Chapter 14 Aeri
I’d hoped it was all a dream, that I would wake up in my own bed, with my husband wrapped around me. But seeing the dark wall of the room I’ve been in for God only knows how long now tells me I’m not that lucky.
“Damn it,” I grumble as I scoot up the bed to rest against the headboard, pushing my messy hair out of my face as I go. Thankfully, it seems like someone cleaned me up, so I’m not covered in dry blood.
“You need to eat and drink.” A deep voice to my left takes me by surprise, as I didn’t realize anyone was in the room with me, and I can’t bite back the shriek that rips its way free, despite the ache of protest from my throat.
I manage to snap my mouth closed pretty quickly, but the damage is done. His face doesn’t change, but I swear I see the tiniest hint of amusement in his eyes.
The man beside the bed isn’t Bast, Talian, or the mean one, Kai, I believe his name was.
He’s tall, easily six-five, maybe even taller, but I can’t be sure.
He’s wearing dress pants and a black button-up with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and shiny dress shoes.
His hair is long and black, hanging down past his shoulders with volume most girls would kill for, and…
are his eyes red? I stare at him for longer than I probably should, much longer than is polite, but I can’t make myself look away, expecting it to simply be a trick of the light or something.
But it’s not; his eyes really are red. Maybe it’s contacts?
To go with the rest of his costume, because despite how strange his eyes seem, he also has horns and giant wings.
I’m almost positive none of the others had wings, right? That feels like something I would remember, but with the way I was feeling last time I woke, I can’t be sure. Between my panic and the pain, everything seems a little foggy, and the longer I sit here, the more confused I feel.
“Who are you?”
All playfulness is gone with my question as he moves away from the bed toward the door, without a word or so much as looking back.
“Let’s go. You can come down and eat with the rest of us, and we’ll answer your questions the best we can.”
I don’t want to.
This man—if I can even call him that—is huge and intimidating. Nothing about him screams safe, so why am I getting up?
“I’d like to call my husband.” My voice is quiet as I follow him out into the hallway, but given the way his shoulders go rigid, I’d say he must have heard me.
We walk for a while in silence, long enough that I don’t think he is going to answer me as I fidget with my fingers, twisting them together and apart as I worry I’ve made the wrong choice.
Should I have refused and stayed in the room? Would that have really done anything? If he wanted to, this beast of a man could have thrown me over his shoulder and taken me wherever he wanted without breaking a sweat.
“Calls don’t go through here.” His voice catches me off guard, and I trip, almost tumbling down the stairs. I reach out, gripping the rail and saving myself the embarrassment and probably a few broken bones and maybe a concussion based on the cold feel of the stone beneath my bare feet.
“A–and where might that be?” I ask, unable to stop myself now that he’s given me something.
I mentally berate myself for the stutter, hating how weak I must sound to him, but if he notices, he doesn’t show it.
He glances back at me as he reaches the bottom of the stairs.
I’m still a few stairs behind him, and I have to fight against the urge to freeze under his gaze.
This time, he doesn’t answer; instead, he simply rounds the banister and heads down yet another hallway.
I really should have been paying better attention to where we’d started and how we got here. Reaching the bottom of the steps, I pause to look around, and holy shit, this is a castle.
It’s beautiful. A red carpet runner is the only real pop of color; the rest of the castle is the same dark brick that gives it a gothic vibe.
Candles are still the only source of light I see; between the chandelier that’s easily five times the size of the one in my rooms and candelabras scattered all over the place, I can make out most things, though I’m sure the finer details are lost on me.
We’d come down the set of stairs that branches off the main set and goes to the right, but from here, both sides look the same.
But the most breathtaking part of the whole room is the enormous windows that span the wall behind the stairs.
Reaching from the floor all the way to the ceiling, they have an old church vibe, but instead of bright stained glass, every one of these is red.
I stand in awe and quickly realize I could happily explore this place all day, getting lost to see the wonders.
“Wow…”
“I’ve never really stopped to appreciate the castle, but I can see how you might find it a marvel.”
I whip around to find Mr. Terrifying a lot closer than he was only a moment ago. In fact, hadn’t he walked down the hall? When did he come back, and how did he get so close without me noticing? He’s not exactly small.
I stand frozen, my neck craned back to watch him as he looks up at the high ceiling, the chandeliers, and…
His gaze snaps down to meet mine as if he can feel my eyes on him, and I glance away, seemingly very interested in the stone floor at our feet.
I can’t bring myself to look up even after I feel his eyes leave me. It’s not until I see him move away that I even dare move my eyes up enough to follow him.
The room he takes us to is more like a sitting room than anything else. A large fireplace with high-back chairs and large cushions, and food and drinks scattered around on smaller tables. It’s almost like a party, except there are only five people total here, and nobody looks particularly happy.
The light blonde-haired one smiles at me when I move into the room—Bast, I believe his name was—and I can’t help but return his smile even if I’m not sure why.
Maybe I’ve lost it? I mean, what kind of person feels happy to see their captor?
Was he nice to me? Yes.
Am I still being held here with no information after being taken from my house in the middle of the night? Also yes.
Yeah, now that I’ve put it like that, it’s the only thing that makes sense.
“What’s going on in that pretty little head, Darling?” The silver-haired one says, pushing off the desk he’d been leaning against to stalk toward me, a smirk pulling the corner of his lips up as he watches me.
It’s predatory, and I fight the urge to run. I feel like one of those baby gazelles who know the lion is coming but know they can’t possibly outrun it.
Doesn’t mean I can’t try, though, right?
“Talian.” Damn, that’s his name! It was on the tip of my tongue. “Leave her alone. Now isn’t the time for games.”
Talian rolls his eyes at “big and scary,” but stops a few feet from me. His eyes remained fixed on me, but at least I don’t feel like he’s about to eat me anymore… No, now I feel like he’s mentally undressing me.
“I was simply asking a question,” he says, raising a brow at me as if silently telling me he’s still waiting for his answer.
“I’m pretty sure I’ve gone insane,” I tell him honestly, and feel proud when my voice doesn’t tremble.
Fuck yeah! One point for me.
“Because you're in a castle in Hell or…” Talian doesn’t finish his sentence, but he doesn’t need to.
In Hell?
A castle in Hell—is that what he just said?
No, that can’t be right; it must be a joke or…
Nobody corrects him, but he’s on the receiving end of more than one glare, and suddenly the air feels too thin, like I can’t get enough.
Dots dance in my vision, and if not for someone's hand on my arm, I would have hit the floor.
“I want to go home,” I hiss, yanking my arm free from whoever it was and stumbling back a step.
“You can’t.”
I look up and find Bast in front of me. He’s been nice, nice enough to make me feel like I was losing it. His eyes are sad, his hand still outstretched from where he must have held me a moment ago, and I suddenly feel bad for shoving him off like that.
No!
He deserves my anger; they all do.
“This is illegal. You can’t just take someone because you want to.”
“Trust me, if we could just send you back, I would be the first to agree with you, but it’s not safe.” I glare at Kai because that sounds like something a kidnapper would say to try to get me to stay and behave.
Jokes on him, I never behave, not since I was a teenager and ran away from home…
A sudden pain shoots through my head at the memory, but I shake it off. I ran away from parents who didn’t care and found Rome, my now husband, and my life has never been better.
That is, until a man with green eyes walked into our shop and ruined everything.
“Why me?” I ask, my voice quiet, barely audible, but they seem to have no issues hearing me.
“It’s hard to explain.” Again, it’s Bast who answers, and I get the feeling that’s not a coincidence.
“Try,” I bite out, nearly begging.
His lips pull down in a frown, and he looks around the room, no doubt looking for help, but he doesn’t find any. His friends look just as solemn, unable to so much as meet his gaze.
“Aeri,” he starts, but I cut him off.
“No! You don’t get to call me that. I don’t even know you.” He looks like he wants to argue, but he nods before trying again.
“Your husband isn’t a good man, Aerilyn.” I’m shaking my head even before he’s done speaking because he’s wrong, but he keeps going. “He’s dangerous and manipulative and…” he trails off, squeezing his eyes closed as if he can’t bear to look at me anymore.
“No…” My protest is weak, just like my knees.
“He’s hurt you before, and he’ll do it again.” I hear the venom in Kai’s voice, but I can’t make myself look at him. I want to shout at him that he’s wrong, but the words get stuck in my throat.
“Send me back,” I demand, looking to the tall, scary man who brought me down here. I’m not sure how, but somehow I know he’s the one in charge.
“No.” He doesn’t even consider it, and that only serves to piss me off.
Who the hell are these assholes? They don’t know me or my husband.
“Send me back.” I hiss, trying to keep myself under control. I feel the tears well in my eyes, but unlike before, it’s because I’m angry this time.
He looks down at me. His wings and horns make him even more terrifying than his large frame, but for whatever reason, I’m not actually afraid of him.
He cocks his head at me, his jaw set in a way that tells me he isn’t going to dignify me with a response again, but he doesn’t need to.
I knew what the answer would be even before I said something.
Fine, I’ll leave myself.
Without another word, I turn and leave.
I don’t hear them behind me, but I don’t stop as I run through the halls looking for a way out of here. It only takes seconds before I’m turned around, lost in halls that are beautiful but never-ending. But that’s fine; I just need to leave.
I’m not sure how long I run around before I finally come across a door.
The grand arch is noticeable even at the far end of the hall, the dark wood making it appear as if there is no door, only dark nothingness in its place, but I know better.
The entire castle is dark and old, with its Gothic architecture, deep gray and black stone, and wood giving it a sinister look and feel.
If I’d been here to simply look around, I would have gotten lost in the beauty, but right now I can’t help but feel like I’m prey, trapped with hungry predators.
By the time I reach the door, I’m panting, not only terrified they will be after me any moment, but I’m really not one to run, and I make a silent promise to start jogging if I make it out of here.
A smile pulls at the corner of my lips as I reach the door. It’s heavy; I can tell by looking at it, but I’ll figure it out if it means freedom.
Bracing my arms against the door, I push with every bit of strength I have, but nothing happens. It doesn’t even budge, and with a huff, I try again, planting my feet and really pushing, only for nothing to happen.
I knew the door would be heavy, but this is more than that.
It’s locked, I realize after a moment, and mentally curse myself for wasting so much time here. I need to keep moving. The castle is huge. I’m sure there are plenty of doors to choose from; one of them has to be unlocked, right?
None of them are unlocked, and after what feels like hours, my feet hurt, and I’m so lost I have to bite back the urge to break down right here on the floor.
Twelve doors—I found twelve doors, and not one of them opened.
I even went so far as to go up a set of stairs I found, but the windows were all barred, not that it mattered; a peek out of them let me know this side of the castle was over a huge cliff, meaning I wouldn’t be able to escape out of it.
And even if I were crazy enough to jump and try my luck, this is apparently Hell, and as such, there is a lake of lava or fire down below.
I can’t tell which, as it’s too bright to look at.
Is it still a moat if it's not water?
With a sigh, I fall into a chair that I’m almost positive is for decoration more than actual sitting, but I can’t be bothered to care right now. I’m lost, trapped, and now alone.
Fuck, this didn’t work out the way I’d hoped, but then again, most things don’t. Rome is my one good thing in a life of shit, and because of that, I’ll never give up on him, on us.
“If you're done with your little temper tantrum, I can take you back to your room.”
I almost jump out of my skin as I spin around to find the asshole, Kai, standing near the end of the hall opposite where I sit.
I glare at him, annoyed that it’s apparently so easy for them to find me.
“Or I can leave you here to run around like a chicken with its head cut off for a few more hours,” he snaps and turns to leave, clearly unimpressed with my glare.
I want to tell him to get fucked, that I don’t need their help, but I’m dead tired, and if I have to stay here, I might as well do it in the bed.
“Wait,” I call, and he pauses but doesn’t turn around. Instead, he poofs out of existence, and I groan in annoyance. Why even offer to help if he had no intention to follow through in the first place?
I hear movement behind me and whip around to find Kai stepping out of the shadows. He grabs my arm, and before I can shake him off, the world spins violently, my stomach rolling. I fear we left my heart behind before my feet are flat on the floor once again, in the room they call mine.
When I finally get my breathing under control, I look around the room only to find that I’m once again alone.