Chapter 24 Twenty Four

Chapter 24 Twenty Four
The look on his face made my blood run cold despite the heat radiating off him.

"You," he said quietly, and somehow that soft tone was more terrifying than any roar could have been. "You dared lay hands on what belongs to me?"

"My king, I—" Cersei started, her voice breaking.

In one quick blur of movement, faster than my oxygen-starved brain could process, Dragus had crossed the room over to her. 

He hit Cersei's face with a backhand so powerful it sent her flying, crashing into the far wall and falling to the ground in a heap.

She crashed into the wall hard enough to crack the stone, then crumpled to the floor.

She lay there stunned, not moving for several seconds. Then slowly, her trembling hand came up to touch her face.

When she pulled it away, her fingers were slick with black blood. Her skin had split from cheek to jaw, leaving a gaping wound underneath.

"My king," she whispered, staring at her bloodied hand in disbelief. "You... you struck me."

For the first time since I'd met her, there was genuine emotion in her eyes; confusion and betrayal.  It seemed like her entire world had shattered.

"In all my centuries of service," she continued, her voice small and broken, "you have never once even raised your voice to me. I thought—I believed I was— Why her?"

"You were my most trusted servant," Dragus said, without a single trace of warmth in his voice.

He took a step toward her and she flinched backwards, frantically crawling in the opposite direction.

Dragus continued, “But you have proven yourself defective, unreliable and dangerous.”

He raised his hand and I felt dark magic gather in the air, thick black smoke choking the air. 

"No servant of mine will attempt to destroy what belongs to me and live to speak of it."

"Please—" Cersei started.

The magic hit her and she screamed.

Her body twisted violently, her bones snapping with wet, horrible sounds that made my stomach turn. 

It was as if she was folding in on herself, crumpling up like paper while her screams grew higher and more desperate with each bone that broke.

I saw the look on Dragus’s face as he did it, his jaw was clenched so tight that I could see the muscle tick underneath his skin. His free hand was tightened into a fist at his side, trembling slightly.

"Stop!" I screamed, before I could stop myself. "Stop, please, you’ll kill her!"

I threw myself forward on legs that barely supported me and dropped to the floor between them. Shielding Cersei's broken, twisted body with my own.

"Please," I begged, looking up at him with everything I had. "Please don't kill her. I'm fine, see? I'm breathing. I'm okay."

His eyes burned into mine, utterly merciless.

"She tried to drown you," he accused. "If I had not come at the time I did, she would’ve murdered you in my own chambers, despite your being under my protection. Do you still defend her despite this?”

"We had a disagreement," I said desperately, lies spilling out fast and frantic in an effort to prevent more meaningless harm. "She got upset and overreacted. That's all. It was my fault—I provoked her, I said things I shouldn't have—"

"Do not," he growled, taking a step closer, "insult my intelligence with such pathetic excuses."

His hand rose again and I felt the magic gather—felt it pressing heavily against my back, trying to reach Cersei through me.

"Get out of the way," he commanded.

"But—"

"Enough of this, Cupid. Step out of the way."

"No, wait. You don’t understand—"

Before I could talk my way out of it, Dragus tried to hit Cersei again,  but this time I stepped in front of the blast.

White-hot pain exploded through my left arm, and I felt my bone beginning to splinter under the pressure of dark magic that was trying to reach Cersei through my body.

I screamed but I didn't move. There was no way I would let what happened with Aerion repeat itself. Another person would not get hurt for my sake, no matter how terrible they were being to me.

"Cupid, you fool—" he started, and for the first time I heard panic in his voice.

"Not until you stop!" I screamed back through the pain, tears streaming down my face “Not until you promise— You have to promise not to continue doing this—"

He cut off his magic abruptly, and my relief was so sudden I nearly collapsed. The pain receded to a dull throb, and my arm hung useless at my side.

Dragus was staring at his own hand as if it had betrayed him, his face twisted with emotions that I'd never seen before. Confusion. Maybe even fear.

Then I understood.

The soul bond. Somehow, in some strange ways, he felt my pain as his own. And he knew he couldn't keep hurting Cersei without hurting me. Without hurting himself.

"You're bleeding," he said, his voice strange and distant. He was looking at my arm where blood was seeping through the skin from the internal damage.

"I'm fine," I lied.

Behind me, Cersei whimpered. I could feel her twisted limbs pressing against my back, just like I could hear her ragged breathing.

Dragus stood frozen for a long moment, staring at us both. His hand was still raised, magic crackling around his fingers, but he seemed unable to unleash it.

Finally, with visible effort, he closed his fist and the magic disappeared..

Cersei gasped as the crushing pressure released. I heard her bones begin to shift back into place all at once, snapping back to their proper positions with sounds that made me want to vomit.

She collapsed fully onto the wet stone floor, sobbing.

I sagged with relief, my forehead nearly touching the ground. My arm throbbed in time with my heartbeat, the pain making my vision swim.

"Thank you," I whispered. "Thank you, I—"

"Get up."

The command cut through everything else.

I struggled to my feet on shaking legs, cradling my injured arm against my chest. I started to turn back to Cersei, to check if she was truly alright—

"Come here," Dragus said, and it clearly wasn't a request.

So I walked to him on unsteady feet, and immediately his hands were on me, tilting my head back, examining my face with an intensity that made me want to look away. His fingers moved over my throat, pressing gently, checking for damage.

When he touched a particularly tender spot, I winced.

His eyes flashed dangerously and he looked past me to where Cersei lay.

"Your arm," he said, returning his attention to me.

"It's nothing."

"Let me see it."

I reluctantly extended my left arm. Even that small movement made me bite back a whimper. He took it carefully in both hands, his touch surprisingly gentle, and I felt dark magic flow from his palms into my damaged bone.

It wasn't healing, exactly. More like... stabilizing. Holding the fractures in place so that they wouldn't get any worse, and the pain dulled to a manageable ache.

"A Healer will see to it properly later," he said. "This will suffice for now."

When he was satisfied I wouldn't collapse immediately, he turned his attention back to Cersei.

She was still curled on the floor, her arms wrapped around herself, staring at nothing with those empty grey eyes.

But there were real tears, streaming down her face, mixing with the black blood from the gash on her cheek.

"You will never be permitted inside my chambers again," Dragus said, his voice cold and final as a death sentence. "Your position as my personal attendant is revoked. You will spend the remainder of your existence in the lower dungeons, serving the—"

I swayed suddenly, the room tilting violently around me, overcome with dizziness.

There were many possible reasons for why I felt that way. It could have been the oxygen deprivation, the shock of nearly getting drowned or the pain in my arm.

Or perhaps the pregnancy hormones that I didn't even know I had. But whatever the reason was, the result was the same, nausea crashed over me at once like a wave and my legs gave out.

Dragus caught me before I hit the ground, one arm sweeping under my knees, the other supporting my back. He lifted me effortlessly, cradling me against his chest.

"Foolish girl," he muttered, but his grip was gentle. "Nearly dead and still you throw yourself in harm's way to save the one who tried to kill you."

I wanted to push him away, tell him that I didn't need any comfort from the likes of him, nor did I want to be held by the monster who'd destroyed everything I'd ever loved.

But I was so tired and so scared. So completely overwhelmed by everything that had happened in the span of mere minutes.

And his chest was warm and solid, and for just a moment, just one terrible, shameful moment, I let myself lean into it.

He turned and walked toward the door, carrying me like I weighed nothing at all.

As we crossed the threshold, stepping over debris from the exploded door, I heard Cersei's broken whisper behind us:

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, my king. Please... please don't leave me..."

But Dragus didn't look back.

And neither did I.