“I-I do not b-belong to you!” I yelled as I grabbed his hair, my fingers knotting through the long strands before I pulled him past me into the wall. My magic surged with strength as I bashed Ryland’s head into the old stones, the ancient masonry cracking under the pressure.
I waited for him to scream, to call out in pain, but he stayed still, his breathing absent until his chest heaved in a low, menacing laugh that caught in my chest and ignited my fears. Fear as black as ice ran over me as he turned to face me, a thick stream of blood flowed from his hairline. The look in his eyes froze me in place for a moment too long. His blood-tinged teeth flashed in a smile right before a stream of red light surged from him, the red-hot burn flaring through my chest.
Fire burned through me as I soared away from him, the agony growing as I blindly reached for anything to grab onto, to stop what was coming. I found nothing. My body hit against the rubble of the now destroyed hallway with a violent jolt. The snap of my body against stone echoed in my ears, and I cried out, an acidic burn moving through me as my back stiffened, my spine arching in agony.
I drove away the burn of pain as my magic rushed to the aches that rippled through my body, healing the bones and tendons that I was sure had fractured. My arms shook as I moved to fight back—ready to face him—when Ryland’s footsteps echoed in my ears. His steps were slow as he moved closer until he towered over me from where I lay on the ground.
“Do you think you belong to Ilyan then?” Ryland asked, his desperation growing as a deep mania rumbled through his voice. “Is that what you think? Lies… lies… lies…” He growled at the same time his fingers pulled violently at his sagging curls, the words coming over and over. “He lies and you believe him—”
“Ilyan d-doesn’t lie to m-me!” I screamed in anger as I stood before him. The rocks around me shook and shattered with the waves of my rage.
Ryland’s eyes widened at my exclamation, his jaw clenching as anger moved into his face.
“He lies to everyone!” Ryland roared, his magic throwing me into the air like a ragdoll. I felt the hard impact as my body hit the ceiling, only to feel the air rush through my hair as I dropped like a dead weight back to the floor.
My fingers grasped at nothing as I fell, the descent too quick to even have a chance to stop it. Fire rippled through my bones as one after another they snapped and broke with the impact. My magic throbbed toward the painful shards of the breaks as it took the pain away, as it tried to heal me. I needed to face him—to make him pay—but the broken bits of my body had turned me into a rag doll, leaving me panting and gasping in the middle of a rubble heap.
I opened my eyes as my body twisted and writhed, only to find Ryland above me, his legs straddling me as they locked me in place. My chest tightened in fear at seeing him there, everything tensing as I fought the pain, fought the fear. Even if I could move, I had nowhere to go.
“He told me he would keep you safe for me, that I could have you back!” Ryland whimpered as he clawed at his hair, his voice broken in tears while his body rocked in the air above me. I writhed in pain below him as he lowered himself to lie beside me, his body pressing against mine as his hand extended to rest against the skin on my face.
“I can have you back. Ilyan said, Ilyan said, he said…” Ryland’s words were a painful promise that sliced through my heart. Even though I knew it was a lie, it was the same as it had been on the rooftop when he had looked at me with those black eyes and told me Ilyan loved me for the first time. I could feel the doubt burrowing into me, through the anger and fear that had wound its way up my spine. I didn’t believe him, even though—deep down—I knew.
“He wouldn’t say that,” I said as I tried to push away from his touch, my voice a grunt through my clenched teeth, willing the words to be true.
“He did. He did… he did. You belong to me. Mine… mine… mine.” His arm wrapped around me, pulling me against him like we were lovers, the movement of my body rippling through me in an ache of pain and fear.
He was lying. I knew it. It didn’t matter if he was, though. His words meant nothing to me. I was not a piece of property.
“I belong to no one!” I spat as I threw Ryland off me and into the stone ceiling. The aggressive force of my power shifted in the air as I sent him into the opposite wall, driving him into the stone.
“I don’t need anyone! Not to save me, not to own me! I can do this on my own!” My blood boiled as I scrambled back to standing, my hand swiping to the side repeatedly as I sliced through his shirt and cut through his skin with the heat of my power.
He screamed in pain as I did in anger, blood drizzling over the white of his shirt in rivers of the darkest red. Seeing the brightness of the blood—the color so vivid against the white—stopped me as a chill trailed down my spine, leaving my hand extended in front of me.