Chapter 34 Run

Chapter 34 Run
The damp darkness of the cave had a way of distorting time. I didn't know if I had been drifting for minutes or hours, my mind lost in the grey, dusty attic of my childhood memories. My skin felt like it was made of ice, and the rhythmic drip-drip of water from the ceiling was starting to sound like a countdown.

Suddenly, a wet, warm sensation swiped across my cheek.

I stiffened, my heart leaping into my throat. Something small and furry nudged my jaw, and then another wet lick traced the line of my nose. My eyes flew open, and a primal, jagged scream ripped from my lungs, echoing off the jagged stone walls.

"Get away! Get off me!" I thrashed, the iron chains clanging violently against the slab.

A deep, low chuckle vibrated through the air, cutting through my panic.

I blinked, my vision adjusting to a new light. A small, scruffy terrier-mix was standing on its hind legs against the stone bed, its tail wagging so hard its entire body shook. It let out a cheerful yip and licked my chin again before trotting away toward a glow at the far end of the cavern.

My gaze followed the dog. Callum was sitting on a jagged outcrop of rock, silhouetted by a small, crackling fire that hadn't been there before. He had discarded his long black coat, sitting in a dark, silk-lined vest that clung to his broad shoulders. He was holding a wooden spit over the flames, roasting something that smelled agonizingly like seasoned meat.

"He likes you," Callum said, not looking up from the fire. He shook his head slowly, a faint, mocking tug at the corner of his mouth. "Most things do, little bird. It’s a curse, isn't it? Being so... palatable."

The dog trotted up to him, and Callum reached down with a pale, elegant hand, scratching the animal behind the ears. The sight was jarring, a monster who had just murdered his way through a balcony of guards, now showing tenderness to a stray.

I swallowed, my throat feeling like it was lined with sandpaper. I watched the way the firelight danced in his icy blue eyes, making them look like flickering diamonds. "When are you going to let me go?"

Callum finally looked at me. He didn't blink. He didn't hesitate. "Never."

The word hit me like a physical blow. I clenched my jaw so hard my teeth ached, my fingers curling into useless fists against the stone. "You can't keep me here. Azran will find you. The Council will—"

"The Council is busy deciding which one of them to blame for the mess at the estate," Callum interrupted, his voice smooth and cold. "And Azran is currently bleeding out in a basement, dreaming of a girl who no longer exists for him. You aren't a person to them anymore, Elara. You’re a ghost."

A sudden, sharp itch flared at the base of my neck, right where the mark lived. It felt like a hundred tiny needles were dancing under my skin. Without thinking, I tried to lift my shoulder to rub against it, my head tilting in an involuntary twitch.

"Don't," Callum said sharply.  

I froze. He was standing now, moving toward me with that silent, predatory glide. He reached the side of the slab and looked down at the mark. It was glowing, a faint, sickly violet hue that pulsed in time with my racing heart.

"It’s irritating the nerves," he murmured, reaching out to trace the edge of the scar. I flinched, but he gripped my chin, holding me still. "If you scratch it, you’ll only make the venom spread faster. You’ll be clawing your own skin off by morning."

"Venom?" I whispered, my voice trembling. "How... how do I make it stop? How does it go away?"

Callum leaned down, his face so close I could feel the heat radiating from his skin, a sharp contrast to the cold of the cave. He looked me dead in the eyes, his expression terrifyingly shames, his lips hovering just inches from mine.

"It’s a thirst, Elara," he whispered, his thumb grazing my lower lip. "A biological demand. It goes away once I’ve claimed every part of you. Once I fuck the fever right out of your blood."

The bluntness of it made the blood rush to my face, a mixture of fury and a horrifying, involuntary shiver that raced down my spine. I stared at him, disgusted by the hunger in his gaze and even more disgusted by the way my body, traitorous and marked, seemed to lean toward his touch.

"You're a monster," I hissed.

"I’m the monster who’s going to keep you alive," he countered, his hand sliding down to the shredded silk over my hip. "Now, eat. You’re going to need your strength for what I have planned for you tonight."

"I said don't touch it," Callum murmured, his voice a low, velvet warning.

"Get away from me!" I snapped, my voice cracking with a desperation I couldn't hide. "Don't you dare touch me. I’d rather rot on this rock than have your hands on me."

Callum paused, his pale blue eyes tracking the frantic movement of my pulse in my throat. He stood there, silhouetted by the orange glow of the fire, looking like a god of the underworld. A slow, predatory smirk pulled at his lips.

"Tell me, little bird," he said, stepping closer until the scent of rain and rot overwhelmed the smell of the roasting meat. "Can you stop me? Look at your wrists. Look at the state of you. Do you truly think your 'no' has any weight in a place where the sun never shines?"

The sheer coldness of his words settled in my stomach like lead. This wasn't the estate. There were no guards to appeal to, no Ian to offer a sympathetic glance, no Azran to balance the darkness. This was a grave. My grave. And Callum was the only living thing in it.

He reached for the wooden spit, pulling a charred, steaming piece of meat from the wood. He held it out to me, the grease glistening in the firelight. "Eat. I won't have you fainting before the fun begins."

I pressed my lips together, turning my face toward the damp stone wall. "I’d rather starve."

"Wrong answer."

Before I could blink, he moved. It was a blur of shadow and silver. I heard the heavy thud of a key hitting wood, and then the sudden, jarring clack-clack of metal being undone. The weight on my wrists vanished. The pressure on my ankles evaporated.

For a split second, I thought of lunging for his eyes, but he was already hauling me off the slab. He didn't pick me up gently; he grabbed me by the waist and slammed me down onto his lap as he sat back on the stone outcrop.

I gasped, my hands flying out to steady myself against his chest, but the moment I felt the heat of him through his silk vest, I tried to recoil. He wouldn't let me. His arm wrapped around my middle like a band of heated iron, pulling my back flush against his chest.

I froze. Beneath the thin, shredded silk of my skirt, I felt the hard, unmistakable ridge of his arousal pressing into my thigh. The realization made my blood turn to ice and fire all at once.

"You feel that, don't you?" he whispered into my ear, his breath hitching as he buried his face in the crook of my neck. "That’s what your 'no' does to me, Elara. It makes me want to tear you apart just to see if the pieces are as stubborn as the whole."

"Let me up," I choked out, my face burning with shame. "Please, Callum..."

"Eat," he commanded, ignoring my plea. He tore a piece of the meat with his own teeth and held it to my lips. When I refused to open, his fingers pinched my chin, forcing my jaw down. He shoved the food into my mouth, his thumb lingering to trace the curve of my bottom lip, dragging across my teeth. "Swallow it. I need you focused. I need you to feel every second of what I'm going to do to you."

I swallowed, the meat tasting of salt and smoke, though it felt like ash in my throat. As soon as I did, his mouth was back on my neck, right over the pulsing mark. He licked the skin, his tongue hot and rough, sending a wave of nauseating electricity through my body.

"I can smell the fear coming off you," he groaned, his voice turning into a filthy, gravelly rasp. "It’s better than any wine. I’m going to fill you so full of me that you’ll forget Azran ever laid a hand on you. By the time I’m done, you’ll be begging me to put those chains back on just so you don't have to leave my bed."

The words were a violation, a mental stripping that left me raw. I felt his hand slide up my thigh, his fingers ghosting over the skin he had marked in the woods.

Now or never.

The dog barked at a shadow in the corner, distracting him for a heartbeat. Callum’s grip loosened just a fraction as he glanced toward the fire.

I didn't think. I drove my elbow back into his ribs with every ounce of strength I had left and shoved against the stone. I tumbled off his lap, hitting the dirt hard, but I didn't wait to feel the pain. I scrambled to my feet, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.

I didn't look back. I bolted.

The entrance of the cave was a jagged mouth of grey light. I sprinted toward it, the shredded green silk of my dress fluttering around my legs like tattered wings. My bare feet hit the sharp rocks, drawing blood, but I didn't care. I burst out into the night air, the forest looming ahead like a wall of spears.

Behind me, a sound erupted that made my soul shiver. It wasn't a roar. It was laughter.

A loud, manic, echoing laugh that sounded like a man who had just been given the greatest gift in the world.

"Run, little bird!" Callum’s voice boomed through the trees, vibrating with a terrifying, predatory glee. "Run until your lungs burn! I love the hunt!"

I plunged into the undergrowth, branches whipping across my face, thorns tearing at my arms.

"Go on!" his voice drifted through the wind, closer than it should have been. "I’m going to enjoy punishing that sweet ass once I get my hands back on you! You’re just making the ending better, Elara! Run!"