Bronze

Chapter 26 pt.2

Leah

Derrive stayed a second longer than the rest. He nodded his head, a deep scowl on his lip, creasing the area between his brows and the corners of his eyes.

He was definitely going to raise hell for me, and I could see it in his eyes that bashing the heads of those two guards was going to be his first act of retribution. 

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I cradled my wounded arm to my chest instinctively. The blood was gushing now, all over my skin, the floor, up to my elbow, staining every part of me in some way.

I was too disorientated to notice everything that happened after Markus left. Two cold hands reach out to me, stroking the side of my arm and hair. Their fingers were like ice- sharp but soothing. 

Somehow, I had landed on the floor, still clutching the arm like it was broken. To me it was. To me, the arm was tainted and would forever hold the mark of an evil man. I would never be able to rid myself of it. 

Two loud thunks resonated around me, but to pinpoint the exact location was beyond my strength. 

"Look at me!" Someone yelled as they lifted my head. They shook me, hard, but I still felt the vicious claws of darkness pulling me back. "Leah, wake up!"

I had only felt this low level of consciousness once before, back when all I worried about was getting away from Kane- when I still had a shred of hate in my heart for him. It was when I had used the spellbook to draw out the mate bond. When the vampire inside held me captive. 

I closed my eyes for only a second, a momentary blink as my eyes stung from staring at the ceiling. When I opened them, I was somewhere different; somewhere new. 

The smell of the prison cell was far gone, replaced by daisies and grass. The dank odor that consumed me, being a constant reminder of my imprisonment, was now a not-so-distant memory to my senses. 

Soft pine leaves rustled above my head, the swaying motion alleviating the pounding behind my eyes. I was at peace for the first time- truly, unbiasedly, passionately seeing the world in a brand new light. 

My arm was weightless as I lifted it in the air, trying hard to touch the floating treetops. I couldn't move the other one, despite my best efforts. It was glued to the dirt, stuck like imaginary superglue to a piece of paper. 

It all happened so quickly that I thought for sure I was dead. I mean, I had nothing tying me down anymore. If it weren't for my arm, I'd be soaring through the sky with the wind, barely stopping to come down to earth. 

I had to be dead. It was the only thing that made sense.

"This doesn't change anything, remember?"

Kane?

"You are the most selfish, naive girl I have ever met! Do you not understand my feeling for you by now?"

"You're lips are mine, Leah. Everything that you are- every breath, every caress, every heartbeat- is mine."

Where are you? 

"I know it's hard. It's hard loving someone, but then having your instincts pull you away from them."

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"I love you, and that is why I'm letting you go."