Chapter 36
Lola
The cells behind the restricted area were mostly empty, but the smell of death and iron still lingered in the air. The rhythmic sound of people breathing killed the chilling silence.
Marcus and I exchanged a worried look before we took our first step forward, straining our eyes to see through the darkness of this place.
I jumped and collided with him as a prisoner I hadn’t seen threw himself at the bar with an animalistic growl, trying to reach for my arm and only succeeding in scratching my skin. That was already too close.
The ruckus he caused had awoken the few other—Hellrisers and Earthwalkers—from their quiet slumber and turned them into feral animals.
They hissed, groaned, shrieked and screamed in frustration as they fought against the bars of their cell, their arms outstretched through the small spaces to try and grab us.
But we kept moving, dodging their grabby hands—and claws.
Until we weren’t.
Marcus let out a desperate plea before falling to his knees in front of one of the cages. The long raven hair hid the woman’s face, but not enough not to notice the Onyx and gold flecks of her eyes.
“Alina,” he half whispered, half sobbed.
The woman lifted her head and tilted it to the side, watching him. Studying him. She remained dead silent as the other Immortals in the cage kept attacking their cells and the air on the other side of it.
“Alina,” he said again, walking closer and inspecting the lock on her door. “Fuck…”
“Marcus, you shouldn’t—”
I gasped as he turned around abruptly, searching through the sheets of paper littering the floor.
I bet if he’d known we’d find his lover right on the other side of the door, he wouldn’t have given the bunch of keys to the Divines that left to free all the others.
Or maybe, we should have searched more unconscious guards’ pockets…
There was no way there was only one with the keys to the cells.
“Marcus, maybe I can—”
“I need a fucking paperclip. Anything. Help me find something!”
I crouched beside him and searched. There were lots of staples, but—
“Jackpot,” he said, standing up abruptly.
“Marcus, please listen to me for a second…”
He gave me a noncommittal grunt as he started fumbling with the lock. My eyes darted to the Witch sitting at the far end of the cell, and the hair along my arms rose from the way she looked at him.
Oh, their reunion wasn’t going to be a pleasant one…
“Be careful, have you seen the others? She might not be herself,” I whispered next to him, but he kept ignoring me, pushing me away.
“I can’t leave her here!” he snapped, sweat dotting his forehead from both the strange humid heat and his focus.
His hands were shaking when the lock finally clicked and the door opened with a loud creak.
“Alina,” he said again, soft like he was trying to lure a small and frightened animal, waving his hand for her to join him.
“Baby, come here, we’ll get you out…Where’s Caleb? ”
He turned his head, surveying the other prisoners. None of them must have looked like the one he was searching for…
“Alina?”
Before he could even look back toward her, she lunged, pushing him to the floor and landing on top of him, hissing like a feral cat and trying to claw his face.
I took a step, ready to grab the woman by the hair to pull her away.
“Don’t!” Marcus yelled, both of his hands circling her wrists. “Don’t touch her! Let me—let me handle this!”
I gritted my teeth but complied.
Marcus remained soft as he deflected each and every one of her blows but her attacks were savage and merciless. Swiping her long, dirty nails and snapping her teeth at his face.
“Alina! Stop, please!”
“I can’t!” she shrieked. “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t!”
I forced myself to stay back, noticing the other prisoners had gone strangely quiet as they looked at the scene with hungry eyes.
Discreetly, I tried to slip into her mind like I did with the demon guards. Maybe I could help without hurting her. Without truly intervening.
But her mind and soul were dark abysses of pure, uncontrolled anger and rage. And, like for the guards, I couldn’t amplify nor appease it…
What the Hell was happening here?
“I can’t,” she repeated, this time nearly sobbing, her arms growing weaker as she leaned on top of my friend. I palmed my dagger, ready to throw it at her if she hurt him, Marcus’ request be damned.
But she only fell limply on top of him, crying. Whimpering. Wailing.
“I can’t,” she said again. “He’s gone. Dead. He killed himself after only a few days. I can’t live without Caleb, I can’t…”
Marcus’ face blanched and my throat tightened. He had lost one of them…And he couldn’t do anything.
“Alina, look at me…Please, look at me…” He grabbed her face between his hands, forcing their eyes to meet. “I’m here. I’m here for you, you’ll get better. He would want for you to be free. Out of this Hell hole. You just need to—”
“I can’t!” she screamed, the sound sending chills in my bones. “I can’t live without my mate, I can’t!”
“Alina…We—Alina!
She brought Marcus’ own dagger through her heart with one last scream. I gasped in shock, bringing my hands to my mouth to muffle the sound threatening to escape my throat. My friend’s eyes widened as she fell lifelessly on top of his helpless body.
Marcus panted when she slowly slid to his side, the dagger plunged too deep for her to have survived.
He stayed like this for minutes that felt like hours, the other prisoners back to being silent, barely present souls.
After a while, he delicately pushed her off him and sat up, cradling her frail body, turning to look at her ashen skin.
At the now visible dark veins that spread from her heart to the rest of her body, showing that her blood had already turned to ash.
A blood Witch. He kneeled next to her and hugged her lifeless form, sobs echoing in the room all around us.
“I’m so sorry,” he murmured. “Please, forgive me.”
I turned to look away, feeling tears threatening to fall free from my eyes. Waiting for him to get up. To be ready to move forward.
It took another couple of minutes before he stood by my side.
“I’m sorry,” I told him. Sorry he had to witness this after dealing with her absence for so long. It was worse than thinking she was dead for all this time. He had gone on this mission hopeful, and now the light behind his eyes had vanished.
“Let’s go,” he whispered, taking the first step toward the next door. “Let’s find whoever is responsible for this and give them Hell.”