Her heart raced.
She was overly aware of his touch, even though his gloves served as a constant obstacle.
“Maybe because most of the brides left behind in my head are those ones that want you dead.”
Something dark glinted in his eyes.
“Do you want me dead, Donna?”
The heavyweight she used to feel in her chest was still there, although it no longer felt as heavy as it used to.
Her rage towards him was no longer as blinded as it used to be.
Somewhere along the lines, something has changed.
“No.”
There was a spark in his eyes.
“I don't want you dead, Eli.”
His voice sank into a low chuckle. He leaned forward and his sandalwood scent flooded her senses. He was too close and his presence reminded her of how “even closer” he used to be.
Her eyelids fluttered and his scales held her gaze.
“Happy birthday. I really thought we would spend the day differently. You have no idea how many plans I have made for this in the past.”
“It is past midnight. My birthday is over.” She said with a light smile and his grip around her wrists tightened.
He said nothing but angled his head in her way which made her heart skip a beat.
She began to protest when his face was close enough that it hovered over hers by a hair’s breadth.
“Eli, I don't thin—”
“Do not worry,” he moved slightly, his whispers close to the crook of her neck. She could feel goosebumps lace her skin at the effect. “I am just switching our daggers. I will hold onto yours for inspection, you can hold onto mine for now.”
His heated gaze felt hers and for a moment, they stayed like that until she broke the spell and looked away.
He pulled away too, letting her wrists go.
“The Golden Boy is working on finding out more about the man Aniya said she saw in the forest. Although the guards on patrol haven't reported anything suspicious yet. Whatever happens, you will be the first to know. Stay indoors. Keep the doors and your windows locked.”
“Goodnight, Donna.”
“Goodnight, Eli.”
This time, when she placed her hand on the doorknob, he didn't stop her.
She shut the door behind her and waited to hear him leave.
He didn't leave. She waited and waited, while she turned a thought in her mind.
He hadn't begged. He hadn't begged for them to go back to being what they used to be. He had applied no pressure, hadn't pushed.
Something about that didn't settle well with her. As much as she wanted to deny it, she didn't like the idea of him not wanting to be with her.
But then that must just be because she had spent a lot of time in confinement with him.
She must set her thoughts straight.
However, she swung the door open, the urge to talk to him overcoming her.
She opened the door to his absence.
He was gone.
She shut the door. It was probably a terrible decision anyway. She couldn't understand how she was feeling these days.
She needed a bath.
Belladonna took a couple of steps to the bedside so she could grab her bag and pick a night robe to wear after her bath.
Suddenly, her steps flattered, a wave of dizziness hit her and she slumped.
Soon enough, she felt someone lift her and throw her over a shoulder.
She was panicking but she could do nothing. She felt paralyzed. Her mouth refused to obey her, her body refused to fight.
Useless were the voices in her head and all the powers that the Red Moon had cursed her with.
The one time that she really needed it, it had failed her.
Just like that, Belladonna was kidnapped.
Stolen away into the dark.
___
___
Aniya could do nothing but sit in the dungeon and wonder if she should have just told Zesika about this curse from the beginning.
But if she had, there were so many opportunities she would have lost. She would have never been able to spend time with her son, nor would she have been able to make amends with her sister.
It was good this way, she had done all she could this way.
She would accept death if it was the only way.
Arlo would be in safe hands.
She coughed, feeling a tightness in her chest.
Suddenly she heard a guard fall to the ground.
Her heart raced and she could feel in being that resided in her try to fight to the surface, but something was suppressing it, just as this thing was suffocating her.
Aniya rose to her feet, chains clanking as she did. She was struggling to breathe, her legs felt too weak to support her.
They buckled and she fell.
She could hear the approaching steps of someone but she was too dizzy to see. When he came in front of her, all she could see was the clean, white robes he wore.
“My sincerest apologies, but it is for the safety of everyone that I do this.”
He wasn't alone.
Aniya could hear other people step into her dungeon.
She wanted to fight, to ask why they were doing this, to ask who had sent them.
Because they definitely didn't come from the King or Lytio.
Was it the man in the woods?
She didn't know.
She felt someone throw her over his shoulders. If only her lips could move and these screams wouldn't just be in her head.
“What about the Bride?” The man who had spoken earlier asked again.
Their voices sounded like mere echoes to Aniya, the darkness pulling her in more and more.
“Done, Witcher.”
Done?! What was done? What had they done to her sister? Was she still alive?! Who were these people? What did they want? Why were they doing this? Why—
“Good.” Then he cast a spell and the darkness pulled her in completely, putting her at the mercy of these strangers with magic.
The darkness pulled her in completely.