Pieces of Jade (Pirates of Orea) (42 page)

With hate in his eyes Clay answered. “To rescue a prisoner.”

“Which one?”

Another agonizing wave shocked me. I shook my head at Clay, begging him not to answer, but he lowered his head. “Pearl, the Emmía’s sister.”

“And why do this for the Emmía?”

When he didn’t answer right away, she jolted me again.

“Because I love her,” he said through clenched teeth. “Sheridan told me they had Jade’s sister and I came to rescue her.”

Larissa glanced at her purple nails and her eyes narrowed malevolently. She spun on me, her eyes regarding me with a sudden suspicion.

“I knew your name sounded familiar,” she said after a long pause. She gave Clay her attention once more. “This woman is a burden to you. No doubt she used her magic to seduce and control your brother, and convinced you to break into the kingdom. You will not be held fully accountable for your part in the crimes committed since you acted under her enchantment.” She came to stand in front of Clay again and leaned in to purr into his ear. “I could rid you of her, for you and your brother.”

Clay leaned away, appearing repulsed. “No.”

Larissa's sultry smile melted into a grimace of loathing, twisting her beautiful face into something barely human. She glided toward me with lethal agility and grabbed a dagger from Robert's sheath, placing the blade sharply against my throat. “If she knows nothing, maybe I’ll just kill her now.”

I shook my head at Clay again, and winced as the sharp blade sliced at my neck, drawing blood. The pulsing thrums returned to my ears, my senses.

“Stop it! Don’t hurt her!” Clay struggled wildly against his restraints, perspiration soaking thorough his shirt, blood trickling from his wrists.

The pressure from the knife held firm as Larissa's face became incredulous. “You care about her.” It was a statement, not a question, and her voice held nothing but amazement.

A sickening thought trickled through my mind. To save me, Clay would tell her everything he knew, but my whole story was a lie and she would kill him for it.

“Tell me,” Larissa asked, her voice full of interest now, “does her ‘husband’ care about her, love her, old as she is?”

Clay started to shake his head, but stopped when he saw her nails darken. He squeezed his eyes shut as if in pain and then admitted, “Yes! He loves her!”

“And what about you? Do you care about her?”

“Yes.”

“I must admit, I’ve never been so astonished!” She laughed. “It’s good you care for her, since you claim to love her enough to risk your life.”

Clay looked as if he’d been slapped and I winced at her brutal announcement.

“Are you in love with your brother’s wife? Do you lust after her?”

Clay shook his head, not bothering to answer.

“Answer me!” She cast a spell and my skin stung like a swarm of angry yellow jackets was assaulting me. Larissa unwound the spell that bound my mouth so Clay could hear my screams of pain. I bit my tongue, trying to bear it without a sound, but a whimper still escaped.

Clay twisted in his chains. “No, I don’t lust after her. I’m not in love with her.”

Larissa eyed me carefully. “Interesting. He thinks he’s telling the truth.”

Clay snorted. “I’m not lying.”

Clay's reaction only fueled Larissa's enjoyment, and she let out a high-pitched giggle. “He doesn’t believe me.” She pressed the blade firmer against my throat. “Tell me, does he fancy himself in love with you?”

I pinched my lips together in silent refusal, but the knife dug deeper into my skin, drawing blood, which pooled at the base of my throat. One branch of the pulsing energy, nearer than the others, surged toward me, its tendrils clawing almost jealously at me, asking me to direct them.

“If you don’t answer, I will slit his throat and you can watch him die.” She tilted her head to the side. “You know, I remember your husband. I had fun with him in this room. I remember the way his screams echoed. It was beautiful.”

I swung my head to stare at Larissa, barely noticing the blade pushing further into my skin. She’d been the one to apply the flames that burned his flesh—the one who’d put that look of despair into his beautiful eyes?

I wanted . . . needed to hurt her, to make her pay.

The chair creaked as I rocked back and forth, the rope chafing into my skin.

She giggled. “I asked you a question. Does he fancy himself in love with you? If you don’t want to answer, I could try the Guardian Flames on Clayton.”

“Yes!” I shouted. “He thinks he’s in love with me.”

“What?” Clay asked. I couldn’t meet his eyes, so I stared at Larissa.

“What is your name?” she asked me sweetly.

“Sheridan,” I answered promptly.

She didn’t even glance at her nails. “No, your full name?”

“Jade Sheridan Crawford,” I said, knowing I could no longer lie.

A smiling Larissa blew some powder in my face. I blinked as it settled along my lashes, tickling my nose and coating my tongue. My skin rippled and tightened. The age spots vanished, my fingers smoothed, their nails softening. My gray hair thickened, coloring back to blonde. In the space of a few heartbeats, I was young again, no longer in disguise.

Clay gasped, shaking his head. “No.” His blue eyes widened; his eyebrows rose. I met his gaze for a second before glaring at a cackling Larissa.

She dropped the knife and walked toward Clay, then patted him on the cheek. “You’re the man who started all this trouble.” She kept her eyes on him, but her words were directed at me. “It makes perfect sense that you ran back to him. But he didn’t want you, so you took his brother instead?
Stupid, spoiled little girl. First you abandoned your people. Then you bring these pirates to steal from us? Did your time in the Wastelands somehow turn you into a savage?”

“I came to rescue my sister.”

“Too bad you failed. She’s under lock and key in the tower.”

“Is she?”

She moved to me, crouching low so we were eye to eye. “The king has issued you a pardon. All is forgiven. You can return home.” Her smile twisted cruelly. “And James misses you.”

It was everything I’d once wanted, what the Jade who had fled the kingdom would have wept to hear, but not anymore. “I don’t require their forgiveness. And this is no longer my home.”

“Don’t believe these . . . savages.” She pointed toward Clay. “They will fill your mind with lies.”

“If
only
their words were lies.”

“You’ll never escape; you’re too weak. But if you cooperate, your family will be left alone. If not, they will be hunted down and killed like the savages they are. When we find them—and we will—I will personally torture everyone you love: Pearl, your parents, your newfound friend the pirate.” She spat the word out like a bitter taste. Her nostrils flared and the pulse at her neck raced. “They’ll feel my power; I promise!”

She hit me again and blood trailed from the corner of my lip. The energy I’d felt earlier surged again, its tendrils shooting directly from where Larissa stood, beating so strongly it overshadowed everything else. My ears heard its rhythmic beating and my eyes studied Larissa’s throat, her pulse keeping pace with the cadence in my core, perfectly in synch. Was I feeling the blood flowing through her veins? Blood magic had always been my strongest gift, unable to be bound. Could I control it? I concentrated on that point, felt at the tendrils, testing I tried to stop her pulse, to shut off the flow of her blood, but it was like holding back a river, bowling over my attempt.

She brought her hands together, not quite touching, and a small fire appeared between them. I knew that spell. Once formed, her Guardian Flames would burn her victim’s flesh slowly, searing through one layer at a time.

In my mind, I called to her blood again. I couldn’t stop it, but maybe I could divert it. Pushing gently, I directed it outward, away from her vitals. Her flames wavered, but her heart compensated, speeding up, and the flames between her hands grew. I pushed with all I had, sending blood to her fingers and toes, anywhere but her heart. Her expression faltered and she clutched at her chest, letting the flames evaporate, as her heart struggled to fight on without blood.

“What’s happening?” She asked, folding in half. “I can’t . . . I . . .”

She dropped in a heap. I felt toward a wide-eyed Robert, and found the threads that were his. I reached out to his blood, and soon he staggered as well, his fingers dropping his sword to claw at the skin over his heart. His fear-filled eyes turned to me before he fell to the floor, next to Larissa.

The only sound was Clay’s harsh breath. “Did you do that?”

“Yes,” I said in a quiet voice. My eyes not able to leave the two bodies sprawled on the floor.

“I suddenly feel it would be a good time to apologize for picking on you.”

His words startled a laugh out of me. It sounded wrong for something that happy to happen in this evil place.

“Are they alive?” Clay asked.

“Yes, barely.”

“Then we should get on with our escape.” He reached up and took hold of the chains above him. He tugged till his face turned red, the rattling of iron links bouncing off the walls. He let out his breath in a great huff. “Well, there was my great attempt. Can you do any better?”

I let my head fall back against the chair. Now what? My magic hummed beneath the surface, barely there, like a baby bird’s fragile wings. At best I could do a rudimentary novice spell. I almost laughed again. Before the pirate attack, this amount of magic would have thrilled me. Back then I spent hours concentrating on a candle trying to ignite a simple flame. Flame! I uttered the spell I’d practiced so many times before, concentrating on the length of rope between my bound wrists. The acrid smell of burning hemp filled my nostrils, and a rustling noise crackled behind me as the rope burned. I pulled it free and shook off the burning ends, then bent down to untie my ankles.

On unsteady feet, I stumbled to where Larissa lay. This woman had tortured my William, scarring him both inside and out. She didn’t deserve to live. I picked up the sword beside Robert’s body, raising it above my head, picturing it cutting to her blackened heart, ending her life.

“Stop!” Clay screamed, shaking his chains.

Still holding it aloft, our eyes clashed. “Why? She’s the one who hurt William! She laughed,” I sucked in a ragged breath. “She laughed about it.”

“Because she’s unconscious,” Clayton said firmly. “
And
unarmed.”

“And that was going to stop you from killing James?”

“No, but you’re better than I am, Jade. Better than this. “He rested his head against his arm. “It would taint your soul, maybe even your magic. Prove you’re not one them. Show mercy.”

My arms quivered, my shoulders burned, but I refused to lower the weapon. “They never showed any.”

“I know. But would William want you to do this?”

I didn’t want his words to matter, to change my mind, but they did. I threw the sword across the room with a guttural cry.

Chest heaving, I bent over and lifted the key ring from Robert's belt.

I limped to Clay’s side. He gave me hard look. “I know that wasn’t easy, but it was the right thing to do.

I sorted through the keys, trying to find the right one. “I know.”

Clay whistled. “That show of magic was downright impressive.”

His joke brought a reluctant smile to my face. “Aren’t you glad you didn’t throw me overboard?”

Clay didn’t laugh like I thought he would. Instead his gaze penetrated mine. “Very.”

I slotted the keys into the binder at his wrist—not missing the irony of the Manacle using manacles—and one by one, they clattered to the floor, ringing around us. He rubbed his hands as we moved to the door. Footsteps echoed down the hallway and we backed away, Clay grabbing a weapon from the wall, me raising my fingers.

The door burst open and a handful of people rushed in, their leader dressed in a long red cloak. We moved to attack, but the leader threw back her hood and revealed
Aleah. In the fine, regal robe, she looked more like Lady Meredith than ever.

She smirked at me. “We came to rescue you, but it looks like that won’t be necessary.”

“No,” Clay said, “but we could use some help to get outside.”

“I can do more than that.”
Aleah brought a finger to my forehead and a burst of energy flooded my veins. She stepped over to Clay and touched his brow as well. He instantly stood taller and his eyes brightened.

“That’s better.” She smiled. “Let’s go!”

Aleah led us out of the dungeon and we followed up a long flight of stairs. Our path was strewn with unconscious men. No injuries were visible, and I wondered what had happened to them. A soldier jumped in our path and grabbed Aleah, but as soon as he touched her, his eyes rolled back and he dropped to the floor.

Soon we arrived at a familiar room: Lady Meredith’s study. A sentry stood guard, blocking the door. “He’s one of ours,”
Aleah said as we approached.

I recognized the young sentry who stood aside and opened the door; it was Benjamin. He bowed with a strange flip of his wrist as we passed
. I was startled to realize I’d seen that gesture before.