Queen of Midnight

Chapter Sixteen.

It had been hours since we last saw Anthony, which was good because I could feel my ribs slowly starting to heal. Terk's stab wound had all but closed over now, which relieved me as it was my fault in the first place, but we were both trying to keep our spirits high.

"I'm trying to connect to my magic," I was saying to him, "but I just feel like it's gone. Ever since he took that gemstone from me... I feel useless. Why was I given power I can't even use?"

"It's not your fault, Rhea," Terk assured me with a sad smile. "You were never given enough time to practice; even if you had been given the gemstone sooner, it still wouldn't have helped you when you had to go without. Don't blame yourself, okay? There's nothing you could have done differently."

"I just wish you didn't get pulled into this with me," I muttered, my head sagging as my eyes drooped to the ground. "At least if I was here alone, I wouldn't have to worry about anyone else."

"Except there'd be one more person to worry about you and not be able to do anything," he shot back. "At least I know that you're here, and you're alive. I can't imagine what James is going through right now."

I sighed in longing at the sound of my mate's name. We had just sealed our bond together before all this happened; I missed him now more than ever, and it was physically paining me to be so far away from him for so long. I just wanted him to barge through that door and save us. I wanted it all to be over.

"I think he's coming back," Terk muttered under his breath, and I lifted my head quickly at his words. Sure enough, the door to the cellar opened and Anthony walked in, slowly this time as if he was trying to pace himself.

"What?" I asked finally, impatient with the lack of conversation in the room. If I didn't know why he was here, I got anxious.

"There's been a change of plan," Anthony announced finally, and I blanched. I couldn't tell if it was a good thing or a bad, but judging by his expression, this seemed bad. "You, my dear little flower, must remain here. It's time us guys have a chat, one on one."

My eyes widened as two tall, beefy looking men walked into the room behind Anthony and moved over to Terk. They wrestled with his chains until he was down from the wall, and didn't stop or anything before they were dragging him out the door and he was gone. I felt a sudden pang of emptiness, like my last chance of keeping sane had just left me.

"Sit tight, dear," Anthony crooned, and in a flash, he was gone too. I tried not to panic, but it was hard. What were they going to do to him?

It was quiet for an awfully long time, but I knew what I was waiting for. I flinched at the first scream, and was shaking uncontrollably by the fifth. Tears were pouring down my cheeks by the twentieth, and sobs wracked my body as I finally lost count. It was the worst I had ever felt in my entire life, and I just wanted it all to go away.

"James," I whispered between sobs, my eyes screwed closed as I pictured his face in my mind. "Please. I can't do this."

I felt a sudden cold flash of energy shoot through my body and I gasped in shock, looking around frantically to see where it came from. The room was still empty, but I could feel a strange buzz resting in my body that definitely wasn't there before. A sharp pain jabbed in my heart for a second, and then, it was all over. I let out a breath of air I didn't know I was holding and blinked in disbelief. What was that? What just happened?

The door to the room opened and Terk was suddenly shoved in roughly. I flinched at the suddenness of it and watched as he fell forward and landed on the rough stones, his body shaking and covered in blood.