His dark voice trails down her spine, lighting a path of desire that renders her breathless. "If only I were in a position of no consequence."
Alia's breath wavers when the pad of his thumb slowly glides across her bottom lip.
"Then I could give in...
She tries to reach in front of her for the blade that was thrown out of her hands, but the pain in her knee and wrist is blinding. Skin tears underneath the tightening vines, warm blood dripping onto the floor. A low whine radiates out of her chest, claws lengthening as she struggles to touch the dagger.
The tips of her claws manage to scrape the edge of the blade just as a bolt of lightning strikes the ground outside a window. Shattered glass pours into the home whilst furious wind and rain blur the view of the forest outside. The deafening whistle makes her instinctively tug her hands to her ears, breaking her unlatched wrist even further.
Wind invades the room. The blade is blown across the floor towards the arched doorway, far out of reach, and Alia can't help the aggrieved cry that slices out of her. Rain follows, and it makes her squeeze her eyes shut as it soaks her clothed back and bare legs in seconds. She tries to curl in on herself but the golden rays hold strong, and only then does Alia realise that they've stopped pulling her apart.
A monstrous, blinding bolt slams into the house, shaking the walls and making deep cracks zigzag across the ceiling. Plaster crumbles to the floor, revealing the stone above.
Alia begins to cry, hot tears streaming down her cheeks as she's exasperated by her inability to escape. She's terrified that the ceiling will collapse on them both, and she won't be able to do anything to stop it. Lightbulbs explode, glass scattering across the floor as the violent wind sends the room into darkness.
The vines release her, trembling whilst they look towards the window where the threat of electricity lives in the air. They sink into the ground before her next breath, and Alia has to take a moment to wonder if they even grabbed her in the first place.
The weather calms shortly after.
Moonlight streams through the broken window, lighting the dark living room as Alia tries to turn onto her back. Her knee is disfigured, ankle bleeding as raw flesh peeks through the torn skin. She cradles her broken wrist to her chest, tears mixing with raindrops as she tries to catch her breath and regain her energy.
Alia uses the soaked couch to manoeuvre herself onto her unharmed foot, lower leg dangling painfully from her disjointed knee. She spares a glance at Valen, who remains bound, and realises that she won't be able to free him at all.
Movement at the window startles her. Dark shadows climb through the shattered opening, sliding down the wall to fill every corner of the room. Alia's heart races, and she looks over her shoulder at the blown-away blade. With every hop, she curses the Gods, despising their meddling with Valen's life. She wants them to leave him alone.
She wants them to leave her alone.
The shadows swallow up the blade, the ceiling, the walls, until the entire living room is darkness itself. Alia doesn't have a chance to speak before a calm, tempting whisper slips into her ears:
Sleep
The shadows catch her when darkness invades her waking mind, enticing her to a deep slumber.
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