Page 63 of Realm of Wind and Vines
I’m just about to slam him with my own magic when Gremar lurches towards Bane as if to protect him, which is when I realize that I didn’t tell him that he couldn’t help Bane after the trap had already been sprung. Panic shoots up my spine, and I shove my magic into the dragon steel around Gremar’s wrist instead.
“Don’t move!” I blurt out.
He immediately stops halfway through a stride. I suck in a breath of relief. It’s followed by a sense of wicked satisfaction. All my life, other people have been ordering me around. Everyone from the dragon shifters who patrol our court to the master of the Fishing Guild to the leaders of the fae resistance to random strangers in town who simply want their own needs met. So to have this kind of absolute power over someone, where they obey my every word, feels shockingly good.
“Selena,” Orion snaps.
Giving my head a quick shake, I yank myself out of that weird feeling and once more focus on the problem at hand. Gremar is still standing there, frozen mid-step, but Emperor Bane has staggered several steps to the side. And not the side that we want him to be on.
Summoning my magic again, I shove it at the flame of fear in his chest.
I jerk back in shock when it isn’t there. The memories that Orion shows people usually involve fear in some way.
Quickly releasing that emotion, I shove several more at his chest until something sticks. To my surprise, the one that I find blazing in his chest when he watches those memories is despair. Latching on to that black flame, I start pouring even more magic into it.
Bane sucks in an unsteady breath and stumbles. I force more magic into him, turning that black flame of despair into a raging wildfire that is big enough to consume his whole body.
His knees buckle.
Somewhere outside, a dragon roars.
Part of me, an incredibly big part of me, still thinks that we should just kill him now while we have the chance. But Draven said that if we kill Bane, Jessina will feel him die through their mate bond. And then, all bets are off. Apparently, if we kill him before we’ve been able to trap or at least neutralize Jessina, the final thin thread of her restraint is going to snap completely and she is going to fly straight over the Seelie Court and kill every single person in the city with her ice flames.
So instead of shoving my dagger into Bane’s throat, which is what I really want to do, I simply keep pouring my magic into him while Orion grabs his now trembling body and starts hauling him towards the portal on his right.
The Unseelie King said that everything was ready on the other side, so I turn towards Gremar instead. But in order to command him through the dragon steel, I need to first sever myconnection to Bane. Glancing over my shoulder, I find Orion shoving him in through the portal. There should be soldiers waiting in there to help their king, so he should be fine with just his own magic for a few seconds.
Cutting off the magic to Bane, I spin back to face Gremar. His body is shaking slightly, and sweat rolls down his temple, as he has to strain his muscles to keep the unnatural pose that my previous order trapped him in.
“Now, you are going to lead Jessina through this portal as well,” I begin. “Without her finding out that it is a trap and without helping her in anyway.”
He just glares back at me in silence.
That’s when I realize that the order not to move is still in effect. I cast another stressed look back at where Orion is waiting for me to come and help him while I quickly flick through those orders floating at the back of my mind. Once I find the one that prevents Gremar from moving, I imagine myself snuffing out those glowing words the way I would a candle.
Gremar immediately staggers forward and then straightens properly.
“I will kill you for this,” he growls at me, and the utter fury in his brown eyes informs me that he means every word of that.
But he can’t do anything else, because I ordered him to go and get Jessina now, so he simply spins on his heel and stalks back out the door.
Once he’s gone, I dart through the portal.
On the other side, I find a dungeon filled with chaos. Grey is standing right next to me, keeping the portal open. But across the rough stone floor, Orion and four guards are trying to shove Bane into a sturdy chair that has been bolted to the floor, but the emperor is fighting back even though he is still trapped in his memories as well.
Summoning my magic, I slam it into his chest.
Something almost like a sob of hopelessness rips from histhroat, and his body goes limp, as I turn that black flame of despair into a raging wildfire again. Orion and his soldiers at last manage to shove him into the chair and shackle him to it.
The Unseelie King flicks his long dark blue hair back behind his shoulder and turns to arch an eyebrow at me. “Selena, how nice of you to finally join us.”
“I had to order Gremar to get Jessina,” I reply, giving him a pointed look back.
He clicks his tongue but doesn’t argue, since he knows that I would need to cut the flow of my magic to do that and therefore couldn’t help him with Bane this past minute.
I glance back at the portal that Grey is still keeping open.
When Draven and the others see Gremar returning for Jessina, they will know that the plan is on track and will start making their way back to the portal as well so that they can ambush Jessina when she gets here while Orion and I focus on keeping Bane down.
