Arjun's Heir Part 3: Emory (special preview)

“Hold still, Emory, hold still.” Dhaval grips hard on my hand. He holds his other hand over my arm and a numbness begins to flow from my fingertips and up to my shoulder. “That’s it. Keep still.”

“Dhaval, what’s happening?” I whimper.

“Almost,” Dhaval’s hand over my arm begins to tense and twitch. His fingers curl as he forces them to stay straight. He then lets go of me and falls to the ground. 

I clutch my arm to my chest, as the fingertips begin to tingle. The wounds are gone, every cut and bite mark has vanished without even a scar. Dhaval rises before me, flexing his fingers and watching me.

“Are you ok?” Dhaval holds his hand out to me again.

I take his palm and pick my sword from the mud. “How did you do that?”

Dhaval shakes his head. “You can’t tell anyone,” he whispers to me. “Promise me, Emory. Promise.”

I go quiet as I look over his shoulder.

“Emory,” Dhaval urges. He then follows my eyes and looks into the shadows.

“Awfully fat for a stray cat.” His voice makes every hair on my body stand on end. It feels like a hand squeezing around my throat as my ribcage digs into my lungs. 

Dhaval’s posture stiffens and he stands tall before me. “We have you surrounded, Reginald.”

“Do you?” Reginald keeps himself in the shadows but I see something red glowing by his side. “You’ve been in here fighting Sanguis’ new creations, how do you know what you have?”

“Have you seen your coast?” Dhaval taunts.

“In this storm?” Reginald laughs. “You are a fool for sending any ship out there.” He steps forward and light crosses over his eyes. “I am not worried. You’re here just as Sanguis wanted.”

Dhaval remains quiet and still. Why isn’t he saying anything? He should be saying something, doing something. I look back over at Reginald and my anger begins to grow. This was the man who killed my father. He’s standing right in front of me. I taste blood on my tongue and my teeth have an edge to them I never noticed before.