Broken Promise (The Broken Ones Book 3) (15 page)

She stumbled once, when the direness of
her situation suddenly overcame her. Elves, archers, threats on Bo's life, the
letter effectively making her disappear. They didn't want to simply talk. Quite
likely, she was about to die.

Bo, Garen don't react. Get out of the
market.

What are you–

There are archers trained on you. Get
home. Be safe.

Aro!

Bo, they will send you a letter. Pretend
you believe it. If you come after me, they will kill you.

"Stop here."

She did as instructed.

What do you want me to do?
The panic in
Hale's voice didn't help.

I don't know,
she admitted.

Her attacker released her neck and
turned her around. Chin held high, she regarded him calmly, but didn't try to
hide her anger.

I'll talk to you when I can,
she sent to
them all.
I love you.

It didn't surprise her to see the man
wore a glamor and appeared to be a handsome young human. His blond hair hung
down to his well-dressed shoulders. Sharp green eyes regarded her with
amusement.

Where are you?

What has happened?

She struggled to ignore both Bo and
Garen.
Talk to Hale. Please, go home!

"You are certainly different than
most human girls. Yet you are human and that is the problem, is it not?"

"I have no idea what you're talking
about," she snapped.

His eyes darkened as his lips pressed
together angrily. Pulling something from his pocket, he fiddled with it for a
moment. "Not too smart though. Open your mouth."

Brows drawing together in confusion, she
did as he asked when he glared at her, clearly losing patience.

He stuck a finger in her mouth, pressing
it for a moment on her tongue before pulling it out and wiping it on his pants.

Bitterness filled her mouth, making her
eyes water. "What was that?"

The Elf smiled. His beauty filled her
vision as rainbows suddenly danced around the edges.

"You'll have some lovely dreams,
mortal girl. Enjoy them while you can."

She tried to spit, to get whatever he'd
given her out of her mouth. Had it been magic? A drug?

Swaying, she stumbled backward until she
hit a wall. The rainbows grew brighter. Her hands scrambled on the stone behind
her, trying to keep herself upright as her legs gave way.

The boys' frantic cries continued to
fill her mind.

I'll be fine,
she lied.
I…rot…
What did they give–

Chapter 15

Chains and Dreams

The rainbow colors swirling around the
edges of everything she saw were beautiful. A part of her knew she dreamed, but
that was fine. They were, as the Elf said, such lovely dreams.

She saw her brothers again, all seven of
them, and her father. They sat around the table, joking and laughing. She sat
with Prince under the stars and talked about nothing important at all. Her boys
were all together again, and they sat around while Cain read to them.

There was no pain or sadness or loss. No
death.

She ran, through forests lit with
sunshine, with Kei at her side. She grinned over at him but then stopped.

The rainbows were fading…and so was Kei.

Her eyes snapped opened.
"Kei," she whispered. Darkness filled her vision now, and even Fey
sight did nothing to break through it.

She couldn't move, her body too stiff
and weak to obey her. On her side, curled into a ball, she had no strength. Somewhere
near, she heard the faint sound of water slowing dripping. Panic seized her,
until she felt the cold stone beneath her. Stone. Not wood. She wasn't on a
ship.

A shiver ran through her body and she
winced. Cold seeped into her, leaving her numb. Wherever she was smelled wet
and damp. Perhaps a basement?

The wet brought forth a sudden thirst,
and she licked dry lips. A bitter aftertaste remained in her mouth.

Bo? Garen?

Her heart sped up as she closed her
eyes. She knew that feeling…the emptiness of her words. Frantically diving into
her mind, she spun around.

Instead of her fortress and a sky of
dark clouds, swirling white fog surrounded her. She pushed through, one way…
another. No matter which way she went, she couldn't find the links to her boys.

Cursing loudly, she spun around again.
What had they done to her? Did whatever make her dream still affect her?
Finding no answers, she left and opened her eyes. She needed to escape, to find
a way out. At least she wasn't hurt. She felt no pain…

Her breath caught in her throat. Kei…
Searching frantically, a sob escaped her when she finally did find it. Their
bond remained, yet felt strangely distant, as if it were cloaked in fog.

Together or apart, always I will be with
you,
the words of their bindings said.

Apparently nothing came between it.

Very faintly, she felt his pain like she
did when he slept. It must be night then. How long had she been dreaming?

Feeling slowly started to return to her
body, and she shifted, stretching her legs. Her arms felt like dead weights at
her side.

A light appeared above her so suddenly she
winced, closing her eyes tightly for a moment before opening them and raising
her head slightly.

The faint light didn't show much,
creating a circle around her but not much farther. Glancing around, she saw
darkness ahead and to her right. To the left, the stone blocks of a wall.

Shifting again, she pulled her legs up
and forced her arms to move, pushing her up into a sitting position. They felt
so heavy, so wrong, she–

Glancing down, every thought left her as
she stared. Lips trembling, heart suddenly pounding in her chest, she raised
her hands.

A scream erupted out of her as she
scrambled back until she smashed into the wall. Shaking fingers fumbled and
slipped as she tried to push the bands of metal off her wrists.

The chain between them rattled, but she
barely heard it over her frantic screams. Her body shaking uncontrollably, no
amount of pushing or pulling or tearing would remove the horrible things from
her.

This wasn't happening.

She wasn't in chains. She wasn't! Not
again. Not again.

"No, no, no! Get them off! Take
them off!"

Unnatural sounds of terror echoed in the
room. Her fingers violently tore at her skin, the shackles, and the chain.
Blood seeped and then flowed, staining her hands, arms and shirt sleeves red.

Tears blinded her as she screamed and
cursed and sobbed. Rational thought left her. Chains. She was in chains. They
wouldn't come off. She found no keyholes. No latches… nothing. The metal seemed
to have welded together around her wrists. Another chain attached to the one
between them with a lock and snaked out into the darkness, but that didn't matter
to her. She wanted them off. "Off, take them…off…"

Blood dripped to the floor. Eventually she
slumped back, staring up at the light, hands still weakly trying to push the
metal off her wrists.

The light dimmed.

Faint sounds she couldn't identify whispered
in the near dark.

Something met her lips.

"Drink."

Eyes filled with tears, she couldn't see
who crouched in the dark before her. "Take…them off."

"Drink."

She did, the bitter water at least
easing the burn in her throat. Whoever had come left, but she didn't care. The
rainbows had returned.

She welcomed them.

∞ ∞ ∞

The dreams flowed around her and she savored
the sweet beauty of them. Pleasant scenes from the past surrounded her, one
after another, and she watched, mesmerized and content. Vaguely, it occurred to
her how strange it was, that she saw them from a distance, watching herself,
instead of being an active part of them.

Hazy memories of waking up drifted in
her mind. Being fed, being led to a bucket to use, and then drinking more
bitter water and dreaming again. Her mind remained in a cloudy fog each time
and the return of the rainbow edged dreams brought an addictive comfort. Here she
was safe, happy.

When the rainbows began to fade, unease
settled over her. She tried to hold on to the dreams, wanting to stay in the
memories of her family and lost friends, with those she loved.

Wet and cold struck her suddenly. She
gasped in shock, her body jerking and hands going instinctively to cover her head
as her eyes flew open.

"Time to wake up."

Freezing water dripped into her eyes and
down her face. Curling in on herself, the chains between her hands slapped
against her head as she peeked up. The room, her prison, faded in and out for a
moment. Blinking rapidly, she cringed back and squeezed her eyes closed as
another bucket of cold water was thrown over her.

"Wake up!"

"I'm…I'm awake."

Silence met her comment. Shivering and
drenched, she wiped water from her eyes. When she opened them again and looked
up, she was just in time to see a bucket swing and then its contents thrown at
her once more.

With a shriek, she covered her head, struggling
to move away. As she reached the stone wall, she heard a faint chuckle, the
sound of footsteps, and then nothing.

Turning, she placed her back against the
wall and wiped water from her face again. A faint light lit the area around her
once more. Looking up, she found not a lantern, but a simple golden ball.

Magic.

Her memories came back to her. Elves.
Chains.

Hair dripping into her face, she bowed
her head and lifted her hands. They were swollen. Pink water dripped as the
dried blood covering them and her shirt washed away. Scrapes and cuts covered
her hands and what part of her wrists she could see. Some of them were quite deep
and scabbed. Her stomach turned. She'd done this to herself. The horror and
panic of being in chains left her mouth dry, yet at the same time resignation also
set in.

She pushed at one swollen scab and puss
oozed out. How long had she been here?

Looking around, she saw nothing new. The
faint light showed only the now wet stone floor around her and the wall she
leaned against.

Bo? Garen?

Her words felt empty, yet she had to try
again to contact them. Closing her eyes, she fled to her mind and was met with
the same foggy landscape as before. She searched everywhere for her link to
them, but like before found nothing but more fog.

The shock of another bucket of cold
water jerked her from her mind with a loud gasp. Sucking in water, she choked,
raising her hands as a futile defense once more.

"No going back to sleep now,"
an irritated voice said. "It is time for you to be of use."

Brushing soaked tendrils of hair from
her face, she looked up. An Elf stood before her, easily identified by his
pointed ears. Yet, even if she hadn't been able to see them, his fine featured
beauty would have established his race. Pale hair, even lighter than the Elf
who had first taken her, hung long down his back. Thin braids pulled it away
from his face, revealing his ears. Vivid green eyes stared down at her,
contempt clearly written on his face.

"Who…" She cleared her dry
throat, once again tasting a bitter aftertaste. "Who are you? What do you
want?"

A smile twisted his lips. "What do
we want," he mocked. His laugh was not pleasant. He stared at her
intently. "Your mind is more guarded than the Rift. What sort of human
freak are you?"

She didn't reply, though relief flooded
her. At least the protections on her mind seemed to be holding despite the
fogginess.

"Stupid human," he muttered,
glancing past her. After a long moment, he tossed the bucket to the side and
walked around her into the darkness.

She heard footsteps on wood, a creak, a
slam, and then nothing.

Stairs. He'd gone up stairs. So she was
in a basement, and at least now knew which way was out. Shifting uncomfortably
in the water puddled around her, she wrapped her arms around herself and
shivered again.

Her bond with Kei had faded once more as
she slept. She didn't dare try to make it stronger, not with the current range
of emotions flying through her. Hopefully her feelings were muted for him as
well. He wouldn't understand. She didn't want him to worry and feared what
might happen if she died.

Time passed. Eventually the door above
creaked open again, and then she heard the sound of many light footsteps on the
wooden stairs. Her eyes strained against the dark, but even using her Fey sight
she couldn't see beyond the light.

It brightened suddenly, and she winced,
instinctively pulling her legs up and jerking back against the wall. The
increased light showed the bottom of the stairs. Elves came into view, one
after another, descending and walking along the edge of darkness as they passed
her. Four of them in total disappeared into the dark in front of her. She
recognized two, the Elf who'd taken her and the one who'd woken her.

Body tense, she stared into the dark,
wondering what they were doing, thinking. What they planned.

Nothing good, of that she was certain.

Finally, one came forward, the first she'd
met, and he stopped in front of her, crossing his arms to regard her
thoughtfully.

Shivers still wracking her body, she watched
him back, body tensing, not knowing what would come next.

The Elf crouched. "Such filthy
creatures, humans. Five decades with you." He shook his head. "No
wonder he is not the same prince."

She blinked up at him in surprise. This was
about Prince? Of course it was. "What has he done?"

The whispered question was more for
herself than the Elf, but he answered anyway. "He has changed much, and
not for the better. It is obvious to all that you are part of the problem. So
we will amend that, and use you to do so. Brilliant, yes?"

A faint sigh of relief left her.

The loud sound of him slapping his
thighs startled her. "I spoke too soon! You wondered perhaps, if your
beloved prince had sent us to kill you?" He shook his head in
disappointment, and a small dark smile formed on his lips. "That would
have made a bitter sweet show for him, would it not? To watch his human die,
believing he had betrayed her and ordered it."

Her breath caught in her throat as her
hands clenched into fists. So there it was. "You'll kill me then."

He shrugged a shoulder nonchalantly.
"Perhaps. We will see. Not today though, mortal."

Mind whirling, she turned her gaze to
the stone floor. Pushing away the thoughts of her impending death, she
concentrated on what else he'd said. Prince watching. Would they take her to
him? No, they didn't need to.

"Wither me."

The Elves could share their memories.
This likely put her in such trouble in the first place. Prince had kissed her…in
front of the Elven guards. One of them must have shared their memory. That was
how these Elves knew what she looked like to find her, and that she meant
something to him. Anything they did to her, they merely had to watch, and then
pass the memory along to him.

She waited as he regarded her silently.

"No screaming? Crying? Pleading for
mercy?"

Blinking at him in surprise, she didn't
have an answer. Is that what they wanted? She didn't see much point in it. They
certainly wouldn't listen or care.