Page 18 of Restored

In the same moment, a struggling Maddox is dragged out between Archie and Mia. He’s bleeding and still fighting furiously.

Our eyes meet and my stomach sinks.

“Great of you to join us. Awfully far from the castle, Prince, don’t you think?” Ledger stands to his very generous height.

“You have no right to her. Leave her now, and my father will learn none of this,” Maddox replies.

“I don’t believe I will leave her. Westray is in need of her services. Your father would never graciously accept our request. So now, we have no other option but to take her.” He pauses, glancing at me. “Tell your father what you will. Maybe he will learn to be more reasonable.”

I grit my teeth, my body too beaten and weak for me to do anything. The feeling of helplessness overwhelms me.

“He won’t just let you have her; you have no idea what you are starting if you take her, Ledger.”

Maddox gives me one last determined look before he somehow frees himself from Mia and Archie’s hold. His hand flies to his belt retrieving his dagger. He swings it wildly, connecting it with Mia’s arm.

He disappears in the next breath, and they are left grappling with nothing. Maddox gets in a few slices, the two of them hissing in pain and lunging, failing to make contact with his invisible form.

Ledger takes a few steps forward, holding up his hand until Ifeelthe rumble of his power. The rumble grows louder and stronger as he latches on to Maddox’s abilities.

A strangled noise surges from the darkness before Maddox flashes into view. His form flickers as he fights against Ledger’s siphoning powers.

Ledger looks at Archie, and in the next breath, Maddox is thrown through the air, his back slamming roughly into a tree. A scream erupts from my raw throat.

Maddox’s dagger is torn from his grasp and floats into Archie’s hand. The same vines imprisoning me emerge from the ground and wrap around his body binding him to the tree. One wraps around his neck and tightens.

Maddox chokes; he struggles against the binds, gasping for air.

“STOP!” My voice is high and shrill and panic rises in me as he loses consciousness.

“We’ve wasted too much time, we need to leave now.” Ledger comments and turns back to me.

“You can’t just leave him out here; there are deadly creatures!” I shriek fighting the vines.

“You can only begin to imagine the things that exist in these woods. Now, I suggest you stop fighting me or I’ll have Archie here send this dagger straight into his heart.”

He tosses a dagger into the air, and it spins, suspended. Archie twists his fingers and the dagger points at Maddox. He flicks his first two fingers and the blade sails right for his chest.

“So, what’s it going to be? Are you going to come willingly with me, or are we going to leave Bellehaven without an heir?”

“OKAY!” My body goes limp and the dagger stops a mere inch from Maddox’s chest.

“What was that?” Ledger looks at me expectantly.

“I’ll go with you,” I manage to croak out.

“Good choice.” He gives Archie a nod; the dagger drops with a dull thud. The vines disappear into the earth freeing my limbs. Ledger lifts me, tossing me with ease over his shoulder. I crane my head to give Maddox one last regretful look. He’s still unconscious. I wish I could tell him I was sorry or even just see his brown eyes one last time.

“Let’s get Cam. Camp should be packed up, and he’ll be ready to go.”

There are horses tied close by, and Ledger tosses me into a saddle before climbing up behind me.

The horses canter through the moonlit, peaceful woods so conflicting with the war that wages inside of me. Defeat is a bitter taste on my tongue. I want to scream, to fight, to wage war on this man who thinks himself entitled to rip me away from my life but can’t find the strength.

My thoughts are sluggish, any movement I make is difficult and languid.

The full weight of the day closes in on me, my body throbs and aches all the way down to my toes. My power is but a dull spark in the depths of my belly.

With the adrenaline fading from my system, I fight for consciousness. Exhaustion falls over me like a heavy blanket and I sway to the side.

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