50. Chapter 50

Chapter 50

T ears fall, and my blurry vision clears. Color returns to my knuckles as I release the restaurant's sink basin. With trembling fingers, I pull the neckline of my blouse over, revealing a fresh scar right above my heart. I run my finger along it. It's not heartburn; I'm still healing. I ball my trembling hands into fists and steady my breathing. My eyes flick to the window, and I wonder if I can escape.

A sharp knock at the door makes me flinch. Too late for the window.

I glance at the scar again, my necklace dangling just over it, and a glimmer of hope sparks. Luc doesn't know that I know.

Another knock.

"I'm coming," I call as cheerfully as I can. I'm trapped. I need help and there is one person I know will come for me. Eoin always comes for me. Why did I let him leave? Why didn't I fight harder?

I take three long breaths, holding the necklace between my fingers.

I snap the bar.

I return to the table, sit across from Luc, and scan the restaurant. It's now completely empty, with not a soul in sight save Luc and Sven. I was so focused on walking naturally and not looking suspicious that I didn't notice.

"Feeling better?" Luc asks, lower eyelids raising slightly.

"I am. I shouldn't have picked the spicy omelet."

He chuckles and continues to cut the meat on his plate. "You know, I can't say I'm surprised it didn't agree with you, but if you're feeling better, I have several plans I'd like to review with you. Plans for the future. I get the feeling you may be feeling inspired and want to help more with my endeavors."

"Of course." My hand trembles slightly as I reach for my water, and Sven shifts toward me.

"The first thing I'd like to go over is your ties to Selene and Razenna. Do you have any outstanding debts with them that need to be dealt with?" Razenna. Something thick clogs my throat.

"You killed her," I whisper the words through clenched teeth, rage burning in my veins. "You strapped her to that chair, and you killed her!"

Luc and Sven stand abruptly, knocking their chairs back behind them. Sven points his finger at me menacingly. "You remember!"

Terror rips through me, and my heart pounds frantically. It aches in my chest, and I fear it may not be strong enough yet to handle this. He sidesteps the table, still pointing at me.

"Get Lydia," Luc shouts to Sven.

"You had to go and open your mouth." Luc approaches me with a wildness in his eyes. The front door of the restaurant snaps shut as Sven leaves.

"You could have carried on peacefully. I was ready to send you back to Ravton!" Luc steps forward, and I step back, stumbling over the leg of my toppled chair. My heart thunders, and I clutch at my chest. "It's too late now. She's on her way, and she will know that you know." He twitches, and his eyes darken. "She always knows. I tried to keep you out of this as much as I could. I gave you a way out."

"I laid everything out for you. It was so easy." Tears line the edges of his eyes. "I all but drew you a map. How easy do you think that was for me to do while under her influence and control? I'm unable to say certain words or phrases. She forbade me from touching fallonite, so it was worthless to me at this point. I did everything I could to get it into you and August's hands to protect you from her so you could stop her. But you didn't. How blind are you? She's working with. . ." He squeezes his eyes shut and grips his head in his palms.

He glances around the room, looking for something or someone. "If only August would have reasoned with me, opened the border. I did have a backup plan, though. One she can't stop. He's too powerful for her." His face turns wicked, and with my fear, I feel a bit of sadness for him. This isn't the Luc I met in the gardens. She's played with his mind so long he must be insane.

The hairpin. He can't touch it, but maybe I can. I slip my hand into my pocket, grab the pin, and press the stones against Luc's temple.

His eyes clear, and the madness on his face softens. He lets out a strangled sob as his eyes dart between my own. "Thank you," he whispers with a trembling lip.

"We need to leave now. Before she gets back."

"It's too late for me." His eyes sharpen. "She'll be here any moment. You need to listen. She couldn't get August's crown, so she came after mine. She's going to take it, but that's not what she's after. She'll marry me then. . . It doesn't matter. Even if I'm alive at that point, I'll be of no use. You need to get August to open the border and work with the humans. Make more mages."

"I don't understand."

"She's unsatisfied with my crown and wants more power. She's working with Anwir and he will have her by his side as they wake the gods. Do you know who is capable of dealing with them? The fae can't do it alone. We need more mages. Why do you think I've been trying to open the borders all these years? I took a meeting with August at the literal doorstep to my secret lair, and he watched me retreat into the hatch. I hid the relics there so you could easily steal them. I gave you the fallonite. I gave you books. What more could I have done?"

"That's why The Prophet, I mean Anwir, has changed history, making humans afraid of the fae realm, isn't it?" I ask. "He wanted us to stay separate so we couldn't deal with them when they returned."

"And it may be too late. Don't let her catch you with that," he whispers the words with madness as he takes a step away from me. I tuck the hairpin into my hair, covering it. They must be close.

"What about your backup plan?" I whisper, hoping to get more out of him before the madness takes him again. Before Lydia and Sven return.

"I'm sorry," he says as the dark circles return below his eyes. "I had someone else picked for that chair, but after our time in the cemetery, I knew it had to be you. I smelled him all over you. I see the way you two look at each other. And how fortunate for my emissary to fall for my enemy." He enunciates the last word and jabs at my chest with his finger. The jab sends a sharp jolt of pain through my chest cavity, and I wince.

He stalks towards me, and I back away until my back presses into the bar. "August thinks I wasn't watching you during that card game, and he was right." He whispers with rage in his eyes.

"I was watching him , watching how he reacted to you. I knew you were the one he hired to stop my wedding, and I was curious if you could be an asset to my plan." He chuckles. "And boy, did you turn out to be quite the asset once I found out what you are. Nothing is as tantalizing as a siren's kiss."

"You said the curse was propaganda." I try to sound strong, but my wavering voice betrays me. I know he's trying, but he's lost all sanity now. If Lydia wants him to hurt me, he will.

"I lied!" he shouts. "If August won't open the borders so I can make more mages, I will. I need to take the lead chair in the counsel of courts."

"I knew when we went to Yule, August would be staying there, and I knew you would fuck him." Spit flies from his mouth as he yells in my face. "And I was right. I smelled it all over you when you returned to the table. You played right into my hand, and yet it still infuriated me. Why couldn't you figure it out? Why didn't you follow my breadcrumbs?" He breathes heavily in my face with wild, bloodshot eyes.

"Lydia's already tipped off the Prophet to investigate your disappearance at Yule, just in case her mind control didn't hold. Imagine how bad this is going to look for poor August when we claim he's taken you; perhaps he even killed you. What will they find in that bed of his, perhaps. . .blood?"

There will be blood, at least a few drops. I found some while cleaning myself up in the washroom.

"I don't think the other courts will take too kindly to a High Lord raping and murdering a foreign emissary."

My heart plummets. "He didn't." I choke on the words.

"Whose to say he didn't? Who will believe him? They will eventually go to war for this. I may die, but he was my best option to destroy Lydia and Anwir. Maybe he can do it in time to protect my people."

Oh gods, he's going to kill me for this. My mind races. I know from my books there is a refractory period between deaths. Is this too soon? Will I be able to come back this time? He's not even going to have to do much. I feel like I'm about to have a heart attack.

"But don't worry, I still have plans for you. You just won't be seeing the light of day for a while." His face remains impassive as Sven and Lydia rush into the restaurant. "Get her to the dungeon."

I grab the pitcher to my right and slam it against the side of his head. He stumbles back and shouts something at Sven, who runs after me. I run around a table and throw a chair at Sven. He dodges it. He's going to catch me, and no one will know what happened to Razenna.

I duck under the next long table and scurry underneath it, but Sven catches my ankle and yanks me back out.

I kick as he slides me across the floor and out into the open. I remember Eoin's training and break his grip. I kick up and strike him right in the balls before swinging my leg around, knocking him to his back. He lands with a hard thud, and a long, wheezy breath leaves his lungs. I know that sound. It's going to take him a moment to find his breath again.

I jump up as Luc runs towards me, knife in hand.

"She knows too much," Lydia calls as she strays languidly into the chaos. "She can't leave."

Her words spark something within me, and I charge Luc. I'm not going down without a fight. I grab another chair on my way and use it to block his knife attack. I push him back and then swing with all my might. The chair breaks over his shoulder, and he falters.

I strike him in the kidney, and he yelps, twisting away from me. I turn to run when a glowing ball of light surrounds me.

I freeze.

It looks just like the light sphere that surrounded the giant frygt moments before it exploded. Cold, indescribable rage twists Luc's face as he raises both hands at me.

"Don't make me do it, Legs." He steps around me slowly and retrieves his knife. Behind me, Sven coughs and breathes in ragged gulps of air. He walks towards me, each step crunching on glass and various debris scattered across the wood floor.

"Sedate her. I can't seem to access her powers anymore, but she has at least three. That's a strong bloodline that we may be able to use for research."

"That's interesting, considering she's half-human." Sven pulls a blowgun from his jacket.

"I know; makes me wonder who her mother really was."