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“How did you cross the veil?”
“I have no idea. I didn’t even know it was possible until Kaia told me where I was.”
“That’s because it isn’t possible.”
“Apparently it is.” Elora’s chin ticks up. “Unless I really am dead and this is some kind of nightmare I can’t wake up from.”
The hope behind her words is so strong I can scent it on the air, and my brows draw together.
“Whatever you think I am, whatever you think I’ve done, you’re wrong. Three days ago I was a normal woman hunting a deer for dinner. Then I woke up locked in a tower with people telling me absurd things about power in my blood and being trapped in the Shadow Realm.”
She tries to move away from me, but my power holds her in place. Rage darkens her eyes to emeralds.
“Let go of me.”
A smirk ghosts my lips, my eyes tracing down the column of her throat and catching on the rapid flutter of her pulse. I have to stop myself from leaning down and pressing my lips to it.
Fuck, I cannot give in to this hold she has over me.
I release her from my power so quickly she stumbles back a step, and I’m across the room before she can blink.
“Where are you going?” she demands.
“I will get to the bottom of who you are and how you crossed into my lands without my permission. Until I do, you will stay here where I can keep an eye on you.”
“You said I wasn’t a prisoner,” she shouts.
“I said nothing of the kind. Kaia does not give orders here. My word is law.”
Ignoring Elora’s protests, I step out on the landing and seal the door behind me. The sooner I find out who she is and why she might have an effect on my realm, the sooner I can be rid of her. And I desperately want to be rid of her.
Chapter Ten
I pace the circumference of my tower room, trailing my fingertips over the smooth stone as I go. There isn’t much to do holed up in this place. I haven’t even been left with a book to read or parchment to write on. In the rare moments I’m not seething with anger at being held prisoner, I’m bored out of my fucking mind.
Every few hours, a tray of food materializes on the table, despite the fact I’ve yet to eat more than a few bites of any meal. Kaia typically appears sometime between breakfast and midday, though it’s impossible to tell exactly what time of day it is without windows.
I pause between two torches and stare at the wall. Sometimes I swear I can feel a ripple on the air when I pass by certain spots in my wandering. Like maybe there should be windows where I see only solid black.
I press my hand to the stone, and it feels cooler than the area around it. But maybe that’s my mind playing tricks on me. I keep hoping I’m dreaming. That I’ll wake up from this nightmare and laugh about it all. I don’t want any of this to be real, despite Kaia’s continued insistence it is.
She should arrive soon for her daily visit. Part of me dreads it, and part of me has begun to look forward to it. She is my only source of contact, even if I refuse to engage much with her.
After she finishes imploring me to eat more than a few mouthfuls, she spends the better part of an hour asking me questions I refuse to answer until she sighs, apologizes about her lack of progress with Thieran, and leaves again.
On her first visit, she assured me Meera was being cared for by someone in Rhagana. That, at least, brings me a small measure of comfort.
It feels silly to miss a horse as much as I miss Meera, but I don’t have any friends. Meera has been the only constant in my life for a long time. I move around far too often to form any sort of bond with people, and even if I didn’t, trust does not come easy to me. I’ve been betrayed far too many times.
I’ve yet to meet someone who would not stab me in the back and step over my corpse in order to get what they wanted. Gods and mortals alike.
If I ever had happy memories, I can’t remember them. From the time my parents were killed until I decided to take my fate into my own hands, everyone I trusted to love and protect me did exactly the opposite.
Life became much easier to survive when I began expecting the worst of people. When you already expect the worst, no one can let you down.
I hear the shuffle of feet on the stairs moments before power shimmers over the door and the locks give way. Kaia knocks before she enters with a hopeful smile on her face.
“You look well today,” she says. It’s the same thing she’s said every day for the last three. “Have you eaten?”
