Chapter 84 If You Love Me, Let Me Go
IF YOU LOVE ME, LET ME GO
LUELLA
Luella didn’t know where she was running—only that she had to get away before she was found.
She fell into the madness, and the madness surged up to greet her—fire-lit bodies, charred flesh, the arc of blades, haunting screams, and her white cape shining like a beacon in the middle of it all.
She spun, searching for somewhere to hide.
A blade cut through the air at her back. She ducked, forced not by her own will, but by the Stella, which curled around her shoulders and neck like a glittering snake.
The Stella forced her down, and the blade narrowly missed the nape of her neck, instead whispering against the ends of her hair, lifting from how quickly she moved.
"Look at what we have here, the heirus Princess all alone out here.
" An Umbra swung his blade dangerously, licking his lips. It was him—the male who’d cornered her on the horse.
His white hair had grown unruly from their journey, dark eyes savage as he stared at her.
Blood was crusted around his hooked nose, a large bruise on his too-sharp jaw.
Luella backed up, fire at her back, at her sides, eating up the stone—she thought rock couldn’t keep flame, but she was proven wrong by the dragon’s constant, steady stream, lighting up the moonlit night and burning everything it touched.
"Leave me be," she warned, backing up. "He’ll know if you harm me."
"How can he, when we’re out here in this chaos? You slipped away. You should pay." He moved his face to the side and spat up blood. She jolted as the thick mass of it shone on the grey stone.
She couldn’t let any get inside her.
With his free hand, he reached for Luella, but the Stella snapped out like a whip, cracking against the back of his hand. He shouted, and the sound was echoed by a hundred more.
The Umbra fought all around while the dragon circled.
He shook his hand out and smiled a wicked thing, blood on his teeth. "You’ll fucking regret that. I think I’ll take your other fucking wing, before I slice you up real good and set your corpse on fire—then Master will think the damned dragon did it."
He tipped his head down, deep-set eyes seeming to glow in an endless dark, and spat, "Run, little heirus."
Luella ran.
Her ankle twisted, back muscles flexing as she awkwardly pumped her arms, dodging the melee of bodies.
An Umbra on fire fell from the sky, crashing to the stone right before her with an awful, unforgettable wet crunch, forcing Luella to hop as she dodged the flames licking at the body.
She was forced further up the stone path, closer to the spires that still glowed in the fiery dark.
The Umbra’s blade grazed the fluttering ends of her white cape. The Stella lashed out on her behalf.
A dance of light and dark.
And Luella was caught in the middle—on the losing side, she realized as she reached a dead end. The path ahead was blocked by an overturned cart, flames crackling as whatever was inside was eaten up, dead bodies strewn around. Dark smoke filled the air, obscuring her vision.
She stumbled to the burning cart, no thoughts in her mind save the nothingness that she yearned for.
She saw a flash of dark hair and whipped around, seeing a familiar pale face and wide red eyes.
Bastian stood amid the smoke, a look of pure horror on his face as he opened his mouth and cried, but Luella pressed her hands to her ears as best as she could, turning away sharply, unwilling to hear what lies her imagination spewed.
The moment in which she faltered gave the Umbra hunting her the perfect opportunity to pounce.
Her right arm was grabbed roughly. Her hands were forced away from her ears as sound came back to her in rushing, horrifying waves.
Her fingers spasmed. The tendons of her forearm were unresponsive, making her strength falter. The Umbra tore her away from the burning cart and yanked her to him, his wild white hair matted to his temples with sweat and ash.
The Stella seemed hesitant, waiting almost. Luella wanted to scream—had even the stardust given up?
The Umbra’s savage gaze raked over Luella’s ash-streaked form. "I should force you on your knees right now so you can suck my co—"
Something wet and hot misted over Luella’s cheeks. She closed her mouth on instinct as the Umbra’s blood coated her chin and jaw, dripping down the line of her neck and collar.
The blade that had been shoved neatly into the Umbra’s chest was pulled out with a wet, slick sound. The Umbra fell to his knees, fingers flexing at his side as he reached to touch the gushing wound, pierced right through the vulnerable spot of his armor, near his arm.
Silver flashed as the hand against his chest was cut clean off, the sliced part of bone vibrant as blood gushed.
The Umbra screamed, and his eyes were ripe with anger as a curse lingered on his lips, cut off by another slash of a blade, a perfect arc that saw the Umbra’s head toppling from his armored shoulders.
The body fell to the side, and Luella didn’t make a sound as she stared at the head. The head that reminded her of—
More hands on her shoulders, a face before hers, noise cutting through the roaring in her ears.
Deep blue eyes she saw in her dreams, which had turned to nightmares. Flesh melting, dripping on her like candlewax.
Graves stood before her, wings stretched out.
Dark feathers shrouded the sight of the battle further down the path.
His cowl was over his lower face, and he roughly tugged it down, jaw unshaven and lips parting.
No sound escaped. He stared at her, and didn’t stop staring, not even as Luella took the tiniest step back.
His hands fell from her shoulders.
Her heart thundered a drumbeat of terror as she awaited whatever fell from his lips.
"Luella," Graves rasped, staring at his blood-covered, gloved palms, before he tugged one free and reached for her with his clean, bare hand.
She trembled and took another step back, reaching up to wipe the blood on her jaw away with the fabric of her cape. The white material was streaked with red when she pulled her arm away.
He took a step forward. "Luella, sweetheart—are you…?" He seemed beyond words.
At the concern in his voice, she released a choked, bitter laugh. "Don’t pretend you care." Her voice trembled. "Don’t come near me. Get away from me," she managed, scrambling back.
Her words made Graves freeze.
His wings drooped, folding close to his back. He looked stricken. His eyes dropped from hers, to her throat, where the collar was. "Luella—"
She shook her head, stepping back and back and back, away from the vision that plagued her. "You’re not real. Get away. Leave me alone!" That came out strong.
He moved as if to grab her, and she turned quickly, running right toward the burning cart. She heard his shout in warning as the smoke choked her, making her eyes water.
Beyond the cart, the path opened, the burning spikes that lined the way diverging as they encircled a large expanse, wherein she saw the maw of the Lunar Temples.
The white stone steps towered high, disappearing into the smoke. The spires were like hands reaching up into the sky.
Bodies were scattered on the ground. She nearly tripped, hearing nothing behind her as Graves approached, but she knew he was there. Hallucinations did not make noise.
The Stella was thicker here, shoots of stardust whirling in the air before the Lunar Temples, as if to protect its home.
Luella felt the stardust around her neck disentangle, whispering against her flesh as it snaked away and zoomed through the air, until joining with the rest. She touched her neck, mourning its warmth and comfort.
"Luella!" Graves called from behind her. He said something else, but the words were drowned out, falling on her mad ears as she breathed rapidly, back aching fiercely as she spun, searching through the smoke, desperate to disappear.
A loud boom shook the mountains as a figure dropped from above, falling right before her. She gave a scream, staggering back, closer to the temple.
A piece of her soul sang as her eyes rose from the crater-like dip in the grey rock, up strong, slightly bent legs, a heaving chest slick with sweat, ash, and blood, to warm amber eyes.
Az released a ragged breath, blood dripping from the tip of his right horn. His hands were in fists, and he uncurled them, flexing his large, dusky fingers as he stared at her amid the grey ash and dragon fire.
"Lu, angel. Oh gods," the demon sobbed, and Luella shook her head again, as if to shake the image of him out of her mind.
A tiny part of her screamed, Pay attention!
The song in her soul and the way he shortened her name and said it with such affection but—
He wasn’t real.
A singular black feather drifted to the stone as Graves landed at Az’s side, trapping her. With both of them before her on either side and the burning cart blocking the path, she had nowhere to run but the… temple.
Luella staggered back, feeling a sticky warmth at her spine from her hurried movements.
The cape stuck to her back, and her wing stump throbbed, making her movements increasingly sluggish.
She heard their gasps as she gave them her back and fled, tripping over bodies and stumbling up the near-endless steps of the Lunar Temples.
The marble was cold, even though fire ravaged the stone nearby.
The Stella parted for her, warmth misting her flesh and drifting over her hair. Her steps grew surer.
Until a voice pierced the night.
Luella, stop running!
She stopped, falling forward on the steps until her palms crashed against the marble. Her hair slipped over her shoulders, acting as a curtain.
The voice—it had been inside her.
She felt a presence in her mind, rifling through her thoughts.
Get out, please. Leave me alone. Stop torturing me. Luella let the words fill her mind. She felt the interloper dive deeper, seeing the things she didn’t want anyone to know.