Ivy
She couldn’t stop thinking about Finare.
The sounds drifting up from the gym made it impossible to think of anything else.
Finare’s screams were punctuated with the thumping sounds of Voresta’s fists colliding with his flesh.
Each sound clawed at her sanity, because she knew Finare’s suffering was her fault.
She tried to muffle the sounds by burying her head beneath her pillow, but her Vampire hearing was too strong. She eventually realised that distance was the only thing that was going to help her, so she blocked her ears, made her way downstairs, and dashed out of the mansion.
The sounds of violence didn’t ease until she’d reached the circular driveway of the private drive. She didn’t plan on leaving the property, and as she looked into the sky above, the sight of Phaedra circling overhead told her that Leseldh had no intention of letting her leave, either.
She reached the front gates, which remained resolutely shut. She decided to walk alongside the iron fence that bordered the property, running her fingers along the bars as she went. At least my prison is a luxurious one, she mused sarcastically.
The sounds from the gym became audible as she neared the house.
She gritted her teeth and continued along the fence until they faded away again.
She made her way to the gardens at the back of the house.
It seemed appropriate to unpack her doubts and fears in the setting of another event that dredged up similar feelings.
The alcohol’s effects had worn off and the horror of the night’s proceedings dragged her down like she was submerged in cold water fully clothed.
She killed someone tonight. Horror held her urges at bay on that first night in these gardens.
But with Killian’s provocation, she cast her fears aside and did the unthinkable, with catastrophic results.
She might not have been the one to run the blade across his neck, but it was another case of her actions leading to terrible consequences.
She couldn’t shake the image of the pile of Human-shaped dust that was all that remained of him.
What was his name? Would anyone miss him? Would his family receive a Black Letter, like her family did two months after her sister went missing?
The Black Letter, sent by the Council, was a death notice to the families of those who died in Noctis.
She shuddered as she remembered that time in her life.
Her parents dubbed it another consequence of her foolish choices.
She agreed to go to Noctis with her sister, and that started the chain of events that led to Emer’s disappearance.
The more Ivy pondered her life, the more she realised that making poor choices was apparently her greatest skill.
If it weren’t for Killian’s taunting, she wouldn’t have bitten that male. She revisited the moment in Lunarian with Killian, and it racked her body with chills. He toyed with her, pressed her buttons, and got satisfaction out of tormenting her. She trembled with anger.
It seems like you’ve been having a good time playing Leseldh’s pet. If she truly was his pet, the leash she wore around her neck just got tighter.
The Leseldh she saw in the parlour tonight was a completely different creature to the one that had romanced her over the recent months.
She’d marvelled at how Leseldh was nothing like the men of Naum, but the version she met tonight was horrifyingly worse.
He was heinous. He was cruel. He was controlling.
And when he wasn’t around to control her, he was using Voresta to do his bidding.
It was not dissimilar to how her mother once used her friends to keep tabs on her.
History was repeating itself, but now it seemed like this was her forever.
What made her temper flare was that she still craved being near him.
The bond was as strong as ever, despite the horrendous demonstration in the parlour tonight.
She recalled her desperation to run to Leseldh while Killian had her in his iron-clad grip.
She remembered the relief that flooded her when she felt Leseldh’s embrace at the end of the torturous ordeal.
Her conflicting feelings swirled around inside her and her nausea surged.
She finally understood the confusion Finare felt in his Fledgling Era.
Ivy leaned back against the fence and slid down it until she met the ground.
She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, allowing the pit of negativity and self-loathing to open up and swallow her whole.
She was ripped from her reflection when a sudden pressure on her chest pinned her against the fence.
Ivy’s eyes snapped open, and she was plunged into the cold, watery depths of fear once more. She tried to look behind her to see who her assailant was, but she was held firmly in place. When the scent of wood and vanilla drifted towards her, she knew.
“Come on, Ivy. You’re making this easy for me.” Killian’s deep voice drifted through the fence like smoke, and she shuddered at the sound.
“Silly me for thinking I’d be safe in my own home.”
“Don’t you mean your cage?”
“At least I’ve got a big yard to run around in. I love that, being a pet and all.” Her despondency made her feel reckless, and she realised her voice held strong, unlike the way it usually faltered when she tried to spar with this male. She heard the rumble of Killian’s laugh come from behind her.
“You sure are a fiery one.” The words were a mere whisper. She wondered if she imagined them.
At first, Ivy thought she was protected by the fence, but her mind conjured the image of Killian’s blade.
The image of the knife sizzling through the male’s throat earlier this evening burrowed into her mind.
Her heart pounded in her chest, and she was sure he could feel it thrumming against his arm that cinched her tightly.
She heard movement behind her, and she thought she’d willed her thoughts into reality, expecting the press of the blade against her skin.
She felt a feather-light brush of a something sharp against the side of her neck and her breath hitched.
But when the sensation wasn’t followed by that searing pain, she realised that it was just his fingernail, dragging along her skin as he moved her hair.
It would be so easy for him to End her right now and erase all the terrible choices she’d made tonight and every night since she stepped through the Portal Building with Leseldh.
As she reached the limit of how much distress she could endure in a single evening, she realised that the escape was so easily within reach.
“If you’re going to End me, just do it already.” She relaxed in his grip as an invitation.
“Where’s the fun in that? There isn’t any sport in it if you’re just going to give yourself to me.
” Killian spoke with that same playful edge that coloured all of his words tonight, and to her surprise, he released her from his grip.
She rose to her feet and turned to face him, and he stood at the same time.
His red eyes were fixed upon her, a roguish smile playing on his lips.
“We’re going to have a lot more fun before I’m through with you, Ivy.” Killian’s red eyes glinted as he stepped backward into the gloom and disappeared again.