Page 215

Zeke’s parents nodded, and Ardvaen squeezed Lymsrana’s hand as she clung to his arm. Ezra’s mother remained silent behind her husband. She hadn’t moved once, and I wondered if she was unwell.

“Today we will show our people that we take every necessary measure to ensure the future of Elyrdin remains safe.” He motioned to the guards. “Take her to the altar. We will be done with this and get our answers. I have nothing more to say to the human, and I will not risk further corruption from her illusions.”

The council members turned, following Cornaith.

Only when they moved to the sides did I notice what waited for me in the center of the clearing.

A massive black stone slab mounted on an ornate pillar dominated the clearing’s center. Colorful gemstones glittered its edge. Chains anchored at the head and foot spilled to the ground, coiling beside the pillar. Shackles waited on its surface.

I jerked in their hold.

Once they put me on that slab, I knew I wouldn’t get out of Cholian alive.

Their grip tightened as I twisted, my panicked gaze darting to the guys. “Please don’t do this! I didn’t trick you!”

Zeke stepped forward, but Cyn grabbed his arm and pulled him back, whispering something that drained the color from his face. When Zeke looked at Cornaith, the anguish on his face told me he couldn’t help me—not if he wanted to survive Cornaith’s wrath.

I looked at Ash and opened my mouth to speak when I saw him trembling, locked in a soldier’s stance, but no sound came out.

They’d bound my vocal cords with magic again.

“Enough with the dramatics,” Zeke’s father said. “Restrain her.”

I kicked, thrashed, and fought to break free, but a human’s strength didn’t match a Shyrlivi’s—transformed or not.

When they shackled me to the table, I stared at the thick clouds, tears warming my temples as they slid into my hair.

One thing made this situation easier to digest… The guys were free.

I’d never been free.

I lived as a prisoner of my mind, convinced I was going insane like Mom and Grandma. Even knowing the truth, I still felt like a prisoner of circumstance. My aunt and uncle’s control over Grandma kept me bound to their rules just to see her. I couldn’t remember a time I felt free to be myself without fear of what lurked in the shadows.

At least I wouldn’t need to fight anymore.

52

EPIPHANY

ASH

Watching the palace guards bind Rae’s wrists and ankles to the sacrificial slab Cornaith had commissioned turned my stomach.

The council had never executed someone this way.

Ezra said Cornaith wanted a grand display—both to warn anyone who thought to challenge the council and to show the people of Elyrdin he would protect them, enacting swift revenge on anyone who dared threaten its future.

She wanted to speak to me.

They bound her voice again. I saw it in her panicked eyes.

It took everything in me not to break rank and sever the arms of the guards holding her.

As soon as they brought Rae into view, the triplets combined their power to trap the four of us inside an invisible barrier. The council wasn’t taking chances on whether we’d act or not—not with the live broadcast.

It was a good thing they enclosed us.

The minute Cyn saw the state she was in, his eyes had flooded with obsidian, ready to transform and eliminate the threat to her. No matter how much he protested his connection to her, his soul recognized the truth I stopped denying.