Page 39 of Cages and Crowns
“You are not alone. I have been here, this whole time, I have been with you. And there are people who love you, people who are waiting for you out there. Those who have been there, just waiting for the moment you are free.” I shake my head. No. I can’t leave him.
“I love you. Don’t make me do this.” My shoulders shake as sobs break through the lump in my throat. He leans forward and presses his lips to my forehead.
“Goodbye, Nora.” His voice cracks and his hands disappear.
I open my eyes to darkness. A dark ceiling with only a single torch lighting the room.
I am no longer in pain, no longer struggling to breathe.
I glance over at Tobias, who is grabbing something from his tray of torture devices. Tears well up in my eyes as the scent of sweetgrass dissipates alongwith the feel of his lips. I take a single, pain-free breath before I open my mouth to speak.
“What else is there for you to take?” I say, my voice cracking. “You have taken everything from me already.” My hands shake as I plant them on the floor and pull my knees underneath me. “I have nothing left. I have no home.” I grunt as I force one of my feet to plant on the ground. “I have no family.” My blood-slicked hands grip the table, and nearly slip as I pull myself up. “I have nothing to lose.” I get out, my voice little more than a breathy whisper. I look up at him, his eyes going wide as he looks at me.
Blood is pouring down my leg. My body is on fire, but it’s not painful, it’s invigorating. Everything feels as if it is seconds away from failing, but I’m not.
I won’t fail this time.
“You have everything to lose, Tobias.” I take a shaky step forward. “You have a crown. You have a wife. You have a kingdom and a country full of slaves at your beck and call. You have riches and power. Armies and men. A son somewhere out there. You have everything to lose, and that makes you reckless. That makes youvulnerable. Do you know what having nothing makes me?” I ask as I take another strained step. My fingers start to burn, my limbs shaking as if they are being pumped full of adrenaline. And I know.
I know what it is that’s calling to me. What it is that has been trying to break free this whole time.
My whole life.
“What?” He asks, his voice thick as he stares at me.
“Free.” I whisper. The darkness edging my vision is replaced with light as I burst.
Lightning burns through every vessel in my body. Every cell being decimated as I let it consume me.
As I erupt.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The Bound
A deep rumbling starts somewhere under where we stand in the stables. Men start yelling as rubble falls from the top spires of the palace. Glass shatters in succession, all of the windows blowing out. I grab the back of Enzo’s tunic, shoving him against the wall as men race by, headed for the palace.
“It’s her.” I whisper.
“How do you know?” He whispers back.
“Who else would it be?”
ChapterTwenty-Seven
The Caged
Dust rains from the ceiling, coating us in a fine mist. Tobias’s eyes are wide and red, his pupils dilated. His gaze travels from my feet to the top of my head where it lingers. A single trail of blood drips out of his nose.
“My gods, Ela.” He croaks. A large cracking noise sounds above us, and I glance up to see a fissure forming in the ceiling. I catch sight of him in my peripherals before his body slams into mine.
My skull snaps off the stone floor and I am momentarily dazed.
“What are you?” He asks as he sits on my bare thighs. “What have you not been telling me?” His hands wrap around my throat, holding me down. I grip his wrists with my shaky fingers, a subtle buzzing sound filling my ears.
“Get off me.” I croak, my voice weak.
“What are you?” He yells this time, his face inches from mine.
