Belladonna had thought he had referred to the people as his because he had taken the throne during those three days she had been out. But to think that he was the King before, and Eli had been the one to take the throne from him was something she didn't expect.
Eli was one to follow protocol and if he had gone against it, then there must have been a reason. A good one at that. She couldn't believe the story Alaris had told the people, he did say there were some added tweaks to it.
Frustrated, Belladonna ran her hand over her head. The surface of her scalp was no longer as smooth as it used to be, the sharp end of the hair pinching her palm.
There was no way she would believe anything Alaris was saying without talking to Eli first, it was obvious he had an ulterior motive for saving her.
Alaris was very smart, she had to be smarter.
"I want to see Eli." She folded her arms across her, determined eyes meeting his. It still felt strange to be able to see him, not just that, it felt strange that they were no longer in her dreams. "Where is he?"
Alaris tsked, folding his arms across his chest. His red shirt looked a little loose despite his lean muscular frame, and that was when Belladonna realized that he had gone through Eli's wardrobe.
"About that," he drawled, his mischievous smirk slipping in again.
Belladonna's heart raced. She took a step away from him in a rage that felt the need to attack, something was sizzling in her veins again, and the voices were starting to return the more she created a distance between them.
"You didn't kill him, did you?"
Alaris looked offended.
"He is not dead."
That didn't feel reassuring.
"I want to see him. Take me to him. I need to talk to him."
His gaze hardened.
"I am the only one you need to talk to and there is plenty for us to talk about."
Belladonna moved away from him, the power was surging in again and she was starting to feel overwhelmed the more she put distance between them.
"So you can tell me more lies?"
He arched her a questioning eyebrow.
"And your beloved Eli have been totally truthful. Yes, you should go to him."
That was true. Eli had not been truthful with her when it came to some things, but that was between her and Eli.
Silence settled in. He walked past her to sit at the edge of the bed. Her scrutinizing eyes followed him, not looking away once.
"What do you want, Alaris?"
Maybe if she could figure that out, she would be able to have something to hold over him, play her games right, and see Eli.
"A lot of things," he answered in a heartbeat.
Well, that wasn't specific.
A useless answer.
She would try again.
"Why did you come and save me from Thanatou's Realm? You had your freedom. A body." She shrugged. "So why did you come back?"
Something flashed in his eyes but it was gone just as fast as it appeared.
"I wanted to make sure that when I look into the mirror," he looked past her, into the mirror, while running his fingers through his hair, "I look sexy as hell."
Then his focus was back on her.
"Not look like you, a weak mortal female."
Belladonna smirked.
What a liar.
"Also, I wanted to be in the same body as my dragon." He shrugged nonchalantly. "It's convenient."
There was obviously more but Belladonna was done playing into his stalling games to find out his motive.
"I want to see Eli. I want to see him now."
"Fine," he rose to his feet." But only on one condition."
The room suddenly felt too small for the both of them.
___
___
The darkness was now Eli's friend.
He wasn't fighting it anymore. The chains that weighed him down had become his companion, this dungeon was now his home.
But what killed him the most wasn't this state he was in physically, it was the realization of all the lies Kestra had been telling him.
There was never any Bride Thief to begin with. It was all her. It had always been her.
The curse of him always needing to feed from her wasn't from any Being that was angry about him pushing Lex off that cliff, it was Kestra. The death of the Brides wasn't from the "Bride Thief" who deemed it worthy to interfere in his life because of what he did to Lex, it was all Kestra. Also, true love being the solution for his "curse" was nothing but a lie to get two hundred souls for her sacrifice.
She was obsessed with him and he was blind not to have seen it.
The dungeon had given him a long time to think and piece things together. Now, that he was thinking everything over again, he suspected that the lines on his hands were probably a link to Kestra. Yes, they were there because of how much magic his body was consuming because of the Alterer, but then Kestra would touch him, without feeling any pain.
He was certain that the lines on his hands drained the life force of anyone and anything he touched and fed it to Kestra.
That was what she fed on anyway.
Souls.
He hit his hand against his head in frustration at how stupid he had been.
By Ignas, he had been a fool.
Allowed himself to be stupidly used.
He had thought he was the one in control and now, he was realizing, that was never true.
If only he could have the pleasure of killing that witch himself, but that wish would never be fulfilled.
He knew Kestra was dead, Lex had taken great pleasure in telling him about how he had set her corpse ablaze and the people had cheered for him, and when the people asked about him, Lex had told them that he was in confinement until he would get better.
Lex had told a lot of lies and honestly, Eli didn't mind any of it. The truth was worse anyway.
What he was bothered about though was his Donna.
The last time he had seen her, she had been unconscious, caught in the middle of an attack, bleeding as Lex took her from him.
He had asked Lex how she was but he told him nothing.
His lack of knowledge concerning his Donna was the biggest torture he was facing right now.
Lex enjoyed depriving him of it.
The only thing that kept him sane right now was that he knew she was still alive.
The sound of the bars pulling open made him turn to the entrance. The dim golden light of the torch burnt his eyes, and he rose to his feet when he saw who had come to see him.
His Donna.
Happiness and relief washed over him, until he realized Lex had slipped right into the dungeon with her.