Page 41 of In This Iron Ground
CHAPTER SIX
There was pressure all around him. Inside him. He was bones buried in the dirt. The mud was filling his throat even through clenched teeth. He was—
Gasping into darkness, he could feel the ropes around his wrists, his legs.
He was at the Salgados’. They had tied him down, he knew, heknew—
He jerked up, the damp, acidic foam of the sheets swaying around his waist before he stumbled out of bed. He could still taste the soil in his mouth. He could still feel the raw burn around his limbs. Every breath he took was smaller and tighter than the last.
Oh, God.
He buried his hands in the cream rug where he knelt, pressing his face to the side of the bed, trying to suffocate the awful sounds his throat was making.
Calm down, he thought to himself viciously,calm—
The door opened. It was a soft, ominous sound. All of Damien’s muscles bunched up, knotting painfully. He whipped his head to look and saw the tall silhouette of an adult. Mia.
Damien scrambled onto the bed. His heart was pounding in that familiar drumroll that preceded danger. He tried to tense his chest and tighten his throat to stop the gasping.
“Damien…?” Mia’s soft voice said as she stepped into the room.
“Sorry,” Damien said automatically, clutching the sheets as Mia walked towards the bed. He shrank into himself as she sat carefully at the edge of the bed. “Sorry. Sorry, sometimes I just, I’m sorry for waking you up. It won’t—” he choked on the lie,happen again. Not only would she find out soon, she would smell it on him. “I could sleep outside. Or, or, you could put something in my mouth or something just, could you, just not the tying. I don’t, I can’t—” His breath was short and fast again.
Mia shushed him quietly. Damien tried not to make it obvious how he shifted away from her as she moved closer.
“Damien, listen to me,” Mia said, her voice still soft and quiet, but firm. Her features were washed in moonlight and she looked like a scene from an old, black-and-white movie, the nostalgic remains of something Damien didn’t really have anymore. “I will never, ever tie you down. Ever. There is nothing you can do, and nothing you can say, that will make me hurt you. Nothing. As a Kephale, as your foster carer, my role is to protect you. And I know that that’s hard to believe, but I’ll keep telling you, and keep showing you. That’s my job.”
There was a moment of silence. The words took a moment to permeate his skin, to calm the rushing of his blood. He took a breath. Another one.
He knew Mia. He trusted her. But his animal side had learnt not to trust the hand that feeds you.
“You’re like my foster Kephale,” Damien blurted.
Mia smiled, her shoulders relaxing. “Exactly. And, as my foster cub, there is nothing anybody can possibly do to break my life-long code of protection.”
Damien relaxed against the headboard, letting the silence stretch before quietly confessing. “I make noise at night sometimes. I get out of bed and have to walk around after a nightmare ’cause it’s like, I don’t know. I know it’s stupid but it’s like that’s where the nightmares are and…”
“That doesn’t sound stupid at all. After my mother’s death—she was my Kephale, too—I had quite a lot of nightmares. When I woke up, I always had to go make myself some tea. I always have the same blend of tea, one my mom showed me,” Mia shared gently. “How about tomorrow we go buy it and make an ice version of it? It has no caffeine and it’ll cool you down after a nightmare. We’ll keep the leaves stocked to make warm when it gets colder.”
Damien didn’t know what to say, so he nodded. “You don’t have to come out every time. I can handle them,” Damien said.
Mia smiled almost sadly. “I understand. But I can’t promise I won’t come out sometimes, especially at the start. It’s in my instinct. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Do you want to change the sheets?”
“No, it’s fine. They’re barely damp. I’ll just change my shirt.” He touched the sweat-dampened cloth.
Mia nodded. She waited as Damien changed and then crawled back to bed. “Do you want to try a little relaxation technique my dad showed me? I used to get anxious when I was a kid and he would walk me through it until I could do it myself.”
Damien nodded through the spark of nervousness at Mia sharing something so close to her heart with him.
“Okay. Get comfortable and close your eyes.”
Damien nodded again and then slid down so his head was on the pillow. He could feel the slight dip in the bed from where Mia was still sitting. Hesitantly, he closed his eyes.
Mia began to talk.
