As my awareness returned, I saw Will's face grinning at me. I embraced him tightly. He rubbed my back soothingly and whispered, "I told you I would get you."
I smiled up at him and nodded. "You don't have to worry about marrying the king anymore. You will never go back there again."
We were in the bedroom, the sun beginning to set. The bay window was filled with the pink and orange hues of the sky and it was just dark enough to be comfortable for me. Will had an unbuttoned white shirt on and black trousers. His feet were bare. I felt his hand run through my hair until he reached the back of my head. He gently gripped my hair and tilted my head up. I leaned up and brushed my lips against his.
He pressed his lips harder against mine, slanting them. I tilted my head and opened my mouth, feeling his tongue lick over mine. I shivered, my arms going around his neck. I gasped in surprise when he picked me up and pressed me against the wall, hooking my legs around his waist.
"My neck was beginning to kill me." He chuckled, grabbing my bottom.
I giggled quietly, placing my hands on his shoulders. "Maybe if you weren't so tall."
He scowled lightly and nibbled on my earlobe, murmuring, "Or maybe if you weren't so short."
He kissed the hollow behind my ear before trailing kisses down my throat. I lifted my head up, sighing as he kissed the front of my neck. He adjusted me so he was holding me up with one arm, leaving his other arm free. I gasped when he grabbed my chest, his hand gentle. He pulled back a little to look at me.
"Are you alright?" He asked. "I can stop."
I shook my head and kissed the corner of his mouth. "Don't stop."
Cold water was thrown on me. It stung my face as I gasped and jerked my head up. I wasn't at Will's house, safe and warm. I was still in the torture chamber. The blindfold from before had been removed, though I wished it was still in place.
Will was still chained across from me. His torso and face were covered in deep lacerations from the whip Lucifer had used on him. The wounds pulsed black, signaling infection, and were so deep in some parts I could have sworn I saw muscle. I had been struck in the face, so I could only guess the severity of my own wound.
"There we are; you had ol' Adam worried he killed you." The torturer crooned, reaching out a clawed hand to push my hair back from my face.
I bared my teeth at him and snapped at his fingers. He withdrew them swiftly with an amused chuckle. "An Optima acting like one of my kind. What is Hell coming to? Don't worry, little Optima, we will spend more time together later. Ol' Adam has other friends to entertain."
He disappeared behind me where the door was located, the heavy wooden door banging loudly after his departure. There was the sound of it being locked and armor shuffling as the guard resumed his post. I snorted humorlessly and wondered just how they thought we could escape our heavy chains.
"Hey," Will said croakily, "h-how long do these heal?"
His right eye was closed from dried blood that had dripped down from a particularly nasty wound on his forehead. That one looked to be the most infected.
"...A while. T-the whip is meant to in-inflict wounds not easily healed." I whispered, my tongue heavy in my mouth. My lips stung and I figured my lip was split. I ran my dry tongue across them and sucked air through my teeth. Definitely split clean open.
"Dammit. They feel like they're burning." I didn't have the heart to tell him his wounds were infected.
There was a crash somewhere behind me. I jumped, my chains rattling from the motion, and craned my neck to try to peer over my shoulder. I heard several screams and the unmistakable smell of blood. A small growl permeated from the back of my throat as my muscles tensed. Will cursed. "Now what?!"
"Milady!" Came a familiar bellow.
To my immense shock, Amnon came barreling through the door, knocking it off its hinges. He had his longsword drawn, the blade covered with blood as was his armor. His eyes were glowing brighter than usual and were filled with the excitement of battle.
"Amnon? What are you doing here?" I asked as he grabbed my chains and ripped them from the wall. I got to my feet, the chains still connected to my wrists.
"They kept me from you so I couldn't help. But, I killed the guards. I didn't want to but I had to save you." He said, showing me his bloodied sword.
The shackles chafed against my tender skin as I pulled my bound wrists through my legs so they rested in front of me rather than behind my back. Will was looking at me expectantly, his eyes often flitting back to Amnon as he eyed him distrustfully.
"Amnon, free the Angel." I ordered.
He hesitated and stared at Will uncertainly. When he looked back at me his eyes were filled with worry. "But...won't he attack me? Angels don't like our kind."
"Demon, you save me, and I'll help you fight to protect Melanie." Will said somberly.
Amnon hesitated for only a moment longer before giving a grunt of acquiescence. He went over and wrenched Will's chains out of the wall. Will stood, wincing from his lacerations and jerked his head at Amnon. "Hey, do me a favor and remove the shackles from my wings. I won't be able to fly with them but they may be useful later on."
At my nod of approval, my shadow did as he was told, none too gently removing the shackles from Will's poor raw wings. "That's...a little better, thank you. How do we get out of here?"
I brought my hands up to scratch my head, a little annoyed with Amnon for not thinking of finding the keys to our chains. I wasn't sure how well Will could fight with his hands literally tied behind his back and with a power neutralizer still around his throat. I limped over to him and gestured for him to bend down to my level. With a perplexed expression, he did as I asked. I grabbed hold of the collar and sank my teeth into it. It was harder than the material the Angels had used on me and it felt like my teeth were going to fall out of my mouth, but I managed to rid Will of it.
I finally said, "I'm not sure; I've never been in this part of the palace before. And, with the state we're in, there's no way we'll be walking out the front door."
Amnon gestured impatiently before tucking me under one of his arms. "No time to think about it; we must go!"
He jogged to the splintered door and took the stairs two at a time with Will on his heels. The two didn't slow their pace as they continued up the flight of stairs that circled round and round. It grew lighter with each turn until Will and I were squinting our eyes.
We were in the dungeon where several guards lay dead or dying. I worriedly scanned their faces, fearing I would find Zane among them. To my relief, he wasn't there.
There was only one way out of the dungeon and it was seven meters in front of us. From that entrance we would be in a long, dark corridor hidden behind a large set of double doors that opened to yet another corridor. Seven right turns and four left ones, and we would be in the foyer. The guards stood between us and freedom.
"Angel, can you fight?" Amnon questioned as he tightened his hold on me.
I heard Will give an experimental flutter of his wings. Without a word, he shoved Amnon to the side and began to beat his wings. With each powerful stroke, the guards were pushed back. Some of the sturdier ones struggled to remain in place as the Archangel sauntered toward them, his great wings taking up most of the space of the narrow hallway of cells. When he got to the first guard, Will's wings stopped and he grabbed the guard by his breastplate. He slid his hand down to the guard's sheathed dirk and yanked it out of its sheath, slicing the demon's throat with one swift movement.
Amnon gave a battle cry and charged with me bouncing uncomfortably under his arm. He wielded his sword with his free hand, blocking and then parrying one demon's attack. One of the guards attempted to get to me while I was occupied under Amnon's arm, but I managed to draw my legs into my chest and send out a powerful kick that left the guard stumbling backward from me and into the blade of one of his comrades.
Amnon and Will sliced their way through the guards to the exit and when we were clear, Will turned and cupped a hand around his mouth. The roar of fire deafened my ears as the brilliant inferno leapt from his lips, effectively blocking the way upstairs.
Once we were topside, Amnon set me down. I jogged over to one of the suit of armors and hooked my shackled wrists over the armor's drawn sword. With a grunt and a mighty heave, the shackle broke and I tumbled onto my bottom with a little grunt. The flesh of my wrists were bleeding and rubbed raw from the tight shackles. I gave each one a little rub and coaxed Will to do the same. He managed to keep his balance once his shackles broke.
"Right, I know this area. We need to follow this corridor to two big doors and turn right down the next corridor. We're in the East Wing of the palace, so we have a little ways to go before we get to the foyer. We should avoid fighting when we can; we still need to trek through the city to get to the portal." I said, ears flicking this way and that as I tracked every little sound.
"Will you be alright to run, milady?" Amnon asked concernedly. "I do not mind carrying you."
I waved away his concern. "I'll be fine. Let's hurry."
I took the lead as we sprinted through the corridor. I thought we were doing alright when we ran into a small group of Royal Guards waiting for us. The one I nearly ran into swung his sword and I twirled out of the way, the sword slicing air. I dodged his next swing and grabbed his wrist to toss him over my head. My muscles screamed at me as I did so but by then I was jumping onto the back of a guard sneaking up on Will while he dealt with another guard. I beat on his helmet before grabbing his neck and snapping it. I slid off his body as it slumped to the stone floor and grabbed Will's hand, urging him to keep going.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I could hear Amnon and Will huffing behind me as we continued through the palace. They were both exhausted from fighting squadron after squadron of guards as they crashed over us like waves. Will in particular was suffering. His infected wounds had done something to his lungs. It sounded like he had cobwebs stuck in his throat and when he coughed I worried he was bleeding internally.
You cannot protect him in the state you are in right now. Perhaps it would be best if I took things over for now. Rayi said.
My first response was no. There was something in her voice I didn't trust and I had permitted too much of my self-control to slip the more I fought. The delicious smell of blood was waking something inside me up and I found myself wanting more. More carnage, more chaos. It was a little unnerving.
Of course, my refusal did not stop Rayi from simply fighting me for control. She thrashed against my walls and I had to physically stop to catch my breath as she did so. My skull felt like it was about to split open as I clutched my head with filthy hands.
"Melanie, what's wrong?" Will's voice sounded far away but I could sense him getting closer.
"Stay back!" My voice warbled. He obeyed with an air of shock about him.
Then there was movement behind him. I forced myself to open an eye as a black figure stepped out. Long, straight black hair tied back from her face. My face. Ruby lips curled back in a vicious smile and venomous golden eyes glared at Will as she raised one of her throwing knives. Aimed at his back. She released it as I cried out a warning to Will and Rayi threw herself at my final wall.
ns 15.158.61.52da2
