Chapter 28

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

T he leader was right. I walk right out the main doors, passing many lost ones on my way back into the streets, and not a single one of them tries to stop me or attack me.

It makes me question everything I know about them.

I search for an open portal to get out of here, but there aren't any, so I try to open one myself. I close my eyes, taking deep breaths as I reach for my ability. It idles deep within me, that same cooling sensation, and I will it to the surface.

The scar on my back tingles, but I ignore the feeling and attempt to open a portal back into Galespo. Concentrating more than I ever have before, I know it's working. I can feel it, and it's even easier than it was the last time. It feels as if absorbing the power from the two orbs has supercharged my ability somehow.

I slowly open my eyes and see it. I'm not entirely sure which part of Galespo this portal will take me to, but it doesn't matter. Anywhere but here will do. I step through the portal, closing it quickly behind me.

I glance around and realise I am in Zalore's castle. Thank the gods for that. I seem to be back in the tunnels. I sense Kyle, and he soon appears up ahead. He rushes toward me and pulls me into his arms, and I breathe in his cinnamon scent, immediately relaxing my nerves. I peek over his shoulder to see the others.

And then I see Em.

She stares at me with wide eyes. I let go of Kyle, storm toward her, and punch her hard in the face. She stumbles back, grabbing her nose.

"She tried to kill me!" I shout.

Em swipes her hand under her nose, smearing blood over her hand and face. "I did nothing of the sort. It was an accident, Zarla."

I raise my hands and blast Em with my powers, sending her flying back where she smacks her head against the tunnel wall. Em is on her feet in an instant and charges at me. She grabs me around my neck and shoves me back against the tunnel wall before Nilo pulls her off me.

I breathe heavily as I glare at Em. Then I notice Finlay isn't here. I can't sense our bond, either.

"Where's Finlay?" I desperately ask.

The others look at one another, but no one will look me in the eye.

I turn to Kyle. "Where is Finlay?"

He stares at me with sad eyes and gently shakes his head. The realisation slowly kicks in as the blood freezes in my veins.

"No, no, no…" I cry, holding my hand against my mouth.

My legs give out, but before I fall to the ground, Kyle catches me. He holds me tightly as I struggle against him.

"It's okay. I've got you," he gently whispers in my ear, and I stop fighting him and allow him to comfort me as sobs wrack my body.

Lacinda hurries over and hugs me from behind. "It'll be okay. We'll get through this."

I catch sight of Em again. "You! This is your fault!"

Em frowns, but I can see that she knows. She did this.

"It's no one's fault, Zarla. The lost ones overpowered us. There was nothing any of us could do," Kyle explains in her defence.

"No. She did this." My voice cracks. "She shoved me down that hole into the cave with them. She tried to kill me. And when we were busy fighting them, where the hell was she? I didn't see her anywhere."

I glare at her, more hatred mounting for her than I have ever felt in my entire life.

"Finlay would still be here if it weren't for you!" The words fly out of my mouth, dripping with venom and absolute heartache.

She grits her teeth, her jaw tense. "I had nothing to do with his decision to rush in there to save you. If you hadn't abandoned him and escaped through that portal, you could have been there to save him yourself."

"Em, that's way out of line," Lacinda angrily states as she storms toward her.

She shoves her hard, and all I can think of is punching her in the face again. Demetros pulls Lacinda away from her.

I charge forward, but Kyle snakes his arm around my waist, preventing me from getting to her.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I shout. "I was sucked through that portal! I didn't choose to go!"

Em purses her lips, staring at me with such loathing. By the gods, the feeling is mutual.

"Em, you need to leave. Your presence isn't helping. Go back to Zarquon," Kyle demands.

"I agree. She's nothing but trouble," Demetros says.

Em doesn't budge, like she's waiting for Kyle to enforce the command.

Kyle rubs soothing circles over my back as everyone chimes in, saying how it must have been an accident, and how Em never meant for anyone to get hurt. Everyone but Lacinda and Demetros.

Bullshit. It doesn't matter what they say. I know the truth.

"She did it on purpose," I shout. "She pushed me down that damn hole in the wall that led down to those lost ones. She tried to kill me!"

Kyle leads me down the tunnel away from the others. "I know it looks bad, but it would have been an accident, Zarla. Em would never intentionally try to kill you."

I can't help but laugh. Kyle frowns.

"Do you know what she said before she pushed me? She told me you were her mate, not mine." I wipe at my tears, and Kyle stares at me in shock, as if he's potentially starting to see it.

"No matter what you say, she did this." I'm through discussing her because the pain I'm in is almost more than I can bear. But I have to ask. "Where's Finlay?"

His brows draw together. "He's still down in the cave. We've been looking for you, but always planned to get him back to Zarquon. And we will, I promise."

My bottom lip quivers, and I bite it to try and stop the tears, but it's useless. They fall uncontrollably, and Kyle pulls me against him and holds me.

"I know it doesn't feel like it in this moment," he whispers, "but it will be okay. Finlay would want you to carry on and complete this mission. If for nothing else, do it for him."

He couldn't have possibly said anything better to snap me out of this emotional state. He's right. Standing here crying isn't going to help anyone. It won't bring him back, it won't save Astelle, and it certainly won't stop Zalore or Amaros.

Pull yourself together, Zarla. There will be time to grieve later. You need to focus.

I step back, swipe my fingers over my cheeks, and sniff deeply as I compose myself once more.

"Thank you. You're right. We've got to keep going for Finlay. But she's got to go." I stand firm on the last point, and I will not budge on it.

She needs to get out of my sight before I kill her.

Kyle nods then heads toward the others. The sounds of voices arguing echo down the tunnel, but I don't bother looking back until footsteps come up behind me. I spin around to face Em as she storms past me, not bothering to look my way.

Good. If she had, I probably would have punched her again. Or tripped her. We don't need her. We never did.

Once she's out of my sight, I'm able to relax a little. I will never forgive her for what she's done. Ever.

Suddenly, I remember something Finlay told me. I hurry back to the group, and Lacinda hugs me, followed by Demetros.

"We'll get through this, I promise," she tells me.

I pull back and give her a brief smile. "Finlay told me you guys found Astelle. That she's with Zalore, but she's heavily guarded. Is that true?"

Demetros nods. "It is, but it feels like a trap. Like he knows you're coming."

Shoot. How in the gods would he know? Regardless of that, we still have to do something.

Kyle comes over then to join us.

"Come on. Show me where he's keeping her. We're not leaving without her," I tell them.

Lacinda grabs my arm. "Hang on. Did you get the weapon?"

I nod. "I did. When I touched it, I absorbed it into my body."

She gasps, and Kyle takes hold of my face between his hands.

"Are you okay?" he asks. "You haven't told us what happened when you were sucked into the realm."

I swallow hard. "I spoke with their leader. They do not want this war. They do not want to be controlled by anyone, and he asked me to stop it. He gave me the weapon he had. I absorbed that one, too."

"Fuck…" Kyle breathes. "We don't know what that will do. It could be dangerous, Zarla."

I shrug and gently caress his cheek. "I had no choice, but I'm okay, I promise. If anything, it helped me. It seems to have supercharged my ability."

Sighing, he drops his hands. "All right, then. Lacinda, can you guys show us the way?"

We follow Lacinda and Demetros back through the tunnels, up the stone staircase, and into the castle above.

"He has her in a room back there," she explains, pointing down a corridor. "There are watchers everywhere. I doubt we'll get any closer. I don't know how else we're going to get in there other than to fight our way inside."

Nilo steps forward. "How about a distraction?"

It hits me, then. Maybe I can open a portal somewhere and send all the watchers through it somehow. I relay my idea to the others, and they all seem to think it's great, so we carry on until we're almost there.

We peek around the corner down the corridor, and Lacinda explains where the room is. There are a good ten watchers outside the doors and dotted along the corridor.

"If you open a portal near them, we can fight them and throw them through it," Kyle explains. "We will do our best to get them all through it. When I tell you to, you close it. Okay?"

"Okay," I say. "I think I can do it."

Kyle presses a kiss to my lips. "Start working on it now. Nilo, Zed, you both guard Zarla. The rest of us will fight. Zarla, get it open fast."

I nod. You can do this, Zarla. No big deal. Open a portal to the Realm of Lost Souls. See how they like it trapped in there .

The others jog around the corner, and the watchers yell out to them, followed by all kinds of commotion.

I dig deep for my ability and bring it to the surface once more, although this time, it feels much easier. I open a portal down the corridor outside the room with ease, then open my eyes to catch the others tossing watchers through it. It's working. I manage to maintain my hold on the portal as I head down the corridor toward the others.

Nilo grabs my arm. "Zarla, wait here. We can't risk the portal closing."

I shake him off. "Nilo, I've got it. Trust me. We have to help them. Come on."

He sucks in a breath as if to argue further but then jogs with me to help the others. Several watchers rush at us, and I slide down onto my knees, yanking my daggers out and slicing them across one watcher's legs. The watcher grunts and falls, giving me a chance to leap on top of him and stab him in the neck. Blood oozes from the wound, and I jump to my feet and carry on to the next one.

I land a hard kick to his chest. He stumbles back, right through the portal.

Out of nowhere, a whole bunch of watchers file down the corridor toward us. We're majorly outnumbered.

My heart leaps into my throat. Oh no. This is bad.

I turn to look for Kyle, but someone grabs me from behind. I struggle against the watcher's hold then elbow him in the nose. He releases me just as another watcher comes at me. I slam my palm into his neck then land a kick to his chest, sending him flying into the wall.

I glance around for Kyle again, but the corridor has erupted into absolute chaos. I can't see him anywhere. I blast my powers at several watchers heading my way and flip them on their asses.

"Restrain her!" one of them shouts.

Nope, not happening. I take down several more watchers before I finally spot Kyle. He takes out a few more watchers and then hurries to my side. They have the rest of our team restrained. I'm about to attack when a bunch of watchers form a line in front of my friends, blocking our path.

Kyle growls in frustration.

"That's enough," a watcher shouts. "Zalore has your sister, as you well know. If you don't hand yourself over, he's going to kill her and then kill all of your friends."

"Zarla, run," Kyle whispers.

I shake my head.

The watcher takes a step toward me. "If you come willingly, he has agreed to let them all go. He only wants you."

I frown, my mind reeling as I try to decide what the heck to do. I'm not going to abandon my friends or my sister. I know that much.

I slide my daggers into my holsters and raise my hands in the air. "Okay, I'll go."

"Zarla, no! It's a trap!" Kyle says, grabbing my hand to haul me back.

I gently cup his cheek. "I'll be okay, I promise. I have to do this. I don't have a choice. I won't allow anyone else to get hurt."

His gaze bores into mine. "Zarla, no. Let's fight them. I'm not letting him have you!"

The watcher moves toward me, and I kiss Kyle just as he drags me away. Kyle tries to stop him, but the other watchers restrain him.

"Zarla! No!" he shouts.

A watcher opens the doors leading to the room Zalore is keeping Astelle in and throws me through them. I stumble and fall onto the cold stone floor.

Scanning the room, I get to my feet. It's Zalore's huge throne room, just as I remember from the last time, and watchers line each wall, leading to the raised platform at the end where his throne sits.

But where is he?

Someone wraps their hand around my throat from behind and pulls me against them. The pressure exerted on my neck muffles my scream.

"I was looking forward to our next encounter, Zarla. But I must say, I didn't expect it to be so soon." Zalore says in my ear as I desperately try to take in a breath.

He loosens his hold on me ever so slightly then roughly leads me down the centre of the room before throwing me down on the floor at the base of the stairs to his throne. Lost ones hover around the back of his throne, where he sits down and glares at me.

A door opens, and the sound of chains rattling steals my focus. Zalore looks past me and smirks. I whip around to see Astelle dragged in by that same chain and collar attached around her neck.

I'm not sure how it's possible, but she appears worse than the last time I saw her. Her bruised and battered body is covered in smears of blood. My chest aches for her, and I struggle to control myself.

The watcher chains her up to the base of Zalore's throne, and he strokes her head like a dog. I narrow my eyes at him as I ball my hands into fists that shake with fury. This male is disgusting.

"Where are my orbs?" he demands, his voice the only sound in this awful, gloomy place.

I drop my gaze to Astelle, who slowly lifts her eyes up to meet mine. She is broken and weak, and it looks as though it's a struggle for her to even lift her head. She gives up and lets it hang as she stares at the floor.

I get to my feet and glare at him.

He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "I wouldn't recommend making me ask again."

"I absorbed the orb's power," I tell him, surprising myself at how strong I sound given the circumstances.

He laughs a little, but I know he doesn't find any of this amusing. "Absorbed it?"

I reach into my pocket and pull out the two orbs, which have shrunk down after I absorbed their powers. Zalore frowns as he tries to make sense of what I'm holding, then he abruptly stands, storms down the steps toward me, and yanks the two orbs from my grasp.

He studies them a moment before his green eyes meet mine. Then he throws them across the room at the wall, where they shatter into thousands of glass-like pieces. I jump at the impact.

"You absorbed their power?" he slowly asks.

"I didn't mean to. It just happened when I touched them. Their power merged into me."

He strokes his fingers over my cheek and across my bottom lip. "That's because you're a powerful goddess. You will be of great use to me now. You will take your sister's place, and I will allow your friends to leave this Kingdom unharmed."

I swallow hard. "Okay. Let them go."

Astelle's chain rattles as she tries to stand but fails. "No! Do not agree to anything! He's a monster!"

Zalore storms up the steps to Astelle and grabs the chain around her neck, lifting her head up. He then punches her hard in the face.

I grit my teeth, taking my daggers out and move toward him, but several watchers rush toward me first and restrain me.

Zalore looks back at me and smirks. "Good. I like a fighting spirit."

"Fuck you!" I scream at him.

He laughs. "Soon enough. Release that one, and chain this one up," he instructs his guards. "And get the rest of them out of my Kingdom."

They undo the metal collar from around Astelle's neck then drag her down the middle of the room and open the doors at the end. I catch a glimpse of Kyle outside just as the watcher latches the metal collar around my neck. Kyle bares his teeth, every muscle in his body tense. I can sense his anger through our bond, but he can't get to me.

The watcher throws Astelle into Nilo's arms then slams the doors shut. Zalore walks over to me, and the watcher hands him my chain then backs away. Zalore roughly grabs hold of my wrist and closes his eyes, concentrating hard on something.

What in the gods is he doing?

His eyes snap open, and he smacks me across the face with the back of his hand.

I stumble and almost fall, but he yanks on the chain around my neck, keeping me on my feet. My throat burns at the movement, and I choke out a muffled cry. He smirks, seemingly enjoying the reaction.

"I can't seem to take back the power of the orb, but I'll figure out a way in time," he tells me, then strokes the side of my head.

I rear back from his touch, but there's nowhere to go. He has me chained up like an animal.

"You're disgusting! Do not touch me!" I shout.

He hits me across my face again. Only this time, he doesn't stop me from falling. I hit the ground hard and roll onto my stomach.

Kyle's growing concerns flow through my body and magnify my own.

Zalore walks toward me. I attempt to get to my feet, but before I do, he grabs me under my arm and hauls me up himself.

"Leave. All of you," he demands, and his watchers all file out of the room, leaving only the lost ones behind.

He grips my throat and kisses me roughly. I shove my hands into his chest, but my attempts to stop him are useless.

Something shifts the air in the middle of the room, and I stare in confusion as a portal opens.

It's Amaros.