“That is out of the question. Those cases were not as severe as this one,” Rhylan retorted.
“But there is hope,” my eyes sparkled at the thought, heart becoming steadier. “There is a way to bring him back?” I asked the man.
“If there is, I do not know it,” he admitted, and I read a dash of sadness in his voice.
“Open the doors,” I repeated.
“I cannot let you do this, Anwen,” Rhylan’s eyes pleaded, looking at me as though I had become a butterfly that just got out of the shell and was ready to fly away forever. The loss and panic in his eyes were enough to make anyone halt their decision, but not me. I would not lose the man I loved yet again.
I would not lose anyone I loved again.
I could not save my brother. I had to watch the light vanish from his eyes and witnessed how Ansgar turned into dried leaves in my arms. I had been through hell, suffered more than I could gather and I would not give up this last chance, this crumb of hope, because of fear.
“The only way I’m leaving here, Rhylan, is either dead or through those doors. Your choice,” I inclined my head and pinned him with the strongest gaze I could muster, forcing him to understand the truth in my decision.
He exhaled a breath I did not realise he had been holding and blinked once. His eyelashes fell heavy, defeated, dragging surrender across his face.
“I’ll reopen them at dawn. Either you come out alive with your fuckboy in check, or I will wipe away your remains when I drag out his dead body.”
Darkness pulverised across his features, making him become that feared ancient fire spirit, one that accepted defeat but had still won the battle.
“Open the doors,” commanding darkness roared through him as he spoke.
Chapter Twenty
Light crept across my eyelashes, awakening sharp pain. I hadn't seen light for some time, and my eyes took a moment to react. The iron hinges squeaked like a harpies’ yawn, allowing a silhouette to form. Another soldier walking to his death.
I felt sick, tired, and wanting for it to be all over yet part of me pushed forward, urging to find and dispose of another kill. Blood, the pinnacle of all my cravings and the only reason I remained alive. To draw more of it.
Surprisingly, this soldier had preferred to bring a torch and slowly walked inside my cell with minuscule footsteps, looking more concerned with the environment and the piling dead bodies than with a swift attack. He must be a youth, no experienced soldier would choose the comfort of the battle environment rather than a quick attack, especially since Iproved I could take anyone and leave no survivors.
I wanted to creep out of the shadows and snap his neck in the next second, but since they had resumed to inexperienced soldiers, the battle options must have proven limited and I did not know when I would get my next victim.
At the thought, my heart plummeted, squeezing away that urge to hurt, the desire for vengeance and blood. Panic bloomed through my entire being. What would happen to me once this was over? Will I finally find peace?
I didn't have more than a few moments to think about it, because I had to act. I decided to play with this soldier like a lynx with a freshly caught salmon and draw as much pleasure as I could from this catch, not knowing when I would get the next one.
And pleasure I would take indeed, I thought to myself as the soldier took another step and allowed the light from the torch to shed some luminescence over his features. Better said, over her features. They had sent a female.
Blood boiled inside of me, rage and abhorrence filling up in my veins. The sick bastards had no more soldiers to spare and decided to appeal to whatever mercy they thought I would find.
Hoping that I would not kill a female.
I shifted and my movement must have attracted her attention towards the corner of the cell, where I’d remained hidden, next to the iron bars. I welcomed the touch, the pain, and I'd gone and found the biggest amount of iron and laid myself next to it. In my moments of loneliness, I hoped it killed me and allowed this misery to end, but the arrival of every new soldier had abruptly healed the wounds and pushed me into another killing spree.
“Ansgar?” her voice pierced the darkness, forcing the clouds of nothingness apart, just enough to make herself heard deep within my mind.
“Ansgar, my love, are you here?” The voice continued, stunning me with the calling and dash of affection that came along with that name.
One thing I was certain of, I could be no one’slove, nor was I deserving of such a title. I understood their plan and hatred flourished like a night’s queen flower inside of me, quick and deadly. I would not allow myself to fall victim to a female, one that was sent to lure me into surrendering, appeal to whatever gentle part she hoped to dig out of me, and then kill me in my sleep. I had come too far to let the beautiful voice of such a beast destroy everything.
I jerked away from the approaching light and stepped aside, moving swiftly and silently around her, allowing her to walk around the cell and search for me until I stood behind her, in the perfect position to snap that pretty neck.
I would not deny it, the female’s presence stirred something inside of me. Her scent and the way her wavy hair fell on her shoulder, the aspect of her light skin that had the potential to become the softest thing I would touch. Part of me felt ready to connect with the female, to at least have some fun and saturate innate manly urges, but I forced myself contained. Best to be done with it quickly and not allow enough time to feel remorse. Treat her like the enemy that she was.
My hand caught her by the neck so abruptly that she did not have time to squeal. The female paralysed at my touch, dropping the torch she had been carrying and adopting a statuesque demeanour. Even though her body struggled to emanate calm, her heart did not lie. She must have been terrified, that piteous heart racing like a new-born siren towards the first scent of blood.
“Ansgar,” she murmured again, only this time the sentiment I expected to find did not come. Even though my fingers pierced both sides of her neck and pressed on her jugular, able to bend her neck in the simplest of twists without fully moving my fingers, she did not look frightened at all. Her body relaxed into mine, back touching my chest as she let herself fall onto me, connecting to my body as much as she could.
