I let go of the hook and twisted. Unable to bury my cry of pain when the fire of the movement tore through my back, I lifted a hand and swept it wide and high, the sapphire glow bursting forth, the tip of my father’s lash glancing against it, sending it back where it tore through the skin of his face.
He fell back in surprise and pain, his feet slipping from under him, landing on his arse.
That would not mean good things for me.
But at least he’d not landed the whip on Noc.
“Holy fuck,” Noc whispered.
I turned back to Noc urgently.
“You must go. I’ve done wrong. Kristian has done wrong. I must endure or they’ll turn their attention to Kristian and he won’t endure, Noc. He won’t. And I must protect him.”
“Franka, who the fuck is that guy?” Noc asked.
His look of shock barely penetrated when I answered, “My father. And I must complete the punishment. I must.”
“Baby, this shit is whacked.” He started to unbutton his shirt. “Let’s get you covered. Frey can deal with him. Let’s see if this place has a doc—”
I’d heard my father scramble up, felt his fury sparking the air, and I instantly lifted my hands to the hook, curling my fingers around.
“I’ll endure,” I announced to Papa. “Don’t hurt Noc. I will not fall. Tell her. Tell her I’m still standing.”
Noc’s hand returned to my waist and curled in. “Baby—”
I looked in his eyes. “He’ll break. Kristian will break. I must—”
“She’s used her magic, Anneka,” my father said from behind me and terror gripped me because I knew he was sharing this with my mother.
“No!” I cried. “Recommence! I will not fall!”
“Go to the boy,” my father ordered.
Gods!
Kristian!
“No!” I shrieked.
“What the bloody hell?” Frey’s voice came from the direction of the door.
I let go of the hook and whirled to my cousin.
Lifting my arms crossed in front of me to cover my bared breasts, I beseeched, “You must stop her! You must command the elves! You must bring the green witch! She’s going to Kristian. He’ll break. The green witch must go there and stop her.”
Frey’s face was a picture of disbelief and distress as he stood in the doorway staring at me, Josette cowering behind him.
“Explain what’s happening,” he bit out tightly.
“We need a doctor, Frey,” Noc stated.
“She’s committed treason and so has her brother. For that, she’s being punished,” Papa explained.
Frey turned to my father.
“And that punishment would come at the command of your queen if your daughter hadn’t moved to make amends,” Frey clipped, twisted at the waist and ground out to Josette, “Get Valentine. And find a bloody physician.”
Josette nodded at the same time she turned and vanished from sight.
I rushed across the room to my cousin, curled a hand into his sweater at his chest and begged, “You must go. You must take Noc. If I withstand what he wishes to mete, they’ll leave Kristian alone.”
I was too deep in my state to notice my cousin for the first time in our lives addressing me gently.
“And how long has this been the understanding, Franka?”
I simply replied on a plea.
“Please, Frey, let him finish.”
Frey looked in my eyes but a moment before his went over my head.
“Cover her, Noc, and take her from here.”
“No!” I cried as I felt careful hands on my shoulders pulling me from Frey.
The pain at my back was too immense to struggle so I didn’t. I watched Frey look to my father.
“You’re communicating with Anneka?” he asked.
“Family business is family business, Frey,” my father returned.
Frey’s tone deteriorated while Noc turned me to face him. I saw his chest bare and felt the agony of the whisper of material of his shirt hitting my back.
“Are you…communicating with Anneka?”
“I don’t have to answer that,” Father retorted.
“Kristian is more than a week’s sled ride away. If she’s taking guidance from you, that means you’re a sorcerer or she’s a witch. Either way, you or she are undeclared. Which is it?” Frey demanded.
“This is none of your concern, nephew,” my father snapped.
I flinched as Frey roared, “Which is it?”
At this juncture, my tortured cry slashed through the room as Noc lifted me to cradle me in his arms.
“Sorry, Frannie, so sorry, baby,” he cooed. “Stick with me. Hold on just a little longer until I can get you to a bed.”
I battled the pain of his arm against the torn flesh of my back and looked into Noc’s eyes. “He must finish.”
Noc’s face turned hard as he stated, “He’s not gonna fuckin’ finish.”
“Noc—”
“Quiet, Frannie. Frey’s got this.”
I shook my head fervently as Frey moved out of our way and Noc took us toward the door. “No, you don’t understand.”
“No, sweetheart, you don’t understand,” Noc declared, striding through the door and into the hall. “They didn’t get it. Now they’ll get it. And, baby, that means you are no longer alone.”
My panic overwhelming me, I barely heard a word he said as we moved down the hall.