Page 61 of Queen of the Wicked
“I’m okay,” Erebos said, seeming to know just whatto say to satisfy her racing adrenaline. “Your emotions are still heightened, Alessia. Remember what I told you before that day in the woods? Take a breath for me.”
Her hands trembled against his face, fighting the raging anger still rippling through her. It made her want to kill the already dead creature again, shredding it apart and allowing her smoke to disintegrate it just like it had Godric.
Erebos surprised her by taking her hand before placing it against his chest. “I’m okay,” he repeated. “Feel my heartbeat? I’m here, and I’m okay. Take a breath for me.”
The steadythump, thump, thumpbeneath his t-shirt allowed her to take a deep breath. He nodded in encouragement, and one breath turned into three before turning into several. Soon enough, her trembling stopped, and then Erebos’s hands were on her head, twisting it to the side to inspectherinjury.
She forgot she had one.
“Is it bad?” she croaked.
“You have magic, so you have faster healing capabilities than most. The blood has already stopped, so it should fully heal in an hour or two.” He moved his hand to her jaw, stroking the pad of his thumb against her cheek. “Are you hurt?”
“No. I was, but it’s not as bad now.” She shook her head, confused why she enjoyed his touch so much. Before, she had blamed it on his powers being inside her, but now she wasn’t so sure. The truth was, Erebos wasn’t anything like he portrayed himself to be in front ofothers, and slowly but surely, he allowed her to see the version of him that very few did.
“I can’t believe you killed a dinosaur,” Izara mused, breaking their trance. “I didn’t think they still existed.”
Despite how wrong it felt, Alessia pulled back from his grasp, glancing over her shoulder at the fallen creature. “A dinosaur,” she repeated slowly. “Adinosaur?”
“The pits have been around since the realms were created,” Erebos supplied. “Although surprising, it makes sense why they would still be here. Very few demons dare to venture these parts, and even fewer manage to make it out alive.” The lord stood, extending his hand to help Alessia up, and it wasn’t until then that she realized she couldn’t walk.
Hissing in pain, she glanced at her ankle, which was bruised and swollen. It looked like a golf ball had formed where the bone should be, causing her to lean all her weight onto Erebos. He didn’t seem to mind, instantly wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her closer.
“Shit,” she muttered. “I didn’t even feel that until now.” And if she had healing capabilities to mend faster than others, she didn’t want to imagine how mangled her ankle had been after being thrown into the wall.
“Adrenaline works wonders for pain,” Erebos replied. He weighed their options until turning to the rest of the group to say, “We’ll have to camp out somewhere close by until it mends. It shouldn’t take long. Hopefully, she’ll be able to walk again before morning.”
Izara bowed her head. “Eryx and I will find somewhere less…clutteredand return shortly. I suspectAlessia can hold her weight again should another creature find its way here.”
Eryx stared at them with a clenched jaw, specifically towards Erebos. Alessia hadn’t sensed the animosity before the battle, but the general clearly had unfinished business with the lord, judging by his dark expression.
“We will speak later,” Erebos told him. “Now is not the time.”
“Now is not the time?” He scoffed, his baby blues darkening until they resembled the ocean's deepest depths. “You are the ruler of this realm. You have citizens depending on you to create a change, and you tossed your life aside like it wasworthlessbecause of?—”
Erebos straightened to his full height, causing Eryx to slam his mouth shut. “And as the ruler of this realm, I am ordering you to speak about this later. No objections.”
The two remained in a staredown until Alessia concluded that Erebos didn’t pull rank often. It was in the way a flicker of guilt seemed to flash across the lord’s face when Eryx’s shoulders slumped.
“Understood,Your Majesty,” the general replied in a clipped voice. “I will help Izara find an area suitable for us to take shelter for the night.” Without another word, he spun on his heel and stalked down the tunnel.
“Great,” Izara muttered. “You’re going to makemedeal with the man who handles his emotions like a four-year-old?” With an excessive sigh, she followed after Eryx, but not before calling over her shoulder, “Fix it before I singe both of your balls off.”
The tiny soul seeker with more balls than all of them combined didn’t so much as spare the creature a secondglance when she stepped on its head before disappearing down the tunnel. It left Alessia and Erebos alone, silence cloaking them in a thick blanket.
“I’m sorry,” Alessia whispered shakily. “All of this seems like my fault.”
“It is hardly your fault.” Erebos scanned the area before lifting her easily and striding across the scattered rocks until he found one with a flat surface. It wasn’t big enough for both of them, but Alessia certainly didn’t fight it when he sat onto it himself and held her on his lap.
“Isn’t it, though? You would still have your powers if you hadn’t found me in the woods that day. We wouldn’t have found ourselves in the pits trying to find the Seeker, and you wouldn’t have almost died trying to save me when you should have saved yourself! Eryx has every right to be upset.” Despite her best efforts, a choked sob escaped her as all of the events over the past month hit her like a freight train. She’d done her best not to break and push through every obstacle in her way, but she was tired of not understanding the whole picture. Tired of trying to decipher why she had black magic and wondering what her parents were supposed to tell her before everything was stripped away in the blink of an eye.
Her past. Her present. Her future.
It felt like everything was a lie.
“In all the years I’ve lived, I’ve learned it’s best not to focus on thewhat-ifs,” Erebos said. He held her close to his chest, his thumb rubbing soothing circles against her thigh. “The facts are that we’re in a situation neither ofus understands. We’re in the pits because we need to learn more about it. Andalmostdying is vastly different from dying. Eryx will let go of his resentment once he has time to cool off.”
“But every one of our predicaments leads back tome.I was the catalyst for all of this, and things keep getting worse no matter what I do. It seems obstacles are thrown at me one after another, and I don’t have control over any of it, but we made a blood pact, you know? I need to make good on my end to be free of it so I can?—”
