I don’t remember making the decision to do it. I just remember the rage and seeing red. That’s it. That’s all it took. Everything happened in slow motion. My blades piercing his flesh, the shocked look in his eyes…the blood pouring from his wounds…
Thien gripped my wrists and removed my blades from his flesh. All the while, he never took his eyes away from mine. He slumps onto the ground and it starts to rain, washing his blood from both the concrete and my blades.
I don’t know how long I stood over him watching him slowly wither away while everyone tried to help him. Willow clasps my head in her hands and she’s shouting but I’ve tuned out the world around me. I can’t hear what she’s saying. There’s just him and me.
I feel warm hands touch mine. They remove the blades from my hands and slide them back into their sheaths. Noah.
“Aria can you hear me?”
His voice echoes throughout my mind. I can’t answer. Wake is lifting Thien to his feet and I can’t believe what I’ve just done. They take off into the night sky and everyone follows. Everyone except Noah. He wraps his arm around my waist and lifts me off the ground. We don’t go back to the home the Magistrate has secured for us. Instead, Noah takes me to a place I haven’t been since we were kids. It’s an abandoned train station.
“I just tried to kill the future King of Blood Harbor.” I gasp. The weight of what I’ve done finally hits me and my knees buckle from beneath me. “I have to call Willow. I have to make sure he’s okay.” I frantically searched for my phone.
Noah grips my hands in his and tries to calm me down. He reaches into my pocket to pull out my phone and calls Willow. She picks up halfway through the first ring. “Is he…?” I couldn’t bring myself to finish my sentence.
“No. He’s fine. Wake had the Magistrate send down a medic.” She assures me.
“The Magistrate?” Fear grips my body. “They’re going to put me back in prison. I can’t go back to the Fortress.”
“Aria, Thien demanded no one tell them what really happened.” She confides. “He told them it happened during Asher’s rescue. He wants to see you. Where are you?”
“With Noah.”
“Look, I know what he did was messed up, but the last person you need to be with is Noah. You’re upset and vulnerable. Come back to the house.”
Noah hung up on her before I could say anything. “What the hell?”
“Twenty seconds. They were tracking you.”
“So what?”
“So, I’m not done with you yet.” He replied, tossing me a bag of sour skittles.
It’s cold inside the train station so Noah finds us some wood and makes us a fire. He signals for me to come closer. I’m reluctant, but the cold crisp air has me shivering. I nestle myself in his arms and he strokes my hair as tears fall from my eyes.
“Why would he do that? I mean…who does what we did last night, wakes up and just kicks someone to the curb?” I sniffle. Noah doesn’t respond. “I need answers. I need to find out why.”
“Are you saying you want to go back?” He finally speaks.
“Yes.” I nod. “I want to go back.”
Noah stands up, puts the fire out and we’re airborne once again. I’m eager to get back but at the same time Noah’s silence is plaguing me. We land in front of the house, but before we go inside I turn to him and study him with my eyes. “What are you doing?” I ask.
“Bringing you back.”
“Yes, I know, but why?”
“Because you asked me to.” He shrugs.
“Aria!” Willow rushes outside and hugs me.
She drags me inside and up to one of the giant master suites that’s been turned into an infirmary. I don’t know what to expect when I finally set eyes on him, but when I walk into the room, it’s like nothing ever happened. He’s sitting up on one of the beds and he’s talking to Wake. The room grows silent when I walk in and Thien stands up to greet me.
“Leave us.” He demands. “Wake, her weapons if you will.”
Wake motions for my weapons and I hand them to him. He’s the last one out and closes the door behind him.
Thien is shirtless and he has two small scars on his chest mixed in with the symbols from his Royal family Crest. The symbols wrap around his chest and his shoulders to his back. The next time he ascends more markings will appear. The same thing will happen when he becomes King of Blood Harbor.
Thien took a step towards me and I held up my hand to tell him to stop. He paused for a moment, but crossed the room anyway until we were mere inches from each other. Neither of us spoke a word. I ran my fingertips over his wounds while he watched me, burrowing his eyes into mine.
“You damn near killed me.” Thien spoke first. He didn’t sound upset or surprised. He sounded hurt.
“I’m sorry.” I rested my head against his chest and closed my eyes.
“No, look at me.” He demands, lifting my chin so our eyes could meet. “I am NOT one of those demons out there trying to hurt you, I was trying to protect you.”
“You spent all night last night making sure I knew just how much you wanted me, and today…today you took that all away. How is that protecting me?”
“Would you rather I lie to you?”
“I’d rather you figure out a way to make this work. I would have preferred for you to talk to me about this first before making a decision that affects us both.” I argue.
“They were demanding answers from me Aria. I couldn’t just say ‘you know what, let me check in with my girlfriend-who by the way, is the reason for all of this, and see what she has to say about it’.” He grew frustrated with me. “I had to make a split-second decision and I made the best decision I could.”
“Dumping me was the best you could come up with?” I grimace at the thought. “Oh I get it. You finally get what you wanted from me and now you’re done? Is that it?”
“What?” He frowns. “No.” Thien grasps my head between his hands and pulls me so close our lips are barely touching. “I fucking love you. Don’t ever think that. My life is just…complicated at the moment. I promise you that as soon as the baby is born and all of the panic dies down I’ll be back at your feet. Just give me some time.”
“And do what? Wait for you?” I scoff. “Like you waited for me? Screw you Havoc.” I shoved him away from me.
“Got damnit Ar, stop calling me that! My name is Thien and I know it sucks right now, but I am YOURS. UNEQUIVICALLY and UNAPOLOGETICALLY.”
“Then why does it feel like you just stuck a knife in my heart and twisted it?” Tears fill my eyes. “I’ve given you a part of me I’ve never given anyone. ANYONE.”
“I know and I’m sorry your heart is broken. I promise you, when I’m ready and if you let me, I’ll fix what I’ve broken.”
“I hope I’m still available.” I reply, angrily.
“Aria-” His tone is angry.
“You want to put an end to us, FINE. Just remember it was YOUR CHOICE to break things off whenever you feel the need to inject yourself into my love life.”
I go to leave and get as far at the door when he places his hand over my right shoulder, slamming the door shut. He places his other hand over my left shoulder against the door and I can feel his breath on the back of my neck.
Keep your eyes on the door Aria and don’t you dare turn around.
I didn’t plan on turning around. In fact, I just wanted to leave. Thien slid his left hand up my shoulder and around my neck. He used his grip on my neck to turn me around and then he crushed his lips to mine. I almost gave in. Alpha knows I wanted to badly, but he really hurt me. I bit down on his lip, drawing blood, and he pulled away with lust in his eyes. Satisfied, he opened the door and let me leave.
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