Page 16 of Elysian

She pointed inside my cell. Nestled against the bottom bolt was a sliver of stone that angled into a small point. I reached for it and held it in the palm of my hand. The tip was a bit blunt, but it would have to do.

“Hold your arm out,” I ordered. Hester stretched her arm out, and I took her wrist. “This will hurt.”

I poised the sharp tip against the inside of her forearm and pressed. Hester turned her head away, screwing her face with pain. Blue blood bubbled around the stone, and I pulled it out. Squinting, I eyed the distance between them, not wanting to space the punctures incorrectly.

I tugged at the button holding my coat together and stretched the front of my dress outward. The two scabbed up punctures remained on the swell of my breast. I let her wrist go and used my fingers to measure the length and returned to her arm, stabbing the second hole an appropriate distance from the first.

She hissed, scrunching her eyes tightly together. Both crude wounds dripped blood.

“Close enough,” I mumbled. “At least if they feel like you’re keeping him alive, they will not take you away.” And kill her for knowing too much. I kept that to myself.

“I do not think it matters anymore,” she whispered. “Since Nocturn, none of the feeders have been allowed to leave our chambers. Branwen and Vera managed to slip out for a brief moment. They said they saw you, but it was not you.”

“I hoped to keep all of you out of it.”

She frowned and leaned her forehead against the bar. “I want to return home.”

“You . . .” My promise stuck in my throat. I looked over at Piper in her cell, sleeping. I had made her many promises, and now she was . . .

“They will not let them leave.”

I gave Cassiel a pointed glare, and he put his hands up.

“Is that true?” Hester asked, serious. My gaze trailed to Piper again. “Is that your wraithling?”

My lip twitched with the urge to tremble, but I bit down on it.

“There is a lot to explain,” I stalled, dreading that it would tear apart everything she knew as truth.

“We have nothing but time.”

I nodded curtly and began to tell her of the lies the realms had been living under. The designations and the true roles each of us had. I covered the hatred for redbloods and the council utilizing hosts.

Cassiel was attentive to my words, receiving the only explanation I’d uttered since I first tried to explain everything to him and he had me tossed into the pit. His expression only tightened with each word that came from me. To the point that he seemed close to shattering.

We had to work together to escape, but at this moment, I did not want to engage with him.

He left me too unsteady.

I let out a slow breath and repeated all the information Al had offered.

CHAPTER SIX

Stubborn Warlord

The entire time I had spoken with Hester, Cassiel had been notably still. With every revelation, he seemed to draw straighter as if a tether tugged his spine. I did my best to avoid turning his direction despite feeling his stare fixated on me.

“So the council created this society to benefit them,” Hester muttered. “And they poisoned His Highness through us, his food source?” Horror creased her features.

With her saying the words, a smidgen of pity stirred. I peeked over at Cassiel. He had just learned how fully he had been used.

Our gazes snagged.

“You were a fool,” I murmured, the words almost a whisper.

All he offered me was a slow blink.

They painted the facade just for him. Vaner made him believe the only two people he cared for were taken from him, both by redbloods. As much of a fool as he was, I could not deny it was difficult to place the entire blame on him. After all, the rest of the population had lived within the system for centuries.