“Let'skeep moving,”Iordered.Wehad a long way to go.
Chapter 68
Pallas
Iwoke slowly, my body and mind trapped in thick sludge that held me in unconsciousness.Theroom, the dungeon cell, slowly came into focus.Lightfrom a few torches bounced off the stone walls as the squalor of long-forgotten prisoners assaulted my nose.Thatwoke me more than anything else.Isat up, my hand instinctively going to my neck, where the metal of my collar sat ice cold despite my skin's attempt to warm it.Itried to pry it off; my fingernails scraped my skin asItried to wedge them underneath, but pain shot up the back of my neck to my skull, andIdidn’t persist.
“It’sbeen sealed, you can’t get it off.”Luxos’ dark voice sounded from the corner of the cell, where he sat wrapped in shadows.Isnarled at him.
Helet out a soft chuckle. “Howferocious you’ve become, butIlike that in a woman.”Heapproached, his shadows slowly curling out to run over my skin before he reached for me.Itried to slap them away.
“Don’tfucking touch me!”Painshot up through my skull again, andIgritted my teeth as tears welled in my eyes.
Hisshadows recoiled, and a frown flicked at the edges of his mouth. “You’reluckyIwas there,Pallas.Hewould have killed you ifIhadn’t stopped him.”
“OrmaybeIwould have killed him if you hadn’t stopped me.”
Hesaid nothing, his frown deepening.
“Youlook awful,”Iobserved.
Thedeep burn scarTorihad given him was visible on his neck, still a vivid purplish red thatIknew still hurt; her dragonfire left a lasting mark.Ieyed him up and down, but he still said nothing.WhendidIbecome the talkative one?
“Youshould have just let me die,ShadowWalker.I’drather be dead than collared to him.”Heowned me, but my mind was still my own, at least for the present.Iwasn’t disobeying, so in truth,Ifelt fantastic.Iknew that would all change quickly.
“Whosaid you were collared to him?”
Ibolted upright.Iraised my hand to the metal thatIhad crafted.Myhand drifted over the gem at its center.Magicrushed through my fingertips, but it didn’t feel likeHadeon.Healways felt electric, the unnerving feeling of your hair standing on end just before the strike.Hotand erratic and loud.Thismagic was soft, dark, an endless void of shadows.Luxoshad bonded the collar to him.
Hechuckled at my surprise. “YouthinkIlearned nothing from you over all these years?”
“Why?”
“Ihad to show you were controlled.Thatwas the only wayIcould get you out alive.Don’tact dumb.Itdoesn’t suit you.”
“It’snot like you to put yourself at risk for someone else,Luxos.Perhapsyou can understand my confusion.”
Suddenly, he was on his knees before me, his hands on my thighs.Thetouch was familiar, but the collar amplifiedit, sending shivers through my skin straight into my lower stomach.Pleasure, to reward my compliance.
“Pallas,Itold youIwould protect you, even from yourself!Howcan you still act as if you don’t knowIwould do anything for you?”
Westood still for a moment, my body growing warmer with his touch; the collar's magic begged me to give in.Itpromised me everythingIhad ever wanted.Peace, gentleness, pleasure, and most of all, love.Lovethat so felt like that golden lightTorihad once shown me.HowIhad created such a perfect replication for the magic of this collar,Iwould never know.Butthat’s all it was, a replication, a glamour, a lie.
“Luxos, if you had really cared for me, you would have never touched me.”
Hisresponse was immediate. “AndInever did, not until you asked me.”
“No, you just used to drug me soIwould forget.”
“No,Idrugged you so you wouldn’t remember, so you wouldn't tellHadeonInever touched you.Hewould have assumed thatIjust wanted someone else, whichIdidn’t.Atleast, on those nights,Icould look after you.AtleastIknew that… no one else was hurting you.”
Mymind was racing.Fordecades,Hadeonhad been sending me toLuxos, just as he had to so many of his other commanders and courtiers.Inever rememberedLuxostouching me, violating me.Ithad made it easier.Inever dreaded those nights likeIdid the others.Sometimes,Ieven welcomed them and the void of being that came with the hot cup of tea he had always served me.Ialways assumed... but there was no lie in his voice, in his eyes.
“Why?Whydid you hide the best part of yourself from me?”
“I’mnot a good man,Pallas.Justone fighting to survive, just like you.”
“Andyet you always stayed.Itwould have been so easy for you to leave, to disappear.Whydidn’t you?”
