My blood ran cold. “What do you mean?”
A sad smile was the only answer she offered.
A heavy clunking issued from behind me, and I spun. The metal door at the end of the cell block creaked open, allowing a shaft of bright light in. I squinted, trying to make out the tall silhouette it framed, and grimaced when two guards marched into the prison, shutting the door behind them. They ignored me completely, passing my cell to stand before Ari’s.
“What are you doing?” I asked, my heart beating like a caged bird, her last words haunting me. No one answered as the other guards unlocked the gate to Ari’s cell and entered.
“Ari?” My voice cracked.
She didn’t look up, just stood there and allowed herself to be unshackled, then held out her arms. The guards smacked a pair of cuffs on her wrists and jerked her forward.
Panic seized me, and I shot to the front of the cell, barely able to walk I was shaking so hard. “Where are you taking her?”
“She’s none of your concern, Princess,” a guard said, as they led Ari out.
“It’s okay,” Ari murmured, her head hung low. “I’ll be with Alex again.”
“No!” Rage igniting within me, I was suddenly aware of the power flowing through my veins, for once ready and willing to do my bidding. Without thinking, I grabbed the nearest guard's arm as he walked past his muscles flexing under my touch. His head whipped around, jerking his arm and ramming me into the bars when I didn’t let go. Willing to do anything to stop Ari’s demise, I did something I’d never done before. Instead of pushing my power out, I pulled.
The guard went rigid, every muscle in his body going tight as his head ripped back, a blood-curdling scream tearing from his throat. Energy surged through me like a wave crashing over the rocks, filling me with a strength unlike anything I’d ever felt. It felt good. I felt powerful. I felt unstoppable.
“Kaleah, stop!” My father’s voice broke me from my trance.
I released the man and stumbled backwards panting hard. He collapsed to the ground, unmoving. Glancing up through the veil of silver hair framing my face, I found everyone staring at me, including my father.
“Don’t let her poison you,” he whispered. Terrified of what I’d done, I stared, my hands shaking, regardless of the strength coursing in my veins.
The other guard left Ari’s side, rushing forward to his fallen companion and feeling for a pulse. I waited, heart racing. An eternity passed before he looked up. “He’s still breathing,” his voice broke, as he watched me wide eyed, sweat beading his forehead. “Sin.” With a hard look, he rose and removed Ari’s cuffs before shoving her back in the cell. He didn’t even bother with her ankle manacle, just slammed the door and returned to his fallen comrade’s side, breathing hard.
Ari and my father continued to watch in silence, and the guard turned back to me with a gaze of steel. “I don’t know what the hell you’re trying to pull—”
The door flew open, hitting the wall with a resound crack. A tall, lithe figure stormed into the stone prison. I squinted against the light, just making out the familiar form of the empress, Marshal right behind her.
Untamed, golden hair flew around Lilitha’s pinched face, her charcoal skirts a rumpled mess. Her gaze swept the room, raking over the prisoners and downed guard until her normally blue eyes, red as blood, narrowed on me, fury filling them. “What. Did. You. Do?”
I backed into the stone wall behind me, wishing I could shrivel up and disappear—anything to get away from those blood-red eyes boring holes into my soul. Unable to look away, I paused. It wasn’t just anger radiating from her, but something else I’d never thought I’d see in the empress’ complexion. Fear.
“What did you do?” Lilitha repeated, practically screaming at me, though she didn’t draw any closer. “I felt a surge of power clear across the palace.”
My eyes flicked back to the man still lying unconscious on the prison floor.
Evil. Monster. Demon. The words played in my head on repeat. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking, and I kept them balled into fists at my sides, hoping she wouldn’t see how scared I was.
Take, a strange, internal voice slithered through my mind. The strength and energy from earlier had started to ebb, leaving me sick inside. I hadn’t meant to hurt that guard, yet when he’d screamed, I hadn’t stopped. I’d wanted more; I’d wanted his all, every bit of his strength down to his last breath. I shuddered, his screams still echoing in my mind.
“I-I don’t know. I just wanted to stop him from taking Ari—”
“Ariadne is a traitor!” Lilitha snapped. “Because of her, all of our lives were put at risk. One of your sisters died, and another is dying. Is that not enough cause to null your sympathy?”
“She did it out of love for her son.” I closed my eyes, trying to breathe through the pain. “You should banish her, strip her of her title, or send her away,anythingbut take her life.”
“No.” The empress paced back and forth across the prison. “She sealed her own fate when she went behind my back and tried to take what is mine—”
“I’m not yours yet,” I hissed, glaring at her. How could she just dismiss a life so easily? Ariadne was her closest advisor, the closest person she had to a friend. Didn’t that mean anything to her?
The empress stopped pacing and turned slowly to look at me. “But you will be soon.”
Her words like knives in my heart, I bit back the whimper in my throat and lifted my head with a courage I didn’t feel. “Not unless you save Ariadne and my sister.”