Eona - Alison Goodman [75]
He slammed his hand on the table. “I said, take it!”
“I promised I would not. Please, I don’t want to hurt Ryko.”
At the corner of my eye I saw Yuso flex his hand around the sword’s hilt.
“Take it!” Kygo repeated.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Obey me!”
“No. It is wrong!”
My shout echoed over and over in the small cavern—a rolling chorus of defiance.
Kygo gripped the edge of the table. “So stubborn. Why won’t you just do as you’re told?” He nodded at Yuso. “Break Ryko’s shoulder.”
“What?” I stepped back, as if the command had been a blow to my own body.
“Take Ryko’s will, or Yuso will break his shoulder.”
With a deft twist of his sword, Yuso lowered the blade and shifted his grip, changing the heavy hilt into a bludgeon. Ryko stiffened.
“Yuso, no!” I said.
“I serve His Majesty,” Yuso warned.
He walked toward us. Ryko’s eyes fixed on Yuso, but there was no plea in them. Just a hard, endless stare.
I spun around to Kygo. “He is your man. He is loyal to you.”
Kygo shook his head. “He is your man, Eona. Take his will.”
“Why?”
He looked across at Yuso. “Do it,” he ordered.
The captain pulled back the hilt, lining up the blow. Beside me, Ryko braced, his breathing quick and hard through clenched teeth.
“Stop!” I pushed in between them.
The islander stumbled backward. “My lady, please. No.”
“I’m sorry, Ryko.” I reached out with my energy, seeking the pathways of his life force. “Forgive me.”
Beneath the pounding of my heartbeat, I found the frantic rhythm of his fear and fury, and pulled it into my Hua. The sudden brutal link flared through his eyes. He gasped as his will melded to mine, the merciless connection driving him to his knees. I felt the rush of his energy building within me. All of his massive strength was at my command.
A brutal grip on my arm wrenched me around.
Kygo.
I staggered, still caught in the torrent of power. The emperor hauled me upright again and grabbed my jaw, holding me still.
“Did you heal me?” he demanded. He was so close, I could barely focus. “Did you heal me?”
The dark fear in his eyes penetrated the rush of power.
“No!” My connection with Ryko snapped. The brutal release dropped the islander to the floor as I sagged, suddenly drained of energy. “No. I didn’t heal you. I didn’t!”
Kygo caught me and pulled me against his chest. I felt his heart pounding beneath my cheek, the glow of the Imperial Pearl only a finger’s length away from my eyes. I stared at its pale beauty, the shock of the broken link too strong for the small stirring of desire to touch it.
Kygo stroked the nape of my neck. “It’s all right,” he murmured against my hair. He looked around at Yuso. “See, she had no hold on me. And I did not feel her control of Ryko,” he said. “Are you satisfied?”
Yuso sheathed his sword. “As much as I can be, given our lack of knowledge about her power.”
“Then get out,” Kygo said. “Take Ryko with you. Have the physician attend him.”
I lifted my head, the sense of Kygo’s words finally penetrating my daze.
“You did that to see if I healed you?” Another kind of energy burned through me—rage. And it was all my own. I slammed my fist against his chest. “Let me go!”
He tightened his hold, stopping my escape. “I had to be certain.”
“You could have asked me!” I punched him again, wanting to hurt him in some way. As he had hurt me. He caught my wrist. This time his touch held no tenderness.
“Yuso,” he said through his teeth. “Get out. Now!”
The captain hauled Ryko up onto his feet and steered him out of the cavern. Kygo forced my hand down.
“Do not hit me again,” he warned. “I am your emperor.”
“I am your Naiso,” I said. “Or does that mean nothing?”
“I had to prove that you did not heal me.”
“How could I have healed you?” I demanded. “I would have destroyed the whole crater, like the fisher village.”
“I did not witness that, Eona. And all who did are your people,” he said. “I had to prove that my will is still my own.”
“Why didn’t you just trust me? I would have told you the truth.”
“It would not have been enough,” he said flatly. “I had to prove it to Yuso.”
“Why?