\[Elise’s POV\]
Some king. I grumble inwardly, not daring to look at the bodies that line the floor. What kind of piece of shit king killed his loyal subjects?
“Did you only bring me here to show me this?” I ask, feeling my stomach churn. “Because there’s no fucking way I can eat after what you just made me watch.”
“Oh?” Ezekiel laughs, giving me a look that just screams amused. “That’s too bad. I’ll have someone lead you back to your room then.”
“Thanks,” I snap, watching as he lifts a hand and snaps so that a butler walks in and takes my leash. “Don’t come find me again.”
Standing, I follow the one who leads me away, and it is only when we are far enough away that I’m certain Ezekial won’t be able to hear or sense anything that I move.
Leaping, I wrap my legs around the butler's neck and then flip, throwing him to the side but being pulled along as he holds onto my leash.
“Fuck,” I growl as pain shoots through my neck. “I’m going to make you pay for that.”
Since I already tried being obedient to figure out what was happening and it didn’t get me any closer to having a way to escape, it was time to use brute force, which I liked much better.
Lunging forward, I attempt to attack the man only to be stopped by something piercing deep into my abdomen, and when I look down, I find a dagger hilt sticking out of me.
“Coward,” I chuckle, feeling fire race through my veins, causing me to realize the blade of the weapon I was pierced with has been laced with something. “Can’t even fight like a man against a small child.”
Ignoring me, the man stands and begins to move again, pulling me along behind him like a fucking ragdoll, and when we reach my room, he throws me inside and leaves me alone, bleeding out on the floor.
“Dammit,” I growl, grabbing the hilt of the weapon and pulling it out. “Look at the mess you’ve gotten yourself into, Elise.”
Feeling a sweat break out on my skin, I look around the large room, trying to find something to staunch the blood that freely flows from my wound, but when I come up empty, I use my shirt instead.
Pulling it off, I tear a big enough strip off to shove into the hole.
‘That won’t be enough to fix this.’ Anna murmurs, voicing the obvious. ‘We need to come up with something.’
‘Like what?’ I pant, closing my eyes and curling in on myself. ‘There’s poison in my system, and I don’t have a fucking antidote.’
This could very well be the end times two since I already died once. It was a shame since I didn’t manage to do what I came back for, but maybe this was always my fate.
Laughing, I open my eyes and stare at the ceiling above me, taking in the mural of the goddess while the same question races in my mind.
Would this really be the end? Would I be given another chance?
Even if I was, I had to wait sixteen years to get where I am now, and time just wasn’t on any of our sides, not when Ezekial had Serenity’s blood.
“No,” I growl, feeling something in me awakening. “It can’t end like this.”
Absolutely not, I wouldn’t die here, not in the hands of Ezekial while the ones I loved were suffering and not when that asshole Forrest was waiting to be saved.
Looking around, I eye the bars that block my window. From what I could see, they were made out of some sturdy metal, but if that was my only way out, I was willing to test just how strong it was.
Feeling my adrenaline flare, I get up and move across the room and reach out, wrapping a hand around the bar. Once I have a good enough hold, I start to pull, only to find that it doesn’t budge.
“Come on,” I hiss, feeling whatever it was earlier on beginning to burn within me again. “Budge you stupid…”
I don’t finish my words as a groan sounds and the bar begins to bend in my hand.
Eyes widening, I release the bar and stare at my hand and then suck in a breath when I find claws where my nails should be and fur springing up on my skin.
‘Anna,’ I hiss inwardly. ‘Was this you?’
‘No,’ she responds, whimpering. ‘It’s something else.’
Something else? What else could it be?
As this thought hits, my eyes snap to the bite on my arm that has spread across my entire forearm. Where it ends, I can see black markings spreading, traveling along my hand and up my bicep toward my chest.
“Fuck,” I gasp, understanding what was happening. “I guess getting bit by one of those bastards does turn you rogue.”
This realization just strengthens my need to get free. If I was going to turn into a rogue, I didn’t want to be trapped here with Ezekial, nor did I want to be around my family and friends.
“Get out and save Forrest,” I mutter, grabbing the bars with both hands. “Get him to safety and then disappear.”
This thought breaks my heart since I know after I turn I wouldn’t be able to see them again, but it was better than possibly putting them in danger, so I was more than willing.
Clenching my jaw, I pull with all my might against the bars until I feel them beginning to bend, and once there is a big enough space for me to squeeze through, I punch out, shattering the glass that separates me from freedom. When I have enough clearance, I dive through and begin to crash toward the ground. When I hit, I roll and then get up and move.
‘That’s not the way out.’ Anna hisses as I extend my senses, searching for Forrest’s location. ‘You’re going to get caught and you’re injured.’
‘I can’t just leave the boy.’ I snap.
Of course, the me in the past wouldn’t hesitate to leave him. I was selfish and only thought about myself, but since turning over a new leaf I was becoming a goody goody just like my sister, and that was really getting me into a lot of trouble; it even got me killed.
For a moment, I feel my resolve shift as I realize this outcome could be the same, but when I locate Forrest, I push the thought aside and move.
When I reach where he is, I dip down and peek in through a window that is up high, but big enough for someone to climb through. Just like the window to my room, it is protected by bars, but with the rogue’s strength, I’m able to move it.
“What the hell?” Forrest hisses, getting up from where he sits on the ground. “Eleanor?”
“Sup,” I smirk, shoving an arm through the opening I’ve created while trying to ignore the patchy black fur forming on it. “Come on.” I push when he doesn’t move. “We don’t have much time.”
Growing quiet, I watch as he looks from the bars of his cell to me and then back, and when his eyes come to rest on my arm, a look of shock forms on his features.
“Eleanor, you’re arm.” He gasps. “What’s…”
“Less talky, more movey,” I snap. “Come on!”