Chapter 15 #2
“You know,” Taran says in a mild tone that makes my stomach drop, “sometimes having hope and then having it dashed is the worst torment.”
“What do you mean, An?” Wraith asks.
“Let us play a twisted game. It will be fun.” Taran’s smile is cruel. “Let in the sunshine.”
He twirls to the corridor wall and pulls on a lever.
To my horror, hundreds of pinpricks of burning light spear through tiny holes in the cell’s walls. They crisscross the entire cell like an assault course.
I hiss in pain, covering my head.
My skin begins to steam.
I throw myself forward, attempting to avoid the light. Every time that I dive over the streams of light, however, new ones open or close.
Wraith laughs.
Even in my pain, I remember making love in the cave to Freya, and how Daire held his hand over mine, protecting it from the sun.
If Daire had moved his hand at any time, then I would have burst into flames.
But I trusted him to keep me safe.
My bondeds were sunshine. They were my light in a dark world.
Yet they are not here now.
Taran is twisting the light against me, until it means nothing but pain.
The holes shift again, and I hurl myself to the front of the cell to avoid the shafts. One catches my left foot, scorching the skin until it blackens.
I howl.
Wraith claps, happily.
“No more,” a commanding voice growls, “unless you want him to burst into flames.”
Through the blinding agony, I watch Aurelius as he slams the lever off hard enough to break it. Then he holds up his oil lamp, taking in the scene with piercing eyes.
I crouch, bent over. My sweaty hair tangles over my eyes, and I wrap my arms around my middle.
I wondered when Aurelius would visit me in the dungeons.
Some part of me still trusts my friend or needs to.
I know what would break me, and it terrifies me that these dragons may discover it.
If Aurelius has betrayed me, then I will shatter.
Surely, he has a scheme to save me?
Surely, he only handed me to this Guild because he had to?
I know him better than most people, and as angry as he was in the banquet room, I had sensed that he was only playacting.
Except, what had he been hiding?
Wraith sighs. “I like vampire candles.”
Aurelius doesn’t laugh. “He looks like hell. Have you been feeding him?”
Taran crosses his arms, defensively. “We don’t have brainwashed Shadow Humans here, Your Majesty.”
“I demand a proper answer. He is not unique in your dungeons. You don’t starve the others. Why is he not fed?”
Taran drops his gaze. “My apologies, Your Majesty. Starvation is one of our techniques to tame and—”
“Get out.” Aurelius’ voice is low and furious.
“Your Majesty, I—”
“You will feed him from tomorrow. I gave him to you, but I did not permit you to kill him. All prisoners are permitted basics such as…” His glowing gaze sweeps the empty cell. “A blanket, straw, and for fuck’s sake, a bucket. Understood?”
Taran pulls a face but nods.
Aurelius waves at them, gesturing for them to leave.
Taran slinks past him, but Wraith pats his arm.
I sneak a glance at Aurelius, who silently studies me through the bars. He looks regal in his leather tunic, which is lined with metallic thread, over tan leather breeches. The tunic is decorated in the middle with the same golden dragon design as is on my uniform.
I wish that I had a warm crimson cloak like his one.
I can’t help the pang of jealousy when I study his crown.
I push myself to sit up, before I lick at the top of my foot to ease the stinging burn.
Let Aurelius watch me. He’s the one who put me here.
To my surprise, he only watches for a moment longer, before he bends down and sets the lamp on the floor. He picks up something metal and passes it between his hands as he straightens.
He slips a key from a set at his waist and opens the cell door.
I scramble back, watching him warily.
He only leans in the doorway before throwing the item at me.
It hits the stone floor in front of me with a clank, rolling to hit my burned foot.
“My crown.” I stare in shock at my warped metal crown, which is melded with Daire’s.
Has Aurelius brought it here to mock me?
I don’t fucking care.
I snatch up my crown, clutching it to my chest. Then I sniff it desperately.
It still smells of my nestmate…of an oak in winter.
I can smell the sunshine.
My bond settles.
“I’m not giving this back.” I hug the crown possessively. “You’ll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands.”
“A challenge.” Aurelius’ lips twitch. “I’m not in the habit of taking back gifts.”
Confused, I drag my knees up to my chest.
Aurelius’ dominant pheromones are thick in the cell. I take deep breaths of his smoky, leather scent, and it soothes me even further.
Why? Is it the Golden Threads? Because this is my Omega’s other Alpha?
I can hear how fast Aurelius’ pulse is racing.
My gaze zeros in on his throat.
I lick over my fangs, itching to bite in my hunger. I take a deep breath.
I can’t. I swore loyalty forever to my Blood Lover.
Let me starve and turn to bones before my fangs are desecrated with another’s skin.
“Thank you.” I stroke over the crown. “You don’t know what this means to me, Relius.”
“You have no right to call me that.” He takes a step toward me. “And I have some idea.”
I cock my head. “Do you have any idea what it means that you have protected me?”
Aurelius huffs, sliding his hand to the hilt of Hadrian’s Dagger. “What if I simply want to kill you with my own dagger in your gut?”
“Then do it. I’m here. Bound. Try it.”
For a moment, by the look in his swirling eyes, I think that he will.
Then he turns away with stiff shoulders. “You’re no sport any longer.”
No sport?
Does he think that shackled, I am no longer a warrior?
Furious, I drop my crown, and wrap my shackled hands around his legs, bringing him crashing to the ground.
He lets out a surprised cry.
Thrilled, I extend my claws and fangs and pin him beneath me.
Our noses are touching.
I don’t expect him to grin.
Then Aurelius hurls me up like I weigh nothing, and I crash against the wall.
I am weakened but I am still faster than Aurelius.
I spin out of his grasp.
I expect him to reach for his dagger or call for the guards.
He doesn’t.
Instead, we tumble and fight like we used to, when we playfought in his mother’s rose garden.
I flit to the back of the cell, darting out of his reach, forgetting everything but the joy of the fight.
He grabs my ankle, yanking me back. I thrash, but he drags me like a cat’s prey until I am underneath him again. I kick him, but it’s as if he’s made of stone.
I flip our positions, however, with all my skills, and we roll from one side of the cell to the other.
I snap my fangs at him, and he lets go of me to narrowly miss them sinking into his shoulder.
I squirm out from underneath him.
Then he grabs me by the thigh, flipping me onto my stomach. I snarl, as he presses me down with his weight.
Just for a moment, I forget all the years that have come in between.
He is simply my best friend Relius again.
I throw my elbow back as far as I can in my shackles, catching Aurelius in the jaw.
His hold on me loosens, and I manage to scramble onto my back. But then he drops down onto me, yanking my shackled hands above my head, pressing the metal more firmly against my wrists.
The pain is enough to still me, and I let out a grunt.
When Aurelius settles his full weight on me, I still.
I grin, however, breathing fast. I am high on the fight.
I am shocked, therefore, by the agony in Aurelius’ eyes as he leans close over me. “How the fuck did you break a blood and horn oath? How did you betray me to kill my brother? Tell me, or I will flood this cell with sunshine, and you will burn.”
My grin fades.
So, we’re doing this now.
“I never broke it,” I reply, earnestly. “I didn’t betray you. I protected you, Relius. I always have. I would give my blood for you.”
Sparks spray from Aurelius’ horns. The embers fall on my cheeks, and I flinch at their burn.
“You murdered Tarq. How is that not betraying me? You more than anyone knows how much he means to me. I had no one else.” Aurelius lowers one of his hands to my throat.
I draw in a deep breath in expectation of being choked. Instead, he only rests it underneath my chin, keeping my head raised and my gaze on him.
I give a sharp laugh. “And on my fangs, what a brother he was to you.”
Aurelius’ eyes narrow. “My claws are at your throat. Don’t you dare—”
“Insult Tarq? I never could. But I had eyes. I saw how he controlled you with one hand, while comforting you with the other. Were you blind to how he ran the court? The army? The empire?”
Aurelius’ hand tightens around my throat. “Shut your fucking mouth, or I will let the light back into this cell.”
My heart races. “You won’t.”
“Is that why you killed him? Because you thought him a tyrant? Because you’d always resented him? Did you hate him because I was closer to him than I was to you?”
I flinch.
He’s right. I hated him down to the bones for that.
Aurelius’ gaze becomes mocking. “I knew that you were lonely. But not that you would kill another royal because of it.”
“One who had a cell like this one…enchanted chains like these…” I rattle my hands in his grip. “…ready for you since birth.”
Aurelius pales. “That was my uncle.”
“My rats hear secrets. Your parents and brother knew about the cell too. They all feared you. Feared that you would become Hadrian.”
“Don’t,” Aurelius whispers.
“But they still wanted to use you. Tarq knew about Caligo and the whippings,” I press. Aurelius looks shaken. “He knew about what Maximinus was doing to you.”
“I said, don’t.” Aurelius flings himself away from me.
His back hits the stone wall.
He is staring at me with wild eyes. “I don’t…it’s not…”
“He knew,” I insist, pushing myself up. I spin onto my front, ignoring the ache in my wrists and throat.
I crawl toward Aurelius with predatory grace.
“He was never on your side, Relius. He was always working with your uncle. I wish only that I had the opportunity to rip out his abusive, manipulative throat earlier than I did.”