A strong hand suddenly settled over Alissa’s. She lifted her face to meet the man who looked at her with so much resolve. His stare was so intense she almost felt intimidated by his presence.
“I’ll do it,” Eldric spoke in a hard, controlled voice. “If that isreallywhat you want, I’ll do it.”
She narrowed her eyes, her fingers tightened around the hatchet handle, unsure if she should trust him with this. He could use it to kill them and gain back his freedom.
As if Eldric could read her mind, he rolled his eyes. “If I take this weapon from your hands, it will be only to do what you requested of me. This situation is already absurd as it is.”
Her gaze fell on Freyah, standing in the corner and barely breathing, then shifted to the man whose hand was still around hers, somehow looking so confident and sincere. He stretched his arms forward—a plea to be set free.
She hesitated. “I will still hold on to your sword. You’ll have it once I’m back from the canyons.”
“And if you never return…”
Alissa shrugged. “Then I guess you’ll have to hope that I do, Van Myr.”
Eldric snorted but agreed to her terms; the man just wanted this to be over with.
Using the weapon that was destined to take her hand, Alissa cut off the ropes binding his wrists.
Eldric wasted no time; he picked up the hatchet and gently placed Alissa’s right hand on the wooden desk in front of them. “Do not move.”
She felt the cold, sharp blade of the weapon touch the soft skin on the back of her wrist as Eldric tested the sharpness of the blade. Alissa hissed when blood dripped from the small cut he inflicted. She knew then that the blade was sharp enough to sever her hand without much effort.
Eldric raised his arm, the weapon hovering above her. His brows were knitted, the green of his eyes darker, heavy with the weight of what he was about to do. She realized, in that moment, he was waiting for her permission once again.
Alissa took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She couldn’t see; she could only sense the twins drawing closer, likely wanting to witness the act up close. Her heart beat so fast she thought it might jump out of her chest, yet she nodded and braced herself for the blow, for the indescribable pain that was coming.
“Stop!” shouted the younger twin.
She opened her eyes to find the brothers staring so closely at her wrist that she jolted back. The younger one traced a finger along the small cut where blood had slicked her skin, then lifted it to his lips and licked it. A gasp escaped him immediately afterward.
Alissa couldn’t tell whether she should be disgusted by the scene or grateful that they’d stopped her hand from being cut.
“We changed our minds.” The older brother picked up a small vial. “Your fee to access the canyons will be your blood.Please fill this vial with it, and you are free to find your destiny within the fissures of truth, little person.”
Alissa’s legs trembled. Eldric’s arm was still raised, frozen in the motion that was meant to sever her right hand. He looked just as shocked.
“Is this some kind of twisted joke?” she asked.
When the twins shook their heads in unison, she felt Freyah’s arms wrap around her, and she was grateful; it was the only thing keeping her from collapsing. Eldric sighed in relief and set the hatchet down in a corner on the floor.
Alissa pulled the dagger she had hidden in her boot. With one movement, she stretched the cut on the back of her wrist wider. She watched her blood fill the vial, drop after drop. Even in that moment, she wondered how many of these vials it would take to fill with the blood of all the animals she had killed. At least she was lucky enough to keep her hand.
The older brother fetched the vial from her, sniffing its contents, his eyes filled with something that resembled lust, and his brother’s smile widened. “Your blood is rare, little person. It might be what we were looking for all along.”
Alissa grimaced, not knowing what to say next.
“Are you ready?” Both brothers spoke at once, the sound sending a shiver down her spine.
Alissa walked to Freyah, who had managed to stop crying. She squeezed her friend’s hands tight. “If I haven’t returned by the evening, you go back home and let the man go.”
“Please, be careful, Lissa!”
“I will, I promise.” She glanced at Eldric, who had returned to his stoic façade. She gave him a nod of farewell.
“I’m ready,” she said, turning to face the brothers.
“Remember to keep the answer you seek always at heart and the essence of who you are at mind, little person, otherwiseyou might not find your way back,” the brothers pronounced in unison.