Chapter 33

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Ellery

Tension radiated from him, and he couldn't hide his astonishment as his gaze ran over me. When his eyes settled on mine again, he stared before speaking again.

" How is that possible?"

"I don't know. I've never known, and my parents never had any idea either; maybe you could ask Tucker?—"

" No one else is to know about this," he interrupted. "For now, at least, this stays between us."

The sharp tone of his voice caused me to gulp. "I'm not a threat."

"But you are … to them. As a female lightning bearer, they'd crave your power and genetics, but this… this…"—his eyes ran over me again—" this is something entirely different. There's no way to know how Ivan, my father, and the original nobles would react to you. No one is to know about this, Ellery."

His words irritated me. "I've been keeping this secret most of my life. I think I can keep it hidden for a while longer. And I wasn't suggesting you tell Tucker; I was saying maybe you could ask him. He might have seen something in the temple that could help me understand why I can control all five of them."

"No, not after I told him about your lightning-bearer ability. Tucker is far from stupid; he'd piece two and two together real fast. I trust him with my life, but no one else is to know about this."

He ran a hand through his hair and pulled at the ends until it stood out around his head. I felt raw and exposed, but he was more disturbed by my revelation than I was.

" Fuck , Ellery, why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

"What difference would it have made?"

"I would have gotten you out of Tempest before the curse happened."

"They unleashed the curse before we had any real kind of relationship. We'd only kissed by then and barely. How was I supposed to trust you with this when I've never even told Scarlet?"

"You still should have told me."

Ryker rose and, with choppy movements, paced to the doorway and back to the chair. I'd never seen him so ungraceful; normally, his body flowed like the smooth elegance of the mercury his eyes resembled. Now, he looked like a puppet with a three-year-old jerking on its strings.

I didn't know why he was so upset, considering that yesterday he'd told me to fuck off, but my revelation had completely rattled him.

"How is this possible?" he muttered.

I didn't answer, mainly because there wasn't one, and I didn't think he expected me to. So, I sat and watched while he paced back and forth for a few more minutes as he muttered to himself.

At first, his uncharacteristic antics amused me, but I was growing bored when he finally stopped and turned to face me. He opened his mouth to say something before closing it to stare at me again.

If I hadn't seen how much he loathed me in his eyes yesterday, I might think his reaction was because he still cared about me a little. While I wanted to believe that, I'd destroyed whatever feelings he had for me when I lied to him.

I'd hurt him, and while I was sure he could understand why I'd kept some things from him, understanding wasn't enough to save us. We would work together to do what we could to save the realm, if he could get over his shock at my final revelation sometime soon.

"You'll go to the palace and tell Ivan he can have half of your crops this year. If it's not enough, give him all of them, but do what you must to free your mother and get out of there.

"You cannot offer yourself to them. You cannot reveal to them that you are a lightning bearer. I don't care if he says it's not enough and you have to leave her there; I'll find another way to get her out if that happens, but no matter what, you are to leave there. Do you understand?"

"I can't leave her?—"

"You can, and it's what she'd want you to do. You know that's true. Do. Not. Sacrifice yourself for her, Ellery."

It was true, but I wouldn't leave her behind.