13. Mira

thirteen

Mira

After spending all morning bending and twisting a rusted metal spring from this so-called bed, I finally can pull it free. The satisfying chink pulls a relieved sigh as I wipe the sweat from my brow.

"Did you get it?" Callum asks from his cell.

"Got it! Now I just have to figure out what to do with it."

It's just a rusted metal coil, but surely it's better than nothing. I wonder if fae are susceptible to things like tetanus. I could scratch Tairyn up really good and hope he gets lockjaw seven to ten business days later.

"You'll find a way."

His words are so simple, but the earnest belief behind them sends my eyelashes batting at the rock wall between us. There's a strangeness about Callum, but I think I like that about him. I let out a soft chuckle as I shift my weight, my sore ass singing with the movement.

"You have more faith in me than I deserve."

I try to brush it off as a joke, but the words weigh heavily on my conscience. I can't help but remember all of my failures in Illuemera and how they far outnumber my successes. And the one time I succeeded, it was by taking Yurghen's life in such a gruesome manner. The smell of burned hair still lingers in my mind, haunting me relentlessly. My stomach churns green.

"Speak fair, Mira," Callum's voice carries a gentle rebuke. I spent the morning regaling him with a watered-down version of my adventures since arriving in Illuemera, leaving out the incriminating details like killing those two centaurs and Yurghen. It's not that I don't trust him, it's just that… it's not only my fate that I'd be risking, is it?

Tairyn tried to plant a seed of doubt in my mind. Is that what he told you, he'd asked. The implication was clear, but I refuse to let him influence who I do and don't trust.

"These… companions you have let you of speak with such disdain of yourself?"

His tone is careful. When I told him about Sunder and Bobble, Callum grew too quiet, as if it caused him discomfort. So, I tiptoed around being mated, letting it be implied as I spoke of channeling Chroma instead.

But blaming Sunder and Bobble for my lifetime of self-loathing is a preposterous accusation. I bristle a bit. "My companions do not allow me to do anything. My thoughts and feelings are my own, Callum. No one controls me."

I can imagine Tairyn's smug smirk at that, his green eyes twinkling with amusement remembering the way he controlled my body with merely half a thought last night. The tension from the memory has my fist tightening around the rusted spring. A sharp pain shoots through my hand, and the scent of fresh blood fills the air. I've cut myself on the jagged metal. "Damn it," I hiss, bringing my hand to my mouth.

"Are you okay?" Callum sounds genuinely worried. "What happened?"

"Just a scrape," I assure him, though the blood tastes rich and coppery on my tongue. Mira, ever the masterful klutz.

Unseen across the stone barrier, Callum sighs. After a few moments, his soft voice is tentative. "I apologize for my implied insult. That wasn't my intention. I don't understand why you say those things. From what I've learned about you, you're quite extraordinary in both your magical talents and wit. The only conclusion I can come to is that some external factor has given you false beliefs about yourself."

Yeah, life.

I let out a huff of wry laughter. "It's ok," I say instead. "My mates are good men. They treat me well."

The deep silence between us stiffens like a frosty morning. The only sound is the quiet drip-drip of water somewhere in the distance. "Your mates," he echoes. There is a strain in his voice that wasn't there before.

"Two of them," I clarify, ignoring the twist in my stomach at his tone. Callum is just a random, albeit exceedingly kind and genuine, stranger. So why does it bother me to share this with him? I'm proud of my two mates. I'd shout from the rooftops that I was in love in other circumstances. But… the way his tone shifts at their mention. I don't want to hurt him. "Bobble and Sunder."

I let their names echo around me as Callum's deafening silence radiates through the air, wondering where they are right now. I don't know how much time has passed when he speaks again, clearly changing the subject to one he likes no better. "How was dinner?"

There's still something strained behind his too-casual tone. He was asleep when I got back to my cell, or at least he didn't make any sounds when I whispered his name through my door.

"Dinner," I repeat, twirling the rusted spring between my fingers again despite the now clotted cut. "It was an experience, that's for sure."

The bitterness in my tone doesn't even convince me. I swallow thickly in my throat as the memory of being turned over and punished for my outburst replays for the thousandth time today. No one has ever spanked me before. Even as a child, my parents were never around enough to discipline me.

"Oh?" Callum's voice has a razor's edge of danger, a tinge of curiosity. I find myself blushing, heat radiating up my neck. The coil spins faster between my fingertips, the rusted metal a blur of movement.

"Let's just say Tairyn is exactly as gentle as he seems."

"Did he hurt you?" The fury of his tone startles me, jerking my breath away with a gasp.

"No, he didn't actually hurt me." I quickly reassure him. "A bruised ego, is all."

There's a beat of silence between us, his tension bleeding into my cell. I can feel his gaze on me, even through the stone walls, penetrating with concern and something else.

"And you'll tell me if he does."

It's not a question or command, but rather as if he's reassuring himself. The tension in his voice remains, but it is now intertwined with relief. My chest tightens at the thought of Callum caring about my well-being despite being a total stranger.

"I will," I choke out, a barely there whisper against the cold stone walls that separate us. The silence stretches out once more, filling the cell with an oppressive weight. My fingers slow, the rusted coil coming to a halt against my palm.

Eventually, Callum clears his throat. His voice filters through the stillness, low and soft. "Mira, I need to confess something…"

My ears perk up at this. What could Callum possibly have to confess to me? Is that what he told you? Tairyn's cruel voice bounces around the far corners of my mind, and my chest tightens.

"I'm not-"

His sentence is cut off as a sudden, violent quake shudders through the mountain. The jolt ricochets through the stone, reverberating in my bones with a deafening roar. I yelp, dropping the rusted coil as I desperately try to maintain my balance.

"Mira!" Callum shouts, fear erupting in his voice.

"What's happening?" I stumble blindly as another shockwave ripples through the stone around me.

"Earthquake!" Callum yells back over the roaring of the ground beneath us that shakes everything in my cell, sending sharp stones skittering across the floor. I fall flat to my belly, holding my hands uselessly over my head.

A large, dark shadow above me catches my eye. It's a chunk of ceiling, loosened by the quake. My heart rockets up my throat as I scramble to get out from underneath it.

Too late.

It slams down onto my leg, cutting off a horrified scream as agony rockets through me. White-hot pain flares with every heartbeat, washing everything out in a blaze of hurt.

"Mira!" Callum's voice is raw terror. "Hold on! I'm coming!"

I don't let my mind focus on that false hope, but when I open my eyes, a dark figure rushes towards me, just as the quake finally subsides. But it's not a stranger's face that I find through the settling dust.

The green of his eyes is dull now, almost mossy, as Tairyn breathlessly races to my side. He growls a command as a flash of his Purple Chroma whips to the cell next door. "Stay where you are, Cal."

"I won't just sit here!" Callum snarls back, such a stark contrast to the usually mild-mannered man I've gotten used to. A raw, primal anger vibrates through his response, heavy with meaning.

"Your interference is not required." Tairyn's voice drips with condescension as he kneels beside me. He glances at my leg, barely suppressing his grimace. A shudder works its way up my body at the sight of him, but it's quickly drowned in the pain's intensity throbbing through me.

He removes the heavy stone from my leg, and I can't keep the scream from ripping from my throat at the agony. His eyes widen, a flicker of uncertainty passing over them. It's gone instantly, and I wonder if I imagined it.

Oh god, I'm gonna die.

My breath is heaving in my chest as Tairyn whispers beside me, hands hovering just over my skin. "I'm not much of a healer, but I'll see what I can do."

His voice holds none of the mirth or disdain from last night. No games, like his mask is down. He closes his eyes, and a trickle of pure white Chroma, barely wider than a pin, flows from his fingers into my leg.

My eyes widen in astonishment as the milky substance surges forward, like a physical entity that I could reach out and touch. It envelops me with a jolt, weaving through my flesh with a chilling but clumsy touch. Though it lacks the precision of Bobble's Yellow healing, I can't deny that it gets the job done as my pain fades away. With cautious curiosity, I steal a glimpse at my gnarled leg and am met with the comforting sight of smooth skin knitting together seamlessly.

Tairyn lets out a deep sigh as the white trickle turns an ashy gray, before releasing the Chroma. "It's not pretty. It'll scar, but you'll live."

A frantic murmuring next door draws my attention and I call out. "Callum?"

Tairyn's mouth turns down in a frown, clearly annoyed as he flicks his wrist once more. A burst of vibrant purple light sizzles through the air.

"…son of bitch, I'll kill you…"

His furious words turn to muffled rumblings again.

"Come. Your recovery will be quicker elsewhere."

He scans the dungeon warily, as if he's viewing it for the first time. A frown creases his face, conveying his disgust as he stands up straight. He reaches out a hand to assist me in standing, but then pulls it back abruptly.

"I'm fine," I grumble, climbing to my feet and suppressing a groan. Much better, but still hurts to put weight on that leg. "I'll stay here, thanks."

"Don't be foolish." He whips those keen eyes to me. Before I can reply with some snappy comeback, Tairyn's purple Chroma swirls around him like pulsing shadows. I can't keep myself from staring as two massive hands form in the purple mist before me.

They scoop me up, lifting me until I hover two feet off the floor. Without a word, they're carrying me upstairs as Tairyn follows close behind.