Queen

I snuggled against the warmth. My entire body was cold- freezing. The moment I felt the heat, I clung to it. My entire body was aching, every movement I made was a painful one. I heard thunder. Then water hit my face and my eyes fluttered open. Green eyes met mine and rage filled me all over again.

I hit him. Hard. Then a searing pain shot through the side of my face. He winced. "That'll do it." He flexed his jaw in pain before looking back at me. "Don't hurt yourself, Princess."

My heart did a double take as recognition filled my eyes. I wanted to throw my arms around him and kiss him everywhere. My entire body was setting off pistons wanting the same thing...but my mind...something wouldn't let me. He said something and then raised a brow. I furrowed mine in return. "Can you stand?" he repeated, his voice weak.

I nodded and he moved to set me down. My sleeve rose as I held onto his forearm and I withdrew. Not any quicker than I usually did anything and a raw pain pulsed through it. I winced and Syn reached out. When I flinched away, he dropped his hand.

"I'm not wearing the bracelet." He held his arm up. "I didn't realize that inside the barrier...we'd be connected again. I'm sorry."

He was covered in blood, from his mouth to...My eye caught onto his hand over his abdomen and I realized my own was in the most pain I had ever experienced. But I couldn't focus on anything but him. His grey long sleeve was a dark maroon over below his hand. He was still bleeding.

I reached forward, moving his hand. He winced when I lifted his shirt. The sight shattered my heart into a million pieces and I became still. Dozens of gashes covered his toned stomach, red painted his tattoos, and above all else...he was still bleeding. How was he standing?

"Does it hurt?" I asked him.

A ghost of a smile tugged at his lips and he tilted his head. "Not any more than you flinching away from me every time I try to touch you. I know he looks like me...did he do something?"

I shook my head, dropping my hand to my side. He nodded, his eyes fluttering for a brief moment. He shook his head as if he were fighting sleep and I took a step toward him. I didn't want to hurt him.

While I tried to decide how and where to touch him, he pulled me against him. His arm wrapped above my shoulder, holding my head to his chest. He was being careful of my broken arm, but as I wrapped both arms around him, I realized the pain had faded. It was faint, the reminder of it still there but it wasn't as paralyzing as it was before.

I was healing, but he wasn't.

I relaxed a bit into him. Craving that warmth once again and I closed my eyes, giving in. It slowly began seeping into my cold skin- slowly drowning out that darkness. The feeling was addictive. He slumped against me. "Princess.." His voice was hoarse.

"Hm."

"D-did you kill Lilith?"

I nodded against his chest.

"Okay," he whispered, running a gentle hand down my hair.

"Why?"

"Oh. Only because you're killing me too," he grumbled out.

I frowned, moving out of his arms. His skin was pale, his eyes a darker green as he coughed up blood. I did this to him? My hands shook as I tried to touch him and panic filled me when I realized I couldn't. I couldn't touch him. "Why didn't you tell me?" I held my hands together against my chest to stop myself.

"You seemed hungry."

Tears pricked my eyes. "You're an idiot." My voice broke as I realized that this was my fault.

He laughed. "Maybe. Or maybe I missed being in your arms. I do love you, you know."

"We need to get you out of here." I looked around. When I saw the barrier still up, I turned to Syn. "Where is he?"

"I have no idea," he whispered. "I'm sure he's not far. We fought and I left him bleeding out from one of the artifacts. But when I came back out, he was gone."

The artifact...

"He has to be dead then, right?"

He had to be.

He looked up. "Apparently not."

If even the artifact couldn't kill him...how could we? I was barely strong enough and Syn...he wasn't exactly in a state to do anything. I chewed at my lip. "Do you need blood? Would that help?"

He shook his head. "No. I'd need a lot more than you'd be able to consciously supply. And I need you safe." I wanted to argue that but he gave me a look that read; End of discussion.

I sighed, biting back a response to his stubborn attitude. We were soaked. The raindrops dripped down his hands, making the blood mix and spill down to the floor. He sucked in a sharp breath, looking around in thought before holding a hand out for me. "Come here."

I shook my head. No way I was going to touch him. He looked so close to passing out already. I couldn't lose him. I'd never forgive myself. "Shouldn't we go inside? We can at least get weapons--"

"He is inside, more likely than not. And I am not sure how much longer I can fight this. I can hardly even see you..." he said, hand still outstretched. "Come here. Please."

"Syn, I can't. What if I hurt you?"

"Just don't." He pulled me to him until I was less than a few inches from him and my breath caught as he looked down at me. His wet hand-- I didn't know if it was water or blood, rested on my cheek. I leaned into his touch, that craving filling me. I closed my eyes, fighting against it and relishing in the cold. "You're much stronger than you give yourself credit for, Princess."

Pfft. I looked to the side.

"You are." He leaned in, tilting my chin up to him. He held my gaze. "You are, but I need you to believe that. I need you to trust yourself and if you don't, trust in the fact that I trust in you. And I don't trust many people."

I nodded slowly.

"You don't believe me yet. But you will," he said, his voice soft. "And when that time comes. I'm going to need you to be the one to save me. Can you do that for me?"

"What are you talking about?" I heard a footstep come from around the house and I moved my head to look at it. He heard it too, but he didn't pay it any mind.

Another step. Then another but all of his attention was on me.

"I am in love with you, and I will always love you. No matter what," he said. "Save me. And then I will save you. It's what we do, okay?"

What?

He grabbed my shoulders before I could express any more confusion and spun us around. I saw a glimpse of movement behind him and then the sound of a gunshot pierced through the air. I watched it hit Syn, his green eyes fluttering shut-- then it hit me. The pain shot through my back, splintering out into thousands of ripples and I fell forward onto Syn.

I was writhing on top of him, the pain all-consuming. I heard him cough under me and my eyes moved to him. You idiot. I was wearing my engagement ring. It was spelled. If I were the one to get shot, I would have survived. It was a regular gun.

But Syn, as close to death as he was took the bullet with me. The only difference was that something as small as this could end it all for him after everything his body had already been through. He coughed up blood, his breathing harsh and tears spilled down my face as I reached out for him- don't. I had to remind myself as I held my hands back. I wasn't going to take the last bit of energy he had. I would've given all of mine to him at the moment if I could've.

"Syn, no," I sobbed, memories of our wedding night years ago passing through my mind. It wasn't the same. He died last time, but our positions were still the same. Both of us being shot, yet me being the only one who was protected. The pain I felt that night crashed into my body and tripled over as I watched his breathing slow.

"So it is true," I heard Aiden say. "You're still fucking connected to the bastard!"

His words were nothing but a scream into the void.

I couldn't lose Syn.

Not again.

Not ever.

Something broke in me earlier and I thought it fractured everything in me that could be broken. But then something else snapped in me. In my chest, as I screamed for Aiden to drop the barrier. The last bit of warmth I held in my heart was snuffed out. It crackled and popped, obliterating into itself until my breath was seized from my lungs. The wet air around me wasn't what fueled me anymore. It was something innate. All the darkness. That emptiness.

In that, I found that comfort again. And I held onto it.

My eyes were open the entire time, but a new field of vision was open to me. The raindrops slowed around me, turning into blood droplets when I looked at them and I pat my eyes. I was crying. I forgot how or when. I wasn't sad.

The blood poured, turning into black smoke when it landed on Syn. I watched a few drops of it fall onto his face. They slipped down the curve of his mouth and disappeared between his lips. He was still as the drops fell, painting his face red. After a few moments, his throat worked and he swallowed the blood.

The cut on his lip was the first to heal and a sense of relief filled me-- somewhere inside. It wasn't close enough to bring a smile to my face, but he'd be okay.

That momentary victory was crushed when Aiden snapped his fingers and Syn's almost healed arm broke once again. I screamed out, the jolt of pain knocking me out of the stillness. The raindrops turned back into raindrops and if it wasn't for the lingering feeling, I would've thought I imagined it all.

"No magic," He said, throwing a pair of cuffs down beside me. "If you fight me, I'll empty the chamber into his head. You know he won't survive them all. Now put the cuffs on. They'll block your power. You will wear them until I figure out how to remove Lilith's energy from you."

He was right.

I wasn't even sure if Syn would survive one more.

Another shot rung out, making Syn's body jolt beside me and I spurred into action. I put the silver cuffs on me and they glew a bright red, burning my wrists. The locks worked, tightening around my wrists and Aiden smiled.

"Perfect," he said. He bent down and grabbed the back of Syn's shirt.

"Don't hurt him." Please. I wanted to beg him but my mouth wouldn't let me.

He paused. "You have some gall, young girl. He is going to die, and if you don't behave, you will too." I blinked and he tilted his head side to side, weighing something in his mind. "Matter of fact..." He pointed the gun at my head. "We need to work on trust in this relationship. One day, I will trust you. Just not today."

He shot and I felt a ringing pass through my ears. There was a throbbing in my head as I fell onto my sides. I was still. Out of my body as I watched him pull Syn away from me. He dragged him up the stairs by his shirt, disappearing with him into the house.

And my eyes fluttered shut.

꧁꧂

It was the smell that zapped me out of my consciousness. It reeked. The smell was reminiscent of molten flesh and puke, making my nose crinkle in disgust. I moved and felt my arms restrained behind me. The sound of chains and plastic filled my ears and my eyes shot open. I blinked, my eyes meeting the audible fluorescent above.

The basement.

I heard a groan from the side of the room adjacent to me and the sight of Syn chained up made something in my chest cave in. He had been having that effect on me today, but this was different. This was cruel.

His shirt had been discarded and his hands were restrained above his head. He was on his knees, his upper body and face a battered mess. There were new stab wounds on him-- in his arms, his neck, his chest...His body shifted a bit to the side and a sob caught in my throat as bleeding red letters caught my eye.

The word SINNER was carved into his side and right below it; STELLA.

A misshapen heart was drawn beside her name and a wave of anger passed through me. Not because of what was written, but because the name of someone who abused him was carved into his skin. Torture was bad enough but that was unforgivable. Even the most evil souls in Hell didn't go that far.

I fought against the chains and a groan erupted from Syn's throat. "I didn't mean to wake you, Princess." His head hung low. "I tried not to..."

"Don't talk," I said, my voice more emotional than I thought it'd be. At least he was awake. Awake meant that he was okay for now.

"Ah!" I heard Aiden cheer as he came down the steps. "You're finally up. We were having fun, but he wasn't screaming. I got bored."

I tried not to...He didn't scream because he didn't want to wake me. I closed my eyes, fighting back the overwhelming emotions.

When I opened them, Aiden was wiping a knife with a rag. As he approached me I caught sight of the handle of the weapon. The artifact. Was that what he was stabbing him with? I clenched my jaw. If it was, then they'd be permanent scars.

"Notice anything different about me?" he asked, holding his arms out. I didn't look. He clicked his tongue a few times before going to Syn and kicking his side. The sound made me jolt on the floor and my eyes immediately scanned him.

"Stop it, I'm looking," I said quickly. "I'm looking."

He wasn't in Syn's body anymore. If my memory served me correctly of the homeless man I met all those years ago, he was back in his own body... His dark hair was greasy, ending at his shoulders and his frame was stocky. Muscular, but not built. He wasn't as big as Syn- not nearly as tall. I could take him.

"Do you like what you see?" He asked, turning as if he were showing off a dress. "I figured you'd want to see a familiar face and we go way back, don't we?"

"Yes." I nodded, not wanting him to take my silence as a reason to inflict more pain on Syn.

He smiled and tilted the knife at me before jerking it toward Syn. "Tell him."

I looked at him in confusion. "T-tell him what..."

"About us." He looked at me like it was obvious. "Our relationship. How we met...all the good stuff."

"Umm...I," I started, unsure exactly what to say as I looked between him and then Syn. His eyes were swollen shut, still faced to the ground. I tore my eyes away from him."We met when I was eleven. He had been lingering around Xyla and I--"

"No!" He snapped. "That did not happen."

"Okay." I nodded. He wanted the bullshit. "I met him after school...on the streets. He was hungry and Xyla and I offered to buy him lunch at this one place we went to all the time."

"Yes..." he nodded, drawing a chair to sit down. "And..."

"We ate?"

"No, you're skipping the best part." He laughed before looking toward Syn. "My girl over here used to be quite the liar-- still might be, but she got me arrested. On false charges, of course, and there is no judicial system in Heaven, you know. I was locked away. Sold. And tortured by Jeradua for almost a decade." His jaw ticked before he forced a smile. "But it's okay. I forgave her. Tell him the rest."

He raised his brows at me, expectantly and I swallowed. "Well, he escaped...then found me. And he's been watching me ever since. He became Aiden when--"

"You're skipping a big part of our story, darling."

"I don't understand..." I admitted.

"We had sex, didn't we?" he asked and I watched Syn's body tense. "Tell him about that too. Don't spare any details."

꧁꧂