My eyes flitted to the door. It was still open, and not very far from where I stood. Zander was between us, but…
“You won’t make it past me,” he said, knowing what I was thinking. “But kudos for considering it. It takes courage to want to take someone like me on.”
“Yeah?” I asked. “It takes stupidity to kidnap someone likeme.”
Zander laughed. He was amused. He took my threats as entertainment, not for what they really were. I was furious that he’d taken me.
Ren was coming for me. Zander was going to be in a hell of a lot of trouble.
I wanted him to know that. But if he did, he would be ready. Better that he was kept in the dark.
Ha. The male of fear and darkness himself.
“So, you’re just going to stand here and laugh at me?” I finally asked. “Or are you here for a reason?”
“I came to check on you, but you seem fine.”
“A little hungry, but fine otherwise,” I said with a shrug.
He laughed again. “I’ll have food sent down. We might wait awhile.”
“What are we waiting for?” I asked.
“We’re waiting for a guest to arrive.” Zander glanced toward the window up above. “And then your time will be up.”
He turned and closed the door behind him. When the lock clicked in place and his footsteps faded away, I sagged against the wall and let myself sink onto the rags. I let the fear take over for a moment, trying to breathe through it.
I had to stay strong. I had to keep fighting.
And I had to get the hell out of here if I was going to stay alive. I didn’t know who they were waiting for, but I couldn’t afford to find out. I needed to get myself to a place where I had a bit of leverage, a way to fight back and protect myself.
In this cell, I would be useless against a Conjurite like Zander. And I knew that if it came down to taking my life, Zander wouldn’t hesitate to kill me.
He’d killed Ren’s father, after all, and who knows who else?
I looked up at the little window. It was far too high to reach, and it had metal bars that I couldn’t remove, even if I climbed the smooth stone walls.
My only way out would be through the door.
I walked to it again. I pressed my hands against it and tried to feel for some kind of magic spell that kept it shut. I’d learned out to discern magic while I’d been training with Dex and Nylah, but I couldn’t feel anything.
It was just a heavy metal door with a lock.
I tried throwing myself against it again, but that wouldn’t work. It would drain me and hurt me, and that wouldn’t do.
I flattened my hands against it and leaned my forehead against the cold metal. Was this all for nothing? Was this where I would end up dying?
It seemed wrong for it all to end when my life had only just started.
My hands started humming, and I frowned. I focused on the strange sensation, and the more I did, the stronger it became.Magic.
I thought back to what had happened when I’d been with Nylah. Since then, I hadn’t had proof of my magic again. It had shown itself for a moment, only to go away as if it had never been. Nylah had said she sensed Fae magic, but a part of me had refused to believe it.
It seemed so surreal.
There was no denying what I felt now, though. I knew what magic felt like, and this was it.
I wasn’t sure what was happening, but I kept my focus on the humming and buzzing in my hands. A moment later, the lock mechanism in the door clicked.