Chapter 15 Fifteen

Chapter 15 Fifteen
Cupid

"For the love of Aphrodite! Will you be quiet?!"

Aerion’s voice cut through the dark room, making me so startled I gasped.

"Some of us are trying to suffer in peace!"

I tried. Goddess, I tried to stop.

But I couldn’t stop sobbing no matter how much I wanted to, my chest hitching with the miserable effort of pulling freezing air into my lungs. 

Tears streamed hot down my face only to freeze instantly on my cheeks, leaving stiff tracks of salt and ice.

My eyes burned. Swollen and puffy from hours of weeping like a baby, they felt as if someone had rubbed sand under my eyelids.

I had been determined to keep my heart strong, but after a few hours of constant hit and cold, I was spent. I had no strength left. I felt so stupid and miserable, suffering like this for what felt like ages… and for what?

All I wanted was to go back to my old life, where the only thing I had to worry about was matchmaking humans and getting enough sleep. I wasn’t cut out for this.

“I’m sorry… I just… I want to go home. I don’t know why I even came here in the first place… I should’ve just let them banish me. I’m such a fool.”

I pressed my gloved hands over my mouth and nose, trying to muffle the sounds, but my body wouldn't cooperate. 

The cold had settled so deep into my bones that I couldn't control the shaking, couldn't stop my teeth from chattering, let alone silence my whimpering.

My eyes had adjusted to the darkness enough that I could make out his face a little better now. His features were all sharp angles and hollow cheeks, his skin stretched too tight over bone. But his eyes were intense, dark and beautiful.

He might have been handsome once, in another life, before this place had burnt all the softness out of him and replaced it with hostile violence. 

It had gone so deep that it filled him up till there was no room for anything else. He’d had no family no friends and no sunlight, barely anyone to talk to for century after century.

And yet here I was, a blubbering shivering mess after only a few hours. No wonder he was getting frustrated with me.

"I'm s-sorry," I managed through chattering teeth. "I'm t-trying, I just c-can't…"

"Pathetic," he spat.

I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed harder against my face, trying desperately to control my breathing, but the sobs kept coming anyway. 

My nose was running and I couldn't stop it, the mucus freezing on my upper lip in a way that made me want to die from sheer embarrassment.

"Fuck."

The word shocked me so badly that I actually stopped crying for a second.

Heartwalkers didn't curse. Ever, especially human curses. It was so ingrained in our culture, our upbringing, and our very nature that even thinking profanities felt wrong. 

And yet here was Aerion, spitting out a swear word. Where could he possibly have learned that from? I wondered.

I heard him get up and move, then suddenly his arms were around me.

I gasped in surprise as he pulled me against his chest, wrapping his thin, tattered robe around both our bodies and holding onto me tightly. 

His frame was nothing but sharp bones and wasted muscle, but he was warm, or at least warmer than I was, and the shared body heat was like a miracle.

"Thank you," I whispered, my voice breaking. "Thank you so much, I—"

"Save it," he cut me off harshly. "I'm only doing this to shut you up. As soon as the temperature shifts back to heat, I'm kicking you off me and you can suffer on your own."

But even as he spoke those hard, bitter words, his touch was soft and gentle. His hand came up to stroke through my matted, filthy hair with a tenderness that was the complete opposite of everything coming out of his mouth.

It was as though his body remembered how to comfort even though his mind had long forgotten why.

"When I get out of here, and I will. I'm coming back for you." I promised him. "You have my word."

I relaxed into his grip despite myself, letting my head rest against his shoulder so his warmth would seep into me slowly. For the first time in hours, the shaking began to subside and my sobs quieted to occasional hiccups.

"Better?" he asked grudgingly.

"Yes," I breathed. "Thank you. I owe you my life."

"Tell me your name—" He asked.

"Of course. I am

BANG!

The door flew open, light flooding in from the corridor and blinding me after so many hours in absolute darkness.

I threw my arm up to shield my eyes, squinting desperately against the sudden brightness.

"Which one of you," a feminine, oddly gentle voice asked from the doorway, "is the newest prisoner?"

All the other Heartwalkers in the cell immediately shrank back, pressing themselves against the far wall with gasps of fear. 

Even the man with missing fingers, who had seemed so calm before, made a small sound of terror.

But Aerion didn't move. His arms tightened around me protectively and he called out, his voice rough but defiant:

"What do you want with her?"

The soft voice didn't answer him. Instead, I heard her speak in the guttural Nexium language, and suddenly two massive soldiers were marching into the cell.

"No—" Aerion started, but they were already on us.

One of them grabbed my arm and yanked, tearing me out of Aerion's grip with brutal efficiency. I didn't even have the strength to cry out, my voice lost somewhere in my ravaged throat.

"You can't take her!" Aerion struggled to his feet, his legs shaking from disuse but his face set with desperate determination. "What are you going to do with her?! She just got here, you can't…"

The soldier closest to him turned and backhanded him hard across the face.

Aerion went down hard, crashing into the stone floor with a sickening crunch.

"Stop," I tried to say, but it came out as barely a whisper. "Please, don't—"

But they didn't stop.

The other soldiers surrounded him, their heavy boots rising and falling as they kicked the living daylights out of him.

I heard the wet sound of the impact, I heard Aerion grunt and cough in pain and try to protect his head with his arms.

But it was useless... if they kept going like that much longer, going by his feeble state, he wouldn’t survive.

"No," I managed, louder this time, tears streaming down my face again. "Don't hurt him. Please, he didn't do anything, please…"

One of the guards shook me and the world around me started to spin. I felt myself grow faint, then dizzy, with white spots blinking in my vision.

The last thing I saw before darkness took me was Aerion's blood, a dark muddy gold, spreading across the stone floor.

Then nothing.