What had he called me?
“My heart,” he said louder, as if he’d heard my mental question. “It’s what you are. You’re the only reason I was able to open my heart to more — to Freya — so that makes you my heart. Please, come back over here.”
On my hands and knees, I crawled until I was kneeling in front of him. He tilted his head down to his side. “Don’t make me give you instructions, Cas.”
The scolding undertones heated my blood, his release only temporarily taking the edge off my desire. I’d fed so much I wasn’t in immediate danger of losing myself to my beast, but I felt similar to how I’d felt with Freya, before Nolan had come in to give me a final hit. If I didn’t feed myself completely I would backslide to a state of carnal desire again, this time needing even more energy than I would have if I’d been sated completely the first time around.
Doing as he’d told me without words, I sat my ass down on the cold stone beside him and curled into his side. If I’d been in my right mind he would have smelled horrendous, but with my feral side barely beneath the surface he didn’t. All I caught were the pheromones he was releasing, his Alpha scent heavy and the paper and ink perfuming the air.
His purr rumbled his chest and I buried myself against it, basking in the comfort. Sometimes I wondered if I might have been better off an Omega. I wasn’t supposed to want him to purr for me.
Letting it lull me into a false sense of security, I forgot about the hunger for a while. I was able to ignore it while it was only a low-grade need. With no sense of day, night, or minutes down here, I wasn’t sure how long I’d been at peace when the door to the prisoner area opened with a rough clank against the stone wall.
I hiccuped, curling myself closer to Shan.
They were going to take me away again.
Footsteps echoed in the hallway, multiple sets. It wasn’t only Luther this time. He was the one who usually came for me, the sadistic bastard finding pleasure in watching me lose a piece of my soul every time I was forced to kill.
Shan’s body was stiff beneath me, but when he relaxed I loosened my grip on him in confusion. “Emmett,” he breathed.
I was on my feet before I’d even looked up to confirm Emmett being here was the truth. My arm pushed through the bars of the cage, grabbing for him as iron burned my skin. I didn’t feel it anymore. Not with the ecstasy I felt over having Emmett here, and not in chains like us.
“Cas,” Emmett said worriedly, grabbing my arm. “Get back from the bars. They’re hurting you.”
Tears streaked my dirty, blood-stained cheeks, but I did as he’d told me. I’d gotten a taste of his touch, and I couldn’t bare to see him worried. Sky cast a spell to undo the locks, and I grabbed the door before they could open it, swinging it back and launching myself at Emmett.
He caught me in his arms, holding me to him as he nuzzled his nose against my hair and neck. It was a way to scent mark me and inhale my scent at the same time, and I whimpered at the desire washing through me. However long it had been, feeding from Shan was wearing off. I’d need another hit to keep me sated and sane soon.
“You look like shit,” Altair said to Shan in greeting.
I peered over my shoulder to see the fallen angel undoing the bindings Shan had been left in with no trouble at all. They’d been created by one of his kind, after all.
Shan grumbled under his breath as he rotated his shoulders, working out the stiffness from being bound for so long. He accepted a hand up from Altair. “At least I don’t look like you,” he retorted.
Altair laughed, practically pushing my mate out of the cage. “Good to see you’re in high spirits. We’ve been instructed to get both of you the fuck out of here. Is the incubus going to go feral anytime soon? If he needs to be restrained you should let us know.”
I shook my head. “I’m fine,” I said.
Shan looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
“I am,” I insisted. “There’s about an hour before my situation gets sketchy. Unless we’re in a giant fortress, I’m assuming that’s plenty of time to get out of here.”
Altair and Sky glanced at each other, as if they’d rather have me locked up regardless. If they decided that, I wouldn’t blame them. The amount of people I’d killed over the past few days… I’d never be able to atone, not in a thousand lifetimes.
“We should be good. Let’s go.”
“Wait.”
Shan and I said it at the same time, our gazes drawing to each other. I pointed to the cell opposite ours, noting how Iris was trying to appear invisible in the back corner. “We can’t leave Iris behind,” I explained.
Sky turned with a shrug and undid the lock on her cell.
“If Freya is here to kill Kylan, I have to go help her. I’m not leaving,” Shan said.
Emmett’s grip tightened on me and he shook his head at the same time as Altair scoffed. “You’re on death’s door,” Altair said. “If you go try to help, you’ll ruin the plan because she’ll be too busy protecting your ass. Oh, and we’re in Zemterra. Your light magic isn’t going to be easy to call upon when there’s no sun.”
Shan tried to pull himself upright, but after days of sitting and bone-deep fatigue, he only managed a slight hunch. “Last time we tried to kill Kylan, he almost killed us. She can’t do that alone.”
