From Burning Ashes (Collector Series #4) (35 page)

“No, you don’t.” She had no idea the power
the stone retained and unlike others, she didn’t have the strength
to fight its call. She would be the stone’s perfect victim, too
self-absorbed to see or care about the consequences. “It’s not just
its power. There are—” My throat choked over my words, shutting
down. Lars’s bond keeping me silent. “
Others
. Extremely
powerful people are after it.”

She tugged a cloth from her back pocket.
“That’s why I will be holding it. I’m not going to use it. But the
girl with the biggest toy will be in control.” Amara lifted the
sole of my boot, my stomach sinking as the smooth gray stone slid
into view, as though waiting patiently.

“Please,” I begged. “You have no idea what
you are getting yourself into.”

“All this fuss for such a little thing.” She
stood, staring down at it with awe. “Why can’t I feel it? Shouldn’t
it be emanating magic?”

“Only if it wants to.” I had experienced its
temperamental mood. It could go silent, gauging the carrier, or it
could grow loud and demanding. The last few days it had been
unbelievably silent. “It’s alive, Amara. It will mess with you.
Play on your weaknesses.”

“Don’t tell me about a fae relic. You’ve only
been one of us for a week. I’ve studied and pursued it most of my
life.” She folded it in the cloth and put it in her jacket pocket.
She glanced up, catching my eyes and cocked her head, stepping back
toward me. She lifted her hand to my face, and I fought back my
recoil. Her fingers tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear.
“Ryker, Croygen, every man you come across is completely taken with
you. I don’t get it. What is so special about you?” Her anger
dissipated as she studied my face. “Tell me, Zoey. What is it about
you that made Ryker love you? Even when you were a weak human, you
captivated him.”

“That’s your problem, Amara, you keep
thinking there’s something you can do to make people love you. Love
doesn’t work like that.” A part of me pitied her. She had probably
never known real love. It might have started out with her bad
childhood, but now she who would never let herself love. Her trust
had been broken a long time ago, the walls built. She didn’t
understand relationships without deception, cruelty, and lies.

She stepped back, dropping her arms away from
me, then patted her pocket. “Now I will get everything I want.” She
walked to the door and turned around. “Because you know Ryker
will
come for me now. He will spend so much time thinking
and obsessing about me. How to find me. When do you think his
thoughts of me will destroy whatever you think you have with him?
Love and hate walk a fine line. Let’s see what side he falls on in
the end.” She winked, slipping out of the cell door. She slid it
closed behind her, the clank of the lock turning over. She held up
the keys, stuffing them in her pocket.

“Thanks, Zoey.” She winked before
disappearing.

“Amara!” I bellowed, thrashing against my
chains. My gut wrenched at the thought of the stone leaving me.
Angry. Hurt. It had fought to stay with me so many times before,
even caused me to attack Ryker. This time it was silent, not
calling for me. It was probably happy to go with her. She would
give in to its desires. It could control her. My relationship with
the stone wasn’t healthy, I was fully aware of that. But I couldn’t
stop the longing to feel the pulse under my heel, its power seeping
into me.

The hours I hung there didn’t diminish the
sense of loss, but the sporadic bellows from below intensified my
cries for Ryker. Every time I heard him bellow out in pain, my own
followed. I was not one to give up, but I couldn’t stop the reality
of our situation from seeping in. All our plans to get Lexie and
Croygen, take down DMG, save Annabeth with the help of the Unseelie
King were gone.

Lars had not shown up. The stone was gone,
along with Amara. Annabeth had vanished and was probably dead. The
only good thing we’d done was to get the other girls out. I wanted
to believe they would make it to freedom, away from Vadik’s
reach.

My shoulders slumped forward, and my lids
shut heavily with fatigue and stress. My mind started to drift,
trying to find a moment of peace, when I heard a rattling at the
door. My head shot up. Was Vadik here to show me a preview of my
fate?

My heart thumped so loudly in my ears, I
could have sworn I heard Sprig call for me.

“
Bhean?
” The voice came louder this
time.

I froze.
Did I actually hear him?

Through the shadows an outline of a creature
scampered to the cell, sliding easily through the bars.

“Sprig!” I cried out, then slammed my lips
together.

“No.” He scuttled to me. “It’s Supersprite. I
know you probably didn’t recognize me without my cape.”

“Yes, my underwear would have given away your
identity.”

“I’m undercover.”

“I won’t tell.” I listened keenly for any
footsteps or voices heading my way.

“Guards?” I asked.

“Most are still out after the girls. A few
are downstairs.”

“Where did you go?”

“Medusa caught me and gave me to that
redheaded fart face. He locked me in a box.”

“What? How did you get free?”

“People always underestimate sprites.” He
reached my feet and started to climb up my leg. “Like I can’t get
out of that poor excuse of a lock. Huh! Showed those
banana-nutters. Stupid fruit and stupid men.” He reached my
shoulder.

“It is so good to see you.” I blinked back a
swell of love for this little bugger. I rubbed my chin against his
fur before he darted up my arms, working on those locks that held
my arms in the air. Sprig quickly freed me of the cuffs. They were
made for human girls, not for fae. The blood rushed into my arm
with tiny pricks of pain. I rubbed them. “Thank you.”

“Easy as pie…oh pie. That sounds good right
now, doesn’t it? Honey-custard pie, honey-apple pie,
honey-blueberry pie, honey—”

“Sprig? Focus.” I waved my fingers in his
face.

“Right.” He shook his head. “Pie later. Even
though it would be so nice right now…yummmm.”

I proceeded to the cell door. “Do you think
you can work your magic on this?”

“Cake.” Sprig swished his hand, crawling down
my arm to the lock on the other side of the door. “Oh, cake sounds
delicious too.”

“Sprig,” I groaned.

“Sorry.”

In less than thirty seconds, the lock popped
on the door. Damn, he was good. I inched it open, a low whine
vibrating off the hinges. I gritted my teeth, keeping my arm
steady.

A thump downstairs jolted me, my anxiety
skyrocketing. Sounds of boots clipping the cement echoed up.

“We’ll give him a moment to consider his
options. Have you found any of the girls yet?” Vadik’s voice was
low but throbbed off the walls.

“We have located a few,” a familiar Irish
accent replied. Garrett. “Maxen and Cadoc are heading back here
with them. We will keep searching for the rest, sir.”

“Thank you, Garrett. And when you round them
all up, kill them. They were becoming useless anyway. We can easily
start over with healthier ones.”

“Consider it done.”

Footsteps. A door slamming. Silence.

My heart lodged in my throat. All those girls
I thought I saved were headed to a faster grave.

Think, Zoey. Don’t fall apart now.
My
mind zoned in on survival.

Number one—get Ryker.

Number two—find weapons.

Number three—

Okay, let’s start with one and two first.

“Okay, Supersprite, let’s go save our
Viking.”

“As usual,
we
have to save the day.”
Sprig jumped back onto my shoulder. “This better not be his way of
wiggling out of our deal.”

“What deal?” I darted Sprig a look.

His mouth opened, then he shook his head.
“Nothing,
Bhean
.”

Normally I would have pressed it, but right
now it was not important. Ryker was. I slunk down, leading us
toward the stairs to the pit. I moved blindly, unaware of the
dangers that lay ahead. But nothing would keep me from Ryker.

Nothing.

I felt like a snake as I slithered down each
set of stairs. With the girls gone, the hallways all but oozed a
heavy silence that chilled me. The place felt as if ghosts of old
prisoners continued to walk around.

Sprig scampered ahead of me, my first line of
defense, warning me of any unknown guard or trap. I breathed out in
relief when my feet finally hit the ground level. My goals were
basic: Get out of cell. Check. Get downstairs without being found.
Check. Sprint across the large space to get to the room where Ryker
was held.

Sprig darted in front of me, beelining for
the office. In the dim light you’d mistake him for a rat. I could
not pass for the same.

Setting my jaw, I bolted through the area,
dashed for the office wall, and crouched beneath the window. Like
the ones at DMG, this one was tinted, so those on the inside could
look out, but no one could see in. I had no idea if Ryker was
alone.

“Damn you, Viking,” I grumbled, slipping over
the wall. My heart pounded. At any moment someone could walk in and
I’d be done. I reached for the doorknob, twisting it so slowly I
hoped no one on the inside would notice. I guess they figured it
would be pointless to lock a thin door on the Wanderer. It was like
paper to him, but they wouldn’t leave him free to roam around.

Okay, Zoey, this is probably the dumbest
thing you’ve ever done. No weapon or idea what’s behind this door.
Bring on the stupid. If we are going to die, I’d rather it be
together.

The door released and drifted a few inches
away from its frame. Sprig darted inside, and I quickly followed.
The room was dark, but the light from the gaping door spotlighted
the crumpled shape on the ground before I shut it behind me.

“Ryker!” I whispered, running for him. He was
on his knees, his head bent forward, both his arms above his head,
pulled tight by the chains cuffing him to the ceiling. Slashes and
burn marks covered his bare chest. I crashed to my knees in front
of him, my hands cupping his jaw. He grunted as I lifted his
face.

“Oh my god.”

His face was mangled. Blood leaked from the
side of his mouth. One eye was completely swollen shut. I struggled
to make out his features. Gashes, cuts, and bruises covered him,
and the open wounds over his torso crisscrossed with his old
ones.

“Fuck.” I felt vomit rise in the back of my
throat.

“Voey,” Ryker slurred out my name, his body
tensing. “Gooo.”

“Not on your life, Wanderer.”

“Damn, Viking, you looked like minced pie.”
Sprig climbed up Ryker’s shoulder. “Oh man, I shouldn’t have said
the word pie again. Now I’m hungry.”

“You’re always hungry,” I replied. “Sprig?” I
nodded to the shackles straining Ryker’s arms.

“Eye-Eye Matty!” He saluted me and climbed up
the chains.

“We’re going to get you out of here.” I kept
my gaze locked on the Wanderer. My heart hurt at the sight of his
ruined state.

“Rvun.” Ryker’s one eye bored into me,
tension twitched at his temples. “U’ve gwat tu go.”

“I’m not leaving you,” I retorted. “When will
you get it through your thick skull that we are a team? We save
each other. And right now I am saving your ass. So shut up and play
the damsel in distress like a good boy.”

He watched me for a moment before his mouth
parted, his top lip curving in a smirk. The action caused him to
grimace in pain and reopen his split lip. He leaned over and spit.
Blood and saliva pooled on the ground. A click sounded above, his
left arm falling to his side. He groaned at the sharp movement. I
glanced up at Sprig swinging from the chain before he leaped across
for Ryker’s other wrist.

A door banged from the front of the building.
I jerked to my feet, panic thumping my heart.
Shit
. They
were back. I frantically scanned the room for a weapon. Anything
that could stab, knock out, or hurt someone. I rushed to the desk,
pulling at the top drawer. My eyes zeroed in on an item. Scissors.
I grabbed them, shoving them in my back pocket, and pulled at
another drawer. Only files.

The door banged again, voices volleying
outside the door.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Terror often crippled people. But I had
pushed that reflex back years before. One moment of uncertainty
could be your last.

There was a pop. “Aha. Supersprite to the
rescue!” Ryker’s right arm fell, tipping him forward. I dashed for
him, catching him before his face hit the cement. He righted
himself, and I eased him back.

A lump of fur landed on Ryker’s other side.
Voices grew closer, and I could distinguish Vadik’s deep voice. We
were really screwed, but I wouldn’t go down without a fight. If
Ryker was up to par and had his axe, we’d have a lot better odds.
Neither of those things were going to happen.