Lin lunged for me, baring his teeth. "You whore!"
To my surprise, Lucifer stopped the king from ripping my throat out. He shoved him back and glared at him. "As if the marriage has any legality here. And, it has not been consummated. It was just two silly children playing 'House.'"
The king stared at me and cried, "Guards, take these two to the dungeon; I want them out of my sight!"
Will was hoisted to his feet as I was grabbed, kicking and screaming, by one guard. He tightened his grip on me until I couldn't move.
We were taken to the bowels of the palace to the dark, dank dungeon. Will was thrown into one cell and I was led further down. It got colder and damper the further I was taken. Finally, the guard stopped and shoved me into a cell. I hit the wall and spun around as the door was closed and locked. I grabbed the door and rattled it with a frustrated cry before slumping to the floor, hugging my knees to my chest.
Well, this is a fine mess you've gotten us into. I told you nothing good would come from this but you didn't listen! The King will have us executed just like your mother! Rayi preached, annoyed.
I didn't grace her with a response as I cried, my face buried in my knees. Silently, I apologized to Will for getting him in trouble with Lucifer, of all beings. In the distance, I could hear him shouting something incoherently. I thought I heard him say my name a few times mingled with a string of curses.
Maybe he was ruing the day we had met.
I heard footsteps approaching my cell. I looked up as I heard the door open. Hastily, I got to my feet and pressed myself to the wall as someone entered. Narrowing my eyes, I realized it was my brother.
"Z-Zane, what are you doing here?" He ignored me and walked quickly toward me, slamming me into the wall.
"You idiot, I tried to warn you! Why didn't you listen to me?!" He sounded choked up, like he was or had been crying.
I stared up at him and his morose face. Tearing up myself, I sniffled and admitted, "I-I love him. And now he's going to die because of me."
His arms wrapped around me and I was crushed to his burly chest. I hugged him back, burying my face in his cold armor. I felt his nose nuzzle the top of my head before he brought his mouth close to my ear.
"Tobias, the Angel of Love...I'd been with him for about two centuries." He confessed quietly.
I couldn't pull back but I twitched in shock. He continued, "I met him when I was doing a contract and I fell in love with him right away. I ended it with him about five years ago because it was getting too dangerous. I told him I was only using him so he wouldn't hold out for me."
I laughed brokenly, "You and I are certainly quite the pair, aren't we, big brother?"
He chuckled through his tears, too. "Yeah...yeah, we are."
He withdrew from me and I murmured, "Only, you had the courage to do what I couldn't."
Zane ran a hand through his hair and questioned, "Courage or cowardice? Look, I could only spare a moment to see you. The King is pissed off. I'll try to see you again before...something happens."
We both knew what the "something" was. I swallowed thickly and nodded as my brother stole away into the darkness of the dungeons.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I woke up, I was facing Will, who was chained to a wall across from me. He was seated in an uncomfortable looking wooden chair. I tried to move forward, but was met with resistance. Straining to look over my shoulder, I saw I was also chained to the wall and sitting in a chair.
"'Bout time you woke up. I don't know how you slept through them dragging us out of our cells and chaining us to the bloody wall." He sounded faintly amused. I managed a tiny smile before looking around the room, though I began to wish I didn't.
We were in the torture chamber of the palace. It was a large, windowless room lit with only a few candles. I could see fine but I highly doubted Will could see further than two feet in front of him. The only reason why he knew I was awake was because my chains had clinked together. The room stank with the stench of blood and other bodily fluids.
"Oh, no." I whispered.
"Yeah," Will said wryly, "that's what I said. Looks like Blondie means to torture us before killing us."
I snapped, "How are you so calm about this?!"
It was quiet for a moment before he said, "Panicking won't do us any good."
I bit my lip and ducked my head, ashamed by my own craven behavior. I had always been scared of pain and dying. It was inevitably going to be my fate, so I might as well just accept it. "Will?"
"Yeah, Mel?" He sounded tired now.
"I-I'm sorry. So, so, so sorry I got you into this mess. T-things would have been b-better off if I had just let you k-kill me in the beginning." I whimpered, a tear dripping from my cheek.
"Don't." Will growled savagely. "Don't you dare apologize for this. I don't regret a moment I spent with you. Besides, this is as much my fault as it is yours. Neither of us could end this before it got out of hand and now it did."
We slid into silence after that, both of us lost in our thoughts.
"When is the torturer going to get here?" I asked impatiently after several minutes had passed.
Will snorted. "Eager to be tortured, huh? I knew you were a masochist."
Before I could retort, the door behind me creaked open. Footsteps passed me and I startled when a clammy hand brushed my cheek. Cloth passed over my eyes and I was blindfolded.
"So, I have been given permission to torture an Optima. And the King's fiancée no less! What a treat, what a treat!" The voice was gravelly, rubbing unpleasantly against my eardrums.
"Lovely thing, I'm almost hesitant to ruin that pretty face of yours, but we'll see what happens, shall we?" I felt him move away from me and heard objects clink together.
He hummed tunelessly as he prepared something that required heat. I felt apprehension build inside me, laying heavily on my stomach, as I heard a sizzling noise. His decaying scent hit me and something hot was held close to my face. I flinched back instinctively from it, my breathing close to hyperventilating. It was pulled back and I held my breath.
"H-hey, leave her alone!" Will suddenly shouted.
I bit through my lip as I withheld a scream when the brand was pressed hard into the top of my chest. He held it there for what felt like hours, but was in fact only a minute.
"Oh, dear, you injured yourself to keep from screaming. There's no fun in that. Come now, little girl, it's only you, the Angel, and me; you can scream to your heart's delight. I don't judge." I heard him drop the brand and he touched the burn, rubbing what felt and burned like salt into it. I groaned and tried to arch away from him, nearly knocking the chair over. He used his free hand to catch it before I toppled over.
He burned me several times before stopping. The door creaked open again and Lucifer's fruity voice floated through the air. "Good afternoon, Melanie, Archangel. How are you both doing?"
I snorted like a panicked horse through my pain. Will ignored Lucifer, too busy cursing at the torturer. There was a smack and Will was silenced.
"Such a rude child." Lucifer clucked his tongue. "Don't worry, Archangel, it's your turn now."
"No, no." I whispered.
Lucifer chose his weapon and I heard Will comment, "That looks fun. You ever use that on Blondie when you're taking him up-"
Something sliced through the air and I heard Will scream.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
Each scream was louder than the last until I was certain his throat was torn. Each time, I pleaded with Lucifer.
"P-please! Please, I love him, stop!" I screamed.
There was a pause. I could smell Will's blood and heard him breathing heavily. His heartbeat was erratic. Lucifer's was calm. I felt Lucifer kneel in front of me and grab my face with one of his hands.
"What did you say?" He asked softly.
Shaking, I swallowed around the growing lump in my throat. "I-I-I said, 'I love him.'"
He snorted and released my face. His snort grew into laughter. I imagined him holding his sides, tears streaming down his face as laughter shook his body. Just as sudden as his laughter began, it stopped and he snarled, "What could you possibly know of love?! It gets you nothing! Do you know what happens to people who love someone?"
He picked up the whip and the movement of it seemed angrier. Will shrieked. I screamed.
"They get betrayed!" Lucifer finished, bringing the whip down once more.
I repeated, "I love him, for the love of God, don't hurt him anymore!"
The whip was turned on me.
ns 15.158.61.52da2
