The Heir of Night

27

Theia stayed with Felix for two more weeks. She had thought he was kind, gentle, caring. She hadn't asked for pleasure, only happily accepted when he pursued her. Felix had fed her, and Theia paid him for her portion of meals. Quite frankly, she didn't care if she was fed. She wanted a distraction, wanted someone else to be around her.

When he began demanding that she repay him, Theia learned how to please him. He taught her, and requested it every night for the past week. He'd begun to urge her to let him take her fully, but she wasn't ready for that. Somehow, the effort of trying to take care of his needs while also slipping from his arms at night to lay in the sitting room, Theia was growing more exhausted than she had been. She didn't want to be alone, and she craved the pleasure he offered so rarely now.

Theia thought she could leave, find another who'd give her that same oblivion, but she was afraid that she had met the only male in the war camp that wouldn't take her maidenhood forcefully. Felix, at least, had never forced her to do anything with her own body.

Theia had told Calliope and Nico that she wouldn't make it to her shift the day before, and she hadn't gone the next. She laid in Felix's bed, staring at the window. Felix would return from training, bathe, then have her climb from the bed and get on her knees.

Now, her third day of not going to work, the sun set as she laid in the bed. Felix told her he wanted her naked when he returned, and so she laid there bare, staring at the window. The oblivion hadn't returned in days, she hardly felt when he touched her. Theia was left with the emptiness eating away at every part of her brain. She didn't want to feel anything, but she'd like to forget the thoughts running through her mind.

The front door opened violently, the walls shaking. Theia didn't sit up, only rolled her head to the other side to watch who walked in. Boots thudding against the floor in a fast pace. The bedroom door flung open, Felix storming in. Theia sat up at the sight of him. His face was bloody, eyes swollen. His lip looked as though it had been torn off, he was walking at a limp, and his shirt was torn.

"What happ-"

"Get the fuck out. Get out!" Felix shouted, slamming his fist against the wall. Theia flinched, scrambling to the other side of the bed. He was acting like someone entirely different, not once had he screamed at her.

Theia grabbed at the first shirt she saw, which happened to be his. He didn't seem to care as she threw it over her head and gathered her own clothes that had been strewn about and shoved them in the open bag. She didn't care if she was missing something, because he was stalking up behind her. Felix grabbed a fistful of her hair, yanking Theia to her feet. She yelped, tugging the bag to her chest. His fists were just as bloody, drops and flakes of already dried blood catching in her knotted hair.

"Fucking whore! Using me to get your cunt wet but I got nothing! That fucking heir made it clear that you weren't worth getting my cock sucked. I want you out of my house, Theia. I'll make sure to let everyone know what a waste of time you are," Felix snarled, shoving her backwards. Theia fell back, her back hitting the edge of his wardrobe. As soon as he stepped toward her, she scrambled to her feet and ran. She grabbed her boots from beside the door and didn't stop.

Alone, alone, alone. Anytime Nyx was involved, the only other person in her life left her. The bitter chill of the snow bit at her feet and legs. Theia slowed only when she reached the edge of the village, where the drop to her home was. She didn't want to bear the deafening silence of her home, the complete change in it.

Her eyes caught smoke rising from the chimney, then the upturned dirt starting between her home and the abandoned one next to it. She trailed it to the road, then up the hill into the village. Running water. Rhysand had her home connected to the water supply. She bit down on her lip, tasting the scab left from Felix's teeth the night before. Feet numb, shivering from the cold, Theia pushed her door open.