Bound To You

Chapter 13

Caelia

Shouting drew her out of the hazy state where she couldn't tell if she was asleep or awake. Reality and dreams blurred together, faces she recognized and those faceless and unfamiliar. Those that were alive and those she knew to be dead haunted her.

After what could've been days or hours or minutes, the hallucinations retreated and she surfaced to a more wakeful state. Her limbs were tight and stiff, heavy and weighed. She tried to stretch her stiff muscles until everything hurt, she immediately stopped.

''Get him up! Right now!''

A pained shout followed and Caelia jerked at the noise, furrowing her brows. She couldn't help the burning instinct that screamed she needed to be awake right now.

"He's not gonna make it until nightfall!

"The fuck he will!''

The darkness took her again, dragging her back down. For a long while, she floated in a vast space of nothing.

Emptiness.

Darkness.

Nothing.

A reverse falling sensation abruptly jerked her back. Back from the cliff she hadn't known she was on the verge of stepping off. Pain returned to her body, seeping in until she was aware of much more than just the pain.

"Get her—"

Sensations on her skin. Deathly cold with little covering it, a mixture of silk and rough textures. The rasp of her hair against her skin. Her bare feet dragging along hard stone.

Her body was abruptly lifted horizontally and she whimpered, the change making her head spin and pound until she was writhing to get away from it. Harsh hands clamped down on her and a new pain spread from the other side of her face.

"Stop fucking moving.'' A cold voice ordered, a voice she knew. It was enough to inspire enough fear to halt all her movements. Caelia could distinctly feel her body rise in elevation, like she was being carried up something.

A quick snick and a couple of other male grunts and hushed whispers reached her. I have to open my eyes. I have to know what's going on. Maybe...oh my gods, are they taking me to Victor?

Fear, deep and true, snaked down her spine and her eyes snapped open. Her breath caught. She was being carried between Faustas and another guard. They were whispering furiously over her head and she was covered in a ratty cloak.

''We'll only risk a half hour,'' Faustas muttered.

"Are we sure that will be enough? The man's on his deathbed down there,''

They're talking about Areven. Oh gods, he's dying. He's dying and they need me to heal him. So that means...

The guard nudged open an unfamiliar door and they emerged into the outside world. Faustas dropped her onto soft grass and pulled back the cloak covering her body.

And for the first time in over two years...sunlight bathed her skin once more.

A gasp tore from her as her body arched, rolling onto her side as light filled her. The warm rays covered her like a blanket, surrounding her and seeping into her bones. Sinking deep into all the cracks of her soul and refilling her dry well like a waterfall.

Her once snuffed out internal fire now struck to life and slowly built. The embers she'd been surviving on for years roared into flames that coiled and writhed.