Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 360: Mere Mortals

Chapter 360: Mere Mortals

"That is not their fault," Daphne tried to reason. "You’ve ingested Alistair’s blood. It poisoned you. Deep down inside, I know you’re not a monster."

However, Silas was not willing to listen to her placating words. Or rather, he no longer had the sanity and rationality to listen to logic or emotional pleas any longer. He merely coldly laughed, licking his bottom lip before staring hungrily at Daphne’s neck.

"Daphne, do you know me enough to even make that claim?" Silas asked rhetorically. "Now that you mention ingesting blood, do you think I’ll feel better after I drink yours?"

Silas’s eyes feasted on the patch of exposed skin on Daphne’s neck. Daphne gulped, and Silas’s eyes dilated in pleasure, as though he was a ravenous dog that stumbled upon a squirrel.

"Daphne, look out!" Zephyr cried out as Silas lunged for Daphne like a rabid dog. Daphne screamed as she ducked, barely avoiding his outstretched claws. Silas cackled as he swiped at her face, his face looming comically close to hers. Daphne flinched, but Silas’s claws didn’t break her skin.

It seemed almost playful.

Daphne desperately needed fire, but no matter how hard she willed herself to conjure a flame, only a small spark appeared on her fingers.

Crap.

Silas smirked at her failure, reaching out to stroke her cheek. Daphne all but plastered herself against the infirmary door, her eyes darting to the empty corridor. She needed to run, but in her weakened state Silas would catch up with her in no time at all.

"Oh dear sweet sister, now you’re just like me," Silas said mockingly, his hand around her throat. Daphne grabbed at his hand weakly, trying to pry his hand away, but it felt like she was trying to shift a collar made of iron. "Are you going to run?"

Daphne squirmed in his hand and Silas smiled wider, amused at her pathetic attempts.

"Now let me get a taste of your blood. I’m parched." Silas leaned in and licked a stretch of exposed skin, causing Daphne to shudder.

"Bon appetit." Silas unhinged his jaw, but before he could clamp down on her skin, Zephyr came barrelling from the corner with a war cry, slamming his body into Silas in a full-body tackle.

Silas let out a groan of pain as he fell to the floor, accidentally letting go of Daphne, but not before his claws left painful gouges on her throat. But that was the least of Daphne’s worries; she could only rapidly inhale huge gasps of air, nearly slumping to the floor in relief.

"Daphne! Run! I’ll hold him off!" Zephyr cried out, trying to pin Silas’s arms down while Silas snarled and snapped at him.

"Fuck you, you stupid bird!" Silas raged as he kicked at Zephyr’s legs, causing him to stumble back. Before he could lunge at Daphne again, Zephyr smacked Silas in the face with one of his wings, causing Silas to get a mouthful of feathers. He blinked in surprise at the unfamiliar sensation.

Using that brief moment of distraction, Zephyr immediately launched himself at Silas with another battle cry, raining blows all over Silas’s body. Silas let out groans of pain, but he finally managed to grab one of Zephyr’s arms and tugged him close, sinking his teeth into his forearm.

"Daphne, just go! Hurry!" Zephyr screamed in pain, trying to pull his arm away, but it only made things worse as Silas’s jaw clamped down tighter on his arms, digging into his flesh. Zephyr balled his fist and punched Silas in the face. The blow dislodged the bite, but Daphne’s eyes were glued to the hint of red on his fangs.

Oh god. Silas had bit Zephyr hard enough to draw blood. Daphne grew paler; what if Zephyr lost his mind the same way Silas did?

"Come on, we have to leave now," Sirona hurriedly said, scuttling towards her. She grabbed Daphne’s arm to haul her up, all but dragging her out of the room.

Daphne gave Zephyr one last worried glance before Sirona slammed the infirmary doors shut.

"Where are we going?" Daphne asked, trying to keep up with Sirona’s rapid steps. Sirona would have put Daphne in Prince Nathaniel’s hiding spot, but she had no clue where it was.

"To the lab," Sirona decided instead. With Daphne’s frail body, there was no way Sirona could afford to drag her all over the palace to search for a good hiding spot. Zephyr could buy them time, but it wasn’t enough. "We need to tell Atticus and the others what happened, and you need a place to hide and recuperate. I can set some fires for defense."

Daphne could only nod, and follow Sirona’s lead. After they made it to the makeshift lab merely a few doors away, Sirona and Daphne hurriedly shifted chairs to block the door and wedge the door handle. It wouldn’t be able to stop Silas completely, but even a tiny delay could mean a difference between life and death.

If they were physically stronger, they would have shifted the tables instead, but that simply wasn’t possible.

"Pull the curtains and talk to your husband," Sirona said, tossing an activated sodalite piece to Daphne. Meanwhile, she went to the messy table and began to throw ingredients together into a few small pots, stirring and cursing under her breath.

"Atticus! Atticus! Can you hear me?" Daphne called out after she covered the one window in the room, but the sodalite remained surprisingly silent. Was no one holding the stone on the other end?

Perhaps Atticus already had his hands full dealing with Alistair. Daphne believed that he would win, but she couldn’t help the growing pit in her stomach.

No, she shook her head to rid herself of the negative thoughts. Atticus would be fine, and in the meantime, she would make sure to keep Sirona and herself safe before reinforcements came.

"Daphne, can you light a fire?" Sirona asked hopefully. Daphne focused, but only a tiny spark came out.

"I’m sorry," Daphne said shamefully. She felt like she was back to being a burden.

"It’s fine, I have an alternative solution," Sirona then dug through the boxes and took out flintstones. "You’ll just have to use this instead like us mere magic-less mortals."

Daphne clutched at the stones as though they were her lifeline, wondering how she should use them.

"What are you going to set fire to?" Daphne asked worriedly. The makeshift lab was filled with two long tables full of strange substances and lots of flammable paper. If a spark caught in this environment, the entire room might explode before they even got to escape.

Before Sirona could reply, there was a polite knock at the door.

"My dear sister, you didn’t tell me we were playing hide and seek!"