Page 126 of Ashes and Lilies
Maybe I could give them something else.
I went to speak again, but this time Daniel placed his hand over my mouth.
I could finally see his face through the shadows and flickering lights. His brow was wrinkled in worry, and his lips twisted in contemplation. “She’s panicking already,” he said, glancing at the others. “Give me something to gag her with—I wouldn’t even trust the promise of a fae in something like this.”
The roaring sound of Finn’s obscenities echoed through the room as Daniel—so quickly I could hardly protest—shoved the gag in my mouth.
Speech was my last resort—the only way I could protest—and I squeezed my eyes shut as it was ripped away.
I hadn’t expected them to tie me down. Now I had only one chance. I could only hope that Finn had been incorrect in his assumption about the spell’s success.
My attention wandered in my panic, and as a butcher top island was wheeled into view beside me, I couldn’t look away from the display of various cutlery.
My heart raced and dots swam in my vision. It was too late. The boys weren’t going to make it in time.
I was going to die.
Rough hands grabbed at my wrists, and the manacles that’d been holding back my abilities were removed. Still, it didn’t matter. Even though the buzzing shock stopped pulsating down my arms, I couldn’t get free.
My face was wet as they pulled at my arms and tied my hands down at my side. My shoulder pounded in tandem with my heart, but I couldn’t feel anything besides the choking threatening to suffocate me.
“Bianca!” Finn’s voice broke through the haze, and I blinked at him. His eyes met mine before he turned to one of the witches at the side of the table closest to him.
“Hey, asshole.” Finn moved elegantly for someone who’d only just been tossed around. His arms were still bound behind him, his power restrained, but it didn’t stop him from lowering his chest as his victim turned and faced him.
“Don’t forget about me,” he said and slammed his head against the hooded man.
They both fell to the ground.
There was a stunned pause as everyone stopped—their focus on the two of them. Finn sat up, shaking his head, while the witch also rose, his hood falling down his back.
“What the hell?” The chestnut-haired witch bemoaned with a grimace as he touched his head. “You’re crazy.”
“That’s right, you fucker,” Finn replied, smirking. “You’re dead.” He didn’t seem to care very much about the line of blood dripping from his own wound.
He’d been hurt.
The knot in my chest loosened slightly. I couldn’t seem to look away from it—that was, until Daniel Cole, standing at my shoulder, looked between us. I could still make out his features in the flickering lights.
“Nice try,” he told Finn. “But that’s another reason why we’ve tied her up. I don’t trust you at all.”
Finn frowned, and my heart slammed as, even though I could now pull against my restraints, I remained helpless.
“I was going to see if your brother cared about you very much, but now I have more incentive to kill you later,” Daniel replied. “But right now, I’m busy.” He looked at the witch that Finn had attacked and, without missing a beat, the man stood, picked up the handle of what appeared to be a broken axe from a pile of rubble, and slammed it against Finn’s temple.
I screamed through the gag as Finn collapsed onto the floor. But, as pressing as the scene before me was, my fear and struggles turned inward as, before I could further protest, Daniel took a knife and sliced it down the length of my dress.
The arm air brushed across my exposed chest and navel, but—unlike his friends—Daniel did not pause to gawk at the mark on my breast. My attention was captured by the gnarly knife in his hands, and my pulse roared as he grabbed my chin.
No.
My thoughts protested, screaming, as my vision whirled through the room. Finn was unconscious and would probably die. Although, maybe not, because Damen was surely on his way. He’d be here any second, right?
Hopefully, he’d be able to save his brother.
It would be too late for me.
A foreboding weight began to fill the room, and my skin prickled from the feel of the magic pressing in around me. The witches were speaking—chanting—but the words were unfamiliar and distant.
