Page 41 of The Book of Legends
Kainen’s hand tightens, cutting off his words. “What the fuck did you think you were doing?”
I move to stand, but an invisible force pins me to the chair, his voice becoming a snarl, words in a language older than stone, darker than night, reverting back to English.
“Kainen, stop!”
“I got her a drink,” Finnas sputters. “It’s not like she was going to run away, Kainen. There is nowhere she could go. She can’t get far on foot.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it, Finnas.” Kainen looks two seconds from blowing a gasket. “What did you say to her?”
Finnas looks at me and then at him. “That you were busy with Keira.”
Kainen smiles, but it’s sinister. He grips his throat. Terror slices through my veins as Finnas struggles to breathe.
“Kainen!” I call out, but he doesn’t listen.
His knuckles turn white. Finnas’s red eyes bulge out of his head. “This is a glimpse of what would happen, Finnas.” Kainen starts to speak in a foreign language.
I glance around the room for help, but no one is paying attention. It’s like we are in a bubble where no one can see us.
Finnas continues to struggle, his bulging eyes on me. I try to reach out to help, but the force is too strong. “Kainen, please,” I plead. Tears gather in the corners of my eyes. “Don’t hurt him. He didn’t do anything.”
But he ignores me and continues to speak in his dialect. His eyes shift to black, like a demon possessed. His voice lowers to a whispering chant. The room spins, my vision narrows. My own voice, a scream in my mind—Drak’hal! Drak’hal! The word rises, unbidden, from my throat. “Drak’hal!” The table shakes like an earthquake. After a few seconds, I slam my hands on the table and yell, “Drak’hal!”
The bubble we are in fades away. The force pinning me to the chair evaporates. Kainen releases Finnas like a bolt of lightning, ripping his hand away from his throat.
Finnas takes deep breaths, sputters, and coughs. His eyes wide, tears the color of blood leak down his face. “I didn’t know,” he says, managing to get up. “I’m… sorry.” And then he runs out.
My gaze shifts to Kainen as he takes his seat, ignoring the stares from everyone aimed our way.
“What the fuck was that, huh?” I can barely breathe, my own words a rasp.
He grabs my beer, takes it in one go, and slams the glass on the table. His eyes go back to the color of storm clouds. “I should be asking you the same thing.”
Rage bubbles to the surface. “Me? You could have killed him.”
He leans close, his eyes boring into mine. “And how would you know that?”
“Where I come from, blood doesn’t leak from someone’s eyes unless they’re on the brink of death, Kainen.”
His eyes shift back to black. They said he was human, but he wields some sort of magic you could only find in fantasy novels. Then there is the way he looks at me. I’m not sure what it is in his eyes—anger or hate—but he’s good at masking whatever it is.
“I would have killed him if you hadn’t intervened.”
“For someone who doesn’t care if I live or die, you have a funny way of showing it. I was just having a beer and a conversation.”
The corner of his mouth lifts maliciously. “You didn’t see his thoughts.”
I scoff. “What the fuck do you care? If anything, I should be asking you the same question.”
He bolts out of his chair. “Let’s go.”
“We are we going?” I ask, trailing behind him as we move deeper into the forest. The ash is thick beneath my boots, and I struggle to keep pace with his long strides.
He turns his head slightly. “If you hadn’t decided to go off drinking, we would have made it back by now.”
“You didn’t have to bring me.”
“I can’t trust you not to get into trouble. You have a habit of wandering off. If anything, I need an even closer eye on you.”
