by Sonia Harper
Opening her eyes again and squinting into the darkness, she couldn't see any movement in the now-lighter grey haze. Her eyes were slowly adjusting to the room, but she knew it wasn't going to get any better. The torches in the hallway must have been extinguished while she was sleeping because she couldn't even make out the direction of the door.
She knew that Cain was probably still in the room somewhere, but she couldn't muster the energy to care. She pressed her uninjured hand against the floor and pushed her upper body off the floor with a grunt. Pulling her body into a sitting position, she rubbed her hand up and down the arm she had been laying on, trying to bring some warmth back into it.
Carefully raising her hand, she tested her fingers by trying to close them into a fist. Her fingers were swollen, she thought, as she struggled to bend them. Even though it was difficult, her fingers didn't scream in pain, which meant that they weren't broken. Sighing in relief, she released her fist and stretched her fingers a bit to try and shake out their stiffness.
Shivering again, Adelyn sat there for a few minutes before she suddenly remembered the bed that had been tucked into the corner of the room. The bedding looked like it hadn't been touched the last time she had seen it. Maybe daemons didn't sleep?
She bit her lip and started rocking back and forth, desperate to ward off the cold. Her body started moving before her mind had even decided on a course of action. As she slowly made her way to her feet, she reached out with both arms in front of her to make sure she didn't bump into anything. Based on the location she had been in before she fell asleep, the bed was directly in front of her and slightly to the right.
She took a cautious step forward. Relieved that she hadn't stepped on anything or made any noise, she slowly took another, then another. She felt more confident with each step she took. Her heart jumped as her shoe made a connection with something, but she exhaled and felt around the object with her foot. A slight hollow sound reached her ears; it was a broken piece of chair. Carefully sliding it out of the way, and cringing as it made a scraping noise along the floor, she took another three steps before a blinding light made her inhale sharply and duck her head away from it.
Opening her eyes, she squinted as she saw the lit torch on the wall ahead of her. Her eyes dropped to the figure sitting beneath it.
Cain.
He had a fierce scowl on his face, but he remained sitting on the floor just two feet from the head of the bed. She froze, unsure of what to do. His scowl deepened, and the muscles in his arms started to visibly tense underneath his shirt. A large scab on his forehead re-opened as his frown deepened, and a thin line of blood began slowly making its way down to his eyebrow. She watched shadows dance across his chest with each shallow, ragged breath he took.
He clearly was not happy about seeing her walking around, but other than his facial expression, he hadn't made any other move to try and come near her.
Swallowing, Adelyn decided to test the waters. She took another cautious step forward, watching him intently as she did so.
One of his hands twitched, but other than that he made no other indication that he was going to move.
She licked her dry, chapped lips and inhaled sharply at the unusual taste of the blood droplets that had fallen onto her lips from Cain's injury. She quickly dragged her arm across her lips to remove the dried flecks before she took a few more small steps. She thought briefly about returning to her spot across the room, but the cold drove her forward. She slowly made her way to the other side of the bed – away from him.
He watched every move she made, pale grey eyes following and head barely rotating as she rounded the end of the bed.
Feeling more confident now that a large bed was between them, Adelyn reached down and grabbed the blanket, pulling it back slowly.
He continued to watch. His demeanour was seemingly calm, but Adelyn could see now that his jaw was clenching over and over again with every movement that she made. She felt as if she were trapped in a cage with a tiger, nervously calculating every move so as not to anger the beast.
The gold light from the torch above spilt down onto his face, creating shadows as his jaw worked up and down, teeth grinding furiously underneath. Another thin bead of blood slowly made its way down the line toward his eyebrow.
Shifting her body ever so slightly, Adelyn sat down on the edge of the bed, shifting her weight and lifting her legs so they were underneath the thick blanket. Then, quickly, she got under the covers and laid her head on the pillow.
Moaning in warm relief, she pulled the blanket tighter around her. The heat from the flame just above the bed barely kissed the skin on her face, but she didn't dare move any closer to it. She was close enough to Cain as it was, and he didn't look happy that she had moved from her spot across the room.
Opening her eyes, she could barely see his head above the edge of the bed. His eyes were still narrowed on hers, and sweat was starting to mingle with the blood on his forehead.
She could tell he was still raging inside, but now it felt as if he was trying to hold himself still for some reason. Even last night, every time he looked as though he was going to approach her on one of his passes, he would turn himself violently away and pour his frustrations onto the wall. Was it possible that he was trying to control himself?
Based on Pytho and Donovan's behaviour earlier in the evening, she surmised not.
Based on Cain's behaviour, though...
"You're bleeding," She pulled her hand out from under the covers and pointed to her own forehead. "Right up here."
His jaw clenched tighter, but he didn't respond.
"Just in case you can't feel it," she mumbled, feeling ridiculous, and returned her hand under the blanket. She'd lost it. She was actually trying to talk to him now. Clearing her throat, she shifted under the covers until she was comfortable again. She closed her eyes and felt her body relax.
He could have killed her at any point up until now, but it was obvious he wasn't going to. Whatever power Derion said he needed to keep under control seemed to be at bay for now.
She sighed and felt her head spin slightly. Her body was exhausted. She wasn't sure exactly what time it was, or how much sleep she had gotten lately, but she knew it wasn't enough to deal with all of the events from the past two days.
Sighing, she felt the feeling return to her extremities as the thick blankets warmed her up. Her fingers were still throbbing slightly, but she could tell by bending them that they weren't broken.
She frowned as the heat on her cheeks intensified, then opened her eyes to see the flame had not only grown but that it was nearly touching the ceiling. Alarmed, she sat up slightly, resting on her elbow. She peeked over the edge of the bed and saw Cain's head dropped between his knees and facing the floor, his body tightly held together. It looked as if he was in pain.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
He grunted and slammed his fist into the floor, grinding his knuckles into the stone.
"Shut up!" He finally shouted, the sound crashing against the stone walls and echoing loudly in the empty room.
Eyes wide, she froze and held herself very still, waiting to see if he was going to make an attempt to move near her. She glanced around the room, weighing her options if he did lose grasp over his control.
After a few minutes, the heat subsided, and the flame on the torch eventually died back down. Cain slowly lifted his head back up, though he kept his eyes closed. He leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms tightly across his chest. Exhaling sharply, his lips tightened, and he began clenching his jaw once more.
Adelyn slowly laid back down on the bed and cautiously closed her eyes. After a few minutes of silence, she finally succumbed to sleep.
Chapter Eight
Slowly rolling onto her back, Adelyn groaned aloud as her muscles protested. Clearly, she hadn't moved at all during her sleep, she surmised with a grimace. Blinking into the now well-lit room, Adelyn gingerly rolled her neck from side to side. She turned
her head and immediately sought out the space next to the bed.
Slightly alarmed that Cain was no longer seated on the floor next to the bed, she lifted her head off the pillow and was relieved to see him standing on the other side of the room with his back to her. Even though he hadn't seriously hurt her yet, she didn't want to let her guard down just yet. Besides, there was no harm in knowing where he was at every waking moment.
Satisfied that he was across the room, she laid her head back down on the bed and stretched out, trying to soften up her stiff muscles. She sighed and longed for her own bed. As comfortable and warm as the bed had seemed last night, she now found it to be the complete opposite. No wonder it looked like it hadn't been touched in years. She had no doubt that Cain usually slept on the floor, as he did last night. It was probably an improvement over the bed.
If he slept at all, that is, she thought to herself. Maybe daemons didn't require sleep.
Pulling herself up into a sitting position, she carefully moved to the edge of the bed as quietly as she could.
If Cain heard her moving around, he certainly didn't give any indication. She looked over at him once more and noticed that he was wearing different clothing than last night. She briefly wondered where he kept all of his clothing while she examined the dark grey shirt and black pants he wore. His hands, which had been streaked with dried blood last night, looked freshly cleaned and devoid of any scrapes or cuts.
He appeared to be staring down at his feet, and Adelyn followed his line of sight to see that he was staring down at the open, half-charred book that had been strewn across the floor last night. She lifted her head and leaned forward as best as she could to try and see what was inside the book. It was too far away for her to read properly, but it appeared to be just text.
She looked up again. He was still staring down at the book, perfectly still.
She frowned as a sudden thought occurred to her as she looked down at the book again. Was he reading?
Here...there....where?
Adelyn's head jerked up as she heard faint whispers. She frowned and glanced up at Cain.
There...here...there...here!
"Are you talking to me?" She blurted out, alarmed as the whispers became louder and more frantic. It sounded as if several different voices were whispering in her ear.
Cain's head slowly turned around to look at her. She noticed the cut on his forehead was gone as his eyebrows deepened into a frown. She was relieved to see the fury gone from his face. Rather, he looked only mildly annoyed at her outburst.
Found it...here...here...we're here...found it!
Adelyn's heart began pounding as she realized that Cain couldn't hear the whispers. Each voice sounded different as they grew louder.
She shrieked as the door to the room suddenly burst open, a loud bang echoing through the room, then again as the door hit the wall a second time. Gideon all but ran into the room, one hand covering a gun on his hip. He stopped just short of ten feet from Cain, keeping a respectable distance.
"We have trouble," Gideon said curtly.
Cain slowly turned his body around to face Gideon. Adelyn expected him to fly into a rage at Gideon's intrusion, but the same annoyed expression remained on his face.
"Fuckers saw past the illusion. Our cover is blown."
"How many?" Cain's voice was soft, but Adelyn heard it clearly.
"A lot," Gideon replied, finger twitching on the gun holster. He was eyeing Cain carefully as if he expected him to lash out at any moment.
An angry growl sounded like it came out of Cain's throat. Nervous, Adelyn slid off the end of the bed and stood up, ready to run at a moment's notice. Gideon saw the movement out of the corner of his eye and turned towards her. He looked shocked to see her standing there. He quickly masked his surprise with a nasty scowl.
"You think she had anything to do with it?" He asked angrily, jabbing a thumb in her direction.
"What?" Adelyn froze as she felt her stomach drop. "Had anything to do with what?" She glanced between the two.
Cain didn't respond. Instead, he strode out of the room, fists clenching and unclenching at his side. Gideon quickly turned and followed him.
Bewildered, Adelyn ran out of the room to follow them. They were halfway down the hallway by the time she got to the door. Picking up the pace, she tried to catch up.
"What's happening?" Her question was drowned out by Gideon's voice.
"What are your orders?" Gideon asked, boots stomping on the stone floors as he matched Cain's pace.
"Tell Donovan to get his ass down here," Cain's voice echoed in the hallway as he reached the stairs. "I'm going out."
As Gideon turned to climb the stairs after him, Adelyn saw a grin on his face. "Oh, this should be fun," he almost sounded eager as he began climbing the steps.
Adelyn followed them both but kept a few feet between herself and Gideon. There was no hiding the fact that he didn't like her, and that gun on his hip made her incredibly nervous. It would seem anti-climactic to live through her encounter with Cain only to be shot by a surly Gideon moments after being released from the cellar.
Cain reached the top of the stairs and shoved the wall open with barely any effort. Light spilt down the stairwell, and Adelyn followed Gideon's shadow until she reached the pantry floor.
The kitchen door flew open just as Cain reached it. Pytho barely had a moment to register who was in front of him before Cain reached out and roughly shoved his body out of the way. Pytho fell into the counter, knocking down several pots and pans as his arms flew wide to catch his balance. Without breaking his stride, Cain disappeared through the kitchen door, Gideon hot on his heels.
As silence settled over the kitchen, Pytho shook his head, frowned, and straightened himself. He kicked a pot out of the way and did a double-take as he noticed Adelyn.
"You're alive?" He quickly stepped forward and grabbed her elbows, the pot forgotten as it continued to clang loudly on the floor.
"So far," she gave a nervous laugh and grasped his forearms, relief flooding her body as she realized she was in safe company. "What's going on?" She asked quickly.
"We're under attack," Pytho's demeanour changed as his voice turned low. "Remember the guardians we told you about?"
Adelyn nodded.
"Yeah, they're here." He grabbed her shoulder. "Come on. We need to get you somewhere safe."
"Not back down in the cellar?" She asked sardonically as Pytho reached for the kitchen door.
"I think you'll be safer somewhere else," Pytho replied as he grasped her hand and led her down the hallway toward the west end of the Manor.
The hallway was eerily quiet, Adelyn noticed as she grasped Pytho's hand tighter. The small amount of physical contact brought a sense of comfort as she tried not to think about what was happening outside. A quick look at the grandfather clock as she passed it confirmed her suspicion that it was the middle of the night.
Their footsteps echoed loudly down the hallway as Pytho led her to a door opposite from the main entrance. He let go of her hand.
"I've never been in this room before," Adelyn watched as Pytho reached into his pocket and pulled out a key.
"You weren't supposed to," he replied as he unlocked the door and stepped inside. "Watch where you step."
Adelyn felt her eyes widen as she took a step inside the room. "Is this a joke?" Her mouth released the words before she could contain them.
The room, which must have been a library at one point, was littered with weapons. A long table that stretched the length of the room was covered with boxes; some sealed, others wide open and filled with ammunition. Several handguns were lined up on the desk just inside the room, and she could see that a few rifles were propped up against the wall.
"If you think this is bad, you should see Gideon's room," Pytho grinned, reaching for a handgun. He reached inside a box on the table and shoved a few clips in his pockets.
"Why do you need all of this?" She asked as she stepped over a sm
all box to reach the chairs near the fireplace. They were the only pieces of furniture in the room that weren't covered in either boxes or weapons.
She paused and stared at something shiny just by her foot. "Is that a machete?"
"Where?" Pytho frowned and looked up from his search inside a box. "Oh, gimme!" He reached out his arm and made an impatient gesture with his hand as his bright green eyes seemed to light up.
Adelyn gingerly picked up the weapon and handed it to Pytho. "Is it yours?" She asked, incredulous.
"No, it's Gideon's," Pytho grinned, then stared happily at the machete. "He's going to be so pissed off. Anyway," he turned serious once more, "Back to what I was saying."
"Guardians are difficult to take down," he continued as he searched around the table. "Guns make it easier." He grabbed something off the table and walked toward her. "Here," he said, arm outstretched.
"What?" Adelyn asked as she felt cold metal being pressed into her hand. She looked down and saw that Pytho was pressing a small handgun into her palm.
"Keep this," he said, demonstrating how to turn the safety on and off before leaving it off. "If anything comes through that door, aim for their head and shoot."
She wasn't sure how she felt about having a gun in her hand, but at the moment she thought it best not to think about it. It was welcome at this point. "And if one of you comes through that door?" She asked, eyebrow raised.
"Don't shoot," he grinned again before grasping her shoulder tight. "Stay in here and keep quiet," he demeanour became serious. "With any luck, they'll bypass this room entirely. I have a feeling they're trying to find the gate," he straightened and dropped his arm from her shoulder. "We'll try to keep them out as long as we can, but I don't know how many of them are out there." He turned and walked back towards the door. "Do not hesitate to shoot," he called out as he reached the door and stepped through it. "Promise me," he turned back around and stuck his head inside the room.
"Hey, you don't have to tell me twice," she replied, gripping the gun tighter in her hand. "Just don't blame me if I accidentally blow your head off."