DEFY series: Behind the Scenes

IGNITE scene from Damian's POV - pt. 2

Only 4 weeks left until ENDURE releases!! Which means today you get the second half of the Damian POV scene from IGNITE!! Just remember, this has major spoilers if you haven't read the book yet... :-) 

My muscles were cramped from standing still for so long, watching and waiting. The black sky swirled with gray clouds. From where I stood, high up on the watchtower on the wall surrounding my palace, I could see far across my kingdom...but not far enough. My eyesight, no matter how keen, couldn't penetrate the future.

I'd convinced the guard to let me take this position, in hopes to be the first to spot Alexa if—when—she returned. The jungle came alive at night, under the cover of darkness, when the air cooled slightly, and more than once I'd heard the death keen of an animal as I'd kept my vigil. It was a struggle not to let the fear consume me, to not let my imagination picture Alexa dying somewhere out there as well. As the hours passed, I paced across the small space, hoping beyond hope that it wasn't futile—that she really could keep her promise.

Part of me wanted to gather my army and charge through the trees and vines until I tore everything down that separated us, until I had cut Rafe through and rid our world of the other half of the horrifying duo from Dansii. But I didn't dare. If he did have her captive, he would hear us coming and kill her before I could reach them—he'd made that clear with Jax, and I was sure he wouldn't hesitate to do away with Alexa and Rylan.

So instead, I kept my vigil and I prayed. I begged for her safe return. I pleaded for a miracle.

And then...when dawn had just begun to break, blurring the darkness into an indistinct gray that slowly lifted the jungle from shadow...I saw someone stumble out of the forest. I recognized her the instant before our eyes met.

"Alexa!" The wind tore her name from my mouth, but it didn't matter. I had already turned and rushed down the stairs, so quickly I nearly stumbled and fell. She was here.

She was alive.

"Open the gate!" I shouted as I barreled toward the guards standing nearby. They jerked into action, unlocking it.

The massive door began to grind open just as I reached it. And then Alexa was there—bloody, crying, and real. I crushed her to me. She nearly collapsed in my arms, but I held on, holding her up. She clung to me, her fingers clenched in my tunic, as her body shook.

"You came back," I choked out, stroking her tangled hair with one hand. "You came back to me."

She stiffened slightly but whispered, "I promised I would."

I pulled away, only enough to lift my hands to cup her face, trying to convince myself this wasn't a dream. Her hazel eyes glistened with tears in the growing light of a new day; there was relief on her face, but she also looked haunted, almost as if she'd been hollowed out. "But at what price?"

She shook her head, remaining silent, and the flicker of unease I felt increased. What was she keeping from me—what had happened in that jungle?

When she finally spoke, it was just one, tight word:

"Jax?"

"He's with Lisbet, she's already begun to heal him," I reassured her. "The man who brought him is in the dungeons."

Alexa sagged forward into my arms again, as if the relief of knowing he'd made it had sapped the remainder of whatever strength her return to the palace must have taken from her. Her outfit was stained with blood and dirt, blood streaked her face and was dried on her hands and arms. Something terrible had happened out there, but I didn't want to push her. Though she was the strongest woman I'd ever known, in that moment she seemed as fragile as glass, likely to shatter at any moment. I wrapped an arm around her, holding her to me.

"He's going to be all right, then?"

"Yes, he'll be just fine." I pressed a kiss to her temple and drew back just enough to look into her face again. "You did it. You saved him and you came back." I smiled down at her, but she stared up at me without speaking, almost looking sick. And then it suddenly hit me.

"Where is Rylan?"

She met my questioning gaze and the devastation on her face nearly gutted me.

"Alexa—where is he? What happened?" Concern and shock warred within me—and a cold terror when she didn't answer right away, her eyes filling with tears again.

"I... I..."

"Is he—"

"No," she cut me off, the trembling in her body increasing. "He's alive. But he's hurt. I... I had to fight him to escape. He's... Rafe..."

"Oh, Alexa," I tightened my arms around her, wishing I could take away her pain, wishing I'd been a better prince—a better king—and somehow kept all this from happening. Always, the people around me seemed doomed to suffer. "I'm so sorry."

"I—I didn't have a choice..."

"We'll go after him of course—we won't let Rafe hurt him anymore," I promised her, determined to make this right, to erase the guilt and pain on her face. "Now that I have you and Jax back, there's nothing stopping us from sending the army after him. And I'll let you have the pleasure of disposing of him however you please, my warrior-bride-to-be." I reached up to softly touch her cheek, despite the blood that coated her skin.

She remained silent, her jaw clenched.

"Come on, let's go into the palace," I finally said. "I'll ring for a hot bath and some clean clothes for you." I turned Alexa toward the gate, guiding her away from the jungle. "I'll send our best men out to find Rylan. We'll get him back, I promise."

"No, you can't." She jerked to a stop. "Don't send any more men. They'll die. Everyone is going to die. Rafe has control over Rylan!" As she spoke, she began to shake almost uncontrollably, her voice on the verge of hysteria. "If more men come after him, I don't know...I don't know what he'll..."

"Okay, okay," I murmured, trying to soothe her, to keep my concern at Alexa's vehement response from bleeding through. "I won't send any men right now. It's all right. Shh..." I stroked her hair, whispering to her until she slowly calmed down. "For now let's just get you to your bed so you can rest and heal. Then we'll make a plan to save Rylan. All right?"

"Fine." The word was barely above a whisper, but the violent shaking had stopped. A stray strand of hair blew across her face and I reached up to gently tuck it behind her ear. I couldn't resist letting my thumb trail her jaw to the groove where it met her neck, and she shivered.

"Were you watching for me?" She asked, staring into my eyes as if she were drowning and I was her only hope of surfacing again.

I nodded. "When you didn't come back with Jax, and he said that Rafe told him to say that he'd gotten what he wanted... I was afraid that...that you..." I couldn't continue, the remembered anxiety and terror stealing my words. I cleared my throat and tried again. "I've been standing there for hours, unwilling to give up hope."

With her standing in my arms, her eyes so full of emotion, I couldn't hold back any longer. "I love you, Alexa. And I never want you to leave my side again."

And then I kissed her, all my fear and love pouring through me, into her. I pulled her body to mine, crushing her to me. I wanted to hold on to her and never let go. She pressed in to me, her hands running up and down my back, threatening to drive me to madness. It was a stolen moment—an oasis in a desert of death and carnage, pain and terror—and I wanted it to last forever, even though I knew it had to end all too soon.

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