Chapter 19
Guinevere's face was illuminated in the torchlight, followed closely by two of her guardsmen. She paused as soon as her eyes met Lyv's, sense the presence of the two others who had just disappeared. Lyv's heart raced from both panic and longing. Those emotions quickly turned to rage when she saw who was being dragged down the steps behind her.
"I've brought you a present," Guinevere said, gesturing to the limp body the guardsmen were dragging down the steps behind her.
Lyv couldn't move, even as her cell doors were opened up and they threw the unconscious Mik inside. She tried to avert her gaze, but his screams and cursing the hours before were legitimized whenever she saw him. His shirt was gone, but his own golden cuff was still locked around his wrist. The smell of burning flesh hit her and made her stomach twist. A second cuff – this one iron – was on his other, stifling both dark and light magic inside him.
But it wasn't just the cuffs that made Lyv want to rush to him. Blood continued to seep from every single wound inflicted upon him, deep slashes along his chest and arms, some revealing bone, others muscle. One bruise took up the entire left side of his face, his nose was broken and bloodied, and his bottom lip split.
And by the blood Guinevere was wiping off her hands and the obsidian blade she carried, she'd been the one to inflict it on him.
"Does that make you feel powerful?" Lyv spat through her teeth. "Knowing you can hurt him when he's powerless to stop you? I think it's a bit of an unfair advantage, don't you think? Get those cuffs off him and he'll kill you without a second thought."
"That will not be happening any time soon," Corliss's voice said, sounding from the shadows of the dungeon before she appeared. Her eyes were on the place where Dessa and Elys had disappeared before dropping to Mik's bloody form. "His disobedience has earned him a place in the dungeon with you. Just as you wore before, the iron cuff suppresses almost all of his magic. Don't expect him to heal anytime soon unless you decide to help him. I know you, Lyv, haven't had the best encounters with the conduit. But Mik...well, he's appeared on more than one occasion with you, hasn't he?"
Lyv's hands tightened into fists at her sides, but she didn't say a word.
Corliss raised her hand, waving Guinevere and the guardsmen back up the stairs. She didn't step from the darkened corner where she stood until they disappeared.
She still didn't look directly at Lyv, eyes still on the space in front of her.
Like she'd been watching what happened just minutes before.
Even if she had, though, Corliss had no way of getting hold of them. That thought made Lyv smile. Lyv had a future waiting for her. Corliss, it seemed, didn't.
"Your crown prince...he is still in Filwey, you know. He'll be staying for some time while the shapeshifter recovers," Corliss stated matter-of-factly, before turning a sweet smile to Lyv. "They seem to have become friends over these last few months."
Lyv swallowed her relief that Allel was still alive. No doubt Jai had healed her. Maybe even Gideon helped. "Good."
"One would think you'd be jealous of his affections for her."
"Completely platonic since I've got her mate right here and I have the same affections for him. It's called friendship. You haven't felt that in a while since all of your friends turned against you, have you?"
Shadows curled around Corliss, caressing. "The darkness is my only friend, which I'm sure you'll soon find out for yourself. It's the only thing I can trust."
"I have a feeling that gets a little lonely, which is why you kept Mik and Allel around all these years, why you created this elaborate plan with Guinevere just to get to me."
"It's called manipulation, my darling niece. Something you would greatly learn from."
Corliss looked between Lyv and Mik before slowly stepping back. Her face was stoic, but Lyv swore she saw something foreign emotion flicker in her black eyes before she disappeared into the shadows.
Lyv took one breath.
Two.
Three.
And rushed forward, falling to her knees beside Mik's unconscious body. His chest barely moved with each rattled breath, heart slowing in his chest to slow the blood loss.
She didn't know where to start, what to do when she didn't know if she had her healing magic back now that the darker version of herself was gone. She tried finding it, searching for that one little spark she would need to summon it within the light. Every second counted and ever one she wasted was pulling Mik closer toward the land of light and shadow.
Lyv tried pulling her magic from where it had hidden itself within her, but all she felt was the dark laughing at her attempts. It wouldn't be laughing much longer, not when she was about to do under sheer desperation. She grabbed hold of that darkness, bending it to her will and using it to pull her own light magic back out.
She gasped at the suddenness of both light and dark magic filling her, battling for dominance just as they did earlier up in the dining room of the Keep. The light was familiar and one she knew how to wield, but the dark...it made her feel good.
And that scared her, especially when it was her thoughts and not Dark Lyv's.
Magic tingled in her palms as she flexed her fingers. Her heart was racing for another reason then, knowing she was finally able to use her own magic, no matter how much, for something herself.
Closing her eyes in concentration, Lyv held her hands over Mik, sweeping her healing magic over him in a wave that crashed against the darkness inside him. As soon as she did, he gasped, black eyes popping open before they flashed hazel.
And stayed.
The conduit and Mik were locked in an internal war with each other, but Lyv made sure to turn the tides toward Mik, using her magic to push back the dark, smothering it, choking it, locking it up inside him with no way of getting out. She didn't care if Corliss realized what she'd done, sensing it through her control over her with her own golden cuff. She wanted Mik, wanted to save him.
Wild hazel eyes met hers.
And filled with tears.
"I killed her," Mik sobbed, curling toward Lyv and burying his face in her stomach, grasping onto her hand with one of his. The movement split the wounds she hadn't been able to heal just yet. "I killed Allel."
"Shh," she told him, placing her free hand onto his back, doing another sweep of healing magic through him before sending warmth and calm through him. "Allel's safe. She's with Jai and he's taking care of her, just like I'm taking care of you. He, Gideon, and Thia are with her."
"I killed her," he whispered. He looked up at her with tear-filled eyes, shaking uncontrollably. "I've killed so many. I killed you."
Lyv ran her fingers through his sweat-soaked hair, shaking her head. "And yet I'm still here and saving you. We'll figure it out, Mik. We'll get out of here together. Promise."
And she did another slow sweep of healing magic through him to ease his ragged breathing, pulling him into a soft, sweet slumber Lyv made sure no darkness invaded.
***A short, intense yet sweet chapter after that last one was just what we needed, right?
I kind of love that Jai's taking care of Allel and Lyv's taking care of Mik at the same time. Just think about what'll happen when all of our mated power couples are all together and ready to take on Corliss! Ugh, I'm so excited.
What are your thoughts? Comment and vote!
Happy reading!
- Ansley***