Page 10 of Releasing Darkness

Once I approached the cell, I realized that there was something different. There were bars on the cell and a closed door, but there was also a soft, almost invisible glow to them. An incantation had been placed there. My heart rate picked up knowing that it had to be the right place.

I quickened my pace until I stood in front of the door. I glanced back toward the staircase, ensuring that no one had followed me down, before finally focusing on the male inside.

He was large, as large as I would have expected of someone related to Varek and Valen. His shoulders were broad, and his arms stretched out beside him. Chains and manacles were strapped to his wrists and looped into large iron rings that were fixed into the stone flooring.

As I moved the torch closer, I let out a small gasp of horror when I realized the darkness surrounding the male was actually stains. Some were fresh, still wet, while others appeared to be old. Blood had soaked into the stone until the stone itself had become the color of spilled blood.

Glancing up from the blood stains, I took in more of the male’s appearance. He was wearing what looked to be black trousers, though it was difficult to tell with all the blood coating him. The male’s head was drooping down against his chest, his chin seeming to rest there, though it was hard to see due to all the tangled hair that fell around his head in a black mass, covering his face from view.

My heart broke as I took everything in. He had obviously been tortured many times. Likely more times than could be accounted for if he’d been trapped in his cell for thousands of years. One of his horns was broken and jagged close to his head, the other was intact, curved back like his brother's. The smokey tendrils of shadows that I had seen hundreds of times on Varek’sdemon form were sitting still, not weaving around his body the way I was used to.

His wings hung limp behind him, appearing as if they were broken. I shook my head as tears sprang to my eyes. A demon could heal very quickly, for this male to still be broken meant that he was also starved. Without nourishment, a demon could still heal, but it would take a very long time. At this male’s appearance, he likely hadn’t been fed in days, weeks even.

Having seen enough, I reached for the door and gave it a pull, hoping in vain that it would be a simple thing to open considering the demon was no threat, manacled to the ground and starved the way he was. In frustration, I let out a small growl and turned, holding the torch out, looking for the key to the door.

I swallowed back a triumphant cry of relief when I spotted the key ring hanging against the wall. I quickly grabbed the heavy iron key from the hook and spun back around, racing to the door.

I was already slipping the key into the lock when I glanced up and froze.

I must have alerted the male to my presence. Either that or he had developed a sixth sense when it came to someone arriving at his cell because his head was no longer down, with his chin against his chest. Instead, his face was lifted just enough to trap me with his gaze.

His eyes were the pitch black of his demon, though I knew they would likely be a deep emerald green when he shifted into his more humanlike form. They could barely be seen through the tangles of his hair, but they were fixed solidly on me. I didn’t know what he was seeing as he took me in, but I felt as if icy fingers were trailing down my spine.

There was a menacing quality to the male, his stare adding to the aura of hatred. I swallowed thickly, knowing what hewas seeing. I was the female version of the High General. If my father had been the one to do this to him, to have tortured him so severely, then my appearance wasn’t going to be the soothing balm I’d expected.

“I’m here to help you,” I spoke softly, hoping to calm him before he did something we would both regret. “I am going to free you, then take you to your brothers. I don’t know if you remember Varek or Valen,” I began to ramble as I tore my gaze from his and concentrated on the lock. “But they are in the Earth realm. A lot has happened in the last few years. Their memories have started to return since they found their mates. I guess with their memories returning, others who were around at the time you four disappeared are remembering as well. I was sent here by someone who knew where you were.”

My hands were shaking from nerves I’d never displayed before. I wasn’t the kind of female who got spooked, nor was I someone who became nervous. But there was something about this brother that unnerved me. Finally, the key turned and I was able to swing the door open.

The male kneeling on the stone floor growled with the opening of the door. “I swear, I’m not here to harm you. I realize I look like the High General.” I swallowed thickly. “He’s my father, but I ran away from home a long time ago. I’m nothing like him, I swear it. I’m only here to help you.”

I waited to see if he would lunge at me. I knew he was restrained, but I also sensed that he was more capable of harm than most demons who were fully healthy. When I didn’t receive a response to my unspoken request for permission to approach, I stepped forward, past the gently glowing bars.

As soon as I crossed the doorway, I hissed out as a burning pain engulfed my wrist. It dissipated as quickly as it began and I lifted my hand still holding the keyring and brought the torch closer. There, where there had been nothing but pale, smoothskin for the last three hundred years now bore the dark, blood red intricate lines of a mating mark.

“What?” I began to ask and then jerked my gaze back to the male in front of me. “You!”

My heart seemed to swell with the realization that I had found my mate. After all the time had passed, my mate was finally in front of me. He’d been so close as I’d grown up, and it made me want to weep at the thought. If I’d known he was here all along, I would never have left him. The incantation in the glowing of the bars must have kept his existence hidden. I wanted to cross to him and drop to my knees. I wanted to show him how happy I was. But the fury in his eyes stopped me from even breathing.

He never spoke a word as we stared at one another. He merely bared his teeth in a silent promise of death. I bit back a sob that threatened to burst from my chest at the injustice and had to stop myself from spinning on my heel and storming straight to my father so I could slit his throat for taking one more thing from me. This male, who was glorious even in his shattered state, hated me. I knew, in that instance, that he would never mate me. I represented the very person who took his life away from him.

I refused to cry or release the tears that built behind my eyes and made my nose sting. It wasn’t my fault, but it wasn’t his either. I could hardly blame him for not wanting me. In his position, I would feel the same way.

With a shaky breath, I set the torch down, ignoring the way it spluttered, nearly extinguishing itself against the cold stone floor. I moved forward slowly and crouched down next to him. With trembling hands, I reached for the lock on the manacles and tried the different keys attached to the ring. I closed my eyes with relief as the third key turned and the lock sprang open.

My eyes opened instantly at the feel of sharp black talons piercing my skin as his large hand wrapped around my neck. I saw his gaze not on mine but looking down at my wrist where the mating mark was.

I cursed myself at my weakness when a single tear escaped and slid down my cheek. “Please, let me take you to your brothers,” I whispered raggedly against the pressure on my throat.

He still didn’t say a word as he released his tight grip, practically shoving me away from him. I scurried over to the other manacle as tingles moved over my flesh where his hand had been. I could feel the sting of where his claws had pierced me, and the tickle of blood from the slight cuts. But through it all, I couldn’t stop the shiver from the sensation, nor the shame of wanting him to do it again. I shouldn’t want him to hurt me, and I didn’t. It wasn’t the pain or the anger I craved with my whole body. It was simply his touch that I needed.

I unlocked the second manacle and scooted back to give him some space. I rose on unsteady legs and moved closer to the door, knowing he wouldn’t want me to touch him. But as he attempted to stand, his knees buckled, causing him to fall to his hip, catching himself with his forearm against the bloody stone.

I automatically reached out a hand but stopped myself from moving forward. “Please,” I begged softly. “Please, let me help you.”

With another menacing growl, he struggled back onto his knees, nearly in the same position he’d been in when I found him and swayed. He placed a fist on the stone floor and breathed heavily, his chest heaving with each deep inhale and exhale. He finally peered at me through his long, stringy hair. With those burning black eyes glaring at me, he spoke without saying a single word.

I nodded. With tentative steps, I moved forward until I was by his side. Then, I placed my arm around his back and my shoulder under his arm until I had a solid hold, and, with great effort, lifted.

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