Lucille
Chapter
Thirteen
Wind whistled through the enclosed arena, slipping between the high arches and cutting through the voices of the military.
The doors leading to the castle banged shut at my back.
Ronen paused in front of them, his hand lingering on the handle.
He stood there in his black-and-gold uniform, staring at the sandy ground.
What was he doing?
Rune nudged him, and he moved toward the dais with his hand gripping her neck. I lost them among all the bodies until he got to the steps. Then he stumbled stepping up them.
Something was wrong. Ronen didn’t stumble. Was he hurt?
The Dreads on the dais only spared him a glance before averting their attention toward us. But Alexei approached him, whispering something in his ear that Ronen ignored. He walked to the front of the raised platform, his steps uncoordinated.
“Is he okay?” Aspen asked beside me.
“I don’t know.”
A lightning bolt slammed through the arena, gaining the attention of anyone not already watching and murmuring about their general.
Ronen didn’t immediately speak like he normally did.
He searched through the silent crowd, eyeing every member until his gaze landed on me and held.
It never lifted, moved, or blinked. I was his sole focus.
I shot glances to the left and right of me, hoping no one noticed.
Surprisingly, they didn’t. But not because he had finally averted his gaze.
No. They were staring at the shadows bleeding from his body and drifting off the dais.
Alexei tilted his head toward Ronen and snapped something at him. His shadows jerked to a stop. They curled and twisted on top of each other, moved left and right, but never forward, like an imaginary barrier stopped them.
Ronen’s Dreads calmly backed a step away from the darkness. Alexei and MJ eyed the shadows whipping around their feet, then shared a meaningful look.
“Warriors,” Ronen barked. “Starting today, no one is allowed to move around the Redemption Circle alone, and there will be a curfew. The demon infection has mutated. Souls who are bitten experience changes exponentially faster, and blood-banded end up as piles of liquified flesh, with the potential of your soul never cycling to Heaven or Hell. Stay together and don’t get bitten. ”
Fear erupted through the arena, paling faces and prompting questions and demands.
Alexei grabbed Ronen’s shoulder, getting into a heated conversation with him. Ronen swayed. Alexei held him tighter.
What was wrong with him? What were they saying?
I stepped forward, and Aspen grabbed my arm. “Don’t, Lucille.”
I glared at Aspen, but his flaming blue eyes weren’t on me. They were focused on Ronen.
“He needs…”
Unending desire, want, and blistering possessive anger melded together in a potent emotional cocktail, seeping into my head and heating my body.
Ronen’s addictive essence wove through the emotions, caressing my senses.
Or… attempting to? It was like the parts of him that wanted to connect with me kept missing the mark. He felt off. Wrong.
Frowning, I looked back at him. Alexei’s hand shifted from Ronen’s shoulder to his neck, blue eyes igniting. But Ronen didn’t see. His murderous expression was focused on Aspen while mine was on the line of shadows shooting toward him.
I stepped in front of Aspen as MJ shifted in front of Ronen and erected a wall of fire, cutting off my view.
Then there was pain, and through the wobbling fire Ronen’s dark form fell, knees cracking into the wood before collapsing flat. His shadows dissipated, and something awoke inside me. Something I had only felt one other time when Ronen almost drained himself to kill Lilith.
I was vengeance.
I was punishment.
My vision tunneled. My thoughts stopped.
I luscelered around MJ’s firewall toward Alexei, fully intending to shove an icicle through the hand that electrocuted Ronen.
But before I could so much as pull on my Infernus or reach Alexei, someone tackled me.
My head slammed into the wood two feet from Alexei’s boots.
A heavy body pressed into my back, keeping me pinned as something warm slid into my eye.
“Ridigar!” MJ snapped.
“I stopped a threat,” he shot back, digging his boot into my spine.
He was ripped away a second later.
“Get your hands off me!”
I twisted. Aspen shoved away a Dread with stark white hair and dark features. He glared at him, a blue flame burning in his irises. Ridigar matched his fury, white smoke curling around his fingers.
My Hellfire whispered a deadly song, riding the tide of my anger. It overwhelmed me, shoving pressure behind my eyes.
I could kill the Dread in a second.
“Never touch me again, devil spawn,” the Dread seethed.
“Don’t give me a reason to,” Aspen countered.
“Ridigar,” Alexei barked. He slowly turned from Aspen and eyed Alexei, looking bored. “Where should you be right now?”
“Doing the general’s dirty work once again,” he muttered under his breath.
Lighting crackled between Alexei’s fingertips, his eyes illuminated with blue flames and streaks of silver. “Come again?”
“Surveying the piss-poor squads,” Ridigar answered.
“Correct. Now get to it.”
Ridigar turned. As he left, I caught him sneering at Ronen’s prone body. Itches scattered across my skin, and I gave in to the Glaciation music. A small spot of ice formed on the stairs right as Ridigar stepped down. He slipped and landed on his ass.
“Careful,” I called, while wishing his neck had snapped in the fall.
He narrowed his eyes, studying me.
Another Dread interrupted our stare-down, holding out a hand to help Ridigar up. Ridigar swatted him away. The bald Dread pulled his hand back, unfazed, and stepped up onto the dais. He had a dark, lush skin tone and kind eyes.
“Xavier?” Alexei lifted a brow.
Xavier nodded toward Ronen. “The general okay?”
Swiping at the blood in my eye, I scooted closer to Ronen’s still form. Our bond fluttered with unease at the sight, fueling my Infernus’s song. “Yes, is he?” I shot at Alexei.
You don’t want to hurt him.
Logically, no, I didn’t. Emotionally, a different persona, one fueled by my Infernus and something deep inside my core, did.
He looked at me with apprehension.
“I was only helping. He was acting strange. He’ll wake up soon, beautiful.” He turned to Xavier and led him a few feet away, speaking softly. “Do you have a report?”
Out of pure need, I rested my hand on Ronen’s chest. The slow rise and fall, his spicy scent, and the rough texture of his uniform pressing into my palm grounded me. The pressure behind my eyes eased, along with the music, giving me back much-needed clarity.
“What did Alexei mean?” I asked MJ, focusing on the steady thump of Ronen’s heartbeat.
MJ’s face twitched as she focused on Alexei and Xavier’s conversation, either ignoring me or too engaged in their words to hear me.
“MJ?” I pressed.
“Let’s go to the healers’ wing to have this conversation,” she said as an afterthought, clearly more concerned with Alexei’s conversation than Ronen.
It both irritated and relieved me.
Ronen’s limp body hung between Alexei and Aspen as they carried him to the healers’ wing.
MJ marched ahead of us, clearing a path and threatening anyone who dared to peek at Ronen.
Rune kept by my side, her shifting fur soothing me.
We entered the healers’ wing and passed occupied cots and privacy curtains until we reached the private rooms in the back.
Sam walked around the corner, jotting something down on a chart and pausing in front of Oliver’s open room.
“Oliver, regarding our last conversation—” He lifted his head from his writing, blinking at us like he wasn’t sure if what he was seeing was correct.
“Yes?” Oliver inquired in an eager tone.
“We’ll talk about it at a later time.” Sam shut his door.
“Hey! You can avoid my questions all you like, but I’m going to keep asking them,” Oliver said in a muffled sing-song voice.
Sam gestured to a room two doors down from Oliver’s. “Place him in there,” he directed.
We moved into the private room, and they heaved Ronen onto the bed. Aspen immediately released him, while Alexei positioned his limbs more comfortably and fluffed his pillow.
“What happened?” Sam asked, clutching his amulet as he ran a glowing hand up and down Ronen’s body.
MJ closed the door. “He was acting different.”
“And he wasn’t in control of his powers,” Alexei added. “It kind of reminded me of the time we saw him at Hoar Hollow, when he slammed back all those glasses of whiskey,” Alexei admitted, glancing at MJ.
I raised a brow, unable to imagine such a sight.
“You think Ronen is drunk?” MJ scoffed. “You can barely get him to drink more than one when we go out.”
“Maybe he was having a bad day. I’m just telling you what I noticed.”
Blood drained from my face, and my eyes shot to Aspen. He glared at my forehead. When he noticed my attention, he held my gaze for a moment before turning away. MJ watched our interaction, pursing her lips in consideration.
Sam placed a hand behind Ronen’s neck, yellow light reflecting on the white pillows. “Alexei’s right. His blood alcohol levels are elevated. I’ll heal his burns, but I’m afraid he’ll have to sleep off his intoxication.”
It only took seconds before Sam dropped his hand and prepared to leave.
Disapproval was etched across his expression.
He took his job seriously. Of course, he didn’t want to use his energy on Ronen’s self-afflicted wound.
I was sure he had more serious injuries to heal and only so much energy to use in a day.
“I’ll have an attendant bring in some water and a hydration draught.” Sam was almost out the door when Aspen grabbed him. “Please remove your hand from my arm.”
Aspen released him. “I understand the general is important, but I figured the princess would at least receive some attention,” he ground out, nodding to my forehead.