𝑺𝑯𝑨𝑫𝑶𝑾'𝑺 𝑨𝑳𝑻𝑨𝑹 - 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈

CHAPTER XIII.

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𝟑:𝟓𝟗 𝐚.𝐦. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞.
𝐎𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐚, 𝐑𝐚𝐯𝐤𝐚.
༻✧༺
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𝕳er mind was empty.

Nothing existed, apart from their lips dancing, his hand on her cheek covered in blood, their bodies against each other, dust and sweat.

INESSA VOLKOV !

Nessa pulled back brutally, and her first, instinctive reaction was to slap him across the face, removing her dagger from his throat. His head flew to the right as a red mark started to print on his cheek.

"Gods, I hate you." She grunted, pressing her eyelids shut to erase the memory of this stolen kiss of her mind.

The Darkling put his fingers on his cheek and smirked. "Do you ? Or do you hate yourself for no pulling back immediately ?"

Grunting in fury, Nessa threw herself at him. Her moves being solely motivated by anger instead of technique, the Darkling had no difficulty in dodging, and her knife stabbed itself in the wall. She ripped it from the wood and turned around to face her enemy, his face as calm as ever.

"Fight me." She yelled in a tone close to supplication, swinging her knife at him again. Her stomach hurt, her eyes burnt, her mind was an eternal whirl of questions and fears, and she was not sure if she wanted to throw him or herself out of the window. Without the tiniest effort, the Darkling caught her wrist, making her spin, and she found herself back against his chest, her breath short.

Before she could say anything or try to break free, a whistling sound pierced her ears, soon followed by the sound of breaking glass. And before she could make sense of what was happening, she found herself with an arrow a few inches away from her head, in the Darkling's hand. He had caught the arrow midair.

Suddenly, the floor shook, making them both fall to the ground. An explosion sound resonated in the distance and Nessa put a hand at her stomach with a grunt before getting back up. What the hell is going on ?

She turned to the Darkling, who had got up as well and lost his smirking seductive expression to take back into the freezing one he wore like a mask. And when they both rushed to the window, Nessa's eyes widened, and her mouth open slightly.

The Grand Palace was on fire.

She turned to the king, not sure what to say or to do, but he got back from the window and half-smiled towards her. "Sorry, love. Duty calls."

And with that, he threw himself out of the window with no more ceremony, under Nessa's bewildered look. She wanted to scream, when she saw something that she never should have. The Darkling did not fall, nor crash to the ground. Giant, shadow-like wings emerged from his back, and a terrifying screeching rattled the palace as he directed himself to the area on fire.

"Nessa! Nessa, are you all right?"

She turned around to see Nina and Kaz burst in the room, both probably awaken from the explosion. They saw the blood on the ground, on Nessa's nightgown, the bed torn apart, the hole in the wall, the bleeding bandage around her waist, but now was not the time for explanations.

"Fjerda. They're here." She dropped out point blank. "I need clothes."

Grabbing her dagger, and racing into the dressing room, she took the simplest corset she could find, that would help her maintain the wound still, and found a pair of — thank gods — heelless boots. Then, she opened the door to the corridor and discovered the four guards guarding her door and Kaz's, including Jesper, motionless on ground.