Page 132 of The War of Wings
No thoughts filtered back to me.
“Where is Cal?” I demanded through a tight jaw.
His head cocked, his brows furrowing. It was a look of confusion so genuine, I almost dared believe it. “Cal?”
“Where is he, Malosym?”
Slowly, his brows rose, his eyes crinkling, until there was no sign of his signature smirk. No, a jagged bolt of dread speared straight through my chest as that smirk was replaced by a sinister smile. “You thought I’d be returning Cal?”
My already shallow breathing stopped completely, the residual heat in my hands quickly dying. Frozen in place, I searched the wicked delight gleaming in Malosym’s eyes. He had to return Cal. What else was important enough to me that I’d willingly walk into the monster’s den?
With a flick of his wrist, Malosym was no longer alone, because standing next to him was Lieutenant Miles Landgrave.
Chapter 52
Petra
Miles’ eyes were still that familiar shade of midnight, but a blue light gleamed in the centers of his pupils. They were locked on me, but he didn’t see his friend, his queen. He saw an enemy. Prey. He didn’t speak. He didn’t move. He simply stared, his features hardened and empty.
I tore my eyes from Miles’ familiar face that now belonged to a stranger. I wanted to demand answers from Malosym, ask him why and how. But I knew why and didn’t need to know how. Malosym was how.
“Where. Is. Cal?” I repeated my question again, but this time my words were laced with so much venom, they stung when I spoke them.
“Why would I have any idea where he is? He became all but useless to me the moment he laid eyes on you. Pathetic, lovelorn bastard.” My nails bit into my palms as he spoke. “You know, I’d actually been aiming for Cal back in Eserene. Imanaged just to nick his head. Not enough for my power to latch on to. I suppose it was my own fault for missing him. I’d encouraged all that training for the Royal Guard. Must’ve made him quicker than the training his brother received for the Cabillian military. But it wasn’t too big a kink in my plans. You keep them both close.” He stared over at Miles as if he were admiring his own work. “He is an extension of me, a fragment of my power outside my own body. A beautiful, beautiful thing.”
“Miles,” I tried, my voice firm. He had to be in there somewhere, just like Ludovicus had been when his soul had been sacrificed to the Sanguilite. “Snap out of it, Miles.”
“There is nothing for him tosnap out of. His soul is long gone.”
Unless he’d sacrificed Miles’ soul to the Sanguilite, I refused to believe his soul was anywhere else but right here. Maybe it was hiding beneath the rot and decay, but it was here, and I could heal him.
I reached for the blade at my thigh, cursing when I remembered I’d left it sheathed on my nightstand, forgoing all weapons. My eyes landed on a chalky-white seashell half-buried in the sand, and I snatched it up, pressing it between my thumbs until it cracked down the middle. One quick slash of its sharpened edge against my palm and I was stepping forward.
Malosym didn’t protest. He simply observed. “Come on, Miles,” I whispered, resting my bloodied palm against his cheek. “You’re still in there. I know it. You need to get back to Cielle, remember? And your brother, Cal. Remember them?”Where the fuck was Cal?
“Do you want to hear about the moment I knew he no longer belonged to himself?” Malosym asked from beside me. “The moment I knew he belonged to me?”
I didn’t fucking care what Malosym had to say. I reached for Miles’ hands, smearing my blood across each of his palmsbefore I moved on to the little strip of exposed skin at his neck. Something had to work. “Come on, Miles!”
“Who do you think was the one who secured me in my cell? Or, should I say, secured me just tight enough so I could slip out as soon as I had the power to do so.”
I stilled. My muscles went rigid. No.No.He’d…freed Malosym. Miles. He’d been the one to let Malosym go.
The realization resounded through me. Cal had been wrong. He’d been trusting and loving andwrong. Miles hadn’t been in complete control like Cal had assured me.
I stared at Miles, at the man who’d set fire to my entire plan, and waited for the hatred to bloom, for the animosity to take hold. But it didn’t. Not toward him, at least. The anger and resentment had bloomed and taken hold long ago with one target, one source of every ounce of pain I’d ever endured.
My movements resumed as I reached for Miles’ cheek again, his hands, his neck. Maybe my power would have a delayed effect like it had in Eserene. That was all this was. It was going to take a few minutes for Malosym’s power to leave Miles’ body.
But a low chuckle sounded from beside me. “Prove to her you’re no longer the man she knew.”
It was less than a second before Miles’ palms were against my shoulders and I was flying backwards, sailing through the air. My limbs flailed before the sand rushed up to meet me, my teeth slamming down on my tongue as I landed on my back with a hardthud. I clambered to my feet, blood filling my mouth as I found Miles’ stare no less blank than it had been before he’d laid his hands on me.
Malosym spoke to Miles, though he looked at me, his features pulled up in amusement. “Restrain her.”
All at once, Miles was charging toward me, his feet moving preternaturally quickly over the sand. He may no longer be the one inhabiting his body, but my heart couldn’t reconcile thatthis wasn’t Miles, couldn’t bring myself to conjure my flames against him.
He had no such qualms about me and his shoulder landed firmly in my chest as he took me to the ground. He was so much larger than I was, and even though my movements were still slowed by the shock coursing through me, it was clear his size was his biggest advantage. My blood still glistened on his face, taunting me as his hands closed around my wrists, his thighs squeezing my middle and pinning me to the sand.
