Chapter 16 But a Whisper of Air
BUT A WHISPER OF AIR
LUELLA
Her legs felt unsteady, not just from the ship’s sway.
A restless heat licked through her core, curling her toes against the wood as she followed Az.
The demon held her hand tightly to him, their sides so close together that their shadow was merged.
In his other hand, the stolen sconce, illuminating the way.
She had left her ruined gown and borrowed cloak on the floor of the room, and Az had tugged his large shirt over her head—it smelled like him. She resisted the urge to bring the fabric to her nose and inhale.
The demon seemed to know where to go as he led her through the rocking halls of the ship.
Her ears strained, but she heard no fearsome, ravaging storm, only the soft trickle of light rain. Had the worst of it passed?
Az gripped her shoulders, making her look up at him. "You stay away from the bars, okay? I don’t know what state he will be in."
She licked her lips, nodding.
The saltwater in the air was even more potent where they were, and a small port window let in dark light and vast sea. Her heart stuttered, and she quickly looked away.
A large, wooden door was set into the wall, and Az shouldered it open, forging ahead of her, their fingers still entwined. She couldn’t see around him, but she saw strange shadows on the ground, like slats.
The muscles in Az’s bare back flexed. He turned, amber eyes finding hers. "Stay by me," he warned, stepping aside to let her, finally, enter the room.
Iron bars lined three identical cells, rusted and bent. There was no light, and the room would have been in utter darkness if not for the sconce in Az’s grip. A small hook by the door held an assortment of keys, jangling slightly as the ship rocked.
"Bastian," Luella breathed, "you’re caged."
Red eyes peered at her from the darkness, where the vampire lounged on the ground, black hair disheveled and head tipped back against the wall. There wasn’t even a bed.
The irony was not lost on her. At one time, the vampire had come to see her in a cell, the demon by her side, trapped behind the iron bars, as well. Now, they watched him freely, while he was the one trapped.
She found herself walking closer, but a strong hand grabbed her side, forcing her to still.
"What did I say, Lu. Not too close," Az grumbled. "He’s not… himself."
A low scoff echoed off the iron. "I’m not gone to bloodlust, yet, demon. It will take more than a taste to make me a monster," Bastian uttered, voice quiet and resigned.
Luella met Az’s gaze, her hand falling on his, where it kept her trapped against his body protectively. The need to see him, to touch him, burned through her. "He won’t hurt me," she said softly.
Even whispered, the vampire heard. "I did before, pet. Do not put so much trust in me, I have a habit of breaking it."
She shook her head. "No, no, Bastian. You didn’t h-hurt me."
In a lithe movement, he unfurled from his spot on the ground, walking to the iron bars, pale hands wrapping around them, forehead resting on them as if he wanted to crawl through the slats to get to her.
She swore she heard the faint whine of the iron under his strength.
He sucked in a ragged breath, eyes blazing.
"I didn’t hurt you," he purred. "I know—I scent how much I didn’t hurt you. Tell me, pet, what did he do to you?"
Az’s hand tightened on her, and her wings shivered. The space between her thighs was still wet, achingly so.
"Like you don’t know." Az’s laugh grumbled through her. "I finished what you started."
Bastian ignored him, staring only at Luella as he said, "You look like you had fun. Did he take care of you, at least?"
A surge of protectiveness rushed through her. "Of course he did," she bit out.
Bastian watched her lazily, hunger smoldering in the depths of his eyes. Through the thread between them, she felt a range of emotions—desire, desperation, and most pressing, disgust. She knew that it was not at her. He was sad that he had hurt her, taken from her.
But she understood. She had felt the waves of his need, felt it even now—a soft press of hunger and emptiness that made her mouth dry and stomach clench. If it was this way for her, she could only imagine how awful he must feel.
Her brows lifted in understanding sorrow as she faced him. "It wasn’t your fault."
Az wrapped around her back, leaning down until his chin was notched on her head, still careful of her wings. But the ache situated around her spine had relented. Only to be replaced by a new sort of feeling: stormy distress.
The tendrils of air that rushed outside the ship beat against her flesh, desperate to enter her. Each crack of lightning she felt in her bones, rattling inside her skull.
Something inside her chest opened, a chasm filled with air, crackling fire, rushing water, and groaning earth. She felt her power, deeper than ever before. As if her second brush with pleasure had unlocked something inside her, some secret cage that let free the ability to… call it back.
Her limbs grew weary, but she kept herself upright. For him. For them. To make sure he knew she did not hold his weaknesses against him.
"I do not think a vampire in bloodlust would be able to hold a conversation like you are doing…" she hedged quietly. "Right?"
Bastian didn’t reply, so she peeked back at Az, who gave a rigid nod.
Bastian tutted. "You’re far too soft on her, a bit submissive, even, Az."
Submissive? she wondered.
Nothing about her beast was made to submit.
"Then why are you here?" she continued. "Why imprison yourself? Did… did Graves force you in here?"
"No, pet. I made him lock me away so I would not hurt you again."
"You didn’t hurt me," she repeated, holding back the part of her that wanted to say she had almost liked it. "Come out. You cannot stay here."
"I can, and I will." He turned his attention to Az. "Make her see reason."
"I won’t make her do anything, but, Lu, if he thinks he should be locked away, then let him."
The storm inside her grew. Thunder ripped through the sky outside. She jumped. "You’re not understanding," she stressed.
Though, she did not know why she was so adamant about having him outside the cage.
Maybe she knew what it felt like, maybe it hurt, maybe it made her feel like the vile monster she thought herself to be.
Like the green-eyed males who haunted her—one haunting her waking moments with fiery glances and hot hands; the other, filling her dreams with nightmarish visions of death and darkness. A true villain.
"If you do not want to be released, then drink from me, at least," she managed.
Az’s growl ripped through her. Bastian yanked his hands off the iron bars, his body slamming against the wall.
"Pet, you have no idea the monster you play with. You come in here with your pleasured scent, my claim still on your neck while another male hangs off you with a satisfied smile that you cannot see because you’re too busy trying to please us both…
Then you offer yourself to me again." He scoffed, and the sound was strangely sensual.
"The only thing keeping me from you is these bars.
And even then, they are ill-suited to hold back the weight of my utter desire for you.
It should be ungodsly, how desperately I need you. "
In the wake of his seething confession, her knees grew weak. She took a step forward. Az made her stumble back. She tried again, and this time, the demon let her go—with a warning:
"Touch one hair on her head, and I’ll make sure you never see sunlight."
"Good," Bastian replied.
Her heart was in her throat, and her thighs trembled as she stopped before the bars. Bastian was still against the wall, eyes flashing. But that didn’t deter her. Slowly, she wrapped her fingers around the rusted, cold iron, cheeks pressing against the bars as she leaned her face forward.
"You asked me to grant you forgiveness?" she murmured.
He gave a strained nod. She did not speak again, and time ticked on, the storm raging, turning inward as she felt herself, unknowingly, take small sips of the wind and rain, calling it back.
She didn’t know how she was doing it, or how to stop it, but each small bit she reclaimed made her sag against the bars.
Finally, Bastian peeled himself away from the wall, coming to a stilted stand before her. She could reach out and touch him, but she did not.
With a strained noise, the vampire fell to his knees.
"You wanted me to show you, Luella." She jolted at the sound of her name, realizing she hated it on his lips.
"You got what you wanted, did you not? Me, at your feet, beholden to your will," Bastian breathed.
"Do with me what you must, but please, do not free me from here.
Because I am so frightened of what I will do to you.
" His head hung low, black hair obscuring his face, leaving only the slightest glint of silver from his many earrings.
Luella’s fingers untangled from the bars, reaching down for his chin. She tilted his face back up and said, "Okay. If that is what you want. But drink."
His throat bobbed with a swallow, and she watched the line of it, entranced, feeling her own neck throb where his fangs had pierced her flesh. As if he heard her thoughts, his scarlet eyes dipped below her chin. "You—you cannot ask me to take from you again."
They were at a standstill.
"Then drink from me." Az’s voice broke through the tension between them. He reclaimed his spot by her back, a hand caging her in against the bars as he reached for them. "Drink from me. It wouldn’t be the first time."
She hid her shock—barely.
"You are not the first to offer." Bastian licked his lips. "Vale already did. I turned him down."
"Why?" Luella wanted to know.
His eyes pinned her to the spot, taking in the way her demon wrapped around her back, white wings folded against her, only just hidden, the neckline of his large shirt hanging loose over her skin, brushing places that were still tender, too aware. Her breath hitched.
"Would you really like to owe Vale anything?"
"No," she replied, "I would not." But she knew she owed him some things. For one, the bracelet on her wrist. But in her mind, that was a weak trade. What she was owed for all he had done to her.
"You know I am not like him, like the others. Drink from me, Bastian. I won’t hold it against you," said Az.
Bastian paused for so long she wondered if he was ever going to respond, before finally demanding, "What is in it for you?"
Az’s hand cupped her cheek lovingly. "Her."
She sighed, and the ship rocked with a gust of wind. Was it just her, or was it growing duller?
"Fine," Bastian relented. "I will drink from you, but it is the same for me—I am only doing this for her."
"Then we have a common goal." Az’s hand left her cheek, wrist stretching between the bars, while he remained wrapped around her.
In a flash, Bastian stood, gripping the demon’s forearm and dragging his wrist to his lips.
Those scarlet eyes stayed fixed on her as he opened his mouth, fangs flashing, before his lips wrapped around Az’s flesh.
The demon didn’t flinch as Bastian drank from him, but she saw his jaw flex.
Bastian’s throat worked as he swallowed, the low sound in his throat like a growl of satisfaction.
Watching them like that, she felt heat stir inside her. She knew what it felt like to have those fangs buried inside her body.
Bastian drank. And drank. The iron bars and Luella, trapped between the two males.
She had won this battle, even if it had not been the exact outcome she had imagined. It was only in the aftermath that she realized she had not stuttered once. Pride welled within her, but she quickly squashed it, knowing all it would take was one look from Vale or Tharen before she crumbled.
The more Bastian drank, the more her determination wavered, and exhaustion took its place.
Her chest cracked open, letting in more of her storm as it pressed against her skin, curling around her spine.
She couldn’t stop drawing it back inside herself.
It had started with the rain, but ended with a tempest, until she felt the swirling mass roil inside her, and the only thing that was left outside was but a whisper of air.