The Golden Chalice

✰✦✰ Chapter 37 ✰✦✰

✰✦✰ Chapter 37 ✰✦✰
" Kidnapped "

MY HEAD HURT like someone had flung a bloody anvil against it.

My ears were ringing.

Freezing sweat dribbled down my back.

What is happening?

I rose from the cold ground with a groan, clutching the part of my head that was clearly sore. I remembered collapsing to the ground, so that must've been the reason why.

Finally, I opened my eyes and let my surroundings swallow me. Darkness engulfed the scrungy dungeon cell I was in. Dirty, dark, dingy.

The lamest excuse for a bed sat beside me; what I presumed to be once-white sheets besmirched with a scarlet substance and plenty of ashy stains. Like a bed that hadn't been slept in for centuries. I wasn't one to thank a kidnapper, but I wished to do so after noting they'd instead abandoned me on the floor.

The cold stung my skin again, stabbing it and I glanced down at my clothes—filthy and stained now, too. A once beautiful grey corset bodice with a black corset top, intricate with floral pattern in various shades of gold now soiled with the griminess of this dungeon cell.

My teeth chattered furiously and I glanced down at my feet, feeling the cold slice me again at the sight of the bareness of them.

I couldn't make much out beyond my own cell. There were torches throughout whatever corridor was behind the rusty bars but I couldn't see anything but walls for the time being. I wondered if that would change.

I didn't know why I was once again so calm about having been kidnapped but—

My stomach churned and the gears in my mind began moving again:

I must not have been the only one to have been taken.

The Olympian of Death had known they were there—waiting for me to signal to them. There was no chance in hell he'd not take that opportunity too. It hit me—how worried I was for them. For people I'd met mere weeks ago. Heavens, even Darius and Miles.

I ran my hands through my tangled hair and wondered how we'd gotten here. I remembered the days where Sarinne and I would spend our summer evenings at the lake, swimming around with fish and occasionally spotting Qualidas—if we were lucky—whilst drinking Sparks, even at the age of fourteen and sixteen. We'd laugh and laugh until we were so tipsy that Sarinne decided it'd be best if we went to bed. I remembered the days where we fought over the silliest things like sisters did and how we'd not even apologise to one another after—we would just act as if nothing had happened. I remembered how awful I was at cooking that Sarinne forbade me from ever doing so without her being there.

And the last time the two of us had spoken, she'd ran away from me because she was afraid of what I'd think of her after having found out she had once kidnapped someone back on Crimson Isle. The reminder of her only being fifteen when I first met her only pained me more. She had been so, so young, and so undeserving of the hurt that had been inflicted on her. Her past was a mystery to me. A puzzle she never let me piece together. With a sniffle, I realised I'd never have the chance to try again.

I missed Jacks and Luna. I missed how Jacks's dry humour made me laugh and how Luna's unerring kindness never failed to shock me considering the world we lived in.

And Darius. And Miles. The two most idiotic, infuriating men I'd ever met. Miles was a stubborn, maddening and bothersome arsehole that I was still working on warming up to. Though I doubted that day would ever come, even if I tried.

As for Darius. . .the man puzzled me incessantly. He made me question my patience, my sanity, and even my intelligence sometimes, for wondering how I could possibly spend so much time with a vexatious bastard. On the other hand, I knew just how dangerous it was for me to stare into his eyes. Especially when they shone in the sunlight. I hated how often I thought of his stupid eyes and how often they made me want to sink in them. I hated how I was thinking of him right now. Of our kiss from only two nights ago.

Why in Olympia's name was I thinking of Darius?

I guess I can at least avoid him now.

What worried me more than perhaps dying here today, was the missing knowledge of where they all were. Knowing Sarinne, Darius and Miles, they'd probably handle it just fine. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if they'd been held captive before. As for Luna, as much as I loved her, I knew her panic would probably cloud her judgement and she'd be crying herself to sleep tonight. But Jacks—

A clang against my cell. It swung open and in stepped Apheses himself.

He smiled sickly. "Hello, Scarlett."