42. Fleeing
42
FLEEING
I t was exactly five nights later that it happened.
The silk sheets twisted around Luella’s legs as she tossed and turned throughout the night, restless and scared.
Unsettled, her body thrummed with worry. Her right side burned from how long she had lain on it, wishing for sleep to take her. Luella huffed, twisting to shift to her left. The position put her facing the shut balcony doors, the curtains were pulled back, and she curled her hands under her chin as she watched the night. The many clouds that littered the sky obscured the light of the moon and stars, casting her room in a thick blanket of darkness.
Her fae eyesight strained in the room, picking out shapes and playing with her senses. She swore the robe she had thrown on the back of the chair turned into the gangly shape of a monster for a brief moment… Shadows stretched and yawned, taking the form of nightmares that haunted her.
In a restive fit, she kicked the last of the blankets to the foot of the bed and pulled her knees close to her chest. The winter’s chill soothed her skin. It was cold, but perfectly so. Luella sighed as her arms wrapped around her knees, cheek rubbing against the cool pillow.
With her body curled into a tight ball in the sea of rumpled pillows and displaced blankets, Luella counted the few stars she could see peeking through the cover of clouds.
One, two…
Her eyes grew heavy.
Three—
Her breathing evened out.
Four… Five…
And just as the clouds moved to cover the faintest moon rays threatening to dispel the dark, Luella’s eyelids fell closed, and sleep took her.
"Do not move," quietly whispered into her ear.
Her eyes shot open.
A heavy weight was on her hips, a large presence nearly suffocating her as she was forced against the mattress.
"Wha—" Luella tried to say.
A warm palm slapped against her mouth, silencing her.
She had seen this before. Lived it.
Her body was in the present, but her mind was back in Solis, a cloaked figure she would come to know as Tharen straddling her, taking her in the night.
She wouldn’t go through this again.
Luella bucked her hips up as she struggled. It was a male, she knew from his size alone.
Panic threatened to drown her.
She wouldn’t.
Not again.
Please, no.
With how roughly she fought, with how she was focused on survival, Luella didn’t notice how her soul tugged and pulled and pleaded.
The male knocked her clawing hands away, pinning them with ease above her while another hand stayed firm over her mouth. Heavy knees pressed into her thighs, leaving her helpless. Her hair tangled around her as she thrashed and fought, but the fight slowly left her when she realized it was hopeless.
Would she ever learn?
A muffled sob clawed from her throat, stifled by the hand against her mouth.
In the darkness, she could see nothing but shadows.
Luella’s eyes drifted closed momentarily as the male above her waited for the vestiges of her resistance to dwindle.
He leaned his head down. Something sharp poked against her cheek as he muttered close to her ear, " Settle ."
Her whole body shook. She refused to open her eyes.
"Look at me."
That voice… So familiar.
Lids fluttering open with hesitation and dread, Luella looked.
Amber eyes, dark brown hair curling over tanned skin, curving horns—the sharp thing that had poked her cheek.
All the fight left her in an instant.
"What are you doing?" she asked. But the sound came out muffled from how Az’s hand was still pressed firmly against her lips.
In a fit of indignation, Luella’s tongue poked Az’s palm. His skin tasted as enticing as he was, but he jerked it back before she could taste him further. The look on Az’s face was not as disgusted as she would have thought. No, the heat in his eyes was anything but. Luella swallowed, looking up at him. He loomed over her, and not for the first time in her life, Luella was left helpless to whatever a male wished to do to her.
Az groaned low. "I’ve missed you."
Blinking up at him, Luella could only nod in answer, stunned silent.
He brushed a finger over the high point of her cheek, giving her a soft smile, a brief moment of shared companionship in this treacherous place.
With his hand no longer silencing her, Luella’s words were sharper. "Why are you here?"
Astonishment made her eyes wide as she looked up at him, the gold in her irises like pools of molten sunlight.
"I’ve come for you."
Her bones turned to mush as she lay underneath him.
Finally, she could let someone else take the reigns and care for her instead of being forced to shoulder what felt like the weight of all the realms.
"I didn’t think it would take you this long." Luella tried not to sound sad, but she had missed him .
And she didn’t want to sound ungrateful, but she had expected him to understand the brevity of their situation and come for her sooner. Perhaps she had fallen victim to false hopes once more and placed too much on his shoulders. Az was a prisoner just as she was; there was only so much he could do, even if Luella liked to think the demon could move mountains with his strength if she so asked.
"I had to make sure it was safe for you. Make sure they were… distracted." Az suddenly pulled away from her, sitting back on his haunches but still keeping her pinned.
Luella pushed against Az’s thigh. Blame it on her fitful sleep the last few days, but she felt tears threaten to spill over, the emotions of finally having him here , with her, without the others keeping watch, weighing heavy on her heart.
"Well, then. Let’s go," she said, tone rising with urgency.
Az’s lips tilted up into a half smile, and he ran a finger over her face, tracing patterns into the faint dots of freckles across the bridge of her nose and over her cheeks, the fingers of his other hand toying with hers.
"Don’t cry," he implored. "I’m not worth it."
A wet, tear-stained laugh rose in her chest. "You’ve kept me safe. You’ve upheld your promises. That alone is more than worth it."
And it was. He had done more for her than anyone she had ever met.
Call it foolish—she felt like it most days—and perhaps it was less than a normal being deserved, but Luella found herself clinging to Az like a newborn animal imprinting on the first creature it saw.
Something unrecognizable flitted across Az’s amber eyes. "Angel," he muttered. "I wanted to be this close to you in your dreams, but not with the vampire there." He spat the word like a curse, like Bastian was in the corner of this room, haunting them just as he did in her dreams.
Lips pressed to the crown of Luella’s hair, butterfly kisses along her temples as he shushed her crying. One of her still-shaking hands came up to brush against the point of one of his horns.
"I’m sorry, angel. Forgive me," he mumbled against her brow.
"You’re forgiven. Always."
She knew he was apologizing for more than taking a few measly days before coming for her.
Az was apologizing for things he had no part in.
All of it. The dungeons, Luella being robbed of her old life, the cruelty inflicted upon her. He shouldn’t have to, not when he had been the nicest of them all.
The gentle touch of his hands on her shoulders urged her to sit up, and Luella felt warmth on her skin from how they were situated. His legs were still pinning her to the bed. He was practically sitting on her thighs. The thin strap of her nightgown slipped down her shoulder, and amber eyes tracked the motion. Az righted the strap for her before extricating himself, limbs untangling with hers as he stood by the bed, a palm outstretched.
"Come," he urged.
Her hand slipped into his, and Luella was pulled from the cocoon of her bed. She stood silently in the middle of the room, watching as Az eyed the robe she had draped over the back of her dressing chair. "Do you have anything warmer?"
"Yes." Luella padded to the wardrobe and opened it, revealing her collection of various gowns and coverings.
Az huffed. "They’ve treated you like some doll."
"I am one of the King’s possessions, after all," Luella said bitterly. "I’m told he likes to care for his things ."
"You are not a thing , Luella," Az urged, standing behind her as they faced the contents of the wardrobe.
She settled into him, her back pressed against his chest as he flipped through the thicker clothes on the far side.
"It’s hard to think otherwise when everything has been stolen from me."
Az’s dark curls tickled against her skin as his cheek pressed against hers. "You are a prisoner to the King, but don’t you see." He grasped her chin, forcing her to look at the beautiful gowns hanging in the dark wardrobe, all the jeweled necklaces and hair ornaments displayed along the lower shelves. "You are important. You just haven’t realized it yet. And I pity them all when you come to understand just how much power you hold."
Luella shook her head. She held no power, and she never would. The demon thought too highly of her.
She silently pulled a dark, thick cloak from within the wardrobe and held it up. The fabric was soft under her hands, yet thick enough to ward away the touch of winter. "Will this do?"
"Yes," Az replied. "But you will need something warmer underneath." Arms caged her in as he reached into the wardrobe, pulling a simple black, fitted blouse and matching trousers from within. She didn’t even realize the King had supplied her with pants. Az pressed the folded clothes into her hands, nudging her to face him. "Change and hurry."
Luella slipped behind the opened doors of the wardrobe, not wanting to part from Az any longer than she had to. The door created a tiny, makeshift partition where it opened to touch the wall. It would have to do.
"Don’t look," she said, hand curling around the edge of the door as she peeked out at him.
Az gave a tiny shake of his head and turned around. She didn’t miss the faint tapping of a finger against his thigh in agitation. The demon was on edge. And so was she.
Luella dropped the thin nightgown, the straps slipping from her shoulders as the silk slid down her body and pooled at her feet. It was quick work donning the dark blouse and lacing the ties in the front to support her breasts. The pants were snug against her thighs and hips; she had never worn anything so form-fitting.
Stepping out of the makeshift dressing nook, Luella announced, "All done."
Az turned and took her in, jaw hardening as his amber eyes tracked down to how tightly the pants stuck to her frame. Nervous under his scrutiny, Luella snapped the thick material with a finger, only for it to cling back to her thigh.
Clearing his throat, the demon held up a pair of leather boots. Luella reached for them, but Az held them back, tutting under his breath.
"Allow me."
And then he knelt before her, hands resting on her thighs, fingers digging into her pants. Her breath hitched. He traced a hand down the length of her leg before gently taking her foot in his grasp. Her hands shot to his shoulders to steady herself, and he let out a grumble of appreciation.
Luella was quiet as he put the boots on her, quickly doing the laces and tucking the hem of her pants inside them. When Az was finished, he stood slowly, gaze never leaving hers as his head passed her thighs, her stomach, and then her he was at his full height, towering over her, and she was the one forced to crane her head up.
Luella was the first to look away.
With shaking hands, she wrapped the cloak around her, clipping it securely around her neck.
"Shall we go?" she asked, voice a tremulous thing, breaking up the hushed tension that had befallen them.
Az cast a cursory glance around the room, and Luella couldn’t help but mimic the motion. The night air coming through the tiny crack in the window against the far wall rustled the sheer drapes. The image faintly looked like hands clawing from the other side, desperate to get in, just as she was desperate to get out.
"Let’s go." In the silence of the night, Az’s reply was grim, doing nothing to disquiet the unease churning in the hollows of her soul.
This place had caged her. And she wasn’t sorry to leave it.