𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 // 𝐧𝐢𝐤𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐢 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐯

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐭𝐰𝐨. 𝐫𝐮𝐧

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Run

     The door opened with a loud creak, waking Estelle from her trance-like state. Ana had been moved to the cell next to her, but she was still asleep. She looked so...peaceful.

Estelle glanced over as best as she could with her drooping eyes. It was a Grisha that looked somewhat familiar in a blue kefta with red embroidery.

Immediately his name came to her mind. "Daniel." He paused, a plate and a glass in his hands. "Daniel, help me."

"I..." he stopped. "I can't."

"Yes, you can, Daniel," Estelle tried to convince him. "You know how evil the Darkling is, come on, please. I need you to help me."

He looked conflicted, his hands shaking. "I'm not supposed to talk to you."

"And who gave you that rule?" she choked out. "The same man who's been torturing me. Please."

"She's a tricky one, Daniel, isn't she?"

Estelle hadn't even heard the door open, but she could now see the shadow of the Darkling along the wall behind Daniel's. Daniel flinched, flattening himself against the wall.

"She'll twist your mind, make you believe her lies," he said nonchalantly. "Don't be embarrassed that it almost worked on you, though. You wouldn't be the first."

Estelle sighed, letting her head drop again from exhaustion.

"Take her food back to the kitchen," the Darkling told him. "Her and her little friend will have to starve."

Estelle yanked at her bonds. "Go to Hell," she growled.

"Hmm, your temper seems to have only grown," he mused as the door closed behind Daniel. "I was hoping you'd be a little more...compliant."

"And I was hoping you'd be dead, yet here we are," she snapped back.

He narrowed his eyes. "If that was a threat, I might need to give you a lesson on proper treats, because it simply just wasn't that threatening."

She watched as he unlocked the cell door, trying to blink away dried blood on her eyelid. He left it open, most likely just to taunt her. Make sure she knew that she'd never win. She'd never be able to be free. She was his prisoner now.

The Darkling tossed the keys on the ground, not only an arms length away from her, then gave her his signature smirk. The creepy one that made her skin crawl, not Nikolai's that made her smile.

Estelle immediately cursed herself. She needed to stop thinking about him. Most likely, he was wherever Alina was. And if she thought of him too much, she'd see him and lead the Darkling straight to them all.