Page 32 of Wicked Enemy

A bitter laugh threatened to spill from my lips, so I clenched my jaw to stop it.

Maybe I should have picked the dark side after all. Levi might be a dark mage who took whatever he wanted without stopping to consider the law, but at least there was a solid sense of loyalty in his Court. Perhapsbecausethere were no rules. No limits. He didn’t have to worry about following regulations during hostage situations or getting permission to do something as simple as saving one of his own. He just did whatever he wanted.

My father’s face flashed before my eyes. It made a flood of guilt crash over me. He had beenkilledby dark mages who just did whatever they wanted. And here I was, almost wishing that I was one of them. What kind of awful daughter was I even?

The searing guilt was followed by a terrible loneliness. I had no one. Not even Ulric, who was the closest thing I had to family, would risk it all to save me. Sure, I had friends and acquaintances and people who liked me, but at the end of the day, I still walked home alone to my empty house. I had no one who truly had my back. That had never really bothered me before, since I had been alone from such a young age, but now the realization felt like a punch to the gut.

“Alright, I’m heading to the meeting location,” White said, snapping me out of my bleak thoughts. “I need to make sure that Arden doesn’t come early and try to set up some kind of ambush.”

“Yes, master,” his goons replied.

Raising my head from my knees, I slid my gaze towards their voices. A jolt shot through me when I found all four of them watching me.

“She needs to at least beconsciouswhen I come to get her,” White said.

Ice skittered down my spine.

“Understood,” the other three replied with malicious grins on their faces.

“Don’t disappoint me,” he added.

But before they could reply, he worldwalked out. My mouth went unnaturally dry as I stared back at the three dark mages who were now watching me as if I was prey that they wanted to play with one last time before they were forced to give it up.

“Come with me,” Pollux said to his companions while jerking his chin towards the door. “I have an idea.”

Terror crashed over me. Whatever this was, I was not going to like it. I flicked my gaze desperately around the room while the three of them walked out the door.

No one was coming to save me. So I would just have to save myself.

Once the door was closed behind them, I immediately shifted my attention to the round pole in the headboard that my manacles were locked to. When Karim had been pouring water down my throat, I had thrashed so wildly that the wood had cracked. But because of the noise from his assault, none of them had heard it.

Moving my hands sideways, I managed to grab the rod with one hand. And then I yanked. Hard. Another groan sounded.

Then the wood cracked.

My heart leaped into my throat at the loud sound. Hopefully, they hadn’t been able to hear it from outside. But I still wasn’t taking any chances.

Yanking my still shackled hands free from the headboard, I scrambled off the bed and sprinted towards the nearest window.

The morning sun had barely climbed over the horizon, and the thick dark gray clouds made the hills outside look even gloomier. But at least it made visibility a little bit lower.

Not even bothering to try to climb through the window with my clunky handcuffs, I simply leaped up and dove through it instead. Tucking my head in, I landed hard on my shoulder but managed to roll with the motion. Wet grass stuck to my clothes as I leaped up from the ground. And then I ran.

For the first time in two days, I at last felt a tiny sliver of hope. If I could just get up the slope and over the ridge before they spotted me, I should be able to find somewhere to hide. Then I could try to figure out where I was and how to get back to Malgrave from here.

The lack of food and water made my movements slower than normal, and the grassy hillside swam a little before me as I sprinted towards it, but I sucked in ragged breaths and kept going.

I had almost made it to where the ground started sloping upwards when the first furious roar split the morning air.

“The hill! She’s going for the hill!”

Panic shot through me. Pushing myself, I tried to pick up more speed even though my legs were already wobbling dangerously. My breath sawed through my chest as I sprinted desperately upwards.

“Karim!” Pollux snapped.

“I’m on it!”

A sizzling sound cut through the loud pounding of my heart. I jerked my body sideways right before a white bolt of lightning could slam into my back. It zapped into the wet grass right next to my feet. Stumbling sideways, I gasped in both relief and panic as I tried to get my balance back again.