Arsheus
I had to hurry.
My damp clothes clinged to my chest as I moved around the castle, avoiding any patrols whenever I heard them approaching.
Up until now they hadn't caught me yet and I hoped it would stay that way, but the longer it took me to find what I was looking for the higher the chances of getting caught were. Fortunately Ria had made such a mess that I was sure no one would question why I wasn't at the ball.
She had looked so cute when her face turned all red and she threw the wine all over my clothes. What I had loved the most was her anger. She had been really angry, not just pretended anger, as she looked at my hand laying on the filthy angel's shoulder.
I liked the way she looked when she coveted me. Maybe I should have to do it more often.
I smiled as I took yet another flight of stairs downwards.
My real goal was upstairs, up where the elders lived, but first I had to make sure she was safe. She had gotten caught because of us. It was the least I owed her.
I was perfectly conscious that if I rescued her I probably wouldn't be able to get what I wanted, but Rin would never forgive me if I had a chance to save her and let it pass me by because I had more important things to do. As a matter of fact I was sure he'd murder me himself then.
The stairs leading down became darker and darker with every step I took and whenever I walked shadows enveloped me it seem as if I was walking into darkness itself. Fortunately for me there were no more guards around so I could afford to make a little bit more noise, but I couldn't be too sure yet. The dungeons were down below and I was sure those would be heavily guarded.
I went down another flight of stairs and finally encountered some guards.
I noticed their heartbeats as soon as I was near and stopped, hiding behind a pillar as darkness enveloped me.
I'd have to take them out.
I thought about fire and blood.
A few seconds later the guards were writhing on the floor as their blood boiled them alive, screaming in pain.
Pity no one would ever hear them since I had cast a silencing spell all over the area. They could scream to their heart's content and no one would ever know.
I smiled when I walked over to where they were, avoiding the puddles of blood all over the floor.
I loved that one trick except for the fact that it created too much blood. Otherwise it was perfect.
I jumped over a bigger puddle of blood coming from the guard's open mouth in a last silent scream and reached the prison.
It didn't even have a keyhole, but that was no problem.
I pushed all my power outwards and the door slowly creaked open.
That was easy.
Way too easy.
I stayed on guard as I walked inside, lighting my hand to see where I was walking. The whole thing was as filthy as I remembered or even more. There wasn't even a single ray of moonlight entering the prison.
From my sides, inside the cells, I could hear the prisoners screaming and begging me to save them.
I glared at them and they shut up, recoiling in fear.
They had been tortured and yet they were more afraid of me than of their kidnappers when I hadn't done anything to them at all. It was always the same. It was amusing seeing their fear.
I smiled as I walked further and further away from the door and into the higher security areas.
There were no more guards inside, but the further I walked the more I could feel magical protections all over me.
As I moved I had to focus on them to disarm them before they could skewer me and light me on fire. It wouldn't kill me but it would surely hurt and alert whoever was in charge and I didn't want that.
It didn't take me long to reach the final cell.
Inside it I could feel a familiar heartbeat.
She was here.
I placed my hands on the metal, letting go of the light, and pushed with all my strength.
The metal creaked under my hands before it did a final attempt at life and went down hard.
Inside, her breathing turned more frantic as her pulse spiked.
I walked inside and up to her.
" How are you?"
She relaxed the moment she saw me as a smile spread across her lips.
" Hi, Arsheus"
I smiled back, but it was a fake one.
Her whole body was covered in wounds and she was missing a few fingers in her right hand. I didn't know how she was smiling.
Allea must've seen where my gaze was going because she looked down at her right hand and wriggled it.
" Yes, I lost a few, but that isn't a problem"
I clenched my fists looking at her. She was so brave. I was sure she had been scared when they had begun torturing her and yet she pretended she wasn't for my sake.
If I wanted to go and kill every single one of those bastards then I could only imagine what Rin would feel when he saw her. Knowing him he would rush straight inside to get revenge, not even caring about leaving her alone.
I had to fix the worst parts of the damage before he saw.
I gave Allea my hand and helped her stand, pouring my healing magic into her as we walked.
I didn't take my eyes off her hand as I watched how her fingers grew back and the purple bruises in her skin went away little by little.
Only when she was completely healed and let go of my hand, saying she was fine did I finally completely let go of my magic.
" Where's Rin?" The first question she asked wasn't about herself or where I was taking her. It was about Rin. Those two were a perfect match.
" He's outside. We'll be with him soon"
Even though the light in my hand didn't light everything up I could see the faint smile on her lips as she thought about reuniting with Rin.
Now we just needed to reach the highest spire and fly out of here, but first we needed to go get Ria. Despite being an enemy and the daughter of a high ranking angel I still needed her and for some reason my heart refused to let her alone inside here, so we were going back to get her.
" We're going to the ballroom"
Allea looked at me confused. She probably thought we were going to the spire to fly off, but I needed Ria.
" Why?"
I ordered her to shut up as we approached the door.
I opened it as silently as I could and walked over the puddles of blood and the three guard's corpses. I could've cleaned everything and left no proof, but it seemed like way too much work for something that could be left as it was. I wasn't planning on staying here for long enough to let them find out about the corpses.
Once we were far away enough from the dungeons and I couldn't hear any other heartbeats I answered Allea.
" There's someone I need to get"
Allea looked flabbergasted as she followed behind me, taking the stairs up one at a time.
" Who is it?"
" An" How should I describe her? She wasn't a friend, but she wasn't an enemy either. She was something in between. " Someone I need"
Allea looked at me with the same expression Rin always got when he wanted to tease me and I gritted my teeth.
" Someone you need? Is it a girl?"
I knew I could ignore the question, but she'd meet her soon enough.
" Yes"
Allea made a happy sound as she eyed me up and down.
" So you finally got a girlfriend?"
I was about to correct her and tell her we weren't like that when I heard a heartbeat approaching us.
Allea heard it too. Her expression became seriously as I hid the both of us with shadows as the guards passed us by, too busy talking amongst themselves to properly check their surroundings.
They seriously had to up the security here. Getting in had been a child's play.
It didn't use to be like this. They had gotten used to being the top dogs in here, but that would change soon enough.
I eyed the stairs leading up and then at Allea.
Maybe I still had time to run there and get Ria later.
" Let's hurry"
Allea's hand grabbing my own pulled me out of my own mind.
What was she so worked up over?
" What's wrong?"
Allea pulled harder as she walked faster and I had no other choice but to follow her.
" Did you hear what those guards were saying?"
" I didn't pay them any attention"
" They said the elders are coming down to greet everyone in a few minutes"
Fuck.
We had to hurry.
We reached the ball in record time as we ran through the dimly lit corridors, making sure no one saw us.
Once we were outside I pushed Allea behind a pillar and hid her with my shadows.
" Stay here, but first"I gently grabbed Allea's chin and placed her mouth in my neck. I needed a convenient excuse about what I'd been doing all this time" give me a hickey"
Allea raised her eyebrows, but didn't say anything else as she sucked on my skin. I felt nothing as she did it. My body didn't even register it as a kiss and I was sure it was the same for her too.
I wondered how it'd be with Ria. I was sure she would bite harder as she spewed cuss words. She would tell me she hated me as she sucked on my skin.
Allea's mouth pulling away from my neck sent me back to reality.
I had to focus. I sent that image to the bottom of my mind and cleared my throat.
" How does it look?"
Allea tilted her head and smiled.
" Perfect"
Great.
Now I needed to get going.
" Hide in here" I pointed at the closest pillar. One that was close enough to see but not to be seen. In that sense the dim lighting made me a big favour.
" Okay"
Allea didn't complain as she made herself comfortable in the pillar, looking at everywhere to make sure the elders weren't coming.
I walked away from her and closer to the ballroom.
" Can you hear me?" I heard Allea's melodious voice coming from my ear as if she was right by my side. One of the advantages of the shadows was that I could hear what they heard.
" Yes" I whispered so as to not to call the attention of the chamberlain, who was looking at me, waiting for me to say I wanted to enter.
" I'll keep watch. I'll tell you if I see them coming "
" Okay"
I whispered one last time and walked up to the chamberlain with confident steps.
He didn't even ask me for my name or title as he opened the door and I was met with the waste that was the ball. Everything was shiny and big, as if they wanted to show everyone how powerful they were.
The only thing they managed to transmit was that they were desperate for attention. That was all I felt when I looked at the glass walls and golden chandeliers. I saw someone with an inferiority complex trying to make up to it.
It didn't take me long to track Ria down. She was sitting with a blonde woman and smiling as they chatted.
Was she betraying me again?
For a second my heart bleed thinking about it before I remembered I had ordered her to not betray me and that she couldn't physically do it.
I exhaled and walked over to where she was seated, wine glass in hand. What was she doing then?
" So you're here"
When I spoke Ria raised her head and looked at my neck.
The woman besides her looked at me with pure disgust and then patted Ria's shoulder. I didn't know what that was about and I honestly didn't want to know either. We didn't have much time left.
" Let's go"
I grabbed Ria's hand, but she resisted me. She pulled back, her eyes glossy as she looked at me with pure disgust.
" What were you doing out there?"
Was she... jealous? Or was she just interpreting her role?
I couldn't tell. She was way too trashed for me to be able to read her heartbeat. It was erratic and fast as she walked away from me and into the other woman's arms.
She also didn't seem to be in the best condition. The both of them stumbled as they looked at me with hatred, as if I was scum.
I didn't have time to deal with this.
We had to get out of here.
Ignoring all the empty glasses on the table, which were enough to topple a horse, I grabbed Ria and threw her over my shoulder.
Fortunately no one even seemed to care about what I was doing. For angels it was common for married couples to quarry and it wasn't that uncommon for a man to carry his wife.
No one even batted an eyelash at my actions, but they did eye the hickey I had told Allea to give me as a cover up.
All of them seemed happy with their new gossip as they turned to murmur among themselves. The only one who didn't seem amused and was rather angry at me was the woman Ria had been talking to.
She was glaring at me.
I ignored her piercing gazes and held Ria better in my shoulder. She was thrashing so much I was afraid she'd fall off, but fortunately I could still hold her.
" You motherfucker. Let me go!!!"
I ignored her screaming and hitting as she clawed at my back.
Her nails were sharp and created wounds all over my back. I could feel my sticky blood all over the wounds, but I couldn't heal them. Not yet anyway.
I walked through the doors without anyone stopping me and walked over to the pillar where I had left Allea.
When we were there I finally let go of Ria and threw her to the floor, healing the wounds in my back.
Ria looked at me and bared her teeth.
" Who do you think you are, you little piece of shit?"
I couldn't stop my eyes from looking at her mouth.
It wasn't that I hated dirty talking, but rather the opposite. Her words set my blood on fire.
My cock reacted the same way as my mind played escenarios of her saying those same words in my bed, my body sprawled all over hers. My cock twitched, begging to be inside her.
" Hello"
I snapped out of my own lust spiral when I heard Allea's voice. We were on a mission. That was right. I would do this back at the inn.
Ria stared at Allea from the floor, glaring at her, her eyes darting between my hickey and her.
" Whatever"
Ria got up with wobbly legs and stumbled all the way to the pillar.
" We should hurry"
Allea's serious tone made everything clearer. We had to hurry.
I grabbed Ria and carried her in my arms, she was way too wasted to walk by herself. She didn't stop yelling and thrashing, so I did what I did best.
I ordered her to stop.
I felt her body going limp in mine as the shouts stopped. I hated doing this, but we needed to run away.
I hated myself a little more as I watched the hatred in those red eyes of hers.
My heart throbbed and bleed, hurt beyond measure. It shouldn't have hurt. She had betrayed me once. She could do it twice. Why couldn't my stupid heart understand that it was probably all a plot?
I clenched my teeth as I walked to the highest spire. We had to get out of here.