Chapter 29
C assia
Lukas was suspended over me one moment and across the room the next, separated from me by etched and molded crystal bars. They sparkled in the light, scattering iridescent colors where the light hit them.
“What is this?” I jumped off the bed and ran up to the parallel bars, gripping them with my fists.
He glanced at me with eyes full of longing and then disappeared without a word.
“Lukas!” I screamed. “Lukas!”
Nothing. He was gone.
My throat was sore from all the yelling and my fingers hurt from pulling on the bars.
It was like I was five years old again, when my parents would lock me in my room for drawing on the living room carpet with permanent black magic marker.
Being cut off from the world was too isolated for me. I needed to be able to move around.
Spinning around, I took it all in. The bed and I were circled by a cage made of diamonds, or quartz, or whatever the clear material was. There was a glimmering, narrow hallway leading to the bathroom, but otherwise, I was trapped.
Everything I could possibly need had been provided. I had access to clothes, my art supplies, and there was even a mini-icebox with food in it. A sofa, a table and chairs, a desk. My easel and all my art supplies were tucked by the desk.
There was a plastic heater shaped like a small fireplace and when I pressed the button, it lit with real flames. I couldn’t figure out how it worked without melting, but it was a nice touch for my new prison.
Disbelief washed over me as I flopped on the couch.
Lukas had built me a beautiful bird cage, and he hadn’t neglected the tiniest detail.
It was very specifically built for me. The way the light shone through the faceted bars was incredible, with tiny laser-like beams of light highlighting the finery around me and bringing out the textures and colors.
My instinct to analyze the beauty competed with my fury.
The fury won.
Not one single bar of my jail cell was moveable.
I couldn’t hear anything outside of the room, so I knew there was no one to yell to for help.
The window was inaccessible, and I didn’t have anything long enough to reach it and try to pry the latch open.
If I could, I would have started tossing things out to try and garner someone’s attention.
I did try throwing stuff at the glass panes, but the translucent bars were too close together for my horrifically poor aim.
When I tired of pacing the perimeter like a tiger at the zoo, I laid back down in the bed.
Normally, when I went to bed, I curled up at Lukas’s side and played with his hair.
He loved that. I’d keep one hand on his chest while the other finger combed his strands.
His heart rate would slow, and his breathing would deepen.
I loved knowing I affected him like that.
He was never more vulnerable than when he relaxed and curled up beside me.
He was never getting another scalp massage from me ever again.
If I ever saw him again.
My anger and worry were swirling around in my brain like competing cyclones when the room plunged into total darkness. I sat up and jumped to the far side of the bed before rolling off and crouching down.
Then I realized I was being a bit silly. Nobody could get in here if I couldn’t get out, could they? The contraption had no door. If someone wanted to shoot me, or if they were really good with a knife, maybe then they could have hurt me.
Magic was another hazard, but I could feel the sticky, staticky net of whatever spells and wards Lukas had weaved around the contraption every time I stuck my hand through. It felt like I shoved my fist in a pudding cup.
I longed to open the window to see what I could hear, or if there was an army marching towards the castle or someone gossiping about my man. Not knowing what was going on was almost as bad as being imprisoned. I was so cut off from everyone it was almost like I didn’t exist.
It felt like days had gone by with nothing happening at all.
I ate a little bit of the food he’d provided, and I tried to nap but was unsuccessful.
My painting supplies remained untouched although the portrait of Lukas that I’d been working on stared me in the face.
I wanted to rip it to shreds but I couldn’t do it.
What if I forgot what he looked like one day?
“Oh my God. I was going to ask you where you’ve been but...” Selena walked in, armed to the teeth and her mouth hanging open.
“Never thought I’d go to jail,” I deadpanned.
She came up to the bars and tentatively reached for the crystal. She pulled her hand back quickly. “It's like it’s electrified.” She glanced at me. “Did you threaten to follow him?”
“No! I’m not that dumb.”
But I’d thought about it. I knew I couldn’t do a thing. I knew that for sure after what Annalise did to me before Zaynan intervened. It was very possible that if I heard Lukas got hurt, I would have gone after him—but I wouldn’t do that by myself.
Selena walked back and forth across the room, examining my cage, crouching down and then rising up on her toes while she thoroughly perused my situation. “I can’t help you,” she announced. “But maybe Elijah can.”
I rushed back to the bars. “Oh, please? Could you ask him?”
She gave me a curt nod and ran out of the room, swords clanging against each other.
My heart skipped a beat. Would Lukas hurt either of them if he found out what they did? He would be completely in the wrong if he did anything to them. The confidence that he wouldn’t try was absent. Lukas certainly wasn’t known for his leniency.
All he had to do was ask me to please stay in the castle. That was it. As simple as that.
Elijah trailed behind Selena as she re-entered the room. He took one glance at me and started laughing. She rolled her eyes.
“When he said he was going to renovate, I didn’t stop to consider what that entailed.” He shook his head and stepped closer, admiration for Lukas’s handiwork written across his face.
I glared at him. “This was planned?” White-hot fury wrapped itself around my spine.
He rubbed his chin while his gaze tracked up and down. “Not by me.”
Selena moved to his side. “Can you open this? There’s no doorway anywhere.”
Elijah came right up to the bars and curled his fingers around the crystal. The magic didn’t seem to affect him at all. “I’m responsible for you. I gave him my word I would take care of you.”
“I can’t stay in this god damned cage. I promise you I’m not going to grab a knife and go running for the hills. I know I can’t do anything for him out there.”
Selena elbowed him in the kidney, and he twisted around to glare at her. “C’mon, we can’t leave her in there!” She said. “What if something happens and they attack us? She’ll be killed if the roof caves in and then you’ll be killed if Lukas survives to kill you .”
He took a couple steps backward and scanned my fancy cell, deep in thought. “I’ll be back,” he stated.
We watched him walk away. “Do you think he’ll help?” I asked.
She took another glance over her shoulder before facing me again. “I don’t know. I hope so.” She shrugged her shoulders. “He does whatever he wants. He’s always right, though.”
She looked a bit bitter about her last statement. “Probably his age. He probably thinks he knows everything,” I offered. “I just hope he gets me out of here.”
While we waited, Selena went to one of the windows and peered out, her head swiveling as she glanced around.
For a lack of anything better to do, I reorganized my paintbrushes and pencils, lining them up by their color shades.
When I had them all in order from lightest to darkest, I took a deep breath.
I was going to lose my mind being stuck in this cage.
Selena walked back over, deep in thought. “If he doesn’t get you out of there, I’ll try. Can’t promise you anything since my non-magical ass is probably useless for something like this.”
Tentatively, she reached for the bars, shivering when she touched them. “Lukas must’ve done something so it was okay for Elijah to touch it. There’s some real serious spells on this shit.”
“Yeah, he has a whole buffet of different kinds of blood in him right now.”
Her eyes brightened. “Oh yeah, that’s true. He just needs some Fae blood and some siren or mermaid blood and he’ll be undefeatable.”
“Oh lord, I hope not. Mermaid blood sounds awful, from what you’ve told me.” I wasn’t sure how it all worked, but if he was going to feed me his blood, I really didn’t want blood from something that worked like a garbage disposal.
Selena snorted. “I don’t even think about that anymore.”
Elijah walked in, wiping his hand over his mouth. His eyes were glowing a very bright blue, and Selena watched him curiously. “I’m going to try and get her out of there now,” he said to her.
She nodded and moved away from the cage. “Have you heard anything?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “No. Go sit on the bed; I’m not sure how this will break down.”
I did what he told me and watched while he walked back and forth, holding a palm toward the bars.
“Nothing’s happening,” Selena muttered. Elijah gave her side-eye and resumed walking. “I’m just saying, it doesn’t look like anything’s happening.”
She took a couple steps to the left, still monitoring his actions. He completely ignored her.
After a few moments, the crystal bars wavered and then they disintegrated into shiny, powdery piles on the floor. I hopped up off the bed and stopped right in front of the ring of baby powder-like material. It was at least two feet high and even taller where the supporting beams had been standing.
“Lukas will probably be mad at you. Again.” I glanced up at Elijah. “But thank you.”
Selena held her hand out, and I took it for support as I stepped over the pulverized material. “Yeah, he’ll probably try to kill him,” she said.