They were giving her a short leash, but she knew it wouldn’t be long before they jerked on it and pulled her away. She needed to work fast.
She scratched the inside of her upper arm, hoping Stanley hadn’t given her fleas, watching Atlas through narrowed eyes, wondering what it would take to reach him.
Atlas threw himself forward, one hand gripping the bars, while the other one reached for her, no doubt ready to strangle her. Though he was only half elf, as soon as his hand came into contact with the metal, his skin began to smoke.
Iron.
“You stupid girl.” He bared his teeth at her, disgust filling his voice. “You would put all their lives in danger for your foolish idea of friendship. We were never friends. What do I have to do to get that through your thick skull? I was using you, because I needed you to fix this realm. You’re nothing but a pawn to help me earn back my birthright.”
Kincade swore viciously, ready to rip off his friend’s head with his bare hands, while Ryder growled low in his throat, his wolf surfacing. Ascher stalked forward, steam rising from his skin, seconds away from tearing the bastard apart. Even Draven stiffened at the harsh words, a sure sign he was ready to kill.
She raised her hand, and they halted.
His accusations were like poisoned darts that struck true, and she struggled not to succumb to the toxic words. He had a reason he wanted her gone, and she needed to think logically, without her ravaged emotions tainting everything, if she wanted to have any hope of figuring it out.
While he might be an elf, he was also half human, and his emotions were winning, splintering out of control.
He was desperate.
But why? If he wanted to sacrifice her, all he had to do was hand her over, and he would earn back his birthright.
She rubbed her arm again, then froze, her whole body flushing warm, then cold at the familiar sensation.
“You son of a bitch!” Morgan launched herself at him, and the bastard didn’t even have the sense to get out of the way of her attack, as if he felt he deserved it.
But instead of hitting him, she grabbed his shirt and wrenched him forward, nearly pulling him off his feet. She ignored his grunt of pain as he hit the iron bars, ignored the stench of burned flesh, and reached for the collar of his shirt. She yanked it down, uncaring that the fabric tore apart in her hand.
A Celtic knot was boldly displayed across his chest in a deep forest green that reminded her of his eyes. The edges were shot through with a liquid gold that almost seemed to be moving.
Mating marks.
She twisted her arm up to discover she bore a similar mark the size of a fifty-cent piece, the lines daintier, but the colors no less bold and vivid.
He’d been blocking the connection, hiding it from her for lord knew how long. She thought he was being shy or bashful when he wouldn’t remove his shirt for practice, when in reality he’d been concealing the truth from her.
“Rat bastard!”
She didn’t realize that she spoke out loud, until he flinched, dropping his gaze.
“How…” She trailed off, her eyes dropping to the manacles around his wrists. “The chains are binding your magic. You can no longer hide the marks.”
His shoulders slumped in defeat. “I have only a minor ability with magic—illusion and a touch of healing.”
“But the marks are permanent.” Morgan’s stomach began to churn with dread. “What did you do?”
“They cannot be removed once they form.” His head dropped to his chest, his hair blocking his face. “But if you’re desperate enough, you can cut them out. If they can’t form, the connection will never be completed.”
Feeling like he’d kicked her in the chest, she struggled to get enough air. Rather than be bound to her, he would rather butcher himself, using illusion and his healing abilities to disguise what he was doing. Bile rose in her throat at the extreme measures he had taken to avoid being her mate.
The goddess knew she didn’t need more complications, but hurt speared through her veins like acid with the knowledge that he would rather be left to rot and die in prison than be mated to her.
“If the elves come back and discover the connection, you’ll be in even more danger. You can’t bring attention to yourself.” He limped closer to the cell bars, and her heart broke at the desperation in his expression. “I can’t protect you anymore.”
Morgan laughed bitterly at the shitty situation, the crushing pressure in her chest leaving her struggling against the urge to run and escape the pain. Her necklace heated until the metal burned against her skin, and she blindly reached up to find a cracked heart, the edges tarnished and rusted, barely held together by stitches.
Battered but still in one piece…like her.
She lifted her chin, locking down her emotions, flinching away from Ryder when he reached to touch her.
If anyone showed her even an ounce of compassion, she was afraid she would shatter.
“Too late.” Morgan smirked, refusing to let him see how badly his rejection had carved out her insides and left her bleeding.
Atlas lurched toward the cell bars, his chains clanking as he gripped the bars as if he would rip them apart to get to her. “What did you do?”
His brows lowered, the muscles of his arms flexing as he straightened to his full height. Smoke rose from where he touched the metal, and she idly wondered how much iron they put into the metal while she fought against the numbness spreading through her.
The guys were depending on her.
She couldn’t be all female and break down because a guy rejected her.
But she hadn’t realized how much she considered him to be one of her guys until he made it clear he wanted nothing to do with her.
She would not force him to be her mate.
While Morgan wanted to be anywhere else, they needed Atlas. He was the only one of them who knew his way around this realm, and she would be dammed if she allowed anything as stupid as hurt feelings to put the others in danger.
“Me?” She scowled at him, having momentarily forgotten that he could be such an ass. “I didn’t do anything…not technically.” She bit her lip. “But I might have stumbled into a little problem.”
Chapter Eleven
“Morgan.” Kincade edged between her and the cell, not letting her escape the censure in his look. “What’s going on?”
From the muscle jumping in his jaw, he was clearly pissed at her for keeping secrets, and she shrugged away his concern. “Look, we need to get him out of that cell and outside the walls before the sun rises. The elves don’t patrol at night, so we should be able to slip away without too much trouble.”
“No. Absolutely not. You’re being emotional and not thinking straight.” Atlas shook his head, the imperial jackass was back to his old self despite looking like he’d been through hell and it spit him back out. He faced the guys, as if knowing he wouldn’t be able to reason with her.
“The realm is too dangerous for random exploration. Not only are there predators, you’re forgetting about the fog.”
Morgan rolled her eyes. “After what I witnessed down the hall, I would disagree. If we stay, every one of us will eventually end up on those tables, and I will not allow that to happen.”
Kincade grabbed her arm, swinging her around until she was pinned to the crumbling wall. The heat of him caused her to shiver, and her stupid heart had the gall to leap in her chest. His lips were so close, her mind flashed back to the last time they kissed.
It’d been too long.
Kincade’s green eyes darkened, and he dipped his head, his lips brushing hers so lightly, her breath caught in her throat. “Talk to me, princess.”
She almost surrendered just so she could taste his lips again, but stubbornly shook her head. “Too dangerous. We need to leave before sunrise or it will be too late.”