I reappeared outside The Journeyman. Two dark figures waited by the ship. Helina and Erik.
I looked around, frowning.
“Kiev and Anna?”
Helina and Erik exchanged worried glances.
“We thought they were coming with you.”
Chapter 32: Kiev
Every limb in my body was now paralyzed. I couldn’t fight against the chains Efren had bound me in. I just sat in that underground room, slouched against the wall, barely even able to support the weight of my own head.
Efren approached holding a white-hot poker. I groaned as he ran it along my chest, burning a cross into my skin. It wasn’t healing, so I assumed that he’d put some other spell on me to hinder my body’s natural healing capabilities.
As I was close to unconsciousness, he stopped his torture and left the room. Darkness clouding my vision, I stared at the two humans opposite me. One a young girl, the other an older man. Now my mind came alive with panic about Anna. She would still be trapped in my room. Assuming Efren hadn’t already sniffed her out.
I shouted out in anguish.
Mona and my siblings would be waiting for me and Anna by now at the port.
Efren appeared in the room again, and this time, Rhys was with him.
Rhys stared down at me, his eyes wide with shock.
“Novalic?”
“I found him in here, Rhys. I caught him snooping around. I’m not sure what he was here for exactly. Anyway, when he saw he’d been caught down here he made a run for it, but I managed to stop him before he made it out the exit. Now, I trust you’ll do what’s needed.”
Rhys reached down and gripped my neck. He squeezed hard, choking me.
He stamped down on my limp knee, crushing it with his heavy boot into the ground.
“I’ll take it from here,” Rhys said.
“Of course,” Efren said, not even bothering to hide the way he was leering at me. He vanished.
“It’s a shame,” Rhys said softly. “I never did come to know you that much, but I thought you would be like your siblings. Clearly I was wrong. You have let them down.”
Letting go of me, he walked over to a cauldron in the corner of the room. He started pulling bottles off the shelves and tipping ingredients into the cauldron. He lit a fire with a spark from his palms.
“Out of respect for the loyalty of your siblings if nothing else, I’ll make this quick.”
Make what quick?
I watched as he stirred the ingredients.
“You must understand that we need to maintain the integrity of this place. It’s sacred space. Therefore, I must present you as a sacrifice to our Ancients.”
He crouched down next to the cauldron and, drawing a syringe from his pocket, drew some of the potion into it. Then he crossed the room and dug the needle into my neck.
As the potion entered my bloodstream, it felt like my skin was on fire. It itched unbearably, as though there were a thousand centipedes crawling beneath my skin.
“This will help to cleanse your system. And make you more flammable once we’ve removed your heart,” he said casually, walking back over to the counter and putting away some of the ingredients.
Once he was done, he picked up a wooden stake resting against the wall in the corner of the room.
Raising it over his shoulder, he walked over at me and aimed it directly at my heart.
“Again, Novalic, this is all for a greater cause.”
He brought the stake slamming down toward my chest.
I closed my eyes, expecting to feel it piercing through my flesh. Instead after a few seconds I realized that its tip hadn’t even grazed my skin.
I looked up, perplexed. Rhys appeared to be just as shocked as me to see the stake frozen in mid-air, a few centimeters away from me.
“Step away, Rhys.”
Rhys stumbled back.
Mona stood across the room, her eyes burning with anger.
Chapter 33: Mona
I’d waited for half an hour down by the port. When Kiev still didn’t show up, panic had gripped me.
I’d rushed up to his room and found Anna still trapped behind the cupboard in a distressed condition. I’d transported her back down to the boat, entrusting Helina and Erik to look after her.
And then, remembering Efren coming and knocking on the door, a frightening suspicion had arisen within me. I’d headed straight to the underground spell room.
Nothing could have prepared me for what I’d seen when I’d entered.
After I’d halted the stake, all the blood drained from Rhys’ face as he stared at me in shock. Although it hurt me just as much as him, I couldn’t remain a coward any longer.
Holding out my palms, I sent him flying back. He crashed against the wall, his head smashing against glass bottles as several shelves came unhinged.
He didn’t even try to get to his feet. He just sat on the floor, his back against the wall as he stared up at me. His breathing was shallow, his lips parted in disbelief.