Part 41 (1/2)

The three guards with Sir Malax looked over their shoulder at us. Annoyance crossed Sir Malax's face before he schooled it into the condescending expression I'd come to hate. Hovering in the air between them was a man with nasty bruises on his face and burn marks on his arms. Two more lay on the floor looking like zombies, skin ashen and burns on their torsos. None of them were the prison guard who'd showed me around. Sir Malax was a s.a.d.i.s.tic b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

”This is a security matter you should not be concerned with, Princess,” Sir Malax said.

”What have these men done to warrant torture?”

He smiled, his mismatched eyes gleaming evilly. ”Princess, your father leaves security matters in my capable hands,” Sir Malax said. ”I was told someone came here to see Prisoner Zero the last week.”

”I did. I saw him and all the prisoners.” I placed my hand on the gate and it peeled back, leaving a hole big enough to walk through.

Ruby caught my arm. ”Princess, you cannot go in there. The light from the crystals will burn you.”

The Guardian girl, Izzy, had used the crystals to trap demons, which meant the rays couldn't harm me. ”I'll be fine.”

The guards watched me in horror. Sir Malax's eyes narrowed with antic.i.p.ation, as though he couldn't wait for me to burn. Like I'd said, he was a s.a.d.i.s.tic b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I stepped inside the yard, the light from the crystals dancing around me.

Not even a pinch. I released a breath, but I didn't have a chance to gloat. Whoever held the poor guard they'd been torturing let go, and I barely managed to freeze him before he hit the ground. I lowered him down gently.

”How did she do that?” a guard whispered behind me.

”The light doesn't affect her,” another said.

”She is the One,” a third said.

I didn't look at them, though I heard the awe in their voices. ”I'm here, Sir Malax,” I said. ”What do you want to know?”

”You walked through the light field without the Kris Dagger,” he said.

I had no idea what the Kris Dagger had to do with anything. But going by the dazed look on his face, it was the only thing that could protect me from the effect of the light. He didn't know that the powers of the dagger were in me.

”I was here last week and saw all the prisoners. This man did not let me in.” I went down on my knees and checked his injuries. I wanted to heal him, but I remembered Gavyn's warning. ”He's in a lot of pain.”

Sir Malax glanced at the guard, then me. He still wore a dazed look. ”I'll make sure he receives medical attention, Princess.”

There was reverence in his voice now, and I could feel his fear. ”Good luck finding out whoever released the prisoner.”

Sir Malax bowed. ”Thank you, Princess.”

I joined the six guards outside the gate. They stepped back. What? They hadn't believed I was the Chosen One? Father obviously hadn't sent them the memo, and who would blame him? The Kris Dagger had never responded to me, despite my testing it every week. I couldn't wait to tell my father that the powers were inside me.

Upstairs, Lady Nemea paced. She stopped when she saw me. ”Well?”

”Well what?” I asked, faking ignorance. I removed the cloak and placed it at the foot of my bed.

She picked it up. ”What did you tell Malax?”

”I stopped him from hurting those guards.” I sat on the bed and reached for the hot cocoa. ”I hope this mess will be over by tomorrow.”

”I hope so, too.” She went to hang up my cloak. She'd replaced the cocoa I'd spilled. Without thinking, I only drank half before putting it down. While I brushed my teeth, she turned down my bed.

”Are you going to finish your drink?” she asked.

”No, I'm done.” I crawled into bed, and the last thought before I fell asleep was how nauseatingly sweet my hot cocoa had tasted.

Something woke me up hours later. I struggled to open my eyes. Panic surged as a thought flashed in my head. I'd experienced this before. Many times before-the red light s.h.i.+ning on my eyelids, the awareness of other people in the room, the voices, and the inability to move or talk.

I strained to hear them, but the words were jumbled. The weakness spread, my thoughts becoming hazy. I recognized the feeling. Someone was draining my energy. Why? To keep me docile, like Gavyn had said?

Something hard pushed against my hand. It felt like some sort of weapon. Someone was trying to give me a weapon. I tried to wrap my fingers around it, but couldn't. What could I possibly do in my state? Even the pool of power that usually started on my lower back was silent. My body could not protect me against these people.

I fought back, strained harder to stay conscious, maybe even identify one of them, but the darkness circled like a predator, attacking my senses until sleep seemed like the only refuge.

Voices woke me again. This time, I recognized them.

”She looks the same,” Katia said to my left.

”Don't you mean dead?” Lottius whispered on my right.

”Really, Lottie. I swear you'd kick a dog when it is down.”

Did she just compare me to a dog? I tried to open my eyes with little result, then I tried to ping them and tell them I was semiconscious, but I didn't think I succeeded. I didn't want to slip into a coma again, especially when I knew someone in the castle was doing this to me.

”No, I wouldn't,” Lottius said. ”I love dogs and everything quadruped. I even like s.h.i.+fters when they're on all fours. It's the two-legged species that annoy me. What is Sour Face's problem?”

”She doesn't want us here,” Katia said.

”What is she going to do if we decide not to leave? Force us out?” Lottius's voice drifted to my right.

”She's in charge of Lilith, Lottie, so what she says goes.”

”How long are they going to keep the stupid vigil down there?” Now she sounded far away. If my guess was right, she was by the window ”Until she wakes up and waves or something,” Katia said. She was still by my side. Warm hands touched my forehead, and once again, I tried to move and ping them. ”I wonder what the prisoner did to her.”

Prisoner? I wasn't attacked by Dante, I wanted to yell.

”Probably drained her psi energy,” Lottius said. ”It's been two days and she's still out.”

Two days? No wonder I was starving.

”Do you think Lord Valafar knows?” Katia asked.

”I don't think Sour Face would want him to know Lilith has been attacked while under her care,” Lottius said. ”But Sir Malax sent a search team after the prisoner and his accomplice.”

What accomplice? Bran?

”Okay, Lady Nemea is starting to give me the creeps, too,” Katia said. ”Let's go.”

Don't go, I begged them. Please. Stay and protect me. But I couldn't hear them anymore. I was alone with people who got some sort of kick from draining my energy.