Page 37 of A Dance With Fire
Clay waved her concern off with a flick of his fingers. “He’s fine. You were saying?”
She stared at the spot where Ryker had stood, wondering what that had all been about. His magic filling her body…
“Today, Fire Dancer,” Valerio snapped.
Shula took a breath. “The emperor’s soldiers captured me and took me to the temple. They took me downstairs to catacombs. They had me bound in iron…”
“There was ashwood in your blood,” Valerio cut in.
“H-how did you know that?” She didn’t want to talk about that. She could tell them what went down in those dungeons, she could tell them about the brothers, the Fae slaves, all of it. But she couldn’t tell them about Fanny’s betrayal. She wasn’t ready to rip her soul out to these people just yet.
“Let’s just say Ryker has many talents in his repertoire. Continue.”
She grinded her teeth together. “They left me alone with Fae slaves and they were ceremonial about washing my body, combing my hair, and dressing me.” She swallowed and looked at the ground.
“What?” Valerio demanded with impatience.
Shula took a breath. She was braver than this, so she met his eyes. “The Fae women… their ears had been cut off.”
Clay made a sound of disgust. “The emperor’s work, no doubt. Fucking bastard.”
Shula was inclined to agree.
“They chained me to the ground, but I think… I think the women tried to help me, because they didn’t hammer the nail in all the way. Once they left, I tugged it out. I would have run, but they came in.”
“The emperor’s soldiers?” Clay’s voice was sympathetic.
Shula shook her head, her hair grazing along her cheeks “No, the Brotherhood.”
The three of them shared an indecipherable look and when Clay turned back, his brows were furrowed together. “What the fuck is the Brotherhood?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.” Shula’s hands tightened into fists. “Because the moment they arrived, they shoved something down my throat…”
“Ashwood,” Clay commented. Shula didn’t correct him.
“It burned. Then they chanted above a pentagram on the floor, and the symbols I was kneeling on lit up.” Talking about it now made her angry. It made her want vengeance, but she shoved those feelings away. It was better to forget any of it had happened. It was better to move on with her life and build herself anew where they would never find her again.
“What were these symbols?” Valerio asked.
So Shula explained. She explained each circle and the symbol within, the slashing line across the floor. Just talking about it made the wounds on her back ache, but she left that part out of her story. As she explained, she noticed the Fae men look to one another with a conspiratorial look. She wondered at that but continued to force her way through the story of the six brothers, how she’d slashed out and killed one and harmed the other before her escape.
“Why would the emperor want you alive and unharmed?” Valerio stroked his chin, his gaze assessing as it flicked over her body.
“To torture me himself, probably.” She’d heard the stories of what he was like. A hero to humans, a menace to Fae.
“No, this seems like a lot of trouble to go through for a simple fire Fae.”
The wounds on her back burned, but she didn’t mention them. They seemed personal, and if she told them, they’d want her to strip so they could see, and she wouldn’t be reduced even lower than she already had been.
“My turn to ask a question. How did you find me? I find it hard to believe it was a coincidence that you were all there at the same time as I was.”
“You’re right, it wasn’t a coincidence. A seer sent us. I am sure you know her. Davina?”
“Davina’s here?” Shula’s spine straightened and she twirled, looking through the trees as if she could somehow find Davina hiding among them. She couldn’t explain her relief. She and Davina hadn’t been close, but she’d shared a connection with the other Fae. She’d worried for a moment that the emperor’s soldiers had caught her as well, but if she was here with the Fae, that meant she was safe. Shula turned back to them. “Where is she?”
The three of them shared another look that sent a bad feeling coiling in her gut. “Where is she?” Shula repeated.
Clay took a step forward. “Maybe you should sit down, Fire Dancer…”
