stared up at me, his familiar brown eyes darker than normal in the dim light provided by a small lantern that was the only illumination in the cell.
“Rylan,” I choked out.
I rushed to his side just as the door behind me slammed shut.
“What are you doing here?” he marveled as he forced himself to sit up so he was able to wrap his arms around me.
I couldn’t respond past the tears that choked me. “You’re alive,” I finally managed to say. “You’re alive.”
Rylan had always been so strong, it made me cry even harder to feel how much weight he’d lost during his weeks of captivity, as I sat beside him and slipped my arms around his back, pressing my head to his shoulder. His arms tightened around me.
“More or less,” he finally responded. “But why are you here? I told him you’d never come — that he was wasting his time.”
I pulled back to look into his eyes. “Rafe sent me a note telling me he would kill you if I didn’t come alone. I couldn’t let him do that.”
Rylan reached up hesitantly to wipe the wetness from my cheeks.
“So you followed us to Dansii? By yourself?”
With a jolt, I realized, in my shock at hearing Rylan’s voice, I’d forgotten about Eljin. I jumped to my feet and rushed to the door, banging my fist on it. “Where is he? What did you do with Eljin?” I shouted through the wood, but no one responded.
“Eljin is here, too?” Rylan asked behind me, his voice heavy with disbelief.
“Where is he?” I pounded against the wood until my knuckles felt raw, but if the guards were still out there, they ignored me.
The cot creaked, and I turned around to see Rylan trying to stand up. He half hopped, half limped toward me, hardly able to put any weight on his leg — the one I’d sliced with my sword before leaving him behind with Rafe. He noticed me staring at the bloody bandages and halted, his gaze dropping to the ground.
“Why would Eljin come with you?” he asked, not lifting his eyes.
“Damian convinced him to.” I leaned back against the door, my head aching. My body felt heavy, weighted down by all the mistakes I’d made. Eljin had risked himself to come on this ill-fated rescue attempt, and now he was gone. He’d told me that his father was just one man, that it was not worth leaving Damian to go after him. But that’s exactly what I’d done. I’d left my king and my kingdom to go after one man, dragging Eljin with me, and now we were all captured. “He didn’t want me to go, but Damian knew I wouldn’t let Rafe kill you. So he asked Eljin to come with me, to help me rescue you.”
“You shouldn’t have come.” Rylan finally looked up at me, and I was surprised to see anger in his eyes. “Damian needed you — Antion needed you. And you left him weakened in order to come save me. One person.”
His harsh words made me flinch. “It’s my fault you’re hurt. I would never have been able to live with myself if I left you to die without even trying —”
“You should have!” he burst out.
I blinked in shock, his words hitting as though he’d physically punched me.
“You should have stayed with the king. If you had any idea what they’re planning — what they’re going to do —”
Before I could ask him what he meant, a key scraped in the lock behind me. I hurried to straighten and turn, just as the door swung open.
“Well, what a lovely surprise.”
Fury coiled in my belly and I leaped forward, lifting my fist to attack the man who stood in the doorway, but the moment I did, my anger drained away, leaving me confused as my hand dropped to my side again.
He barked out a laugh, a horrible, burning sound that I’d hoped never to hear again.
“It’s so good to see you again as well, Alexa.” Rafe grinned at me.
Rafe walked into the cell, and the door shut behind him once more. “Did you enjoy your reunion?” He glanced at Rylan, who sat down on the cot again, one hand on his injured leg, gripping it.
“You promised to heal him,” I bit out.
“He’s not dead, so you should be thanking me for that.” Rafe turned on me, his unnaturally green eyes narrowing. I quickly looked away, refusing to give him the chance to give me any