Page 90 of Royal Captive
The door to our cell burst outward, banging off the stone walls. One by one, all down the line, each cell door followed suit, until each prisoner tentatively stuck their heads out down the hallway, waiting for the guards to beat us back inside.
No one came.
“Finally!”
Whoops and hollers filled the corridor as the prisoners cheered and ran, darting out of their cells and flooding the hall.
I took a step forward, but Ellis pushed me back, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling us into the front corner of the room behind the cell door. His hand slapped against my mouth, stopping me from demanding to know what he was doing. The only thing that kept me from fighting was how tense his body was against mine, and how his hand shook slightly against my lips.
“Where are they? They were just here, weren’t they?”
I went still as Strumo stuck his head in our cell. I couldn’t see him since we were behind the door, but I heard him.
“Probably ran out the moment they could. They know you’d come for ‘im,” quipped one of his lackeys.
Strumo’s breaths huffed less than a foot away from me. If he turned his head just a few inches to the left, he’d see us. The door wasn’t solid; it was just iron bars crossed over each other! How could henotsee us? All he had to do was turn around! What idiots!
I pushed down the hysterics, panicking now would help no one.
Ellis’s grip against me relaxed, his head dropping to nuzzle into my neck. He said nothing, but I felt what he was trying to express.
Relax.
A few moments passed, and Strumo left the cell with his little posse. A long breath whooshed out of me, and Ellis nearly doubled over with relief.
“T-thanks,” I managed, squeezing his hand. “That was quick thinking.”
Ellis gave me a weak smile, his face still white. “How is your hand?”
Oh. I’d nearly forgotten about how I’d broken my hand on Fallon’s face earlier. Glancing down, I winced. It had almost doubled in size, half of it turning black and blue. The pain came back and hit me full force, not that the imminent threat to my life in the form of Strumo had passed.
“Fuck Shyllon. He’d said he’d fix it,” Ellis snarled, gently taking my fingers in his as he inspected it.
“Fuck Fallon,” I fired back, just as vehemently. “She raped you. She’s a fucking bitch.”
Ellis glanced up at me, his eyes hooded. His lips peeled back slightly, revealing just a hint of fangs. They were smaller than a normal fae’s, but they were still there.
“My warrior queen,” he purred at me, leaning in and taking my lips in his.
I relaxed completely into his kiss. I forgot about the pain in my hand. I forgot where we were. For a brief, perfect moment, everything was as it should be. I had Ellis, and he had me.
Ellis backed away first, giving my bottom lip one last nip before cupping my face with one hand. “Do not hit a fae like that again. The injury is not worth it.”
“You’re worth it,” I shot back.
Arousal flared through his eyes, his thumb stroking across my cheek. “When we get home, I’m going to leave an Eve-sized indentation permanently in our bed.”
A laugh burst from my throat. “Promises, promises.”
Ellis smirked, but a moment later his face turned serious. “This is likely a coordinated attack along with the palace: free the political prisoners while the guards and the nobles are distracted, and strengthen the rebel numbers at the same time.”
It made perfect sense. “Right. What do we do?”
“Sadly, we need to find Hayida. We won’t survive this without his help.”
Oh, wonderful. Our only hope was the deposed king who thought torturing humans to death for sport wasfor the common good.
Fantastic.
