Page 89 of The Dark Mirror

Darkness laced my sight. Blinking, I tried to focus on his face, to keep me rooted to the present.

‘Arcturus,’ I said, my voice strained. ‘It’s me, it’s Paige—’

‘Enough.’

His massive hands might as well have been shackles. One moment I had been about to burst with elation, and the next, I was back in the torture chamber, at the mercy of a giant.

‘Tell her,’ Arcturus ground out, ‘to sequester me.’

My vision blurred. ‘What?’

Even though he wasn’t near my throat, I couldn’t breathe. He was asking to be executed.

His grip tightened, and that was it. The dark room slammed its doors around me. I needed to work out what could possibly be going through his head, but my body remembered this position, and fought like an alley cat to escape. I wrestled and kicked against Suhail – no, Arcturus, it was Arcturus – but he kept me where I was. My left wrist burned in his grasp.

I was drowning not just in my own fear, but his.

And I knew, looking into his eyes, that he had no idea who I was. He was somewhere far away.

‘Arcturus, please, I can’t—’ I tried one last thing: ‘Mothaigh an snáithe órga. Féach orm!’

He stilled. I hadn’t finished teaching him, but he knew the sound of my first language.

Little by little, his right hand loosened. No change in his expression, but that small victory offered me a lifeline. Seizing it, I slipped my bad wrist free and reached up to cup his cheek, the way I just had in his dreamscape. Arcturus flinched, but let my hand rest there.

He had never flinched when I touched him before.

‘See me,’ I whispered. ‘It’s me.’ As I brushed a thumb across his cheekbone, keeping the movement slow and light, the vice on my other wrist eased as well. ‘Tá sé ceart go leor.’

If he really thought I was someone else, this would change his mind. Only I would speak to him in Irish.

Terebell must have sensed a disturbance. When she entered the wine cellar and saw Arcturus sitting up, they stared at each other in such disbelief that it might have been comical under different circumstances. Nick was down the stairs like a shot, shoving past Terebell.

‘Warden.’ His eyes widened. ‘Arcturus, let go of Paige, now. Let go of her.’

Arcturus looked from him to me. His gaze sharpened in recognition, in shock.

At once, he released my other wrist, allowing me to scramble out from under him, so quickly I fell off the bed. Nick rushed towards me, but I scooted back until I hit the wall.

‘Don’t touch me,’ I barked. My boots scuffed along the floor. ‘Stay back. Donottouch me.’

‘Okay.’ Nick crouched a short distance away. ‘No one is touching you, Paige. You’re safe.’

I held myself tight and willed the memories down. (Your wrists are bleeding, Underqueen. All you need do is answer my questions.) I could feel the manacles again, the hungry presence in the dark.

Terebell marched to Arcturus and seized his shoulders, as if to restrain him. He couldn’t take his eyes off me.

‘Paige,’ he rasped. ‘Is it you?’

I had never thought I would hear him say my name again. Another tear ran down my cheek.

‘Yes,’ I said, heaving. ‘It’s me.’

Arcturus was awake. Not just awake, but fully aware. He remembered me. I felt him deep within – the sweet and comforting return of his presence, sunlight running through my blood. I wanted to go to him, but his grip had rattled me so badly I could hardly think.

Sometimes I forgot how strong Rephs were. How easy it would be for them to crush a human.

‘Warden, stay put and get a hold of yourself,’ Nick said hotly. ‘What were you thinking?’

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