31. Chapter Thirty-One
31
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
ELODIE
P ure euphoria rushed through me as my magik raced, crackling over my skin. I urged it to slam into him once again, throwing his body roughly against the stone wall as a hideously reassuring snap greeted me. His body now a void as the repulsive gleam in his eye was extinguished.
I tipped my head back, almost dizzy with the high the power was pushing my body to. A smile stretched over my lips as I let my eyes close, revelling in the way I felt. Magik caressed me inside and out, every nerve alight and chasing away the remnants of his touch.
The pounding of my heart was no longer fuelled by fear as I opened my eyes to get a better look at the slumped form in front of me. It was then I realised the thundering wasn’t in my head at all.
Whipping my head to the side, I barely had time to register the mammoth form that was in front of me before huge hands gripped my waist, carrying me backwards away from the mess I’d made as though I weighed nothing more than a sack of potatoes. Stopping short of the stone wall I had earlier been slammed into.
When had I gotten so close?
Panic didn’t grow inside me at the unexpected touch of another; my magik was still flowing. Sparks were leaping around my hands, but they made no move to attack as the smell of leather and crisp mountain air floated around me.
I tipped my head back, knowing I’d meet the icy, blue eyes of the biggest man I had ever seen. His face was close to mine, drawn into a deep scowl that instilled not a single ounce of fear within me.
Eagerly I traced the hard planes of his face. If Kaius had been moulded by angels, then Marcellus had been hand-carved by the gods. Hewn from a slab of granite, each strike of their hammer clawing away to reveal this magnum opus. Each pass of their chisel forming the wide jaw and harsh slopes of a face that called to a primal part of me I didn’t understand.
I almost expected him to be frozen in place, a living statue under my hands as I lay them on his broad shoulders to steady myself. The raw strength radiating from him had me relaxing into his grip even as his fingers tightened on me.
My toes barely skimmed the ground as he held me up, his body vibrating against mine and my magik crackled against him. He gritted his teeth but didn’t let go. My heart was urging me towards him, trying to pull us closer together which seemed irrelevant considering he was holding me pressed against his hard body, and I could feel every slab of stone that built him.
Marcellus’ magik was reacting to my own. Swirling around us, the sharp, burning smell of a thunderstorm grew on the air, and a breeze tangled through loose strands of my hair, whipping it around me and soothing my aching scalp.
I slid my hand along the hard muscles of his shoulder, desperate to connect with him. Fingers whispering across the jagged scar that ran down his neck, never quite touching it as he glared down at me.
Risking his wrath, I pressed forward, softly stroking the raised pink lines.
Marcellus sucked in a sharp breath through his nose before his hands slid around me, bringing me closer in a way that had my body heating under his attentions.
Questions burst through my mind, but I pushed them away—now wasn’t the time.
Energy raced across his skin, and I delighted at how his eyes widened under the ghost of my touch until he stepped back enough that, while I was still bracketed in his arms, my body was no longer pinned against his.
As I fell back to settle on my heels, my hands landed on the solid swell of his biceps, the bite of his power was buzzing like static between us. Marcellus’ fingers tightened against my waist, and I gasped as magik rushed back into the place deep inside me it resided.
Sudden and unexpected, I deflated in his arms as a sickly, empty feeling crept over me. He held me up as I fell limp against him, his energy calming as whatever rush I had been on abandoned me.
Memories of the guard’s hands all over me, him chasing me through the corridors, assaulted my mind as I came down hard from the absence of my magik. The pain in my back and scalp now screaming at me in punishment for forgetting.
Had I killed him?
It wasn’t like he didn’t deserve it.
I could hear the sound of him sliding down the wall, see the streak of red that had followed. I pushed at the giant in front of me, attempting to peer around him, but he held me tightly in place.
“No, Little One, don’t look at him. Look at me.” And I did.
My head craned back to meet Marcellus’ eyes and see the anger that was etched into every part of his face. Wind whistled through the corridor, bouncing off the stone walls in a harsh rhythm.
“I’m ok,” I said, my voice scratchy. Was I? I pulled away slightly so we weren’t completely pressed together. I didn’t like that, I wanted to be pressed against him.
“You’re not. You’re really fucking not.” Marcellus’ magik was still rippling around us, and I shivered at the featherlight touch of a breeze on my exposed skin where the guard had ripped open my dress. A menacing growl rumbled in his chest as his eyes fell upon my ruined clothes.
Swallowing hard, I tried to step away, to remove myself from the hands that were gripping me so tight I was sure I would have bruises. He didn’t let me. He held me there, his attention never wavering.
I was glad, I wasn’t sure I could stand by myself yet.
“I—” I started, but another growl ripped through his chest that had my pulse quickening.
What was I going to say anyway? I’m sorry? I couldn’t find it in me to do that.
Because I wasn’t.
It wouldn’t be the greatest thing to have happened if I had killed him, but I wasn’t sorry about defending myself.
I kept quiet, unsure on what to do or how this situation was going to play out. I knew I should be scared, I’d possibly just murdered someone and was being held by an extremely angry, extremely large being with magikal powers—in a palace where I had no clue where I was.
But I wasn’t scared, not with him.
And that was fucking stupid.
I should be trying to run, fighting to get away, but not a single part of me wanted to.
I could feel him fighting to control the anger that was ruling him, though he wasn’t quite winning as the power whipping around us was evidence to. But I didn’t want to run from his anger or match it with my own. I wanted to calm him—to feel his magik running over my skin as I tempered his storm.
The wind swirled around us, and his jaw clenched as he attempted to rein it in until a strangled gurgle from behind us jolted me from the moment.
My hand slipped from him as my chest tightened and silence rang through the corridor, the magik he had been commanding rushing back to him in force. Marcellus’ scowl deepened at the sound that had reminded us both why we were here. Almost reluctantly, he released me with one hand and began to dig in his pocket for something.
The guard was still alive.
For now.
That noise didn’t sound too healthy, not that I could find it in me to be particularly worried about his outcome. I was equally pleased and disappointed by that fact.
Did I really wish he was dead?Yes, I did.
Marcellus began speaking, and when I saw something pressed against his ear, I realised it wasn’t to me.
He has a fucking phone!
It was the first one I had seen since being here, and I filed that fact away for later; I had bigger things to deal with first.
Like potentially being a murderer. Would I get off on self-defence?
Fuck, I didn’t think this through.
He finished the call in seconds, cutting it off with a beep before returning the phone to his pocket. I tried again to look around him to get a glimpse at the guard, but all I managed to see was his black boot twitch against the ground, the edge of a red puddle spreading across the floor, before Marcellus yanked me back in front of him.
“No,” he growled, his voice like two boulders scraping across each other.
“What now?” I asked quietly, terrified of the answer. “Fuck, I’m going to be taken to a real dungeon, one with rats and a straw bed, aren’t I?”
I was going to miss my bed when they downgraded my prison.
His mouth twitched slightly before he answered. “No.”
I managed a short sigh of relief before sucking in deep breaths. I would have hated to give up my little room, no matter how bored of it I had become. There was something about real mattresses and running water that made it special.
My body relaxed slightly as the air I pulled in was fresh and crisp, as though I was standing atop a mountain. Yet as the sound of footsteps echoed around us, I tensed again, racing heart returning.
Someone was going to find us, see what I did—what if it was another guard? My mind swam at the thought, and I fought to push down my rising panic. Did Marcellus really have any say in what would happen to me now?
Before I could figure out my next move, the footsteps rounded the corner, and a woman approached.
Her hair was bright as a flame and braided down her back, eyes a light green I had never seen before, with a riot of freckles that swept across her face.
She held a bundle of black fabric clasped in her hand, and her eyes widened as she took in the way Marcellus was holding me, before she schooled her features again, but I didn’t miss the curiosity that lingered there.
“Take her to her room,” Marcellus ground out. I could see he was still fighting his rage, his grip on me almost painful. Muscles tensed beneath my hands, but I didn’t push him away and he didn’t release me, either.
The woman’s eyes moved from us to the guard slumped on the floor, then back again as she made no move to do as he asked.
“Did you do that?” she asked, her head nodding towards the body slumped on the floor.
I nodded, finding no words would come out.
“Did he deserve it?” Her eyes flicked to the ripped fabric of my dress.
“Yes,” I answered, confident this time because, yes, he fucking did.
“Nice work.” A sharp grin played on her mouth. “Maybe you should let her go, Mars, before you squeeze her to death. Looks like you’ve got some cleaning up to do.”
Mars.
Who was this woman? With one last sweep of his eyes over my face, almost as though he was reminding himself I was still there, Marcellus stepped back—slowly letting go of me. I felt strangely alone now his body wasn’t pressed against mine, wasn’t holding me, and cold air filled all the places he had been warming.
“Take her back, Alouette.”
She nodded once before turning to me. “Let’s go then, Killer.”
“He’s not dead,” I said, my voice steadier than I expected as Marcellus let out a frustrated sigh.
“Not yet,” she said, her eyes dancing with mirth. “But by the looks of it, you got him good and proper.”
My mouth dropped open as I gaped at her, but I could see the approval as she looked back at me. A large hand touched the bottom of my back, pushing me gently towards her and sending my body back into overdrive.
She wore what seemed to be a mix of Marcellus’ clothing and the uniform the guards wore. The black fabric hugged her body, and a belt was slung around her waist, a large knife hanging from it—although something about the way she held herself told me she wouldn’t be needing that in a fight.
“Go with her, Little One,” he said roughly, and I turned to face him. I couldn’t help as my eyes slid from his rugged face to the body that was twitching on the floor. Marcellus’ hand gripped my chin hard before forcing my eyes back to his, my stomach clenched in deranged excitement. “Now.”
I nodded as much as I was able with my jaw still held in his hand before he let me go, pushing me again to the woman. My legs were a shaky mess that I wasn’t sure would hold me up as I stepped forward. The adrenaline-fuelled sprint through the palace had worn off, leaving me weak, but I stayed steady as I walked towards her.
She turned without a word, and I followed, mind reeling.