Chapter 21 #2
Why did she smell like demon food? What did that mean exactly?
The thought reminded her of last night and the way Rune inhaled her scent as if it was the source of his addiction. Alora shuddered the pushed the memory away.
Calla and Deimos had vanished into smoke shortly after breakfast, both looking more sluggish than before. That must mean their kind slept during the day. Hadeon guarded her door, but the wall was solid now and he couldn’t enter without her permission.
She studied the room for any shadows but found none. Rune must be preoccupied with something else. Which meant no one was watching her.
“I can’t stay here, Nexus,” she whispered.
The kitten blinked up at her from the end of the bed, tail twitching. As if he knew. As if he was waiting.
“That’s your name,” she smiled at the little void, scratching his head. His purring grew louder. “Now how did you come in here? Do you know the way out?”
Nexus gave her a small meow, then hopped to the floor with a decisive flick of his tail and padded to the wall. A moment later, the stone groaned softly, and a new doorway shifted open. A tunnel, narrow and glowing faintly with moss-light, curved into the dark.
Alora stared at it a moment, then grinned up at the ceiling. “We’re going to be great friends.”
Nexus mewed again, more insistent, and scampered inside. She followed.
The path wound upward, the walls warm beneath her fingertips, adjusting to her steps. She passed strange symbols etched in silver. They pulsed once, then stilled and the tunnel opened into un unexpected discovery.
The air was cool and fresh, scented with damp stone. Before her stretched a small cavern, and sunlight streamed down through a gap in the mountain ceiling, spilling golden light across a small cascade that landed into a pool of water lined in moss and ivy.
Birds chirped faintly from somewhere above. For the first time since entering this realm of shadows and secrets... she could breathe.
But this wasn’t an escape route. The mountain was accommodating her need for sunlight.
“Thank you,” Alora whispered to the air.
The walls softly vibrated.
Oh, how she missed the forest outside of the Midlands. Missed her cottage with a garden of briar roses and oak trees. If only she could have a little piece of that here, then maybe it wouldn’t be so terrible.
A small sapling sprouted up beside the pond, its leaves rustling without wind. It grew, slowly but visibly, stretching toward her with delicate silver-veined petals curling open like it understood.
She smiled. “What else can you do?”
A low hum answered, deep in the stone. The earth to her right shifted, gently, and a small stone bench pushed itself from the wall, its surface lined with moss and tiny wildflowers. Bushes of wild briar roses grew next.
Then came a flicker.
Tiny orbs of light blinked into being overhead, soft, warm, like sunlight caught in droplets. They hovered around her for a breath, then burst like dandelions into a shimmer of silver mist that dusted her shoulders.
Alora laughed under her breath, eyes wide. “Ever the braggart, aren’t you?”
Then along the bare earth, a variety of berry bushes grew, that absolutely hadn’t been there a moment ago.
“Oh,” Alora breathed, both delighted and slightly unnerved. She picked a handful of berries, popping some in her mouth. “You’re a gardener too.”
The shadows curled at the cavern’s edges like a pleased cat. Nexus pawed at them with a soft meow.
Alora pressed her hand to the wall, voice barely above a whisper. “Very well then, Karag D?r. If I am your prisoner, the least you can do is show me the shape of my prison.”
The stone shuddered in answer.
A seam split open, revealing a narrow tunnel, its walls pulsing faintly with moss-light. Nexus mewed and trotted ahead, tail high, and Alora followed.
The first cavern she entered glittered with impossible wealth. Gold spilled in drifts across the floor, crowns and jeweled goblets strewn carelessly across black stone. Gems glittered as though alive, casting bloody light into the dark.
Alora smirked despite herself. “Hmm. A dragon and his horde.”
Typical.
The path shifted, carrying her into a hall lined with blackened mirrors.
Their warped glass didn’t display her reflection.
One showed her as a child, her mother’s hand in hers.
Another crowned her in shadows and jewels.
A third showed her lying pale and lifeless, a crimson bloom across her chest. She staggered back and the mirrors vanished.
She shivered and kept moving.
The tunnel trembled, opening into a chamber forested with pillars carved in glowing sigils. She brushed her hand over one, and it thrummed beneath her skin like a heartbeat. Bargains, she realized with a chill.
Contracts he had made with mortals, carved into stone. She dared not linger.
At last Alora stumbled into a cavern dominated by a massive throne of ash and bone.
It slouched on its dais like the carcass of a king, its surface brittle and blackened, the stench of burnt stone heavy in the air.
Broken chains lay scattered at its base.
Whatever giant had once ruled here was long gone, yet the weight of its absence pressed on her chest.
Behind the throne, a vast door stood partly ajar, pulsing with faint red light. Her breath caught as she glimpsed a pillared structure beyond, the ground glowing with crimson blooms. She felt it before she saw it.
An edifice of black stone, pulsing like a heartbeat, promising escape.
The Gate.
Alora quickened her steps, desperate to reach it.
But the mountain groaned and sealed the passage shut, stone folding over itself with a final, crushing sound. She stumbled back, hope crumbling to dust. Nexus hissed beside her, pawing at the stone as though in protest.
The mountain rumbled as if to warn her away.
It had been kind enough to indulge her wanderings, but it was still loyal to Rune.
A soft breeze pulled at her hair coming from another open path, this one lined with torches.
“Where are you leading me now?” she asked softly.
Nexus trotted ahead, dashing inside. From somewhere beyond…
Alora heard the distant rush of running water.
Curiosity tugged at her heels and Alora followed.
The temperature had shifted to warm. The air grew hotter as she descended, mist curling at her ankles.
The scent of damp stone and mineral-rich steam filled her lungs.
But Nexus then fell out of view. Alora quickened her steps and entered an open cavern, lit by more torches, bioluminescent worms glinting over steaming pools.
A hot spring.
She turned the final corner and stopped cold. There, half-submerged in the water, was Rune.
His head tilted back against the edge of the pool, long black hair slicked and clinging to his neck and shoulders. Steam clung to his skin like misted silk. Shadows coiled lazily around the edge of the spring, content and unbothered.
Alora froze, eyes wide. Through the steam, she thought she saw the glint of burns on his chest and arms, skin red and blistered like fire had tried to eat him whole. But then the steam shifted… and they were gone. She blinked, not sure if she had truly seen the burns.
Rune rolled his neck as he sat up, his back to her. His pale skin was ridged in muscle. Tattoos swirled around his neck, trailing down his shoulders and arms.
She swallowed hard. He moved toward the center of the pool. The misting cleared enough that she caught a glimpse of scars beneath his shoulder blades, but they were difficult to see. Though her attention was drawn elsewhere.
Alora knew she shouldn’t be here. She shouldn’t be watching.
Yet, her feet remained rooted to the stone floor, her pulse fluttering as she peered through the narrow gap between the jagged rocks. The cavern’s hot spring shimmered in the dim torchlight, steam curling over the water’s surface.
Rune stood waist-deep, his back to her, muscles shifting beneath skin as he ran a hand through his wet hair. Shadows clung to him even here, trailing down his spine like an embrace.
She should leave before he—
“Enjoying yourself?”
Her heart slammed into her ribs at the sound of that purring voice in her ear. The pool was empty now. Warm droplets landed on her bare shoulder, a shadow caressing her neck.
Slowly, Alora turned to find Rune standing behind her, dripping wet, his skin glistening in the low torchlight. Shadows curled around his waist, shifting like living silk.
Sacred Seven.
Rune leaned in, caging her between his body and the rock wall. A single drop of water traced its way down his collarbone, his smirk deepening as he watched her eyes follow its path.
“If you wanted a closer look,” he murmured, his voice like dark honey, “all you had to do was ask.”
“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” Alora froze, her breath catching when Rune’s wet body pressed closer, soaking through her nightgown.
“Did you think you could hide from me? I can smell you even through the steam.” His nose traced the line of her neck, making her heart race.
A soft, ravenous growl rumbled in his throat and he softly cursed.
“I can smell you in any room of this mountain. Your scent is like the ripe fruit from the Forbidden Tree.”
Her first instinct was to slap him, but Alora’s mind had gone molten beneath his touch. As if she was as intoxicated by him as he was of her. It must be her scent, she told herself.
Rune continued to inhale her as if he couldn’t get enough. Was he some kind of animal?
“Why do you smell so fucking good?” Rune demanded, almost angrily.
“I-I don’t know,” she squeaked.
Gods, he was close. Too close.
She could smell him, too. A scent of smoke and amber.
Rune’s body radiated heat, all sharp muscle and slow control, and still, her legs refused to move. She trembled, fighting to form thoughts as his clawed hand circled her waist and pulled her closer. Her eyes went wide when something hard and warm pressed against her stomach.
His fangs grazed her skin. “Have I always wanted you this terribly?”
Alora trembled, frozen like a deer hunted by pray, her mind caught between adrenaline and confusion. What did he mean by that?
The moisture from his body quickly soaked through the front of her nightgown, chilling her very sensitive breast. The fabric clung to her flushed skin, thin and traitorous. She flushed, realizing how undressed she was.
“Rune, wait.” She tried to push him back, but he caught her wrists.
He linked their fingers together, pinning her hands to the wall. “I have waited enough,” he growled, nose trailing over her throat. Alora’s heart pounded loudly in her ears as his mouth traveled up her neck to her jaw. “I really can’t resist when you’re so mouthwatering.”
And he nipped her throat.
Alora whimpered.
Rune tensed a moment, then he pulled back, allowing her two inches of breathing room.
His gaze lowered to the translucent white fabric clinging to her chest. The glow in his eyes flared vibrantly.
Ravenous hunger stormed in his gaze. With the way his gaze slid over her like a predator ready to pounce, he was seconds from feasting on her flesh.
But Rune took several deliberate steps back and she shuddered with relief. His throat constricted with a swallow, jaw clenching as eyes raked over her body to her bare legs. Anger surfaced through the desire.
His gaze returned to hers, burning bright.
“Seven Hells,” he softly growled. “Wandering the castle like that… you are begging to be devoured.”
“Then it’s true?” she whispered. “They say that you eat humans.”
His mouth curved with a wicked grin, flashing the edges of his sharp fangs. “Only the ones I like.”
Alora’s heart pounded, her face heating, sensing another insinuation. His gaze was ravenous. Starved.
But Rune stepped back, shaking his head as if to clear it. “How did you get out of your room?”
She tried to answer, but the words caught in her throat.
His sharp eyes cut to the ceiling. “You released her in this state? If she dares wander my halls, it will not be half-dressed.”
With a snap of Rune’s fingers, cool shadows swirled around her like a spinning veil. When it settled, he was dressed and so was she.
A gown of black lace clung to her like threads of midnight.
The sheer front panel gave the illusion of bare skin beneath embroidered fabric that barely covered her breasts.
Intricate filigree wove over her bare stomach and back, tempting, forbidden, divine.
The sheer skirt framed her like art in motion, leaving her hips and thighs kissed by transparency, veiled by delicate tulle that shifted when she moved.
One shoulder was left bare, exposed to the cool air like an invitation.
The other was designed into an intricate flourish shaped like the outstretched raven wing in mid-flight.
On her feet now gleamed heels, sharp and regal.
Her hair was now woven up into an elaborate knot, completed with a tiara on her head made of obsidian.
Before she could ask why, the shadows sluiced over him next.
Rune looked unmistakably dangerous in matching black armor, the plates sharp and glinting like ink. His mouth curved with a pleased smile as he admired his work.
With a wave of his hand, a tendril of shadow curled around her wrist. It coiled tighter, turning into dark metal as it took the shape of a black dragon. It was cool against her skin yet thrummed with magic that bound her more securely than the ring.
Alora stared at the bracelet. “What is this?”
“A gift,” Rune said as he stepped closer. “To mask your scent. Never remove it.”
“So, I don’t tempt your demons?” she asked, voice barely above a breath.
He cupped her throat, thumb stroking her pulse. “No,” he murmured, his gaze falling to her lips. “It’s so you don’t tempt me.”
The words sent a scatter over her skin. Even he was susceptible to her scent. What about it made her so delicious to them?
Rune inhaled a careful breath, as if tasting the air. The bracelet must have worked because the tension in his shoulders relaxed.
He took a torch from the wall and strode onward, his crimson cloak floating behind him like spilled blood. “Come.”
Alora hurried after him, keeping close. “Where are you taking me?”
“It is time I introduce you to the Court of Sin and Ruin.”