Ezekiel Geimhreadh
A high-pitched scream tore through the dull roar that was blood rushing through my ears. The blinding rage that the offensive scent clinging to the jewel in my hand had decending over my senses slowly lifted to reveal my raised leg and the toppled chair that lay just beyond it.
Before I could lower it, a soft kick landed against my shin from a flailing foot.
The human sounding the screams that had my ears ringing was the one whose foot had struck me in its search for a solid landing. The one I had kicked out from under her.
Any sympathy I would have once felt for the desperate cries that reached my ears shrivelled up and died at the stinging press of the earring I held in my fist. The earring I had ripped out of her ear.
Lowering my foot back to the ground and out of the human's kicking range, my eyes dropped to the piece of jewellery I had clutched so tightly it cut into the palm of my hand. My blood joined the humans in smearing the jewel that had been gifted to my brother upon his birth. I had a matching one that my father pierced my ear with hours after my first cry had pierced the air outside my mother's womb. The protection glamour it held was crafted by his magic. Magic that I felt hum as it made contact with my blood. Magic recognizing the magic it had sired.
Lifting my eyes from my hand, I watched with a clenched jaw as the human struggled. While she jerked and pulled to make her pain worse, I took calming breaths through my teeth to avoid the scent of coppery decay that had me wanting to help her rip her arms free of her sockets like she seemed to be attempting to. I would let her go for as long as she wanted. I was a very patient man.
Depending on who you asked.
The human's lungs quickly ran out of air that her screams needed, turning her cries into gasps that zapped her energy and had her kicks slowing. Grunts and pitful whimpers escaped to replace her cries as she finally slowed her jerked attempts to free herself. Instead, loosening her stiff muscles, she let her dangling body go limp.
As she slowed to a gentle swing, the soft creak of the chain supporting her weight filled the air under her harsh pants. Instead of fighting, physically or verbally, she stayed still and quiet, struggling to catch her breath while her eyes shifted between Cedric, Marin, and me. Although they appeared unfocused at times, they knew how to spot danger. It's why her gaze didn't stray far from mine before inevitably returning.
The recognition that had flashed in the depths of her dark eyes when they first met the blues of mine was as damning as the earring she wore.
"Where did you get the earring?" I asked, changing my approach as I caught her struggling to maintain her focus- again. I realized it wasn't just due to pain. Starting simple was my best bet at getting anything.
Her brows furrowed as she processed my question. It took longer than it should have, confirming my initial thoughts when I first laid eyes on her. Humans broke too easily.
How could someone so... pathetic play a hand in my brother's disappearance?
"It... was... my- f-friends," she managed to stutter out between sipped breaths she was barely able to draw in before her chest refused to expand any further.
That was a more plausible explanation for how she could have ended up with Sebastion's talisman, that she got it from someone else. Someone bigger and stronger.
With another cough spraying bright crimson blood past her lips, her answer had me more concerned about what she had to say next than if she would live for long after. She didn't deserve to if she played any part in hurting my brother which the scent of old blood gave a strong indication of. But I couldn't let her die too soon.
