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Chapter 84

Chapter84
He looks down thehallwayoncemore,taking holdofmyarm,justabovemyelbow,asheforcesme along. After a moment, the airgrowscoolerand my chestfeelslikeaheavyweight has been liftedoffofit. I inhale sharply,my eyes closing,relishing thefreshcoolair that fills my lungs.
“Whatisshe doing out of hercage?”someoneasksand I snapmyeyesopentoseeJennifer standing in front of us, her hands on her hips, hereyesglowing like an ember in a waningcampfire.
“Move,” the guard with me grunts out, taking an imposingsteptoward her. She rolls hereyesand shifts her hips before she glances at me and backupathim,acuriousarchto her brow.
“No.” Sheinsists.“Nota chance in hell. She shouldn’t be out of her cell, Tieran.”
“The king wantedtoseeher andwhenhewasdone, he demanded I takeherback to her cell. Unless you think youarehigher ranking than him, I
Isuggestyoustepaside.”He bites out at her.She looks surprised, as her demeanor changes and she clearsherthroat, looking back down the way we came from.
“Heisawake?”Sheasks,soundingalittle worried.
“Ofcourseheis.”He snorts.
“And heisdown here? Why the hell is the king hiding in the depths of the mountain when he should be up-”
“The kinggoesand does as hepleases. He doesn’toweyou or anyone an explanation, so I suggest you stop questioning what he is doing and stepaside.”Hesays, pushing me forward.
“It’sjust that Giselle said…” she trails off foramoment and clears her throat. Her demeanor changes completelyasshe smooths her outfit out with her hands and steps to the side.“Carry on,”
Tieran frowns at her but ushers me along, looking over his shoulder before frowningashe turns me down a different hallway. He presses me into the wall, peeking around the corner forasecond, and then he hums in thought.
Itsobvious something is amiss,but with not knowing either of them well and having no desire to know them any better than I currently do, I keep my mouth shut.
“Doesshe not seem suspicious to you?”Heasks, absentmindedly.
“Uh,yes?”I give himaconfused look, and he blinks down at me like he forgot itwaseven squished between him and the wall. Tieran takes a step back andclearshis throat before looking around the new hallway.
“I need to follow her.” He frowns, he looks at me and groans in frustration. “Shit.”
“I can find mywayback,” I offer,and he chuckles under his breath.
“Yeah, and I’m a fucking fairy.” Heteasesashe walks me down the new hallway reluctantly.
“Why don’tyoutellheryou don’t trust the king?”Iask quietly, and he snorts. “She already expressed she doesn’t trust Giselle.”
Irecallthelasttime Iwasbeing tortured, and she was told that she was wanted upstairs. She threw a fit, and it seemed like she didn’t like the chosenmateof the king.Ifanything, he should work with Jennifer, not me, to figure out what it wrong with his king. Though, admittedly,Ialready know whatiswrong with his king.
He isunderthespell of Lily, and Giselleisusing him how shepleases.That’s what she does. She manipulates everything and everyone to her whim.Forwhat?Well,thatisthe question I amstilltrying to work out.Yes, they want mebecauseI am a hybrid, but why do they keep me alive?
“Simple.” Hemutters,“I don’ttrustJennifer either.”
Iscoff,shockedbythelackof trust in the kingdomwhereeveryone still fights for whattheyare told, even if they don’tagreewith it. Who thehellfights blindlyforsomething they don’tbelievein?
“Oh,and you thinkyoucantrust me?”Iaskhim,yanking my arm from his tight grip withascowl.
“I trustyourdesperation.” Hefrowns,reachingouttogiveme a nudge forward. I skirtawayfrom him with ahissand hesmirks.
“Why doyoukeepdoing that? I’mwalking!”Igrowlat him and hebreaksinto a full–blown smile.
“Toensureyourememberwho is bosshere.”Heshrugs.“And it’s amusing to watch you huff andthrowa fit.”
I blink at him forasecondconfused,is hebeingfriendly with me?Well,asfriendlyasadragon can be?Becausehis smilesandshovingfeelweirdlyfamilial.
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Chapter84
“HowaboutwegettowhatyouwantfrommesowecanstrikeourdealandIcanleavethisliteralhell hole.”Isay, tryingtocalmmyselfsohedoesn’tgettheenjoymentofwatchingmegetangrier.
Helooks around frantically,then trains his annoyedgazeonme.
“Watchyour volume,” he hisses at herashis name echoes down the stone walls. Hefreezes, his body going rigid as he looks around. He grabs mebythe back of the neck, making megaspout in pain.
But he is too distracted rushing down the halltocareabout what he is doing to me. We twist and turn down the halls; the air growing colder and damp untilwefinally break into the prisoncellareaagain.
“Someoneiscalling your name,”Iwhisper,and he nodsinacknowledgement.
“I amawareof that.” He grumbles,shoving me into mycell. I stumble, trippingovermy feet asIgrunt and land on the hard ground. I spin to scowl up at himjustasJennifer comes running in,out of breath, like she had been chasing us.
Tieran turns and looks ather,arching a brow like he hadn’t been expecting her.
“Areyou looking for me?” Heasksher and she grins.
“It’s time to punish them,” she grins. “The king himself said I could takeitas far as I need to in order to make this one do what we want.”
Jennifer’seyesland on me with an eerily giddy grin.
“You think the other one can handle more? She is healing much slower these days.” He reminds her and she rolls hereyes.
“You no longer outrank me prince Tieran, so how about instead of questioning me, you round the bitches up and bring them to the torture room, okay?”she pats him on the chestasIwatch in awe. Prince Tieran? Yet he is stuck down here, escorting prisoners around like a lowly prison guard.
Jennifer prances off like a kid, excited about getting their wayasshe goes to wait for Tieran to bring me and my mom back to her to do whatever the hell she wants to get me to cooperate.
Heturns and sighs, moving to unlock my mother’scagefirst. As she walks past me with her head held high, she meets my gaze,reminding me of what she told me earlier. To just cooperate so that Merikh at least knows I am missing.
When Tieran walks back for me after delivering my mom to the other room, I look around and then up at him.
“Prince?”Iwhisper and he frowns, looking away.
“Thatwasalong time ago,” He sighs. “I questioned my father’s judgment, and now I am working my way back up to his side.”
“And how does offering to help megetyou there?” Iask, meandering.
“I’m notsureyet…” Hesaysin a hushed tone.
Then he pushes me through the iron door and into the room that smells of blood and stale dirt. My body shivers involuntarily as I look at my mother strung up, preparing for the pain.
“Ah, the lady of the hour. I have thisspeciallittle chair for you.” She grins, pointing to a silver chair. “Come,havea seat…”
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