Chapter One
Remy
They’re going to die.
All of them. Every fucking one of them that has betrayed us. It’s the only thought that keeps me sane right now.
I keep my eyes closed upon waking to keep out the light. The light that never ceases. I’ve lost track of how long I’ve been here. Whatever they keep giving me knocks me out, and I have no idea how long for, except that my stomach hurts with hunger, and my throat feels like I’ve swallowed sand.
I try, again, to think of why. Why they would do this to me. After Nevin’s little declaration of telling me who I should and shouldn’t trust, I’ve barely seen him, and I haven’t seen Fallon at all. I fight not to think of her. It hurts my heart too much. I wish I could feel anger, but all I can think is that I deserve this. She went through so much because of me, is likely here now because of it all. I did this to her, and so I can’t find it in myself to feel anything but self-loathing at the fact she’s done what she has.
I knew something was wrong. She’d been too distant, too quiet. Even as we travelled here, I knew I shouldn’t have pushed her. What I did, I did, selfishly, so that my life could hopefully have some normality.
The thing I don’t understand is Nevin.
We have never had any issues, at least so I thought. He’s always been there to help, even when Tobin died, he didn’t hold it against me. I don’t know what changed, or even when it changed. I have no idea where he is, if he’s with my guys, spinning more lies? But whatever it is he’s given me, has made me essentially human. I’m blocked from my power.
I can feel it inside of me, but it's like it's behind a glass wall that I can’t breach, no matter how hard I try. I have no fucking clue how he’s done it, but I’m powerless and I fucking hate it.
My wrists are raw and bleeding, the salted iron chains burn against my skin. I’ve tried pulling on them more times than I care to count, but all it does is wound me further. I swear to the fates, if I get my hands on Nevin’s skinny little neck, I’m going to snap it.
Though that doesn’t feel quite like enough. Not after everything he’s put us through. It blows my mind that he’s been behind all of this, I still don’t quite believe it, but he is the Archiver. Levi and I were so quick to dismiss him, because he was our friend, neither of us thought him capable of all of the chaos and destruction.
How fucking wrong were we?
Nevin was right about one thing, I should’ve known better who to trust.
The lights cut off for the first time since I woke up here, and my heart races. Does this mean they’re gone? Have the guys found me? I know they won’t give up on me, not ever.
Whatever the fuck they’ve given me to keep my powers from me, even stops my vision in the dark. When I find out whatever this shit is, I’m burning it to the ground. Every last drop. Leaf. Flower. Whatever the fuck is it.
The lights stay off, making the silence of the room seem even eerier. I try to count inside my mind, fate knows I’ve got nothing else I can do. I’ve tried to reach Kain through our bond, but that’s behind the stupid glass wall too.
The door opens, squeaking so loud in the silence that it almost leaves my ears ringing. Two figures appear at the door.
Fallon and Nevin.
She walks in front of him, that glow dimmed, but there enough that I know it’s her. I squint against the light, my eyes having adjusted to the darkness. They move until they’re opposite me, and Fallon sits, moving like a zombie, while Nevin chains her wrists to the wall. He hands her a bottle of water which she drinks without hesitation.
“What the fuck is going on?” I seethe. I fucking hate being helpless, and I don’t remember a time when I felt as helpless as I do right now.
“You will see,” Nevin tells me flatly, and then leaves the room.
“Fallon,” my voice is almost monotone, but I’m starting to realize that the Fallon in front of me isn’t my Fallon. Whatever they’ve done to her, they’ve broken her.
How did I not see it before now?
A tear slips down my face as I cry in frustration. If I could just reach her…
Her glow starts to dim further, and it hits me that whatever they gave me that subdued my power, she just ingested. Fuck.
Even if I get through to her, she’s not going to be able to do much of anything to get us out of this mess. I scream out in frustration. The second I can feel my power again, Nevin is going to really fucking regret ever fucking with me.
And that’s before my guys figure out what’s happened.
Oh shit. My guys.
They must have worked out what’s going on by now. Right? They know something is wrong. Do they know Nevin has me trapped? I bet that little fucker has been slinking off back to them, being the traitorous little asshole that he is.
I take a deep breath and try to calm myself, because motherfucker my emotions are on a rampage.
“Remy?” Fallon's voice is so quiet, I almost think I imagined it, but she looks at me, the fog gone from her eyes for the first time since we were in the forest. A tear runs down her face and I let out a sigh of relief.
“Are you okay?” I ask her, but the fog returns, and she’s gone from me again.
I am literally going to tear apart worlds for what these assholes have done to me and my family.
They’re going to die.
Every single fucking one of them.
I’ve fallen asleep and woken up a dozen times, and each time I’ve woken, Fallon has still just been sitting there, watching me in that fog of hers. My heart hurts while I rage about what Nevin has done to her. I’ve no doubt that witch bitch Lizzie helped with all of this bullshit power submission. I keep envisioning ripping her heart from her body, but at this point, I feel like handing her over to the witches and letting them strip her powers permanently is probably the best and sweetest kind of revenge.
I keep fucking crying too, which pisses me off even more. The frustration from being so trapped, the worry for Fallon, and the guilt about what my guys must be going through now that I’ve ended up fucking gone. Again. Even if I didn’t have a choice this time. Hopefully they’ve worked that much out.
“Do you know why he’s doing this?” I ask Fallon, but that empty look just stares back at me and I know I’m not getting any answers from her. Nevin must be coming back soon, because it seems like it’s been a while since I ingested whatever the fuck it was that he gave me, and that glass wall to my power is thinning. I keep trying to crack it inside my mind, and it feels like I’m so fucking close.
Maybe if I can distract him enough with questions, he’ll forget to drug me. I can hope right?
I try to reach for the bond to Kain again, but it doesn’t matter how much I scream down that thread, nothing happens, so I know it's blocked. There is no world that exists where he would ignore me. Even if I know nothing else for certain, I know that.
Letting out a sigh I sag, the chains holding me in place scrape across the stone as I try to move and get a little more comfortable. My ass is so fucking numb from sitting here for so long, and my neck has a crick where I keep falling asleep sitting up.
“Oh goodie, you’re awake,” Nevin’s voice filters into the room, and I notice the spy hole on the door.