CHAPTER 161 The Man TLeft in Chains
CHAPTER 161: The Man I Left in Chains
RHEA
My hands are shaking as I reach for the lock. It’s old, rusted, but it’s still strong enough that it won’t budge. I fish the thin metal pick from my coat pocket and start working at it.
Aron watches in silence, his gaze heavy on me. I can feel him watching my movements as I try to unlock the cell that keeps him in. The metal pin slips from my fingers, and I curse under my breath.
His scent wraps around me, stronger than before.
“What’s wrong?” He asks. His voice is a low whisper.
“I can’t-”
“You’re shaking.”
“I know,” I say, frustration seeping into my voice. “I’m just scared–not of this, not of this place, but something.” Something inside me. Something I can’t control. “I can’t seem to stop it.”
“What happened?”
“1-“I look up at him and meet his gaze while my hand is still around the lock. “I’ll tell you. Just let me get this open first.” I say and continue with what I was doing.
“Let me.” He offers.
I give him the metal pin and watch him as he works on the lock. It takes him only a moment before the lock opens and he pushes the barred doors aside.
The second he steps outside, his arms are around me, and I let him. I let him pull me in his embrace and feel his scent, his body, his warmth. His fingers slip into my hair, and then he’s cupping my face.
His eyes flicker to the base of my neck, where the dried blood is.
“What happened?”
“I healed,” I reply, voice low. “I can heal faster now. I don’t get hurt the same way, and my wounds heal as if nothing happened to me.”
I slip my hand at the bottom of my shirt and pull it up, exposing the skin underneath, where there should be a bruise from when she kicked me, but there’s nothing. Just her blood, and a little of mine. The same is on my arm too, where she cut me.
“I can’t feel the pain.”
“You can’t?”
“I can feel it for a moment, and then it’s gone.” I explain. “I can’t be wounded, not in the same way I used to before.”
His fingers move over my throat, over the dried blood, and then lower to my collarbone.
“What else?”
My eyes quickly shift away from his in an attempt to hide the shame and the guilt I feel at that moment. But I can’t, because the moment I look away is the moment he catches me.
“What else is wrong?” he asks again, his tone firmer than before. His hand moves to my chin and tilts it up, so he’s looking at me again, at my eyes and the emotions that I can’t hide from him.
“I–I feel this anger, this darkness,” I pause and force the remaining words out of my throat. “I killed Catelyn.”
“Who?” he questions, eyes narrowing.
“She was the one who killed me, drove that knife into me, and I killed her. But I don’t think it’s just her that I want to kill. I want to hurt and kill others. And I can’t stop it.” I look down at my hands, and I see the blood on them. “It’s like a hunger.” When I killed that man from the council earlier, in the village, the thirst only grew. And now Catelyn. It’s only growing stronger.
“Help me,” I say, tears gathering in my eyes. “Please.”
“Don’t cry.” His thumb swipes the tear that slips out and cups my cheek. I lean into his touch. “You’ll be fine. You’re alive, you’re going to be okay.”
I’m falling apart in front of him, and he’s keeping me together.
“Listen, you’ve got to go back. Go home and-”
“No, I don’t want to go without you.”
“Rhea, I can’t.”
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CHAPTER 161: The Man 1 Left in Chains
“Yes, yes, you can,” I tell him, pulling away and wiping away the tears. “You have to. I came all this way. You have to come with me.”
His hands tighten around my arms, “They’re going to hurt you if they see you. They don’t know that you’re alive.”
“And they won’t. I don’t care. Just–come with me, Aron.” I almost beg him.
He stares down at me, contemplating. I can see that from his eyes, and the way he breathes out. And then he pulls me to him, and his lips meet mine.
I don’t expect it, but I welcome the kiss. I let him take my mouth, his tongue licking against mine, his fingers threading through my hair. I kiss him back, just as desperately. My hands grab the front of his shirt, and I pull him closer. I need him to be close.
I need him to be with me.
My body presses against him, and his hands move down, from my neck, my collar, lower to my waist, where he grips me tightly.
“Aron,” I breathe against his mouth, “Come with me. Help me before something else happens.” I plead with him.
He nods, “I will. I’ll come with you.”
I smile at him. That’s what I wanted to hear.
He pulls away first, breathing hard before his hand comes around my wrist. “We’ve got to move now.” He tells me.
“There are guards outside. Quite many, but if we move from the back, no one will see. There’s a back gate from where ! came in where there were only two guards, and one of them, I–uh, knocked him out.”
“Let’s go then.”
We slip out of the cell and the room. The hallway is still empty, no footsteps and no alarms yet. It’s not as hard as I thought it would be. But it’s not over yet. We’re still inside and anyone could be watching.
Aron leads, moving fast and low, his hand tight around mine. We race down the stairs and onto the lowest floor, and the moment we reach, a guard steps inside.
Fuck.
“Shit,” Aron mutters.
I squeeze his hand once, hard, and pull free before rushing toward the guard. He reaches fast for something in his holster, but I don’t give him the chance.
The silver dust is already in my hand, and I blow it on his face.
He stumbles, and the weapon clatters on the floor. His hands come up to his face, where the powder burns his skin and eyes. I grab the metal rod from the ground and strike it down on the back of his skull, knocking him out cold.
“Rhea,” Aron grabs my hand again, stopping me from hitting him again. “You don’t need to kill him. It’s alright.”
I look at the guard, lying unconscious on the ground, and at the rod in my other hand. I drop it and let him pull me away from the scene.
We walk across the borders of the prison and toward the back gates.
“Where did you get that?” Aron questions the powder I have on me.
“I
went to the village where those witches live and I bought it from there.”
“You went where now?” he almost snaps.
“Kovas took me.”
“He did?”
“Yeah. It’s a long story, but I got a couple of those things from them.” I say as I take out the bottles from my coat.
His gaze narrows at them. “You do know it’s forbidden to even have those in your possession, right?”
“Oh, since when are you following the rules?” I counter.
“Good point,” he nods.
We are near the back gates, where the other guard still hasn’t returned, and the one I knocked out is still unconscious on the grass.
The night air hits hard against my skin as we make it past the gates and outside. I take a look back, but there’s nothing. Nobody is following, nobody has noticed that we’re gone.
I lead us further and toward the hill where my car is parked in the dark, far from the gates and the sight.
“Come,” I pull him toward it as he begins to slow down. “We’ve to go.”
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CHAPTER 161 The Man i Left in Chains
“I don’t want to put you in any danger, Rhea. And once they know I’m gone, they’re going to hunt me down and they’ll learn about you, too.” He shakes his head, his jaw tight.
“It doesn’t matter, Aron. Just please, come with me and all that can come later. I need you.”
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