Page 113 of Of Spindles and Nightfall
It protested again but didn’t break. Damn it.
She couldn't get enough purchase to leverage her body infused with Zarathos’s strange blood.
A knock at the door caused her to still. “Help! Come in! Zarathosis hurt!”
But they were unable to enter, she realized with a sickening twist of her stomach. Only Zarathos possessed the authority to permit entry to his bedchamber.
The handle jiggled and two guards burst into the room.
Aryana’s mouth dropped open. “How did you get in?”
“You are his Bloodbound. Aren’t you?” one guard said sourly.
They looked between Aryana and Zarathos, still laying naked on the floor. And laughed.
“Why are you laughing? Help him! H-he might have lost too much blood.”
“If that’s the case, then he definitely won’t be making it through the next round of the trials.” The first guard sneered at him.
Her heart plummeted. “Please, he needs help.”
“We are only here for you.” He found the key off of the vanity and sauntered over to her. “Damn, what did he do to you?”
Zarathos’s cum and blood covered her completely from head to toe.
But she didn’t care. She glared at him as he unlocked her hands from the shackles before shoving him out of the way and rushing to Zarathos’s side, pressing a palm to his face. “Zarathos?”
His skin felt clammy, and her heartbeat pounded harsher. But then his eyes fluttered open.
“Zarathos!” she gasped. “Are you… What have you… Why did you do this?”
“Go with them. I’ll be…” He swallowed and gave her a wan smile. “I’ll be there soon. Keep us both safe, Vampress.”
“Let’s move.” A guard grabbed her arm and dragged her back. She hissed and turned to ram the spear he held into his throat.
“Hey! Calm down.” The other demon raised his spear in defense, jutting it toward her.
“Go, Aryana,” Zarathos muttered. “Save the fighting for when you need it. I’ll… be there… soon.”
How could she leave him in this state?
“Go,” Zarathos insisted. He met her gaze, and she saw something there that almost broke her. The trust, the understanding—the adoration?
Had she misjudged the demon king this whole time?
“I will find you. I will find you, Zarathos. Don’t die.”
“You too, Vampress.”
And she let the guards and their pathetic spears lead her out of the room. They walked down the hallway, her mind whirling. What prompted him to do this? What was coming? If it was the next trial, the timing couldn’t be worse. She trembled within the guard’s hold.
They dragged her down several flights of stairs until they’d reached the windowless corridors that led to her cell. The guards’ grasp on her arm was unrelenting. Low voices reached her ears.
“I’m doing everything. Offeringeverythingfor this. Look what I have gone through and you—”
“Remember why. Remember this…” There was a rustling of paper. “Thisis the plan.”
As soon as they rounded the corner, both she and the guards ground to a halt.
