Eyes of Ember (Imdalind Series #2)(11)

“Thank you,” I whispered. Slowly, his arms came around to encompass me.

“Of course, this means Ryland can track you easily now.” Ilyan had spoken offhand, but the few words were enough to shatter my celebration.

“What do you mean?” I untangled myself from Ilyan to stand in front of him.

“If your bond is strong enough to reseal your magic during a T?uha, then it is strong enough to track you over large distances. If he can do that, I do not know where, if any place, you would be safe. I can shield you as long we stay together and in one place, but for now, it limits you to the interior of this apartment.”

My jaw dropped, all my hopes of a celebration of good health dashed. Part of me wanted to yell at Ilyan for spoiling my joy, but he still had that devastated look on his face.

“So, are we trapped here?” I asked, finally able to process all that Ilyan was saying.

“Until I know how far he can track you. And until you are strong enough to fight him if he does.” I couldn’t help but notice that Ilyan’s jaw was a hard line. He didn’t seem to be celebrating my miraculous recovery at all. It worried me.

“Which will be how long?” I asked, my frustration rising.

“I do not know, Joclyn. Perhaps a year, maybe more.”





Four


I could hear the feet behind me; slow, steady, loud.

Edmund.

I turned a corner in the dilapidated house and squished myself against the burnt wainscoting, knowing full well it would not hide me, and perhaps only allow me to be caught faster.

I dreaded being caught; I dreaded the pain I would feel, the terror that would encompass me. But I also relished the pain. It was the only way I could be released from the nightmares that had haunted me every night for months.

They were always different, although the general theme of them stayed the same. Cail would chase me from the forest to the house where I would die at the hands of Edmund, Ryland, Timothy, or Cail.

I felt a heavy thud in my chest as the sound of the shoes grew louder, Edmund’s gait easily decipherable to me now.

Thump, whack, thump.

I pushed myself into the wall as he came around the corner, Cail following him like an injured dog.

I pushed my hands toward him, sending a stream of light, but the attack bounced off of him, causing him to smile more. I pressed myself against the wall, eyes wide as I sought escape, but knowing it was useless.

“Ah! There you are!” Edmund said joyfully like an old grandfather welcoming home a prodigal son, but it held no relief for me. My spine froze in terror and I hesitated a moment too long, allowing Cail to come up beside me and pin me to the wall.

I cringed away from the contact, away from what was coming, but it was no use. I could already hear the footsteps approaching.

A soft step on the left, a slight drag on the right. My mind must have been paying much more attention than I gave it credit for to have pulled this little detail of Ryland into my nightly terrors.

“We were worried you didn’t want to play,” Edmund continued lightly, as if I wasn’t being restrained. “We were worried we would have to chase you down all night.”

Edmund smiled and leaned toward me, I recoiled away from him automatically. With nowhere to go, I turned my head into the wall. A large lump blocking my throat at seeing Ryland slinking toward me, his eyes black, his beautiful face covered in a sheen of sweat.

“We didn’t want to chase you down, did we Cail?” I couldn’t pull my eyes away from Ryland as Edmund spoke. I stared at him as I tried to control the beating of my heart, the frantic mixture of panic and need making me dizzy.

“No, Master,” Cail’s voice was right in my ear, the putrid smell of his breath washing over me.

“Hold her,” Edmund instructed and Cail complied quickly.

I had yet to understand the relationship my subconscious had created between Edmund and Cail. Edmund used him as a puppet, and every time Cail would obey without question. Sometimes his face would be screwed up in maniacal joy at what he was asked to do, and other times I could have sworn he was disgusted by it. It was as if my mind didn’t know what to do with him.

I gasped at the pressure Cail put me under as I turned toward Edmund. Ryland now stood in between us, Edmund’s hand resting lightly on his son’s shoulder. It was the same image that had been burned into my head right before Ilyan flew me away from them.

Edmund smiled at the panic on my face, his joy at seeing my torture evident. I heard Cail laugh in my ear as he prepared for his part in some sort of performance.

“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Running away were we?” Ryland’s light voice was laced with a venom I had grown used to hearing in these dreams, whether I liked it or not. I began to fight against Cail’s restraint, my hands growing warm against him. It was no use, he ignored the attack and his hold only grew.

“What should I do with her, Father?”

Ryland’s eyes never left mine as he smiled, Edmund’s wicked grin joining his in perfect synchronization.

This was the only part of the dream I couldn’t bat away, the only part I couldn’t blame on my subconscious. I couldn’t ignore it because the pain was real. It never followed me as I woke, but I couldn’t shake all the pain that Ryland caused me. I couldn’t wipe it from my mind.

“Pull her through.”

It was a command I had never heard before and so I cried out in anticipation, not knowing what was to come. I felt Ryland’s hand make contact with my stomach for a moment before the pain hit and the contact changed to something deeper. My stomach burned as his hand began to move through me, pulling my insides apart. I screamed louder.