Blue Flames

Chapter 75

My magic was back.

I knew the moment it happened. Unfortunately, I could not access it and I could not feel the bond.

I hoped the assholes outside would give me more time, I hoped Arthur would somehow burst into the cell like a knight in shining armor- and wouldn't that thought amuse him?- but after a few hours, the two fae I'd become familiar with opened the door and approached me.

"What's that?" I asked when I spotted a syringe in their hand.

"Not silver," the fae replied, sticking the needle in my neck. My heart beat in my ears and my head grew heavy.

Darkness.

Drowning.

I struggled, breathing in water instead of air. My lungs screamed. Then my head was pulled over the water.

Coughing and struggling for breath, I looked at the one eyed bastard crouching in front of me. He waved away the vampire holding the bucket of water where my head had been submerged. A white bandage covered Rami's left eye.

"Are you fully awake, my lady?"

Buzzing. My chest exploded with so many emotions, it was difficult to keep my face from betraying it. The bond. It was alive again. My magic was there, but I was too disoriented to get a hold on it.

After I caught my breath, I gave Rami a sweet smile. "Very much awake. The white bandage is a nice touch. You're almost tolerable with one eye, if you let me take out the other, you might just have a chance."

His right eye twitched. He straightened and pulled out a knife from an arm sheath. He was armed, unusual, with a sword on his back and a sheath on his arm. His black t-shirt and cargo pants looked odd after always seeing him in semi formal clothing.

He moved to the side, where Noah was chained to a chair just like me. He was still unconscious, his head lolled to the side. He looked like he lost half his weight. His cheekbones stood out in his face, his scars more pronounced than usual, and his eyes framed by dark shadows. A vampire held a knife to his throat. And similar to Noah, another vampire behind me pressed something cold and burning to my neck.

Beyond Rami, I could see we were no longer in our tiny cell. The room stretched before me, a massive hall almost the size of a football field.

"The phoenixes. Now." Rami's words dragged my attention back to the witch.

I opened my mouth, thinking of an excuse to stall, when Rami grinned savagely and stabbed his knife in Noah's shoulder.

Noah's eyes shot open with a snarl. He struggled, the chair and the chains barely holding him in place. Rami stepped back from the wolf, looking worried for a second that Noah would shift right then and there and tear into him.

The vampire pressed the knife into Noah's neck. He stilled, breathing heavily. He glanced at his bloody shoulder, at me, then fixed his intense gaze on Rami.

The witch looked at me. "The phoenix. And the bird better arrive within twenty minutes. Otherwise, your friend will lose his life."

"Then you won't have any leverage against me," I told him.

He chuckled. "Oh, I think I will be able to find some. You do care for the innocent, after all. Human children are so very easy to kidnap."

Bastard. I wanted to punch his smug face in so much, I could almost feel his bones breaking under my fist.

Damn it. I could feel Arthur reaching out through the bond. A storm of darkness and rage and fear. I tried my best to soothe the bond and began searching for the one I shared with the phoenixes. It had always been there, but after being disoriented from the silver, it took me a while to find it.