I hugged him tightly, rubbing circles on his back, swaying gently all the while whispering in his ear.
“It’s okay, it was just a dream… you’re safe, you’re perfectly all right,” my voice was soothing, gentle. “Nothing's going to happen to you.”
If only he knew…
Because what if something did happen? Why if I was found out? This was my life on the line. Literally.
And there was almost nothing I could do to keep things from spiralling out of control.
But eventually, I calmed myself down enough to pull away, wiping almost angrily at my eyes. “I—I’m sorry…”
“No, you’re okay,” I reassured him, squeezing his shoulders comfortingly. “You want to talk? Let’s talk until you feel better. I’ll stay till you fall asleep. How about it?”
My whole body went rigid in fear.
“I can’t—I cant talk about it. It’s fine. I’ll be fine. But—Thank you.”
I felt him tense up in my hold.
“No, that’s not what I meant,” I whispered, trying to calm him down. “Just talking. Simple talking. No conversation about what’s gotten you do afraid. Just a small distraction.”
I shook my head after a moment—he shouldn’t have to do this for me, no matter how desperately I wanted him to. “Did I—Did I wake you up?”
“Nah,” I responded nonchalantly. “You didn’t, don’t worry. I was already up.”
My brow furrowed, chest heaving from the residual panic the dream had brought on.
“Why?” I asked quietly, “What happened?”
Suddenly, my eyes shot down to my chest. Panic surged through me, but I quickly tore my gaze away again, drawing my knees up to my chest and hugging the blanket tighter around me. Shit. Had Kaden seen?
I quirked an eyebrow, unaware of the panic Elliot felt.
“Nothing,” I answered, shaking my head. “Needed to drink water. I’m glad I did, though.”
I sensed an untruth, a few unspoken words…. but I didn’t press. He hadn’t pushed me, so I wasn’t going to push him.
“Alright…. I think I’m fine now.”
He hadn’t seen my chest. Relief practically crushing the air from my lungs, I smiled the tiniest bit. “Thank you, really.”
“Hey, we’re best friends,” I shrugged, trying to make him feel better. “I’m always going to watch out for you. Even if you’re tougher than I am.”
“Me?” I almost laughed aloud. “That’s not true and we both know it. But thank you. Get some sleep, okay?”
I laughed, though mine was sarcastic.
“Elliot, you got an A ranked bondmate,” I reminded him, almost mentioning Prince Colton but stopping myself subtly. “You were strong enough to summon Scylla. Even the top mages didn’t achieve that much. Don’t think too little of yourself.”
I shook my head slowly, securing the blankets subtly around my chest. “It’s too late to have this conversation. Go get some rest, Kaden.”
“All right,” I ruffled his head. “Goodnight, Elliot.”
“Goodnight…” I murmured and watched him leave.
Colton’s POV:
I woke to my body burning, aching as if every bone had been broken. I could faintly feel the hands of that freak on me, her icy cold voice lulling me into oblivion.
”Key…” I whispered, holding he’d respond. Hoping he would come for me.
Within seconds, I could hear flapping of wings and suddenly I was no longer pressed against the cold, hard wall, but the soft skin of my bondmate.
”Colton… I’m so sorry…” Key pulled me close, licking me. **”I don’t know how long I was in that sleep…”
I could barely hear him at that point. All I knew was, before I lost my consciousness, that I wrapped my arms around Key, clung to him tightly and begged him to never leave me again.
Murmurs swept through the room, carried in by a harsh, shockingly cold wind. The whispers increased, almost whipped into a frenzy by the unity of the two… and slowly, a hairline of light appeared in the distance; a way out.
I woke up with the wind in my face, tucked safely in the paws of Key. I could feel his harsh breathing, his tired wings.
Key…” I murmured weakly. I had never felt so pathetic in my life before. ”Please. Rest.”
We’re almost there,” Key responded, not slowing down. ”I’ll get you to the healer in no time.”
”No,” I argued. ”Not the healer. After you’ve rested, you’ll take me to Elliot’s.”
Key didn’t respond to my saying he should rest. He continued flying, his guilt seeping into my skin. He blamed himself. Of course, he did. We were supposed to protect each other. If Key sensed the love I sent towards him, he didn’t show it. He continued to flap his wings in the dark night, holding me tight.
For the second night in a row, a awoke to the sound of my own screams.
My hand flew to my throat, the blankets falling off my torso, my mouth handing open while I gasped for breath, shoulders rising and falling.
You’re safe, I tried to tell myself, but Scylla beat me to it. She went up on her back legs and pressed her paws (which had grown considerably in the past seven days, since Colton had left) to my chest.
”Breathe, Elle…” she consoled, carefully wiping my tear-stained cheeks with the tip of her wing. ”You’re going to be okay…”
I hugged her to my chest, sticking a choked sob. “I don’t want to die, Scylla…” My fear reared it’s ugly head.
”And you won’t—I promise,” she answered in a slightly wobbly voice.
Eventually, she urged me to go and grab a drink of water. It was safe to leave my rook without my binder—Andreas and Kaden had long since left for some slumber party. It was just her and me… And Colton’s empty bedroom.
Sighing, I stood, cradling my bondmate in my arms as I slipped from my room and into the kitchen.
Key easily opened the window to Elliot’s room and set me inside, shrinking himself so he could nestle in my hair. I appreciated the gesture.
My knees almost buckled from underneath me, my vision went white, but I managed to stay upright. I needed to see Elliot. I wanted to know if he was safe.
Finally, I opened my eyes, wincing at the blinding pain of the light. I immediately shut my burning eyes. A full week in total darkness… it wasn’t a surprise my eyes needed to get used to bright light. Shaking my head and blinking slowly, I finally opened them again, adjusting neatly.
I looked around, the bed unmade as if someone had just gotten up from it. Elliot. He probably went to get a glass of water. Preparing to exist through the door, I looked at the body mirror on the wall. My sunken eyes, bruised up body. I looked absolutely horrible—right after a mission gone wrong. As if I’d been tortured. That wasn’t what caught my attention, though. It was the reflection of something under Elliot’s bed. Something blue. I shouldn’t have looked, but I couldn’t help myself.
Before I knew it, I was staggering towards the bed, knelt down slowly and took out the things that caught my attention.
And the second I did so, my world shattered into tiny, tiny pieces. Because what I was holding in my hand shouldn’t be in the possession of a male. I thought what I went through, I couldn’t go through something worse.
I was wrong.
“She was right…” I whispered, my head hanging, an invisible being squeezing my heart, suffocating me. ”Mistress is always right…”
I placed my fingertips lightly on the curving point of our kitchen tap, closing my eyes and tapping into my power. I imagined opening a up a pair of floodgates just enough for the right amount of power to trickle through….. And I succeeded. Thirty seconds later, I found myself with a perfect, gently spinning sphere of moonlit water.
I loved the sensations that came when I used my power—the sheer quantity of magic at my disposal. Rushing through my bloodstream, flooding my entire body. God, it felt so freeing. Like I was riding smoothly across the waves of my little cove at home, the wind whipping my hair back like a sail.
Eventually, though, I let the water trickle from the air into my mouth, offering the rest to Scylla when I was done. By now, my frenzied heart had slowed, my body and mind sinking into the calm, serene atmosphere that the night alone had cast over me. Soothed, my mind set straight, I headed back to my room with Scylla, a soft yawn escaping from my mouth.
But when I turned my doorknob and slipped inside, I almost screamed. There, in the middle of my dinky lit bedroom, was a tall, dark figure. Stumbling backwards in shock, I hit blindly for the light switch—and froze.
“Colton?” What on earth was he doing here, in my bedroom, at three in the morning after having been gone for a whole week?? The first thing I noticed was how haggard he looked, how beaten up. My worry surged, and I took a step forward. “Are you——“ Then, my eyes fell on the object in his hands.
And the blood drained from my face.
I released a breath I didn’t know I was holding, stilling my body, fighting against the tremors I wasn’t aware of.
Clenching the chest binder in my hands, I slowly stood up, almost losing my balance but finding it in the end. I turned around, finally locking eyes with Elliot.
How stupid was I? Why hadn’t I realized this before? The way his—her voice constantly changed. The way she messed up every time I made contact with her. Why didn’t I realize this before? How utterly stupid I was. She was right. That woman was right. I didn’t know this… human in front of me. Not even a little bit.
“You lied…” I found myself whispering, fingers never loosening the hold on the chest binder. “Everything about you was a lie. God, I can’t beleive it.” I let out a dry laugh, leaning against the bed for support, my vision going white. I blinked, shaking my head immediately. “And I believed you. No questions asked, I believed you.”
No.
This wasn’t supposed to be happening. He wasn’t supposed to find out this way—Nobody was supposed to know.
A sob caught in my throat just as Scylla’s tiny claws tightened around my shoulder. I’m going to die, I kept thinking, over and over again. Theyre going to kill me.
“Give that back—“ I found myself hissing, reaching out towards the binder with one arm and desperately hugging my chest with the other. My whole body had been doused in a bucket of ice water, flooded by utter panic, until there was nothing I could do but force angry words to fly from my mouth.
“Now, Colton.” My voice, through shaking violently with absolute terror, hardened.
I pulled it away, my face twisting coldly at her reactions.
“You lied to the authorities,” I repeated, forcing my voice to abandon the hurt and pain. “You lied to the court. You lied to me.”
Dropping the binder to the floor, I slammed her to the wall, my expression furious.
“Was it fun? Fooling everyone, fooling me?” I continued, the ache I was feeling vanishing as if it was never there. “You must have thought it was so easy wrapping me around your finger, getting me to trust you. Well, Elliot, I must ask—how did that feel?”