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I look back up at the manses Malachi fled to and see torches bobbing up and down on the edge of the town. More and more seem to flash into existence every second.He’s mustering his support. It’s now or never.
I look over again at Laiken, who is watching me intently, and nod.
“Yes,” I say. “Yes, we’d better get out of here.” Laiken grunts affirmatively and takes my hand, walking us toward the water.
“And Laiken,” I say, slightly apprehensively.
“Yes?” he responds, turning his head to look at me again.
“Thank you,” I say sincerely. Laiken only smiles and gives my hand a gentle squeeze. Then we dive into the water again, disappearing beneath the foam of the evening tide, Laiken’s tentacles holding me tightly against his chest.
18
LAIKEN
The water’s warm temperature has not changed, not with the bright sun bearing down on it, and yet I feel cold and detached
Penny’s whole body trembles against mine. I hold her close as we swim back home, her arms wrapped tightly around my chest and her face pressed against the crook of my neck. The tentacles surrounding my mouth hold onto her face, neck, shoulders, whatever they can reach, all in an effort to have her as close to me as possible. She shakes with a ferocity that I find concerning and can only assume that it is because the dark elf’s attempt to take her shook her more than I originally thought.
The way she seemed like she was giving up, waiting for the whip to fall…
“You are safe now,” I whisper to her, barely audible over the water rushing past us. “I will keep you safe.”
Penny says nothing, only tightens her hold and wraps her legs around my waist. She makes no attempt to swim alongside me, letting me do all the work of taking us home, but I do not mind. I wouldn’t need her help, anyway, even if she wanted to swim. Her weight is an easy one to carry in my arms.
As we travel, I find myself thinking back on the grotesque face of the dark elf. The way his lip curled ever so cruelly, the way he yelled. His arrogance was pathetic, as well as his temper.
And his audacity will be the end of him.
Anger courses through my veins like red-hot lava. Bloodlust fills my arteries, and my muscles tense with the need to tear muscle from bone. I’m no longer as angry with Penny, that is true, but nothing can shake the violent rage I feel towards her captor.
I want to rip him to shreds and savor his screams. I want to present Penny with his bones as the trophy that she deserves so that she knows she will never be in danger ever again and then grind them into dust so he is nothing more than specks of sand floating in the water.
Penny deserves the assurance as well as the satisfaction of his death, even if it was her lapse in judgment that allowed him to see her again.
A small hum sounds in my ear, and I realize I’ve been holding Penny a bit too tight. I relax, letting her reposition herself until she’s back to clinging comfortably, and my chest constricts with a possessive feeling.
She’s mine, she’s mine, she’s mine. The thought echoes in my head for an infinite amount of time. I won’t ever let her leave again. I’ll show her that she will only be happy with me so even the mere thought of running away again will sound ludicrous to her own ears. She’ll remain mine forever until something powerful enough wrenches her from my grasp, and even then, she will still belong to me.
“You will not leave again,” I tell her, this time much louder. It is a command. It is a promise. It is something that will last for an eternity.
In the distance, I see the opening to my underwater cave. I loosen my grip on Penny enough that she can separate herself from my grasp should she so choose. She doesn’t, a fact that makes my heart swell, and so I don’t let her go. This is our home now and carrying her all the way inside it while she clings to me is a tender act of affection.
I don’t let her go until we reach the air pocket, and I set Penny down just on the edge of it. My tentacles almost react on their own accord, not wanting to unstick themselves from her until I force them to. I don’t want to risk her getting flighty, I want her to stay, but perhaps it is better to be gentle than commandeering if that dark elf was anything to go by.
Still, I take her wrists in mine, floating in the water while she sits, and wait for her to speak. The moment is long and quiet, and she doesn’t dare lift her gaze towards mine during it. Her pulse is fast, filled with adrenaline most likely, but as the waves lap the edges of the floor, it calms down until finally, her eyes meet mine.
Her eyes are big, dark stones that glisten with unshed tears. Her mouth is downturned and stiff like she’s trying not to cry, and there are small water droplets barely clinging to her eyelashes.
She’s beautiful.
Penny’s life is worth a thousand others. Every section of her skin is worth its weight in gold. She is a trophy that warrants and deserves bloodshed if it would make her happy, and each second of unshed tears is enough for me to want to go back up to the surface and give it to her.
“What can I do for you, my dearest?” I murmur. Her wet hair sticks to her face, and I untangle a section that lays against her cheek, tucking it behind her ear with a gentle touch. “What can I do to make you smile?”
Penny says nothing and just shrugs, demure and sad. Her gaze drifts back down to the water’s surface, and I sigh, gently squeezing her wrist while keeping my other hand gently holding her cheek.
“Talk to me,” I ask. “Tell me what to do.”
