Creatures of The Dark

Chapter XX

The morning sun filtered into the room and no one came to us.

"Did he..." Alexandra trailed off, conscious of the others in the room. We had little privacy but the others were conversating even as Alexandra pulled me to the far corner of the room.

I shook my head, "No."

I looked past her at Serena. She had curled by Saron and was listening to his comforting words. She seemed to be momentarily distracting him from thoughts of his brother. In turn, he was distracting her from the bite of the burns. She had seen though, the Dark Lord kiss me. She had heard his lust-filled words. I had tried to shield her from the worst of my time in the palace. I knew she would blame herself.

"I think he's waiting."

"For what?"

"The blood oath."

She shook her head, "Lucius, no matter what he does. You can't submit. The fight stops if you do."

"And if he kills you all for it?" She was silent, searching for words to say. "I can't keep letting him hurt you." I turned to her when she didn't respond, "How is your hand?"

She shrugged, "He managed to miss most of the vital parts."

I scoffed, curling my knees to my chest. I hesitated before speaking, "Has he ever done something like that before?"

"Stabbed me? No."

"How caring."

She rested her head on my shoulder, her hands loosely looped around my ankle. "Never anything serious. He was not a kind uncle, but he was right. I was treated like a princess."

"You may not have been a slave, but you were damn-near property, Alexandra. It's okay to be angry."

She didn't say anything to that but her shoulders sagged a little, resting deeper against me. Her steady breathing kept me calm, kept the fresh memories away.

Three days passed before the doors opened again. Odesar was not a part of the party of guards, and I smiled a little at that. They filed into the room, and the bearded fae stepped forward, far from where I stood.

"Lucius Obharon, come with me."

I stood, stepping in front of Alexandra. "Where?"

"I do not know."

I nodded wearily. If I was to go to the Dark Lord's chambers they would have just said that. I moved forward, stepping out of the room as the guards surrounded me. The abundance of guards would make escaping much harder, but my heart couldn't help but swell at the thought of them seeing me as a threat. Shouting and the sounds of fist against flesh came from the room. I whipped around and only made it a foot before the guards were holding me back. One was bold enough to move toward the chain. I growled, lashing my teeth at him.

He didn't cower like I thought he would. He yanked the chain, and I was flung to the floor. I groaned in pain. The gash on my head had opened up once more. A steady drip of blood made its way to the stone floor. When I looked up, Tannon was being dragged from the room. His head was tucked against his chest and he was barely holding himself up. The lashes had only just begun to heal and they now welled with fresh blood. I snarled at the sight. The Dark Lord hadn't been lying.

The centurions wrenched me up and shoved me forward. We were forcibly led down the hall before reaching a door not too far away. We were thrown into a similar room. I had to catch Tannon as he swayed. The Dark Lord stood in the center of the room, an impatient look on his face. A slave girl stood beside him, head bowed and face gaunt. She looked Zaraj's age, and my heart twisted at the thought.