no answer but the echo of Rhy’s own voice. Lila and Alucard were somewhere behind him, the pounding of boots lost beneath his raging pulse.
“Kell?” he called out again, surging into the orchard. He dug his nails into the wound at his arm, the pain a tether he tried to pull on as he passed the line of spring blossoms.
And then, halfway between the lines of summer green and autumn gold, Rhy collapsed with a scream.
One moment he was on his feet, and the next he was on his hands and knees, crying out in pain as something sharp and jagged tore through him.
“Rhy?” came a voice nearby as the prince folded in on himself, a sob tearing its way free.
Rhy.
Rhy.
Rhy.
His name echoed through the courtyard, but he was drowning in his own blood; he was sure he would see it painting the stones. His vision blurred, sliding out of focus as he fell, the way he had so many times when the darkness came, bringing forth the memories and the dreams.
This was a bad dream.
His mouth was filling with blood.
It had to be a bad dream.
He tried to get to his feet.
It—
He collapsed again with a scream as the pain ripped through his chest and buried itself between his ribs.
“Rhy?” shouted the voice.
He tried to answer, but his jaw locked. He couldn’t breathe. Tears were streaming down his face and the pain was too real, too familiar, a blade driven through flesh and muscle, scraping against bone. His heart raced, and then stuttered, skipped a beat, and his vision went black and he was back on the cot in the sanctuary again, falling through darkness, crashing down into—
* * *
Nothing.
Lila had run straight for the courtyard wall, sprinting through the strange orchard and out the other side. But there was no sign of them, no blood on the stones, no mark. She backed away, trying to think of where else to look. Then she heard the scream.
Rhy.
She found the prince on the ground, clawing at his chest. He was sobbing, pressing his arm to his ribs as if he’d been stabbed, but there was no blood. Not here. It hit her like a blow.
Whatever was happening to Rhy wasn’t happening to Rhy at all.
It was happening to Kell.
Alucard appeared, and went ashen at the sight of the prince. He called to the guards before folding to his knees as Rhy let out another sob. “What’s happening to him?” asked Alucard.
Rhy’s lips were stained with blood, and Lila didn’t know if he’d bitten them through, or if the damage was worse.
“Kell …” gasped the prince, shuddering in pain. “Something’s … wrong … can’t …”
“What does Kell have to do with this?” asked the captain.
Two royal guards appeared, the queen behind them, looking pale with fear.
“Where is Kell?” she cried as soon as she saw the prince.
“Get back!” called the guards when a handful of nobles tried to come near.
“Call for the king!”
“Hold on,” pleaded Alucard, talking to Rhy.
Lila backed away as the prince curled in on himself.
She started searching the trees for a sign of Kell, of the woman, of the way they had gone.
Rhy rolled onto his side, tried to rise, failed, and began coughing blood onto the orchard ground.
“Someone find Kell!” demanded the queen, her voice on the edge of hysteria.
Where had he gone?
“What can I do, Rhy?” whispered Alucard. “What can I do?”
* * *
Kell surfaced with the pain.
He was breaking into pieces, some vital part being torn away. Pain radiated from the metal collar at his throat, cutting off air, blood, thought, power. He tried desperately to summon magic, but nothing came. He gasped for air—it felt as if he were drowning, the taste of blood pooling in his mouth even though it was empty.
The forest was gone, the room around him barren. Kell shivered—his coat and shirt were gone—the bare skin of his back and shoulders pressed against something cold and metal. He couldn’t move; he was standing upright, but not by his own strength. His body was being held in a kind of frame, his arms forced wide to either side, his hands bound to the vertical bars of the structure. He could feel a horizontal bar against his shoulders, a vertical one against his head and spine.
“A relic,” said an even voice, and Kell dragged his vision into focus and saw Holland standing before him. “From my predecessors.”
The Antari’s gaze was steady, his whole form still, as if sculpted from stone instead of