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“You wish it were that easy.” The fae actually chuckled as if things were moving back in his favor. “One minute of freedom back in reality. If she thinks of me within that minute, she’ll perish.”
I could hear Viktor’s curse while the fae laughed proudly.
“Let the real challenge begin!”
“Wait—” Viktor shouted but it sounded as if a glass had shattered, pushing us back to reality.
My body dropped into another as we both fell to the floor, the sound of glass crashing at our feet alerting me that we were out of whatever magic prison we were in.
Before I could move, energy surged all around us, leaving me to open my eyes and glance over my shoulder to see Viktor’s wild eyes that were filled with an equal dose of panic and anger.
“Did you just stop tim—” He had me in his arms and was slamming the door of what I realized was a dressing closet of sorts.
Pressing me against the door’s surface, he was right in my face while his aura overpowered me with ease.
“One minute. I need you to concentrate on me for one solid minute,” he practically begged as his silver eyes were filled with fear. “You can’t think about anything else but me, you understand, Willow? Nothing else.”
“B-But…” I croaked the word while trying to bring myself up to speed with what the flying fuck just happened, but he immediately pressed against me as if to prevent my body from going anywhere else in this boxed space.
“Willow, I’m begging you,” Viktor pleaded. “Just one solid minute.”
He made it seem so simple, and maybe if I was thinking logical and not in survival mode it would be easy to accomplish, but my frazzled brain was struggling with the concept.
Concentrate on only him? What’s going to happen if I slip up? It has to do with what just happened, right? Who the fuck was that—
"Willow!” Viktor had his hands on my shoulders as he shook me out of my mess of a thought process. “Only me!”
“T-That’s fucking hard!” I practically screamed back. “Only you?! How the fuck am I going to do that? I can’t even process what just happened!”
“You don’t need to, Willow!” Viktor stressed. “The moment I start time, you have to focus just on me. Not on what’s happening or just happened. Only me.”
Easier said than done…
"See, if this was a damn elevator, I’d attempt to comply.” I really didn’t know what the fuck I was talking about at this point, but maybe I was delirious or something.
Shock does that to you…I think?
“What does an elevator have to do with anything, Willow?” The poor man already sounded exhausted with the idea of arguing with me, but I swore there was a point in explaining the difference.
“Elevators are moving metal boxes that force you to ride with another for x amount of floors which means you have to focus on their energy as the time clicks by! It’s easier to obsess over someone in an elevator than a dark closet filled with random costumes with lingering scents of random people!”
The way this man stared at me was as if he were really debating whether to save my delusional ass or give up trying.
"You’re so lucky I love you,” he finally answered.
“If that’s supposed to be a compliment, I take it with open ar—” He tugged me forward, and my body had no choice but to press into his warmth. Thank goodness he hooked an arm around me because I felt queasy from the shift in our surroundings—the dark cube space shifting into a bright silver one that was decorated with mirrors.
One look at my reflection could be the perfect poster for a horror movie thanks to my bloody nose that was still dripping away and my raccoon eyes that made it seem like I hadn’t slept for days.
My skin was sickly pale, which made my tattoos and incantations far too striking in comparison. Adding the bruises and very obvious strangle blemishes all over my neck, I really looked like a victim of abuse that managed to get out before shit got worse.
At least I wasn’t completely naked. That had to be a good sign, right?
“Fuck…” I cursed and looked back at Viktor with a dreadful expression. “I look like shit.”
"I don’t even blame you,” he muttered, and yet he looked at me with so much passion and relief that it forced me to acknowledge only him.
“How can you still look at me when I look like used trash?” The admission made me feel a bit sad. Like I didn’t feel worthy of such an intense gaze that was only for me.
