I rush to grab her before she can fall, but my movements are slowed by my still-healing body. Reaching her moments after she hits the ground, I kneel and glare up at Taranus as he slams my cell door once more.
His sharp jaw is tight; his thin lips pulled into a snarl. “You care so much, you do with her what you wish. After she spends some time with you down here, she’ll be begging me to take her.” He laughs and turns on his heel, marching toward the stairwell with the other fae behind him.
“Are you okay?” I reach for her, but Ember scrambles away from me, pressing her back against the far wall. I clench both hands into fists at my sides to keep from reaching for her again.
Her eyes are wide, terrified, and she stares at me, holding her hand against her cheek still red from Taranus’s palm. “What are you going to do to me?”
“Nothing. I won’t put a hand on you.”
“No? This isn’t all some sort of sick, twisted game to get me to do what you want? To free you? Let’s manipulate the weak human girl, huh?” She sniffles. “You two are brothers after all.”
The accusation is clear as day, pissing me off even more. “By blood, yes, but in no other way.”
Her face breaks, and she sobs, pulling her knees up to her chest. I reject the urge to rush toward her and, instead, scoot back and lean against the opposite wall to put as much distance between us as possible.
I can’t even imagine what she’s going through, this human who found herself in another world entirely.
“Why is this happening to me?” she whispers.
“I don’t know. But I’m sorry.”
“I should have just let myself die in Austin.”
The words are muttered, barely audible. “Die? Why?” It’s the second time she’s mentioned death to me, leading me to wonder just what it is she was suffering with before she ended up here.
Turning her head to the side, she stares out through the bars. “It doesn’t matter now.”
“Ember.”
She looks at me.
“I swear I won’t hurt you. Can I please come look at your cheek?” The need to be close to her, to ensure her safety, is so overwhelming it’s all I can think about. Holding my breath, I wait for her response.
Finally, she nods. Wasting no more moments, I get to my feet and approach her slowly then sink back to my knees beside her. I raise my hand and gently touch the side of her cheek where Taranus dared redden it. “I will kill him,” I promise. “One day, he will pay for everything he’s done.”
Ember’s full bottom lip quivers as silent tears stream down her cheeks. Her dress is ruined with what I assume is Flora’s blood and dirt from the ground here in this cell. Bruised cheek aside, she looks a hell of a lot worse off than she is. Something I am incredibly grateful for.
Taking a seat beside her now, I leave only a foot of space between us. “Tell me of Austin?”
“Distracting me won’t work,” she snaps.
“Let me try. Let me do something. You helped me yesterday. Now let me do the same.”
She remains silent and still refuses to look at me. Then, after a few moments, she sighs. “It’s a city.”
“Large?”
She nods.
“And it wanted you dead?”
“What?” Her eyes shift up to mine, and I’m struck dumb beneath her gaze. Never, in my entire immortal life, have I ever seen such eyes. So amber, they’re nearly copper, they swirl with kindness, innocence, and strength.
And they’re so much more haunting in person than they were in my dreams.
Swallowing hard, I force my gaze away. She’s already been made uncomfortable enough. “You said you should have let yourself die in Austin. Twice now, you’ve referenced death.”
Her eyes stay on mine for a heartbeat as confusion draws her brows together before, finally, she shakes her head. “Austin is a city in Texas. I—um—I was sick there,” she says. Her cheeks flush, and I get the impression it’s not something she wishes to talk about. “It’s the only reason I’m here.”