Chapter 28

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Ryker

I hadn't considered it possible, but Ellery looked worse today than yesterday. Dark circles surrounded her puffy, bloodshot eyes; she'd obviously cried at some point, but I saw no tears now.

She sat with her back straight and her hands in her lap while staring at me. She looked demure, but I knew Ellery was anything but docile.

She was wild, fearless, and deceptive when it came to so many things, but now she looked defeated. I'd never considered it possible to see her like this, and I hated that it bothered me so much.

My gaze went to the small piece of luggage sitting by the door. "Why are you going to the palace?" When I shifted my attention back to her, my eyes narrowed. "And do us both a favor and don't lie."

"I'm going to hand myself over to the king. I'll tell him what I can do and hope he releases my mother in exchange for my ability."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Do you really think he won't, or are you just trying to make this more difficult?"

I almost smiled; she looked beaten and exhausted, but her temper and defiance remained. "You know what he'll do to you, or let the aristocrats do, if you reveal you're a lightning bearer."

"Yes."

"Do you really?"

"I'm not an idiot, Ryker!" she snapped. "I know this is the end of my freedom. I know what they'll do to me."

"And you're still going to hand yourself over to him?"

"Better him than your father."

"He might give you to my father."

She winced, but her lips remained compressed into a thin line as she stared at me.

"Why not give him the manor?" I asked.

"I already told you why. I won't let my mother and Scarlet's family lose everything because of my poor choices. By turning myself over, they can still have homes and an income."

"Only while Ivan allows them to."

Her nostrils flared as her hands clenched until her knuckles turned white. "What else am I supposed to do, Ryker? Hand over the manor and take away the only home most of them have known? Go live in the woods? Kill the king or try for one of the aristocrats? I wouldn't get more than one or two before being brought down.

"They'd lock me away or destroy me if I succeeded and if I failed to kill someone. If I try to destroy him, the nobles will burn this place to the ground and hunt everyone I love. They may hate Ivan as much as me, but they'd still come after me with everything they have."

She'd become a huge threat to them if she tried going after the king or one of them. "They would."

"Plus, I'm not a killer."

Not yet, but if she handed herself over to them, by the time they finished with her, Ellery would gladly unleash hell on her captors.

"I'm not like you. I have no power and wealth in this realm and no other options," she continued. "My life will never be the same after this; I understand that. They're going to breed me or maybe marry me off to someone. I don't know how your world works."

"They're not going to marry you off."

"They won't?"

"Immortals only marry for love."

"I don't think the king or any of those aristocrats are capable of love, including the married ones."

Very true. "They won't keep you around once they have what they want from you."

"Children."

"Or only one child, like my father sought from my mother."

"What's your point, Ryker?"

"I'm just pointing out that you don't have a good plan."

"I don't have any other options! I don't have five thousand carisle and can't give up the manor. Besides, no matter what happens, your father will keep coming after me."

"Yes, he will."

Her eyes flicked away from me when I confirmed this, and her shoulders slumped a little before they went back again. "Eventually, all I'll have is myself to give them. I might as well stop this now by turning myself over to them. They won't turn me away."

"No, they won't."

Ellery shifted her attention to the wall across from her. After a minute, her beautiful eyes met mine again.

"Why are you here?"

That was a loaded question, and I wasn't entirely sure about the answer. I had a tentative plan to attempt fixing everything wrong in Tempest, and that plan originally included help from the Hooded Robber.

I'd never planned to involve Ellery, but times had changed. I'd promised Leo I would protect Tempest, and there was a time when I'd vowed to keep Ellery safe. In return, she'd doubted me and spent our entire relationship lying to me, but I could still use her to help save Tempest.

I ignored the twinge in my conscience that I felt about using her for anything, but at least she would know what she was getting into. I wouldn't keep anything from her.

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a purse full of carisle. It clinked when I placed it on the table between us.