Wake of Darkness [1]

Chapter Twenty-Nine

♕ Marked ♕

The floor was cracked and filled with something that Sybilla wished was nothing more than dried mud. Nerezza ran in circles in front of them. Her eyes flickering at Mason every once in a while. Sybilla kept her head low. She'd never seen the hell sister with so much life breathing through her, and she'd never seen Mason with such emptiness.

Sybilla made her best to not lose them from her sight, even as they guide her through the maze that was the dungeon's floor.

There was barely any light visible. Barely enough air for the three of them to breathe.

Mason looked back at her, giving him a soft smile that was meant as a form of comfort, but it made Sybilla sick.

She could feel the weight of the moonstone on the folds of her skirt, and it brought her more comfort than she had expected. She wanted nothing more than to throw it at Nerezza's face and see what would happen. If it would do any harm at all. But the rock gave her the security she needed to make her way through the dark.

"We'll we out in a second Syb" Mason whispered, offering her his hand. Sybilla nodded, and took it, so that he wouldn't know that none of this felt right to her. So that he wouldn't be able to tell that all she truly wanted was to get away from him.

A part of her even missed the comfort of being stuck inside the Corvus with absolutely nothing to do but stare at the sky, or the sadness she'd felt as she sat on the frozen sea. She didn't know if that had actually happened. It felt like a blur in her mind.

She'd burn the moonstone, and Zander had said he hoped she wouldn't regret it. Sybilla held on tighter to Mason's hand and tried to appear calm. One problem at a time. That was all she could handle.

Nerezza yelled in excitement as she reached the end of the floor, her eyes briefly shining before turning on a candle. Her hands held onto the bars of a cell, and on the ground, laid Zander. His leg had been cut, blood still dripping from it to the floor. His eyes were closed and his breathing very slow. Sybilla let go of her grip on Mason's hand.

Nerezza stood grabbing the set of keys that hanged to the wall. She wiggled them in front of Zander and then dropped them to the floor, far enough that he couldn't reach them.

"She was asking for you prince" Nerezza murmured, her hand reaching for Zander.

Zander flinched at the touch. Sybilla turned her eyes away from him, concentrating on Mason, who did not seem disturbed at the sight.

"What did you do to him?" Sybilla asked and Mason shrugged.

"I was just teaching him a lesson" he said and kept his eyes on him. Sybilla stepped away from him, picking the set of keys and placing them back in their place. "He bothered you. I took care of it" Mason said, his eyes turned black at his words.

Sybilla felt all the air that was left on her lungs disappear. She turned to Nerezza whose smile broaden.

"Remember how you dragged me into the king's feet?" she whispered at him, Sybilla held her breath as Nerezza kneeled to watch him directly on the eyes. "I will make sure every single one of you who stood there and did nothing pay" Zander didn't say anything, instead he turned to Sybilla, and grinned.

Nerezza hissed, lifting from the ground, and walking away.

"Let's go" She said, and Mason followed her without any sort of hesitation. But Sybilla stayed and stared at him as he kept his hands wrapped around his leg, trying to make the bleeding stop.

"The lesser of evils" she whispered, and Zander nodded.

Sybilla felt her bottom lip trembling.