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The dungeon was far too nice of a word; the smell of sewage infiltrated my nose, seeping into the fiber of my clothing. Luthigo, Casteel, and myself were chained to dark stone walls covered in a vibrant purple moss, or was it some funky type of mold? I wasn’t game enough to get close to it.
A constant channel of sewage drifted under the black steel bars that held us in, just in case the chains hadn’t been enough. I looked at someone’s log as it floated in the small open channel past our cell; a retched gag escaped my throat. A wide-open space sat outside our cells for all of Padma’s torturing needs; large odd-shaped frames and tools sat on benches. I squinted my eyes at what looked like a saw made of ebony bone, its teeth long and jagged; we had to get out of here.
I wrapped the dirty chains around my hands and pulled with all my might planting my foot on the mossy wall for leverage, nothing, not even an inch of give.
I turned to my right looking in the next cell at the rotting carcass of a man still chained, his innards protruding from the gaping hole in his torso, his skin ash grey from deterioration.
Maggots had begun to wiggle their way out of the intestines, their plump bodies shifting back and forth on the floor across his tattered silk robe.
Bile threatened to come up my throat. I turned my head away, planting images of sunflowers in my mind to shake the image.
“Arrghh!!! This is bullshit!” Casteel thundered, pulling his chains in our cell.
Luthigo sat calmly along the bench, with one foot crossed over another, his jaw continuously ticking with racing thoughts. “We could bond our energy permanently... it would guarantee you would not die... as long as I live....”
“What!?” I swallowed my thudding heartbeat. He couldn’t mean that, not like this.
“Our energy bond right now is temporary, and it will not last much longer.” Luthigo’s eyes pierced into mine. “If we make it permanent, it is far more likely you’ll survive, Elisse.”
I swallowed my excess saliva as Casteel’s green eyes flicked to us in shock.
“They will have to kill you to bring your dragon, Ragna, into this realm. At least with our energy bond, your heartbeat will reanimate.”
The memory of Casteel dead on Lucifer’s dining table came to my mind, but what if I didn’t get so lucky? What if I was taken apart piece by piece? I couldn’t heal from that. Luthigo had always said there were ways even for an immortal like himself to die. The dark thoughts he seemed to keep to himself, one of his ideas had been letting that vicious hell-bound mermaid rape and devour his own brother, which implied that an immortal could meet their end in pieces.
“But what if I’m beyond reanimation?” Panic was flooding my veins as I resisted the urge to look at the carcass in the next cell.
“Brother, you know that this is forbidden of our kind....” Casteel’s green eyes locked onto Luthigo’s. “Even if she survives and gets out of here... Lucifer will not let YOU survive after committing such an act.”
“Well then...” Luthigo’s voice was ice cold. “He will have to die too.”
Casteel’s eyes widened in horror. “You’re insane! You know that can’t be done.”
“Never underestimate my creative ability when it comes to death, Casteel.”
My heart was racing in my chest; me and Luthigo energy bonded forever? Did I want that? No, but if I wanted to live, yes. I needed whatever advantage I could take. I looked at Luthigo’s dark hair tousled on his head, his eyes with vibrant shards of green. He had taken the time to train me, to teach me, he had wanted me to thrive since the first day I met him, and the only reason he was in the dungeon was because I had wanted to know who my mother was. He had taken every precaution to keep my secrets from his master Lucifer and look where it had gotten him.
“Would I be... immortal?” My voice was soft; the thought of living forever was daunting.
“If your mother is who I think she is,” Casteel cocked his head smugly. “You might already be, which is all the more reason why this is a BAD IDEA!”
“Her heart has stopped before!” Luthigo snapped. “She is not immortal; you forget she is half Zinnerian; the blood of Kronos flows through her veins.”
Luthigo’s face softened as he looked at me. “No one is truly immortal, my sweet, even the sun will one day fade, and I promise you that if that day comes many years from now when you have had enough, when your soul is tired, I will find a way to grant you that mercy. I simply ask that you live long enough to see the sun shine down on your kingdom and bring peace to your people.”
“It would kill you too!” Casteel spat in fury.
“And it would be my honor to die alongside you.” Luthigo’s eyes never wavered from my own.
There it is again, that silly thud in my heart that made me feel whole; Luthigo saw me, all of me, every wound in my heart and soul, and he did not falter, did not waiver from my side, I wasn’t my past to him, I was my future.
I looked at his eyes, filled with grief for what he was asking. Eternity tied to him; there was so much tenderness in that gaze, was this feeling as difficult for him as it was for me.
“Ok,” I said softly, never wavering eye contact.
This seemed a hell of a lot more binding than marriage, that squeamish part inside of me dreaded what was about to happen in front of Casteel. What would he see and hear? It wasn’t that I didn’t find Luthigo attractive because God knew he was magnificent in every form. It was the environment where it was about to take place. My heart was racing inside my chest. “Will it still work with these patches on us?” I swallowed.
“It will work.... My sweet, you won’t feel it until your patch is removed.”
A permanent energy bond to Luthigo. Forever we would be able to tap into each other back and forth. I rolled my neck, trying to ease the tension. I sat down on the bench next to Luthigo, rubbing my hands back and forth along my thighs, forever tapped into Luthigo...
“How does it work?” I quipped. “We might not have much time.”
“So impatient.” Luthigo’s chained hand drifted up to my thighs. Even with that patch, his touch made every hair on my body stand up.
“Do as I do... say as I say.” Luthigo grabbed the front of my combat pants and pulled me onto his lap, so we were face to face, my boots on either side of his waist. My heart thudded rapidly for a whole other reason as I looked into his black and green speckled eyes up close.
“I’m sorry this could not be more beautiful for you, my sweet.” His fingers drifted up, tucking a stray hair behind my ear. “Because for you, I would give you the world.” His eyes held my own meaning every word, his firm lips pressed against mine, gently at first, as if he wanted to savor every curve and dip, and then the kiss turned deeper and all-consuming, setting alight my libido.
I heard Casteel groan in the distance, his chains rattling in the furthest part of the cell.
Luthigo’s lips seductively took mine in as his fangs bit in, drawing my blood. I pulled back and watched as he did the same to his own lip, his manhood below growing with the vibrant green of his eyes as I felt it nudge against my sex through our clothes.
“You have to be open, Elisse, every inch of you has to be open in here.” He pushed his hand to my chest gently. “As every inch of me will be.”
His hand caressed my cheek gently as my heart swelled with a thudding beat of anticipation. He pulled me in again to meet his lips, our blood mixing through the passionate embrace. My heart thundered rapidly as Luthigo’s hands gripped my hips and ground them against his hard shaft. Luthigo made me feel breathless, made me forget about everyone and everything with his touch.
He groaned, making liquid heat pool to my sex. His hands slid up under my shirt as he skimmed his thumbs back and forth over my puckered nipples, goosebumps spread across my skin with his featherlight touch; I moaned into the kiss wanting more. He pinched them teasingly, sending a bolt of electricity down to my core. Luthigo’s hands pulled my pants down over my ass, exposing me to the damp air.
Luthigo pulled his pants down as I rocked against his hard shaft skin to skin, gliding my wet sex back and forth, caressing my bundle of nerves, and a groan sounded from his throat. “Not yet,” he whispered hoarsely. Our blood, still mingling, seemed to tingle on my lips; he lifted me up as the tip protruded at my entrance, Luthigo pulled back to look at me directly.
“Ego sum tu.” Luthigo’s black eyes pierced into mine as my heart thudded. This was it; if I said these words, Luthigo would become a permanent person in my life. Somehow the thought didn’t scare me. In fact, I welcomed it.
“Ego sum tu,” I repeated. As Luthigo brought me down harshly, his thick shaft causing a cry to escape my lips, I was panting as I opened my eyes to keep the contact between us open.
“Tu me.” Luthigo sounded strained with the slow, agonizing pursuit.
“Tu me,” I repeated as he pulled me up his slick shaft, his hands gripping my hips for dear life.
A tingle seemed to explore my veins, starting from my core spreading out. “Ut alligant animae nostrae.”
“Ut alligant animae nostrae,” I repeated as he pushed my hips down with a groan.
I let out a cry; I felt so full it was near painful. I opened my eyes to take in Luthigo’s. He pulled my curved knife from its holster and brought it to the side of his neck, nicking the pulse. He returned it to its holster harshly, causing me to rock; he grabbed my face gently, bringing me close, touching our noses.
“Ex hoc die infectum fieri non potest cor nostrum unus.” The green flecks in his eyes flared brightly.
My heart thudded rapidly. “Ex hoc die infectum fieri non potest cor nostrum... unus,” I whispered.
He let all control go as his hips curled brutally from underneath, hitting that sweet spot, the pressure building throughout my body as he ground into me. A tingling sensation skittered throughout my core. Luthigo’s lips found my neck as he groaned in pleasure. His fangs sank into my pulse like butter; his hand left my hip and cradled my head into his weeping wound.
I sucked at his neck as I exploded around him, spasming in his lap. Every fiber of my being seemed to be explored as I felt my way through Luthigo’s core of energy. It was like swimming through the softest dark river filled with starlight. I was here, but I was somewhere else entirely as my body shattered.
Luthigo groaned underneath me, finding his release. Every memory I had ever experienced seemed to flash in a second. I sucked once more on Luthigo’s life force. It was like picking at a star that floated through the water; its light blinding as images passed through my mind. Casteel’s young green eyes, sunshine... a large set of white wings, blue sky... blood...
Luthigo pulled me back. My heart raced against my chest at the sight of his genuine smile, my bright green glimmering in his black eyes. He licked his lips at the red dew, his fingers coming up to caress my cheek as if I was the most precious thing. I had never felt so whole in my life, like the gaping empty spot I had always felt in my chest was permanently fixed shut. My blood seemed to tingle in my veins from the adrenaline.
Luthigo gripped my chin, pulling me down to kiss my forehead. “I won’t let you die, my sweet... I promise.”
Tears welled in my eyes as I lifted my chin back up. This man was so strong, capable of such cruelty, but for me, he was gentle, soft. I stared at the fragments of my own green eyes in his pools of black, and I would cherish this one moment. If all else failed, I would keep this one moment of perfection for myself.
Casteel’s chains rattled, reminding me we weren’t alone. I swallowed my saliva, the metallic taste of blood still present. I pulled myself up and off Luthigo’s lap, shimmying up my combat pants while keeping my back to Casteel.
“Again... I’m glad some of us are enjoying this trip.” Casteel said hoarsely, clearing his throat.
“Shut up.” I quipped with heat flaming my cheeks.
A smirk tugged at Luthigo’s lips, causing one to spread on my own face.
Enjoy the little things.
I flexed my fingers back and forth against my thighs as I sat next to Luthigo; they felt different, like they lacked blood flow in the cold, except it wasn’t cold. I licked my lips, taking in the last of Luthigo’s blood. My body seemed to tingle slightly as I turned to the rotting carcass in the cell next to us. I shouldn’t have looked.
Bile came up of its own free will. I couldn’t help it as it plastered my combat boots; the maggots were spilling out of the carcass along the stone floor and were dangerously close to our cell.
“This is so romantic....” Casteel chimed sarcastically, dragging his chains back and forth as he paced. “Thank you both for making me an accomplice in your forbidden special moment.”
“Casteel.” Luthigo’s jaw ticked as he finished buttoning his pants. “I meant it when I said I’d rip your throat out.”
Luthigo’s hand came to sit on my lower back as he moved his thumb in tiny circles, comforting me... I furrowed my brows. Was our relationship different now, or was he just being more caring? I didn’t know, but it was... nice. I flexed my fingers again with the tingling sensation as if trying to shake it.
“Why bother?” Casteel quipped. “It’s already going to be ripped out. If not by Padma, it will by Lucifer.” His chained hand ran through his hair. “Do you understand the position you have put me in? Do you even care?”
“Did you care?”
My ears pitched with the emotion in Luthigo’s voice, the sound tugging at my chest.
“Did you care when I had to come running after you? Did you care about the position you left me in?”
“Of course, I cared.” Casteel’s voice was soft. “But... YOU HAVE SPENT THOUSANDS OF YEARS IGNORING ME!”
Heavy boots sounded in the distance, echoing off the stone walls, sending us into silence. Our attention locked in that direction. The smell of sewage increased drastically as my eyes locked onto a steady stream of shit passing by under the bars.
“Who do I want first....” Padma’s deep voice echoed off the walls as he entered his torturing space. His finger’s drifting over an assortment of knives on a table; he picked one up, assessing its sharpness, its jagged spikes like teeth of a piranha intended for it to sink into the flesh but tear it brutally as it was removed.
He nodded his head as if content with the decision, then paced for our cell. He dragged the knife against the steel bars tauntingly. “I think I should start with the entrees... work my way up to the main.” His blue eyes glimmered as he stared me up and down. “Did you meet my other guest?” His head cocked to the next cell with the rotting corpse.
I refused to look at the grey-skinned rotting man. Padma’s eyes drifted to the vomit at my feet with a smile. “I’m assuming you remember Vaneer... did you say hello?”
My eyes darted to the next cell, to the fine tattered silk robe pooled underneath him stained in his muddy blood; Vaneer was a Judgemental, immortal. How had Padma gotten the man in such a vulnerable state to carve him up, and more than that... why had he not healed? My heart was racing in my chest, we had just taken the only precaution we had to make sure I lived, and now I wasn’t sure it was enough. My mind raced to the last Judgemental left. I sent a prayer to the universe that Yuvone was still breathing, hiding somewhere safe, plotting a stop to the maniac before me.
“How did you manage to kill him?” Luthigo’s voice was edged with quiet fury, perhaps for the knowledge, we had just learned regarding immortality and Padma.
Padma’s eyes seemed to twinkle with excitement. “You will find out soon enough,” his knife tapped against the steel bars. “He had something I needed. It’s a pity he was so stubborn.”
“Something you needed!” Casteel spat. “What, a heart? A life, perhaps? Why are you doing this? You’re insane!” Casteel growled as he pulled against his chains aggressively.
“All energy’s must pay their dues.” Padma’s knife tapped against the bars tauntingly.
All energies must pay their due’s... I had heard that before... I furrowed my brows, looking at my bile. It had been Havar who said it when I had been training months ago with Luthigo; I narrowed my eyes at the odd coincidence.
“The Zinnerians and Lycans,” Padma stared at me and then Casteel. “Took everything from my people... you slaughtered women and children...” a sinister smile spread across Padma’s face. “I will make sure you all feel what you have made my people feel.”
Padma’s knife tapped the bars once more. “As for everyone else who simply stood by and watched my home and my people be destroyed,” Padma ran his tongue over his teeth. “They will get what they fucking deserve.”
My leg bounced up and down with my thudding heart. “I understand,” I blurted out. “I understand why you’re so mad. I do.” my voice came in a rush. “But doing what was done to your people thousands of years ago will not fix anything! You will become the monster you have painted us to be... we here are not responsible for the past!”
I stood, pulling on my chains as far as they would let me. “I am sorry, Padma.” I was. It was horrific what was done to his people. “I am sorry for what you and your people suffered but causing the same suffering will not fix anything. It will not change what was done.”
A hefty laugh left Padma’s lips.
“My goal isn’t to fix anything, stupid girl! It is to balance the blood YOU’S owe!” Padma’s voice echoed across every stoned brick in the dungeon.
I stepped back. It was no use. He either couldn’t understand or simply didn’t care who he hurt to achieve his vengeance. He didn’t care that the people he slaughtered were not those that had decimated his own.
“My son, Nathanial,” Padma’s eyes lit up, taking me in, “was oh so eager to find you... his only sister.”
I didn’t want to hear this; I took a deep breath; I would not react; I would not lose my shit.
“After he was exiled from Zinneria, he needed a way back in.” His boots began to pace along the bars of our cell. “I felt otherwise... I wanted YOU gone; your vile bloodline wiped out with the rest of the trash.”
“But after you stopped those mercenaries I hired, I realized he needed you to take the crown. My son couldn’t do it himself; the energy manifesting skills are not shown to common people.”
Padma’s eyes looked at Luthigo in disgust. “Only those of royal blood and your finest of warriors! You deprive your own people of their power and allow them to live like savages! You Zinnerians are vile filth that deserve extinction.”
“Your son is half Zinnerian!” I spat.
“MY SON,” Padma’s voice rattled through me. “Is nothing like the rest of you!”
This man was delusional. He was hell-bent on spilling blood for what his people had suffered. I would not be talking any sense into him. I lowered my eyes, swallowing the flood of words that wanted to spill out.
“You,” Padma tapped the knife against the bars towards Casteel. “Lycan dog,” he snarled. “I’ll take you first.”
A soldier adorned in a red and gold uniform came rushing in on Padma’s command to unlock our cell. Like the few other soldiers, his features were near mute except for those dazzling blue eyes. I wondered if it was some kind of condition from the chemical warfare that had once taken place here. He fumbled with the keys in his hands until he found the right one, bringing it up to Casteel’s chained cuffs. I looked at the thick iron weighting my wrist and moved the metal up as high as possible to get some blood flow to the joints.
Padma’s huge frame paced in the open torture area before us like a predator about to be allowed out to hunt, that wicked knife bouncing against the palm of his hand in anticipation, his golden armor reflecting the tools around him in the dim light. My heart was racing as I looked back at Casteel with his chains dropping to the stone floor.
Casteel brought his head crashing against the man’s nose. Luthigo made a dart for the keys as they fell, but the soldier’s boots kicked them towards the open cell door. Casteel tackled the soldier taking him down to the stone floor, and brought his fist colliding in a solid hit to the jaw; the soldier’s head rattled against the stone, and for a split second, I thought we might have a chance until Padma entered the cell, his boot smashing into his own soldiers’ ribs, the sound of a crack ricocheting off the stone walls.
“Pathetic!” he snarled to his injured soldier.
Padma’s wide hand wrapped in Casteel’s golden hair gripping tightly as he dragged him across the ground as if weighing nothing. Casteel’s hands wrapped around Padma’s, trying to take some of the pressure off his scalp.
I looked at Luthigo as his jaw clenched, watching intensely. My heart was thudding in my chest as I watched on helplessly.
The wounded soldier pulled himself up off our cell floor, collecting the keys that were just out of our reach. He came to stand by the side of our open cell, watching as Padma tried to strap Casteel down to a long wooden table.
“Get the fuck off me!!” Casteel growled, trying to fight off Padma’s large frame.
He wasn’t going easy as he tried to twist his body off the table. Casteel swung, hitting Padma square in the jaw. Padma didn’t flinch; he simply lifted Casteel’s head with a fist full of hair and smashed it into the wooden table below. Casteel tried to lift his head groggily, his body still trying to writhe free, but the leather straps were secured to Casteel’s wrists and ankles as if he was no more than a child fighting.
Padma backhanded Casteel across the cheek so powerfully that his head collided with the table again. Padma’s fingers found their grip in Casteel’s hair, lifting his head as high as it would come off the table. Casteel clenched his teeth, trying to look in any other direction but Padma’s face as he leered over him; it was all the defiance he had left.
“Hey... hey... look at me,” Padma’s voice was dangerously low as it skittered up my spine.
“You’re going to watch what I do.” Padma pulled that dreaded jagged knife from his back to parade it in front of Casteel’s face. “Or I will cut off those eyelids so you can’t close them!”
Casteel’s gaze remained defiant as he stared into Padma’s bright blue eyes, the same eyes I realized mirrored Nathanial’s.
I swallowed my thudding heartbeat as Padma drifted the knife down Casteel’s shirt, slowly cutting it from his body and pulling it to the side as if delicately unwrapping his favorite meal.
Casteel’s chest thundered up and down rapidly with each breath he took; I couldn’t believe this was happening. I rubbed my thighs back and forth with my tingling fingers; I felt helpless. It shouldn’t be like this. None of this should be happening. The weight on my wrists seemed to ache, reminding me I would soon be in Casteel’s position... or worse.
I looked at Vaneer’s rotting carcass in the next cell. I was probably going to be worse off than Casteel, regardless of the energy bond we had just made. Padma was taking immortal lives, and not in the creative way Luthigo had insinuated it must be done. Vaneer should have healed. I looked at Luthigo with his lips set in a grim line. Whatever advantage we thought we had gotten with the energy bond was now mute.
Padma struck the jagged knife down into Casteel’s abdomen; a high-pitched grunt tore from Casteel’s lips echoing off the stone walls. Padma’s eyes danced with life as he turned to look back at us. “I love that sound.” He twisted the knife inside Casteel, causing him to clench up screaming.
A harsh slap graced Casteel’s face once more.
“WATCH ME, BOY! Or I will take those pretty eyelids!” A laugh left his lips.
I turned to Luthigo, watching as his jaw clenched in and out continuously; each breath he took was eerily calm as he watched the horror show before him.
Padma pulled the knife out, shredding Casteel’s flesh with the momentum; he plunged it down into Casteel’s other side, causing a groan from his lips as he forced himself to watch the torture.
Padma twisted the knife, and a cough spattered from Casteel’s lips, the red droplets gracing his cheek and chest. My heart thundered wildly. I needed to get out. I had to get out. I rubbed my hands up and down my thighs, Massimo’s finger stopping the smooth motion; I dug my fingers into my pocket, pulling out the ring.
I flung Massimo’s finger into the next cell, keeping the large ring in my grasp. I wiped the dried blood from the gold on my pants until it was shining.
Casteel cried out again as I looked at the soldier guarding our cell door. “Hey,” I whispered, flicking the ring back and forth between my fingers. Padma had treated this man like trash, and I hoped his loyalty was a reflection of that. Casteel cried out again in the background as a curse flew from his lips. “Keys...?”
I wiggled the golden ring in the dim light letting the giant red ruby sparkle. “Keys!” I hushed, this ring was probably worth a fortune if the owner of a jewel mine wore it himself. Everything Massimo did was over the top; surely this ring would be too.
The guard shuffled uncomfortably on his feet, staring at the ring, then he turned back to Casteel’s scream. I needed this soldier to grow some balls before I booted him myself. I lifted my brows, cocking my head, gesturing he needed to get closer to me and to hurry the fuck up.
“Unconscious already, boy...?” Padma’s voice vibrated through me as I turned to watch him lift Casteel’s lifeless head and drop it against the wooden table with a thud. “Pathetic,” he snarled.
I locked my hand around the ring, hiding it as I watched Padma drag Casteel’s unconscious body along the ground to our cell, his heavy boots echoing on the stone walls around us. He flung Casteel’s body as he rag-dolled into mine and Luthigo’s legs.
“You!” Padma brought the bloody hunting knife up to point at Luthigo.
The soldier rushed in, unclasping Luthigo’s cuffs, and pulled him by the arm. Luthigo made no attempt to fight as his green speckled eyes locked onto mine. “Remember what I said.” His voice was low.
My heart thundered rapidly as Luthigo’s hair was gripped by Padma from behind and dragged into the open torture area. Luthigo made no attempt to struggle, made no noise of distress. Luthigo knew what Padma wanted; Luthigo had probably tortured many people for the same thing. He wouldn’t give Padma the satisfaction of fear.
Padma strapped Luthigo standing up against a wooden cross. “Oh, I am going to have fun breaking you,” Padma chuffed as he skimmed his hands over an array of tools on a bench.
I opened my palm again, flashing the ring to the soldier. “Keys!” I whispered.
The soldier’s eyes lingered on the ring, his mouth tugging to the side, then his attention flicked back to Luthigo’s strapped body. Padma picked up a tool that looked like a screwdriver with a spiraling metal coil surrounding it.
I’m running out of time...
“Keys!!” I whispered as loud as possible, hoping Padma would not hear.
I flicked the ring between my fingers. The guard pulled the keys out of his pocket placing
them on the ground, and kicked them towards me along the floor. The sound of flesh being
torn echoed in the distance with a grunt; I didn’t want to look; I had to be quick. I bent down
and rolled the ring towards the guard.
I picked up the keys as my heart thudded rapidly against my chest, I struck the key into the hole, but it wouldn’t turn. Another loud grunt echoed off the stone walls as I fumbled, trying to remember what key this soldier had used. I struck the only other similar-looking key in my cuffed chains, and it turned.
The chains fell to my lap as I looked up to see Luthigo groan. There was a knife sticking into his palm wedged into the wood, his black shirt sopping wet with bloody knife wounds; Padma was currently peeling his fingernails off one by one with pliers.
I swallowed my thudding heartbeat as I sat the chains to the side, silently standing. The guard rushed for me as I pulled out my curved blades from behind my back; it all happened too fast as I struck.
I slit the guard’s throat as he came toward me; he fell to the ground clutching his neck,
gurgling on his blood. I knew that feeling all too well as the sound of him choking filled my
ears. I hadn’t meant to kill him, I didn’t mean for it to happen, but I had no choice. He fell to
his knees as blood gurgled from his lips. I looked up at Padma as he turned to see what the
ruckus was.
Shit...
Padma’s blue eyes blazed as he took in the guard dying before me, his body sprawled on the stone floor, Padma’s gaze locked onto the curved blades in my hands.
Shit...
I rushed out of the cell into the open area. I was fucked if I stayed in there, and Padma’s huge
frame cornered me.
Padma dropped Luthigo’s fingernail and pliers to the floor as I carefully paced around
the room, looking for exits and soldiers. This hadn’t been part of the plan. I looked at the fury
in Luthigo’s eyes, but I couldn’t sit in there and watch him suffer, and I sure as hell wasn’t
going to leave him behind.
This had been my doing; if I hadn’t had made the stupid deal with Lucifer, we wouldn’t be in
this fucked up situation. Luthigo had trained me not just in manifestation but in hand-to-hand
combat. I gripped the curved blade in my hand, tensing, my other hand going to my back for
the other knife. It spoke confidence that Padma had only brought one soldier with him.
If I played this right, I could get us all out of here; I wouldn’t have to leave Casteel and
Luthigo behind.
A laugh left Padma’s lips. “Ohhhh, you think you’re a warrior?” His black bun tilted as he
cocked his head chuckling. “You think you can kill me?”
“I don’t want to do this.” I lied. I did want to do this. I wanted to slit his fucking throat.
Padma pulled that jagged hunting knife from his belt, the blade glimmering in the light with
Casteel’s fresh blood. “I wasn’t planning on your death so soon... but I’ll make an exception
since you’re so eager.” His boots continued at a slow pace around the room, following me in
a slow dance.
I continued making a wide circle, not taking my eyes off Padma. If I could make it near Luthigo, I could nick his straps. My heart thudded rapidly. God, I wish this fucking patch was off my neck. Ragna would really be helpful about now with all that rage he filled me with.
Padma was on the other side of the stone room, and this was as close as I was going to get. I ran to the back of Luthigo’s framed cross and struck down along one of the wrist straps with my knife. Padma was next to me in an instant, his long legs making quick work of the distance. I threw my body forward, rolling on the stone, coming into the middle of the room.
Padma threw the knife.
A heavy thud to my stomach knocked me to the stone floor. I looked down at my abdomen where the hilt of the hunting knife stuck out. Blood was seeping sluggishly through my shirt, my insides seeming to burn with the pain.
I groaned, slowly coming to stand. Each movement was letting those jagged spikes wreak havoc on my insides.
“I’m going to gut your fucking son,” I snarled, as Padma slowly made his way from behind Luthigo. He was toying with me; he was in no hurry to kill me. He knew the damage he had caused me was enough to slow me down.
“Elisse,” Luthigo’s voice demanded my attention. “Remember what I said.” His speckled green eyes seemed to beg. I looked at the strap I had cut; it was the hand that had a knife wedged into the wooden cross. Of course, I had nicked the wrong one; I had to get close again, get his good hand free.
“You’re not going to live long enough to see my son,” Padma laughed, without a worry in the world regarding my threat. If I lived after this, I was going to tear Nathanial apart piece by piece and mail him to Padma through the intergalactic post.
I was sick of playing. I ran at Padma, ducking at the last minute, sliding between his legs. I brought my knife up, digging it into his inner thigh, dragging it as I slid. I pulled myself up as I came to stand before Luthigo. My abdomen seemed to spasm from the knife; it was burning from the inside. I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream, but instead, I brought that knife slicing in the direction of that strap.
“Arrghh, enough.” My braid was grabbed from behind before my knife touched the strap. He threw me down headfirst into the stone floor, my body following behind with the momentum as I looked to my legs in the air.
Warmth pooled beneath my cheek as I struggled to clear my groggy head and regain focus, my head was pounding, and my abdomen was clenching in agony.
A large hand clasped around my throat. Padma lifted me as if I weighed nothing. The sudden stop of oxygen made me choke as I tried to pry his fat fingers off my throat, my feet dangling in the air below, my vision becoming darker as I looked at those vibrant blue eyes, the same dazzling blue as Nathanial.
Padma snarled, throwing me into the wooden slab Casteel had been tied to, my ribs taking the brunt of the hit as I heard a crack echo through my ears. I tried to push up, the majority of my weight being held by my hands on that slab. My chest was heaving, trying to get oxygen back into my lungs.
The knife was reefed from my abdomen as a scream ripped itself out of my throat; my thighs suddenly saturated with warm liquid as my knees wanted to buckle. I brought my hands to my abdomen, trying to stop the gushing blood.
My braid was grabbed from behind, and was dragging my body onto the cursed slab of wood. Every movement my body made against the slab had my abdomen clenching in agony; tears fell from my eyes as my scalp burned.
It won’t stop. My fingers were slick as I tried to put as much pressure as I could on that one spot. My hands kept slipping on my stomach the more pressure I put on it. I couldn’t see through the tears in my eyes; I can’t stop it. I couldn’t keep the blood in my body from surging out; my heart was pounding in my ears, my pulse a wicked tempo.
“Remember what I said!” I heard Luthigo’s voice echo in the distance.
That wicked jagged knife struck down into my chest, and a scream tore itself from my lips. The long knife was pinning me to the wooden slab underneath; it hurt to breathe, to move... I couldn’t keep the pressure on my abdomen; the effort was draining me.
“That dragon’s mine, girl!” Padma hissed into my face glaring over me. “Everyone in this galaxy will suffer as I have; every one of you filthy Zinnerians and Lycans will pay your debt in blood.”
Padma spat in my face. Turning to leave, I brought my blood-soaked hand up, trying to wipe his saliva from my eyes; his footsteps echoed against the stone walls as he drifted further away out of ear’s distance. I brought my shaking hand to the hilt of the knife, my fingers wrapping around it; I went to pull.
My scream turned into a heaving sob. I couldn’t get it out. I couldn’t pull that wicked knife from the table. My shaking hand came to rest over my face trying to hide the sobs heaving from me. I couldn’t do this. I wasn’t strong enough; I wasn’t good enough.
“Play dumb, Elisse,” Luthigo’s tone was as rough as I’d ever heard. “Tap into me when the time is right....”
My eyes drifted shut as I tried to take my next breath. Control, I had to have control. I needed to be calm. This patch was coming off my neck soon, and he wouldn’t let me die before then. I needed to conserve what little energy I had left. I tried to take a deep breath and clenched; the hunting knife had pierced my lungs; that deep breath had felt like ingesting lava, my breath came back in short quick heaves of my chest.
“You’ll bound it to me!” Padma’s voice came back again, echoing off the stone walls.
I turned my head to see a small group of men in royal green robes following behind Padma, their clothes reminding me of priests with funny gold sigils sewn in. I looked at their blonde hair; these men weren’t Ananaki. My eyes flicked to the large book they carried with an engraving of a gold dragon.
This wasn’t good.
A man in the green and black flowing robes paced behind close to Padma. He had a tall gold staff clutched in his hands with a large glinting stone that emitted its own light; the stone was as big as my head, the weight of the staff had to be draining to keep upright.
“Now, you remember what you must say to take her soul... this will be different from last time; the timing must be precise and match with our call for the dragon.”
This really wasn’t good. My heart thudded as I tried to pull against the knife and screamed. Tears drizzled down my face as my anger raged; everything I had gone through, every darn stupid test I had passed, was all for me to end up here.
“I am aware of how this works,” Padma snapped at the man taking the staff from his small hands.
“Are you ready to meet your end, Elisse?” Padma’s fist came slamming down next to my head on the wooden slab as he looked to his priest men.
“Would it matter if I said no?” I coughed as blood spouted from my lips.
His blue eyes looked down into mine as a laugh trickled from his lips. “Of course not.” He struck a long hunting knife into the other side of my chest.
My scream rang in my ears as it echoed off the stone walls surrounding us. I was gasping for breath, my body starting to shake as a lack of oxygen flooded me.
Padma’s hand ripped off the patch on my neck as energy and power flooded my system; the feeling of absolute wrath coursed through my veins as my dragon markings swirled with hot lava. Ragna swiveled through my body, warming every ache and pain, healing what he could. I turned my head to look at the priests, knowing Ragna would see what I see. My heart rate was thundering as I locked onto that book.
Fury like no other flooded me as Ragna raged inside growling. KILL THEM!
We will kill them! My breathing is coming easy now as I flexed my fingers with the electrical sensation that intensified at my fingertips.
Soldiers in the red and gold uniforms came rushing in on Padma’s command, surrounding my body at every angle as I pulled on the knives lodged in my chest and clenched them in my hands.
Every fiber in my being lit up like electricity as I pulled energy from Luthigo’s dark essence I had swum in. The knives were in my hands and slitting the soldier’s throats on either side of me instantly; the soldiers dropped as I heard Padma growl. “Hurry up!”
I was up and standing on the slab in an instant with the knives clenched. I had to be quick. I had to get us all out of here. I wasn’t leaving Luthigo after everything he had done for me. I crouched low and struck the throat of another soldier whose hand had come too close to my ankle. There were three soldiers left, then Padma and his priests.