Page 8 of When Storms Ruin

“I’ve given you a lot to think about,” Donika started, brushing her hair over her shoulder. “Think long and hard, Diana. I know you’ll make the right choice…in the end.”

Donika’s gaze flicked towards the open doorway and the soldiers standing there advanced, hauling us up by our arms and dragging us from the room.

I glanced over my shoulder to see Donika standing in the middle of the throne room, encircled by her army of black wolves, standing in a pool of my blood.

The blood that had coated the throne room floor had me thinking about what options we may have left. I wasn’t able to touch my magic through the bars of the cell, or with the shackles on, but what about blood magic? Did blood magic surpass the ash and iron that was dampening my magic and stopping me from reaching out to it? I didn’t know anything about blood magic, but we were running out of options. Puck and Nik hadn’t returned, and it had been a whole day since we had any visitors at all, including Donika’s soldiers. I assumed Donika was going to starve us until weeks end to ensure we ‘made the right decision.’

Tess and I were weak, and I feared that even if an opportunity to escape presented itself, we wouldn’t have the strength or speed to make it out. I wasn’t sure I would have the strength to reach out to my magic, even if we weren’t bound with ash shackles outside of this prison. We were outof time, and we were out of options…unless I could figure out a way to tap into black magic or blood magic, like Donika. Was it worth the price of my soul? To keep the grimoire from Donika and save Tess and my family?

If it came to that…it had to be.

My mind was racing trying to remember all the spells from my grimoire. Some of them I hadn’t understood, but I had never spoken Latin before. The opening spell had come to me in my time of need, as if it was a long-forgotten memory. As if I had known it once, but was spelled to forget. I rest my head against the back wall of the cell as I was lost to my own thoughts. With each passing moment we were running out of time. I wasn’t sure how much time was left to our last day, but I was certain it was coming to an end.

I once again found myself wondering how much time had passed since we arrived in Akra. My mother and Jake must have been going crazy searching for us…and Tess’ parents, too. In the solitude of the dark cell, I let myself grieve my choice not to tell them where we were going. I hoped they would not be searching for us for an eternity. I wanted them to find closure.

A hot tear rolled down my cheek as I fought against my desperation. I felt utterly and completely helpless. Tess rested her head against my shoulder with a deep sigh as she squeezed my leg. I needed to figure out a way to save Tess, if nothing else. Even if it cost me my own life.

At first, I had tried giving Donika false locations to search, but that had made her angrier than ever. Her torture wasparticularly cruel in the weeks following. I would give anything to sleep in a soft bed, or to take a hot shower.

The tears traveled through the grime and blood caked to my skin, surely leaving stains across my cheeks. It had been too long since I had seen my own reflection, and I was certain the one that would stare back at me now would be a stranger, anyway. I was so deep in my own thoughts, racking my brain to remember a spell from the grimoire, that I hadn’t even heard the Stormvault door creak open.

A lantern came into view and I hoped to see Puck or Nik, but it was Zion whose face shone beneath the glow of the lamp.

“What are you doing here?” I called out, wiping my tears with the back of my dirt-smeared hand. Tess perked up beside me.

“As I told you, there isn’t much time left. I figured you would be needing this,” Zion replied as he nodded towards the tray in his hand.

I hadn’t even noticed it. He unlocked the cell and placed the tray on the dirt floor before closing and locking it once more. He took a step back as I reached for the tray and dragged it towards us.

Stale bread and stew.

Tess and I began to devour it as if we had never been given such a decadent meal. It had been weeks since we had anything more than stale bread in our stomachs. As I brought a piece of the bread dipped in stew to my mouth I paused, my eyes meeting Zion’s.

“I wouldn’t poison you,” he said, guessing my thoughts. “I wouldn’t deny Donika her last few hours with you.”

“Then why bring us food?” I asked as I shoved the wet piece of bread into my mouth and savored the taste of the gravy and meat.

Zion didn’t answer, he simply watched us eat in silence, studying us in the glow of the lantern.

“You aren’t as evil as she is if you brought us this food. Is there a small piece of you that wants to let us out?” Tess asked, swallowing a hard piece of bread.

Zion was thoughtful before he answered. “Even if I did, you would never make it past her guards.”

His answer gave me pause.

He hadn’t said no.

Did Zion want to…help us? Is that why he brought us this food? He had warned us that we were running out of time, but I had thought that was simply his warning from Donika.

What if it was something else?

“You want to help us?” I asked, confused.

“I didn’t say that,” he replied, but his voice wasn’t cold and his eyes were warm as they met mine.

He appeared…different from our last interaction.

“Does Donika know you are here?” I asked around a mouthful of the brown stew.

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