Chapter 19: A Fire

\[Pandora’s POV\]

I sit across from Lucian, my eyes fixed on a plate of food that sits in front of me while my stomach growls. I’m starving, but was it appropriate to eat before my master did? I wasn’t used to being a slave or anything like that, but I did know proper etiquette from all the lessons I had to take as a child. I was certain that this master/servant relationship was similar to that.

Frowning, I tear my gaze from the food and fix it on Lucian, who is watching me intently, a look of amusement in his eyes.

“What?” I ask, unsure of what it is that he’s thinking. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I was just wondering how long you’re going to keep that up.” He responds, only making my confusion worse.

“Keep what up?” I ask. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You’re hungry,” he points out, stating the obvious. “And yet, you’re still stubbornly not eating.”

“Do I have the right to eat yet?” I challenge. “How could I possibly eat before my master?”

At my words, his eyes flash, and a look of dismay forms on his handsome face as he leans forward.

“I don’t quite recall ever calling myself your master.” He points out, his voice filled with annoyance.

“Then what are you?” I ask. “You bought me, which means that I belong to you, at least until I can pay back what you spent on me.”

Which I can do once I receive what my father left for me in his will, but I couldn’t do that until I married the son of Onyx Moon.

“Hm,” Lucian considers, scratching his chin. “What am I?”

Growing quiet, he annoyingly considers, purposely taking his time because he knows that it gets on my nerves, and when his gaze locks on mine again and glints with satisfaction, I know that I’m not going to like what I hear next.

“Wouldn’t you say that I’m your future husband?” He asks. “After all, you have to marry the son of Onyx Moon.”

There it was. The very thing I knew this asshole was going to say, and now that it was out in the open, there was no taking it back. I could be stubborn. I could just give up and let go of everything that was meant to be mine, but the stubborn part of me didn’t want to do that.

“Why would you want to marry me?” I demand, my annoyance getting the better of me. “I’m nothing more than a rat. No, I’m worse than a rat. I’m a speck of dirt that is stuck to the bottom of your shoe.”

“Why?” He asks, giving me a look of disbelief. “Are you really asking me that?”

“I am,” I respond seriously. “That’s exactly what I’m doing. Since buying me from the auction house, you’ve been beating around the bush, doing as you please, and stringing me along as you please, but you haven’t said anything serious.”

“I’ve explained that I need your help.” He points out, leaning back and narrowing his gaze. “Just because you refuse to believe it doesn’t mean it’s true.”

“Right, right,” I sigh, grabbing my fork and slamming it into a piece of chicken, then bringing it to my mouth. “You need me to help you take back what belongs to you just as I need you to do the same, but what comes after that? We marry, we achieve our goals, and then what?”

What came next? We parted ways. I hoped to live a peaceful life again.

“That’s up to you.” He responds. “What is it that you want in the end? Do you want to rebuild your pack and bring it back to its original glory? Do you want to stay by my side and become the luna of Onyx Moon? In the end, you’re the one with the power to make the final decisions, and I’m simply along for the ride. Wouldn’t that mean that you’re the master in this scenario and I am actually the servant?”

Eyes widening, I feel a wave of disbelief rush through me over what this man is saying.

He was crazy. Lucian was batshit crazy. How could he say such things with a straight face?

“Didn’t I tell you back then,” he says slowly, his gaze growing serious. “You already brought about my ruin, and for that you should spend your life atoning.”

Brought about his ruin. How the hell did I bring about this man's ruin when I was stuck in those damn auction houses?

As this thought begins to attack my mind, a loud bang sounds from above, causing both Lucian and me to jump up before the ceiling above our heads collapses and a ball of fire crashes toward us.

“PANDORA!” Lucian roars, grabbing the table between us and throwing it aside so that he can grab me and pull me out of the way.

“Lucian,” I hiss, staring at the large ball of fire that quickly works to catch anything near it on fire. “What the hell is this?”

Lucian doesn’t get the chance to respond before another ball of fire, followed by another crash down toward us, destroys anything and everything they touch and quickly catches our living quarters on fire.

“Later,” Lucian growls, wrapping a hand around my wrist and pulling. “For now, we need to get the hell out of here.”

Nodding, I don’t argue or fight. Instead, I allow myself to be pulled along out of the dining area and toward the exit of the building. However, before we can reach it, another ball of fire crashes into it, setting it ablaze and trapping us within.

“What do we do?” I ask, looking around for another way out. “We can’t just stand here.”

“This way!” Lucian hisses, beginning to move in the opposite direction. “This was only meant for emergencies, and right now, I’d say that is the case.”

As he speaks, he leads me toward what looks like a door to another room, but when it opens, a stairway that goes down beneath the earth appears. At first, I feel myself wanting to stop, not wanting to go along with this crazy man to wherever it is that he wants to go, but I don’t get the chance to decide before I’m being pulled inside and then led down the stairs until we reach another door.

“Get in,” Lucian hisses, pulling the door open to reveal a single room that I can only assume was meant to be a panic room, and then I’m being pushed inside before he is following closely behind.

“You do realize there is no exit here.” I point out, unable to understand Lucian’s line of thought. “Isn’t this going to leave us to burn?”

“No,” he responds. “This room is able to withstand anything, including fires. We just have to stay here until everything settles down, and then we can escape.”

“And how long do you think that will be?” I demand, suddenly feeling like I’m back in my cage in the auctions.

“Who knows?” Lucian shrugs, getting comfortable on a bed that sits to the side of the room. “Could be hours, maybe even days. I guess we will have to wait and see.”

"Why are we doing this instead of trying to escape?" I push, unable to understand his way of thinking. "There were still other options, so why…"

"Because this will bring the ones responsible to us." Lucian grins. "And once they arrive, we can figure out who sent them."