Page 22 of Burdened Bonds
“Retreated,” the soldier says, puffing out his chest. “Right back to the border.”
I glance at Azlan.
Is that true? They took us by surprise, bypassed our forces at the border on fucking dragons. They’ve left the council building utterly destroyed. Their forces overwhelmed the academy. Why the hell would they retreat? They were on the verge of taking control of the republic.
I’m guessing my friend also smells a rat.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” he growls.
I smirk at him. “Wait just one moment,” I whisper, then turn my head in the commander’s direction. “Who’s ordered all men to report in? The chancellor?” I call to him.
“The chancellor has been arrested. The Lord Protector is in charge now.” Lord Protector? I glance at my friend in alarm. “We’ve been instructed by the Lord Protector to assume anyone who disobeys an order is an enemy of the republic and to arrest them. We can answer your questions later.”
“Who has given that order?” I try next.
“Put your hands up or we’ll shoot!” he yells.
“Enough talking,” Azlan says, sweeping his hand through the air and sending an explosion of magic crashing towards the men. It explodes all around them, swallowing them up in a cloud of smoke and dust and we don’t delayany longer, we hit the gas, and skid away. Bullets and magic alike hurtle around us, whistling over our heads, one brushing my shoulder, another my cheek.
“Shit,” I groan. Does this make us fucking fugitives? And who the hell is the Lord Protector?
I yank harder on the accelerator as we weave through the city. In the distance, we spot a line of men made up of city officials and two of the chancellor’s enforcers marching behind a group of security forces. I wonder where they are being taken and why.
My chest tightens.
Guilt.
Am I doing the right thing? Leaving these magicals – our countrymen to their fate – while I head off to rescue my girl? Is that the right thing to do? But, unlike my friend, I’ve never been a hero, never pretended to do the right thing. Until Rhianna, the only person I cared about – the only person’s welfare and preservation that concerned me – was my own.
Now I have Rhianna. And I don’t care if it’s morally corrupt, I don’t give a shit if it’s selfish, I’m going to help her at the expense of every other person in this whole wide world.
9
Tristan
Ellie thrusts a glassof something into my hands.
“Drink this,” she says and I blink, pulling myself out of my dark thoughts. I’m sitting in an armchair in the den with no idea how I got here, Ellie’s kind face hovering in front of mine. “It’ll make you feel better.”
It’s eerily quiet out there now. No more booms and blasts of exploding magic. Does that mean it’s over? Does that mean we won? Or did we lose?
“What is it?” I ask, my voice hella croaky. “A potion?”
“Alcohol,” she says, smirking, “I broke into your dad’s liquor cabinet.”
I sniff the amber-colored liquid. Bourbon. “Fuck, Ellie. This is probably from his priceless collection.”
Ellie shrugs, sinking into the armchair next to mine andholding a glass of her own up in the air. “To your mom,” she says, before taking a large gulp.
I hesitate, then lift my glass too. “To mom,” I say, peering into the liquid and then taking a long draw. The alcohol stings the back of my throat, but it’s welcome, helping to pull me even further from the darkness I’d been falling into.
“Do you know what you’re going to say to your dad?”
I drag my hand over my face. No. No, I don’t. And I’m beginning to think I did the wrong thing waiting behind to talk to him when I should be out searching for Rhi.
My dad has never shown any affection to my mom, not that I remember anyway, but I have to believe he cared for her, even if it were just a little. It only seems right that I am the one to break the news to him, rather than letting him find her cold body. However, the idea of telling him his wife is dead, dead because of me, has the darkness threatening to steal me again.
“I’ll find the words once he’s here.” And I’ll make sure he’s prepared to give her the funeral, the burial, she deserves. Even if I won’t be around to attend – news, I won’t be sharing.
