Chapter 8 #2
My name on his lips stunned me for a moment, unable to escape just how beautiful it sounded.
My name had been said with malice or faux niceness the past few years, the call of it always reminding me of how I had to answer to them or else be punished.
But when he said it? It sent pleasurable chills over my skin.
This was the first man I’d laid eyes on in the throne room, and I couldn’t help but melt into him, feeling that connection surge through me once more.
It hadn’t been imagined. No, this was a very real feeling, one that radiated through me to my very soul.
The Lord seemed stunned as well, staring down at me with a gentle smile that was partially covered by his dark, scruffy beard. A sense of safety infiltrated me, completely sheltered in his arms, in his protection. Nothing else around us seemed important—
“We need to leave, Kolvar.”
“Kolvar?” I inquired before I realized I’d even opened my mouth. “Is that your name?”
“Yes,” he rumbled in response.
“Kolvar,” the other man demanded.
“I know, Elijah,” Kolvar snapped. “Are you ready to go, darling?”
Honestly, I was a bit stunned to be asked something. He’d just called me darling, and I was certain my heart had melted into a puddle in my chest.
I couldn’t remember the last time someone had asked for my opinion or if I was okay with our plans.
I finally looked away from him, my gaze trailing to the owner of the hard, commanding voice.
It belonged to the man with emerald eyes, the one who had nearly drank from me before I pleaded with him not to, his eyes fixated on my face.
He held my gaze for a minute before speaking in a quieter, yet equally as serious tone.
It made me wonder if he had a softer side or if this was his normal.
“Do you have everything you need?”
“Yes.” I wiggled out of Kolvar’s arms. He grunted but placed me down, a bit begrudgingly, which I liked.
I looked around, the nearest gate into the castle grounds lit up in the distance with guards.
They had never expected me to jump out of the window, so luckily no one was walking in this area outside of the grounds, but who knew how long that would last.
“We can leave.” I swallowed as the man named Elijah turned and led the way from the castle. The cold wind of the night brushed against my face, and I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to keep as quiet as possible while walking next to them.
I had a million questions ringing through my head, and my pulse was heightened as I continued to try to look at them discreetly from beneath my lashes and out of the corner of my eye.
There was so much I wanted to ask, but as we entered the dark streets of the town, the silence felt heavy, strangling my voice.
It felt like the people were taking the night to rest while the Lords celebrated, taking the singular moment to have a break from the constant oppression.
What would it be like to return to that sort of life?
Having a home to escape to every night, a place where you weren’t constantly at the beck and call of a tyrant?
I knew I was trying to distract myself with these thoughts because of how nervous I was right now. Not only from being around these men, but because I’d made it out this far… I hadn’t been out of the castle walls since arriving. I came to a full stop at that thought.
“What’s wrong?” the third man demanded, the one whose name I didn’t know.
“This is the first time I’ve left the castle walls since being imprisoned there.” I didn’t think I needed to explain further why that felt so significant.
The man stared at me with an intensity that had my skin lighting up before he spit out a ‘fuck’ and ran a hand through his hair and began pacing.
“Dakath.” Kolvar’s tone was warning and put me on edge.
“Dakath—is that your name?” I asked, rolling the unique sounds around on my tongue. I liked it.
My voice snapped him out of his agitated state enough that he nodded sharply.
The vampyre had a reserved, almost lethal edge to him that heightened the intense energy I could feel rolling off of him in waves.
There was a darkness within him I’d never come across before–perhaps darkness due to trauma.
“We’re almost there. Come on,” Elijah said in a gruff tone, leaving no room for argument.
We continued, a radiating sense of discomfort growing in my chest at the clear fact that he had no interest in interacting with me.
When I turned the next corner, tucked between Kolvar and Dakath, I immediately breathed out a sigh of relief that we were finally close enough to the docks—our apparent goal.
I could smell the salt brine of the Cursed Divide, and I nearly lunged forward, wanting to get closer to freedom.
The massive ship docked there, dark in color, sat silently as if waiting for us.
My breathing hitched nervously at the idea of getting on the boat. As I looked around for Tristan and his family, Kolvar pressed a gentle hand to my back. “He’s coming. Let’s get you on board. You haven’t fully recovered from today, and we don’t want you to be spotted.”
I nodded, knowing he was right and feeling a sense of warmth that he had noticed my well-being wasn’t the best…
But then I really thought about this moment and what I was about to do.
Doubt began to creep in as I considered how little I actually knew about my future that lay in these vampyres’ hands.
“What’s wrong?” Kolvar asked.
“I just… I haven’t even asked where we’re going,” I explained, offering all of them a wide-eyed look.
“I mean, I barely know you, and now I’m about to get on a boat to go who knows where.
I assumed we were going somewhere within Malakai’s lands…
” Honestly, I hadn’t really known what to assume, but it seemed the obvious conclusion. “You’re not from these lands, are you?”
“No,” Dakath answered with a somewhat snappy tone. “We are from across the Cursed Divide.”
Oh.
Wait, what?
“Across the Cursed Divide? Is there something across there? I’ve never heard anyone speak about that before.”
“The Tridian Empire,” Kolvar explained.
Shock rolled over me. There was an entire empire on the other side of the Cursed Divide? I suppose the name of the body of water made a bit more sense now. A divide between two empires. Okay, I needed to put a pin on that and focus on my main question, because I knew we didn’t have long.
I nibbled my lip. “So you aren’t under the Emperor’s rule?” I felt far better if that was the case. “But why are you here? Why were you at the event?”
None of this was making much sense.
“We need to go,” Elijah murmured, looking behind us before pinning me with a look, “but we can explain further on the boat. We were gathering intelligence—”
“Like a spy?” I whispered in excitement. “How long have you been here?”
“A few days,” Kolvar answered. For some reason that made me feel better, knowing they hadn’t been exposed to Malakai for very long—his darkness tainted everyone he was involved with.
“I don’t want to go back to being a prisoner or Thrall…” I tilted my chin up, trying to look brave as I finally said my peace. “I can’t do that again. I can’t live like that. I would rather leave the empire and travel to distant lands alone once we reach there—”
“No,” Dakath growled, narrowing his eyes as his lips thinned in disgust. “In the Tridian Empire, we don’t have Thralls.”
I let out an exhale in surprise. “You don’t?”
“None. It’s a completely different situation. It’s why we didn’t have Thralls to bring to that party,” Kolvar explained. My chest lightened with every word. It made me so happy to know they didn’t have Thralls, partly because of jealousy but also because I didn’t want them to be like Malakai.
I let out a final sigh and nodded. “Okay.”
“Any more questions?” Elijah asked, not looking impatient, exactly… But he also had this frustrating ability to be commanding while avoiding my direct eye contact, in this case watching the street behind me while he asked his question.
I turned in fright when I heard a voice behind us, a feminine tone that carried across the air. Relief flooded my system when I realized that walking towards us was Tristan with a small girl in his arms and a woman next to him speaking in quick, worried whispers, a bag over her shoulder.
“You guys made it.” I slumped into Kolvar, as both of them looked at me, the little girl continuing to sleep in his arms.
Tristan nodded. “Told you we would get out of here.”
The woman next to him gave me a smile, her cloak hiding a bit of her face as she gently reached out to me and offered her hand. She smiled softly as I met it. “You must be Kyella.”
“I am,” I whispered. “What’s your name? I’m so relieved to see you all here.”
“Bailey,” she replied. “Thank you for being so brave, Kyella. Our chance for freedom is because of you choosing to trust my husband.”
Emotion caused my throat to feel strangled. “I wouldn’t have escaped without Tristan’s plan.” Also the three men behind me, but all of them seemed content to quietly observe the interaction without getting involved.
“Let’s make sure we actually get out of here before you all cry in relief,” Elijah finally rumbled, grumpy as usual.
I nodded, and suddenly Kolvar picked me up so easily, something that caused me to feel incredibly safe in his arms. I closed my eyes, feeling like I could finally take a small breath of relief after years of being in hell.
I was leaving this chapter of my life behind, and I couldn’t wait to see what the next one held.