Chapter 28 Adrian
Adrian
Every part of me thrummed with a dull, aching pain. From my head all the way down to my toes, the only thing I felt was the slow beat of my heart and the waves of pain that came with it.
I squeezed my eyes shut despite the darkness waiting for me if I opened them. Stale, sulphur-tinged air filled my lungs with each short breath I sucked in, but I wished it was something else. Something warm and comforting. Something that would save me from the darkness in my own mind.
I hadn’t felt the sticky fingers of my brother in my head for hours. But I felt the remnants of his control in the back of my mind. Like he’d planted something there to make the next attempt easier.
Sickness swelled within me, rising in my throat. It took all the strength I had left not to throw up all over myself. Not like I had much left in my stomach to expel.
“Adrian.”
Maeve’s voice cut through the pain enough for me to want to open my eyes, but I kept them shut. “Don’t get close,” I hissed. “I don’t want to risk him coming back. He might if he knew you were here.”
“I know,” she replied, her voice strangely soft. But she didn’t come any closer, and I wasn’t sure if I appreciated it or not. “But I needed to ensure you were okay.”
I released a heavy breath, one that sounded almost like a laugh. “I’m not okay,” I admitted, voice breaking. Still, I kept my eyes closed. Kept part of my consciousness on the back of my mind where Dante might be hiding. “I don’t know if he’s here or not.”
Maeve made a sound in the back of her throat. “If he is, then he should know we will stop him. That we will not stop until we have Ivy again. And we will not stop until you are free of his control. We are not abandoning you down here.”
I flinched, her words like ice coursing through me. I waited to feel that unfamiliar prickle of darkness in the back of my mind that came with Dante’s magic. My entire body locked up like it knew he was coming.
But when it didn’t come, when he didn’t make himself known, I released a breath. “Maeve—”
Before I could get the rest of the warning out, the door to my cell opened. My heart dropped as I waited for her to leave, but instead, someone else entered.
The chains around my body warmed with the presence of the witch who bound me. “Get her out of here,” I growled, the chains tightening around my body. “If he finds out—”
“Think about something else,” Maeve instructed. “Don’t let him know what’s happening. I want you to imagine the first time you saw Ivy.”
My body went rigid as the chains stopped moving. I heard the pair in my cell, but I sucked in a breath and tried to do what Maeve said.
For the first time since being imprisoned, I allowed myself to think about my mate.
First, I imagined what it would be like to breathe in her scent.
A scent that’d brought me so much comfort and stability when I found out about Dante’s betrayal and my mother’s death.
I thought about the first time I breathed it in, something that meant nothing to me before seeing her behind the desk at the hotel, suddenly becoming everything to me.
Before her, I hated the taste of coffee.
Tea had been my go-to hot beverage of choice, and I’d never considered changing it until seeing her for the first time.
When I’d walked in with Rowan, and the light caught Ivy’s dark hair, her smile brightening her face, I’d considered what it might be like to drink it every day.
For a moment, the image of her behind the desk flickered, darkness creeping in. I tried to keep Ivy in the forefront of my mind, but I felt a tickle in the back of my head. Not Dante with his dark magic, but the presence of someone else.
Focus on Ivy, a voice said, like a whisper on the wind.
It was all I needed to go back to her. To that first moment. To her dark eyes landing on me, the flush of her cheeks as she recognised Rowan. That realisation the Goddess put us directly in front of our mate.
I’d been so in awe of Ivy, of her beauty, of her attempts to remain professional in front of us, that I hadn’t even noticed her magic.
It’d been building within her even in that moment, but I’d been so distracted I never even sensed it.
But I could almost imagine it now brushing my skin, filling the air around us as if recognising us as her mates.
Before I could take her in completely, pain struck me, splitting through my head and racing down my body. The image of Ivy, her scent, everything disappeared as my eyes opened, and I let out a broken cry.
There’d been hands on my head, fingers burning like fire on my temple, but they were ripped away as my head fell forward.
“He’s in deep,” the voice from earlier said. “It’ll take time to get him out.”
It took me too long to realise the voice belonged to Blythe. She and Maeve moved, lowering their voices so I couldn’t hear. Leaving me to deal with the agony splitting my skull on my own.
I sucked in a few deep breaths, each one washing away the memory of Ivy’s scent and replacing it with the disgusting smell of sulphur. Maybe I didn’t deserve to have the memory of my mate, because if it weren’t for me, maybe she’d still be here.
A different feeling washed over me, making my stomach bottom out. “He’s here,” I managed, before darkness consumed my vision.
I won’t let go of you that easily, little brother, Dante said, his voice filling my head.
I could almost imagine him standing in front of me wearing one of those arrogant smirks, like he’d won a game I had no idea I’d been playing.
Soon, I’ll make you a deal you can’t refuse. Let that bitch vampire know.
My heart pounded as his dark, poisonous magic disappeared from the edges of my consciousness.
When I opened my eyes, there was nothing of him left in the back of my mind.
But his words repeated until I could say them aloud.
“He told me something,” I whispered, looking up to find Maeve’s red eyes on me.
She didn’t move from the door, where Blythe hid behind her.
“He said he won’t let go of me. But he wants to make us a deal. One we can’t refuse.”
Maeve’s eyes narrowed. “What deal?”
I shook my head, which thrummed with pain. “I don’t know,” I gasped, forcing my eyes shut again to keep the pain at bay. “He didn’t say. But he said it would happen soon.”
She growled, not responding right away. For a moment, I allowed myself the chance to breathe, to force him from my mind. I stopped thinking about his presence, always there, waiting for me to do anything that might trigger his appearance.
“If he comes back while I’m gone, tell him I’m waiting,” Maeve replied finally, voice strained. “We’re running out of time.”
Those last words, I realised, weren’t spoken to me. But I couldn’t bring myself to respond, not even as the door to my cell opened and closed, abandoning me to complete silence.
I knew Maeve and the others wouldn’t abandon me, but I couldn’t help but feel the isolation completely. I had no idea what they were planning, what they were doing for Ivy.
Darkness played behind my eyes, swirling like shadows. I almost willed the image of Ivy at her desk into my mind again, but fear had me keeping her away, so she wasn’t tainted by Dante. I didn’t want any part of her memory touched by him. I couldn’t risk him entering them and changing something.
But what if he already has? A chill rolled down my spine, and I opened my eyes to the darkness of my cell. For the first time since being brought here, I wished for light. I wished for hope.
There was nothing. Not with him having so much control over me.
I strained against the chains, even though I knew there was no point. They were sealed, bound to the witch who cast the spell. I wasn’t getting out of here until Blythe released me. She was the only one who would be able to undo the binds.
I searched the darkness, like Dante might be there, watching me. Waiting for me to lose control.
But there was nothing.
No feeling of being watched.
No presence in the back of my mind.
I was alone again with no escape. Forced into the isolating darkness with no hope of ever seeing beyond it.
Don’t worry, little brother, Dante whispered in the back of my head. I’ll always be here for you.
Not for the first time, I let myself cry.