veil, Kenley could see the pain in her mother’s face.
No, Kenley, it is not your wedding day. Your grief is playing tricks on your mind.

She
rushed to her mother’s side. It is my wedding day, mother!

No, Kenley.

Where is Kirby? He will straighten this out.

Her mother
crumpled
a white cloth in her hands and looked down.
Kirby is dead.

What?

You are too late, daughter.
Kirby is dead
and today is his funeral.

The horror of her mother’s words
jarred
her
awake,
and she sat up with a
strangled
cry.
When she opened her eyes, a
grateful
breath escaped her lips at recognizing she was still trapped in her hole in
the ground in
Haventhal.
If she was here, it
meant Kirby was still alive.

What is it?
Baya asked.

Nothing,
she
replied
and leaned her head back against the wall.
Just a dream.

Afraid to close her eyes again, she glanced up at the grate
that had kept her up all night.
At first, she could not understand why she could not blow it open with air. She had enough power to be able to drive that grate sky high with her airshifting.

After many hours of thought, she
realized
that her prison must be an abandoned entrance to Aquataine. It seemed that once the watershifters closed this portal, they magically sealed the grate from below, but had not bothered with the outside. Innate spiritshifters, the Draca Cats seemed to have no problem nudging it
open
from up top, but she did not have that same ability from below.

Once she gave up
on
the grate
as a possible means of escape, she worked with Baya throughout the night attempting to carve out a tunnel in the wall. But,
without a support system for the excavated channel, the dirt just continued to fall back in on the hole
impeding
any chance of success.
She wanted to scream in frustration. The only other time she had ever felt this helpless was when she was kidnapped by Avalon Ravener as a young child. She
quickly
shook her head to rid her
mind
of that event in her life. She did not like to think about it. Ever.

Instead, she turned her thoughts to the
Draca Cats and
wondered
what they
could be doing
at this moment.
She knew that they would not harm her family, but what about the people of Iserlohn? How would the cats react to resistance from
her people? Nazar killed
members of
his own
pride
to start this revolution, so it was unlikely he would spare human life if they stood in his way.

She
also
wondered how
her brothers
would
react to a possible threat by the Dracas.
Had they gone as she asked with Kirby to Northfort to greet the Ellvinians? Were they now back home in Bardot? Her parents left her in charge of their well-being and all she had managed to do was get herself in trouble. Her only
source
of comfort was the fact that at least Kirby was with the children, and in her mind, there could be no one more reliable than her austere Saber.

Thoughts of Kirby brought stinging tears to her eyes.
It was just a dream, she reminded herself.

Do not cry, Princess.

She hastily wiped the back of her hand across her face.
I’m not.

You are. Are you hurt?

No. Apart from the fact that I am hungry, cold and imprisoned while a pride of angry Draca Cats swarm toward Iserlohn, I am perfectly fine.

Yes, that is a problem. I promise you, Princess, Nazar will be very sorry when I next lay eyes on him.

How is Nazar able to do this to me with the oath?
she asked Baya.

To be precise, he has not harmed you in any way.

He hasn’t? I’m starving,
I’m
freezing
and very, very angry. I
would
call that harmed.

In terms of the oath, I would probably call them inconveniences.

Kenley stood and began pacing the small space.
There has to be a way out, Baya!

If there is, I cannot see it.

That was exactly the same conclusion she had come to over the past twenty-four hours. If they were to ever get out of here, help would have to come from outside
.

She snorted.

An outside that knew
absolutely
nothing about her predicament.

C
HAPTER
14

B
LOOD
S
UPPLY

“Wake up.”

The voice was soft, but
Kellan came awake with a
startled jolt.
Kane was standing over his bed, still in the same clothes he wore before leaving them last night.
Jala was standing next to him.

“What is it?” he asked, sitting up.

“Izzy’s missing.”

Kellan swung his
long
legs to the floor and pulled his
trousers
on. “What do you mean Izzy is missing?”