Chapter 9 WHAT HURTS MORE.

Chapter 9 WHAT HURTS MORE.
STORM'S POV:

The floor was cold beneath me, hard and slick with something that smelled like rust and old blood. My body trembled against the chains as a sob tore through my throat, echoing back at me in the dark. 

Every breath hurts. Every heartbeat felt like someone was twisting a blade inside my skull. 
    I pressed my forehead against the floor, trying to stay conscious, but the pain only grew sharper, spreading like fire through my veins. I didn’t know how long I’d been here. Minutes, hours, maybe days. Time didn’t exist in Room 100. Only pain did.
    Then I felt it. A shift in the air. The faintest sound of movement, the scrape of boots against the floor. My breath caught.  
    The guards? No… their voices were still muffled beyond the door, low and careless, the clink of their weapons faint through the wall. Whoever was inside was moving silently.
   My heart slammed against my ribs as I forced my head up, and then I saw him.
                 Lucian.
   For a moment, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. But then his face came into focus under the thin strip of moonlight sneaking through the vent. 
   His eyes; dark, sharp, desperate, met mine. And my entire body went still. Relief flooded me so suddenly it hurt.
        “ L- Lucian,” I croaked out.
  “ Don't move.” he whispered, voice barely above a whisper. 
    Before I could speak, his arms were around me. Strong, trembling, as he pulled me upright. His scent hit me first, sharp like iron and smoke. 
   Then I saw the strain in his face. Sweat glistened at his temple, his jaw tight with pain. He was hurting too. Whatever force was twisting me from the inside — it had its claws in him as well.
      “ L- Lucian…” My voice broke.
   He didn’t answer. His focus was locked on the chains biting into my wrists. The metal hissed softly under his touch. Then cracked, splintering apart like ice. My arms fell limp.
   The sound of boots thudding outside. One of the guards coughed.
       Lucian froze. So did I.
     For a moment, the world stopped breathing.
    Then, when the footsteps drifted away, he pressed a finger to his lips and lifted me off the ground. I bit back a cry as his arms tightened around me. 
    The motion pulling at every wound, every bruise, but he held me steady, close against his chest.
   Lucian’s breath brushed against my ear. “Hold on to me,” he whispered.
    I clung weakly to his shirt. My body ached, but I didn’t care. He was real. He was here.
   He looked toward the door. Light from the hallway slipped through the cracks, moving as shadows crossed by. The guards were still out there. Laughing, talking, their boots thudding softly on the stone floor.
    Lucian’s eyes darkened. He raised one   hand and pressed it against the wall. A faint glow spread under his palm, silver veins crawling through the stone. 
    The air changed. Colder, heavier, and something unseen brushed past my skin like a ripple of static.
   The door didn’t open. It simply vanished, melting into the dark.
    For a second, my heart stopped. I’d heard whispers about wolves born under the eclipse, ones who could bend darkness to their will. But, I never believed they were real. Until now.
    Lucian’s jaw was tight, his breathing sharp, like the power was burning through him.
       “ Stay quiet.” he breathed.
    He stepped through first, carrying me in his arms. The hallway was dim and cold. The air smelled of smoke and metal. Two guards stood by the stairs at the far end, their spears crossed, voices low and tired.
    My heart raced. One wrong sound and we were dead.
     Lucian moved like a shadow. The darkness itself followed him, wrapping around his body and mine until the light couldn’t touch us. I could barely hear our footsteps, only the faint rustle of his breath.
    One guard turned suddenly. My chest tightened. Lucian froze mid-step, still as stone. The man frowned, blinked, then looked away.
    Lucian started walking again, his arms tightening around me. I could feel his pulse hammering against my side. He was straining. He was hurting.
    “ Lucian, stop,” I whispered. “You’re bleeding—”
   “ Almost out.” he said, voice rough.
    We reached the stairway and slipped through another doorway. Cold night air hit my face, sharp and clean. For a moment, I forgot how to breathe. The moon hung above us, full and pale, bathing everything in silver.
    Lucian stumbled but didn’t let go. His hand went to the gate, and with one touch, the lock melted into glowing ash.
    The gate creaked open. Beyond it, the forest waited — dark and endless.
   Lucian pulled me through. The wind caught the sound of the gate as it closed behind us, like the dungeon exhaling its last breath.
   I was still in Lucian’s arms, my head resting weakly against his chest. His heartbeat was fast. Not from fear, but from something heavier.
   Neither of us spoke. The silence between us felt thick, like it had weight. He stared ahead, eyes lost somewhere far beyond the trees. 
   His arms were still around me, but it felt distant, as if his mind had already gone somewhere I couldn’t quite reach.
   I tightened my hold on his shirt, afraid that if I let go, he’d disappear too.
    When I finally looked up at him, his jaw was clenched. His face unreadable, that same cold, stern expression I’d seen a hundred times before. But now, it felt different. He wasn’t just tense. He was angry.
   My voice came out small. “ Thank you.”
    He didn’t answer.
   Didn’t even look at me.
    Instead, he lowered me gently to my feet. His touch lingered for half a heartbeat, then vanished completely. 
   Without a word, he turned and started walking deeper into the forest, his shoulders rigid, his breath harsh in the quiet night.
    “ Lucian?” I called after him, confused.    
    “ Where are you going?”
    No response. He just kept walking. Like he couldn’t hear me. Like I wasn’t even there.
    Pain stabbed through my legs, but I forced myself to follow. “ Lucian, wait! What’s wrong with you? I said thank you, the least you could do is—”
   He stopped. His head tilted slightly, but he didn’t turn around.
    “ —and what was that?” I blurted, breathless. “ That weird magic thing you did back there? How did you—”
   “ Don't.” His voice was sharp, low, cutting through the air like a blade.
       I froze.
     He turned then, just enough for the moonlight to catch the edge of his face. His eyes were dark, colder than I’d ever seen them.
    “ You shouldn’t have been there in the first place,” he said quietly. “ I told you to stay away from that wing. You couldn’t even follow a simple order.”
   My mouth fell open. “ A simple order? What would you have me do, Lucian? I got a note from you. I thought you needed me. That’s why I went there in the first place!”
    His brows furrowed slightly, confusion flickering in his eyes. “ A note?”
  “ Yes,” I snapped, heat rising in my chest. “ Signed by you. Sealed with your crest. What was I supposed to think?”
   He shook his head slowly, the lines of his face tightening. “ Storm… I didn’t send you anything.”
    I stared at him, my pulse roaring in my ears. “ You didn’t—?”
   His jaw flexed. “ If someone used my name to lure you there, it means they wanted you dead. And you walked right into it.”
    My throat closed. “ I— I only went because it was you. Because I thought—”
  He cut me off, voice low and steady.  “You should stop thinking that way.”
   The words hit harder than any blow.
    Lucian looked at me one last time, just long enough for me to see something flicker in his eyes, regret maybe. Then he turned away.
   “ Go back, Storm,” he said, already walking into the dark. “ Next time, I might not be there to save you.”
    The trees swallowed him up, his figure fading into shadow until there was nothing left but the sound of the wind and the ache in my chest.