Chapter 22 #3
His features had hardened, and he bent forward as his shoulders tightened. I pressed my fingers against my knees, biting my lip as my attention moved between the runes and the witch.
“Miles…” I tried again, whispering. The air was thicker, and the knot in my chest grew larger. “Do you need any help?”
I wasn’t even sure what to do, but if necessary, I would go into that circle and—
A ripple passed over my knees while the symbols on the ground began to turn into a blood red. The lightness had faded, and crimson wetness spread the runes to stain the surrounding ground. The stain grew inward, reaching for Miles as the lines on his forehead became more pronounced.
“ Go to him .”
I was already moving before Mu’s instructions could finish echoing through my thoughts. The diseased shadow rippled past me as I stepped over the circle, rushing to Miles’s side.
“Hey…” I touched his shoulder.
He jumped so suddenly that I fell back, breaking the circle, as he moved to his hands and knees. I’d landed on my back, and I pushed up with my elbows as he grabbed at his head. “Miles?”
His attention snapped up at the sound of his name, and his eyes glowed a golden caramel as he lunged forward, reaching for me. The breath was knocked from me as heavy hands closed around my throat, and his much larger form settled over my hips.
“M-Miles!” I could hardly breathe his name. I grasped at his hands, but my attempts to dig my fingernails into his wrists had little effect other than to annoy him.
“I can’t do it!” he said, grasping my wrists with his right hand. I could scarcely breathe as he held my arms above my head, and his grip on my throat tightened.
“What—” I gasped, trying to stay calm. “What are you doing?” This was Miles —he would never get violent with me. Although, at the moment, the maniacal glint in his eyes didn’t offer much reassurance.
“Leave me alone,” he said.
Well, I would . My skin was crawling, and I needed to flee. But how could he expect me to listen if I was pinned to the ground ?
“Then l-let go!” I tried to buck him off, but it made no difference. The lines on his face were taut, and there wasn’t even an ounce of recognition in his darkening gaze.
My chest felt heavy, and I stopped fighting as a lethargy turned my limbs to lead. A roaring echoed through my ears, and it was hard to string together a coherent thought.
A large, pointy rock pressed into my shoulder, and a shadow passed over my vision as the pressure against my chest threatened to crush me.
I wasn’t sure what was happening, but the crazed, distant look hadn’t faded from Miles’s expression.
My vision tunneled until I could only see his expressionless eyes. There was a darkness in the air surrounding us, and while he made no further move to hurt me, the Miles I knew seemed to grow more distant with every passing second.
Long moments seemed to pass, and my hope grew more distant as a dark shadow moved over him.
His expression was growing more shuttered, snuffing out the light that made him, him .
His features blurred now until he’d become only a shape—an impenetrable force—above me, threatening to crush me into the ground.
And there was nothing I could do to stop it.
“ Tu is testing you ,” Mu’s voice rang. “ Fight back .”
Fight back? How ?
Miles was exceptionally bigger and stronger than me. I’d never win against him.
“ You’re the only one who can beat him .”
No, I couldn’t. I gasped, freezing air ripping through my painful chest. His hands were cold, and I was turning to ice from the inside out.
He’d asked me to trust him, and I did. And now I was dying because of it.
Miles was going to be crushed when he figured out what happened.
What would the aftermath be like? Would he eventually come back to himself and see my dead body? Or would he stay this way until the others eventually found us? With Kathleen’s barrier gone, it was only a matter of time.
They might kill him.
I couldn’t let them kill him.
The wind whistled—a sound that grew louder with every passing second. A breeze moved across my face, washing away the shadow as, with slow, shaky inhales, the world moved into focus once more.
Miles was still on top of me, unmoved. Still in the same position, holding me trapped under him. But as the spots faded, a calm sense of clarity returned.
He was distant, unreachable, even as tears stained his cheeks.
I couldn’t give up; I had to win—if only so Miles didn’t die later.
However, Mu was wrong. I couldn’t beat him.
“ You’re at a disadvantage, true, ” the small voice whispered. “ But nobody said you had to play fair .”
I brought my leg up as hard as possible as my knee caught Miles in the groin. No magically induced thrall could negate the after-effects of a powerful ball-kicking. Sure enough, Miles rolled off me and curled against the ground.
“W-what’s wrong with you?” I asked, moving to my knees. I didn’t feel guilty at all, at least not now. Not even his pained posture could stir my pity.
It took a long second for me to catch my breath—too long, especially when gaining any advantage was necessary.
Either Miles’s current situation left him less vulnerable, or maybe I might have been more affected by my near-death experience than I thought.
But when I finally moved to my feet, Miles was already regaining his bearings.
His eyes were still distant, his hair wild, and his skin streaked with dirt. When Miles fully stood, cracking his neck as he turned to face me, my heart began to race.
Great, now he was feral.
He threw his arm up, fingers grasping at the air, and the ground quaked at my feet.
“ Move .”
I moved without thinking, drifting quickly through the wind before, suddenly, I was clinging to his back. He turned, trying to grab me, but he wasn’t quick nor nimble enough to get me loose.
My thoughts were calm and sure, and a sense of rightness rushed through me. I had the advantage. While Tu was usually formidable, he was slower than usual. I only needed to be faster.
But why was he trying to fight me?
“ He’s losing the war against himself. ” Mu’s power hummed under my skin as his explanation rang through my thoughts. “ Tu is testing him, and he’s failing. You must see him through this; otherwise, he won’t be able to control his powers properly. ”
Great.
Miles fell to his knees, fingers clawing at my leg as he cursed in a language I didn’t recognize. I didn’t know why he didn’t think to roll onto his back—I would have been crushed—but at least there were small mercies.
Clearly, he wasn’t a tactical fighter.
“ You need to get his attention .” At this point, I was no longer alarmed by his voice. That was probably something that would disturb me greatly later.
Miles tried to grab me—his fingers closed around my upper arm—and I realized I had nothing to lose. I’d already kicked him in the balls, and that was probably the most traumatizing event a man could suffer.
This was sure to be an attention-getter.
We hadn’t adequately bathed in days, and then there were today’s multiple bathroom breaks. I might become diseased from this, but I had no choice.
I turned my face toward his hand until I was able to sink my teeth over the outside corner of the extremely dirty and nasty-tasting appendage. It wasn’t hard enough to draw blood, but it was a moderately effective plan. At least he was cursing in French again.
Then we were back to English.
“What the fuck ?” Miles had stopped struggling, leaning on his knees as I remained wrapped around his back, my teeth sunk into his palm. “Bianca? Why are you biting me?”
I let him go and wiped my mouth against the back of his shirt before responding. “You’re better now?”
“Am I…” The beginning of his question trailed off, and his taut muscles relaxed. “ Damn .”
I unlocked my ankles from his waist and slid to the ground. I was out of breath, and I fell against him and rested my cheek against his back. “Did it work?”
“I tried to hurt you.” Miles gasped, spinning around and grasping my shoulders.
“It’s okay,” I said, touching my throat. “Did it work?” I asked again.
“Yeah,” he replied. His hands were shaking as he rubbed my arms. “Thanks to you.”
“You did it,” I told him. After all, I hadn’t done much of anything other than inflict physical harm.
“I didn’t.” He sat forward and pulled me to him. “Not alone. I lost control. What if it happens again?”
“Then it happens.” The words rushed from me. Even though I wasn’t in a place to promise this, I continued, “And if it does, I’ll bite you again. Just wash your hands first.”
He didn’t respond, but I could feel his slight trembling. My breath caught, and my heart raced.
“You’re perfect ,” I said. I leaned back and cupped his face. I refused to allow myself to think about what happened next or about my nervousness.
There was only this moment.
I pulled his face down toward mine, and our lips met.
He was gentle as he leaned forward and wrapped his large arms over my shoulders. He smelled of freshly turned dirt and honeysuckles, and his sweet taste was mildly addicting. Yet even so, the kiss was over too soon, and I pulled back.
“Bianca…” His lips brushed against my cheek while I touched my fingertips to his chest. Our foreheads touched, and his gaze flickered to my mouth.
I half-expected him to apologize, but instead, he touched my face and traced his finger along the edge of my bottom lip. “I feel like I’ve been waiting my whole life for that,” he admitted.
Miles didn’t say the words—I knew his feelings from his expression alone. The slight parting of his lips, his slightly furrowed brow, and the almost imperceptible tremble in his touch conveyed a vulnerability and a depth that he had seldom shown.
He was in love with me.
But I wasn’t ready to return those feelings.
“I’m not expecting anything from you,” Miles said, somehow interpreting my thoughts. “Just… let me stay, and I will always choose you above everything else.”