Page 43 of Cages and Crowns
“You don’t get to kill yourself. You don’t get to be done. Too much is dependent on your survival. So stop throwing a tantrum like a child and come back to Rakushia with us.” Anger brews in his eyes, his breath coming in quick,sharp pants. Surprise echoes around me.
“Excuse me?” I snap, attempting to rip my arm out of his grip, which proves unsuccessful. Terror builds in my chest as his grip tightens. “What do you mean too much is dependent on my survival?” Enzo’s eyes widen slightly and his friend sighs behind him.
“Right now, we just need to get back to Rakushia.” He says softer this time.
“No,right now,you are going to tell me what it is you mean.” I retort. His nostrils flare and his grip tightens even more, pinching my skin. “Let go of me.” I say quietly, but he doesn’t react. The warmth from his hand is leaking through the cloak, soaking into my skin. The pressure just reminds me of him. Ofthem.
No.
It’s too much.
My pulse skips and I force the adrenaline sparking through my veins back down. “Enzo, let go of me.” His eyes flare open as he stares into mine, as if he sees something in my gaze. Slowly his fingers loosen, and he removes his hand and takes a step back.
“Your eyes.” The other man says. I flick my gaze to him as he stares at me with a mixture of awe and bewilderment.
“What?” I snap.
“They are silver.”
“Silver?” My voice squeaks as my hands move up to touch my brow. I blink a couple times, convinced it will clear away whatever anomaly they are looking at like a piece of dirt, but all that does is increase my heart rate. I can feel the panic setting in, the aftershock. The pain. It’s all too much. I take a slow, deep breath as I try to relax, but it isn’t working. My hands start to shake, to tingle, and I take a step away from them.
“Just breathe, Elaenor.” Enzo whispers, his hands up with his palms out as if to show me he isn’t a threat, but it doesn’t matter. My hands fall to my sideand clench into fists, nails piercing through the skin. “In and out, nice and slow.” White edges my vision and I feel this pressing need to just scream.
“I can’t.” I close my eyes and shake my head. “I need…I don’t know what I need.” My breath comes in rapid pants, and I can feel the sweat beading along my hairline. Tears break through my shut eyes and a broken whimper comes out of my throat.
“Elaenor—” I hear one of them move and my eyes open.
“Don’t come near me!” I snap, my hand flying out to stop him. I nearly gasp when I see the small sparks of lightning on my fingers, trailing up my arm. Sparks fly off of my skin, glittering as if they were comprised of stars. “What is this?” I stammer. The sparks travel to my shoulder and across my chest, tingling every part of my skin they come in contact with. They move down my body until I am glittering like the night sky. “Make it stop.” I snap, my hands trying, and failing, to brush them away.
“Just relax, little witch.” My eyes snap up to the stranger’s and he flinches. Sparks fly off my hand and shoot towards him, singing his shirt. He yelps as his skin burns, his eyes narrowing.What the hell?I glance at my hand in confusion, and fear, before looking back at him. His amethyst irises dissolve as the entirety of each eye turns black, smoke puffing out of his nose.
“Oh my gods.” I whisper. My feet scrape against the forest floor as I take a step back, my breath lodged in my throat. I take another step back and trip, sending me flying onto the ground. I catch myself with my arm as he crowds over me. Enzo just watches and waits. Patient and calm. I want to slap him.
“That wasn’t nice.” Hegrowlsand I can almost feel the blood drain from my face. He crouches down, his face inches from mine and I freeze. His hand grabs my face, his thick fingers squeezing my cheeks. The light edging my vision fades as I hold my breath, as my limbs shake with fear. His breath cascades over me. A scent that is all-consuming and suffocating. His skin is rippling as if it’s moving on its own accord. A lavender glow spreads across his face and down his neck before disappearing under his tunic. The beast…
“Oh gods.” I whisper again.
“Alright, Nithe, she gets it.” Enzo interjects with a sigh before putting his hand on Nithe’s shoulder, but he doesn’t move.Nithe. That’s his name.
“She doesn’t get to fuck around with magic and not understand the consequences. Do you know what you just did?” He snaps. I attempt to shake my head, but his grip keeps me still. My gaze locks onto his. “Your aether could have stopped my heart. You could have accidentally killed me without a second thought.”
“I don’t understand.” My strained voice trembles as my gaze moves to his chest. To the heart I can almost see beating under its cage of muscle and skin. “I’m sorry.” My eyes move back to his and I feel a single tear escape, trailing down my cheek. The black eyes staring at me fade back into white and amethyst, taking the glow under his skin with them. He releases my face, my skin almost burning where it had been touching his. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright, Elaenor.” Enzo says, pushing Nithe away from me.
“I don’t know how it happened. I don’t know how to control it or even whatitis.” I admit, ignoring Enzo’s outstretched hand and standing on my own.
“Aether is an extension of your will. It is something witches have, which is what you and your mother are. Yours happens to manifest as lightning or whateverthatis.” Enzo explains, his voice emotionless.
“Lightning.” I mimic with a whisper. “I don’t understand.” Nithe sighs in annoyance and I spin to look at him. “Hey!” I yell, putting my hands on my hips.
“Yes,Your Grace?” He mocks with a bow.
“As of yesterday, I had no idea that I could do this. I don’t even know what to think. I am confused. I am tired. I am inpain. And I am beyond exhausted with men thinking they can treat me like absolute trash and get away with it. If my husband can’t—”
“Your husbandcould. And he did,littlewitch. You let him walk all over you and treat you as a common whore and not a queen. Don’t expect others tonot treat you the same, because theywilluntil you prove to them you deserve otherwise.” My mouth hangs open like a fish and my brain empties as I stare at this impossibly gorgeous man who called me a whore and said I deserved respect all in the same breath. “Close your mouth and move, I’d like to sleep in my own bed tonight.” He finishes before turning away and stomping back to the clearing.
“Look, we all got off on the wrong foot. There is a lot you don’t know and a lot we have to explain, but the longer we stand out here, the worse our chances of escaping are. We aren’t safe until we cross into Rakushia, and we have to make it across The Delaquar first. So please,” his fingers graze mine and I rip my hand away. “Please, just come with us.” His brows furrow as he looks at me. I’ve seen him before but having him here in person is different. And I can’t help but feel like he looks like someone else I know.
