AVERY
“How exactly do you plan on getting me out of here?” Cyrus asked me.
He was talking to me and he had even smiled once.
I honestly didn’t know what to expect when I came in here so because of that, I had braced myself for the worst. I assumed he was going to be mad at me for leaving him. I knew that he would never raise his voice at me, but the thing with Cyrus was that he wouldn’t have to raise his voice. Only his look would tell you just what he was feeling and when I came in here, he had looked both sad and dissappointed. Knowing that he was disappointed in me, was even worse than being scolded at.
But now, he was talking to me and he was smiling. It was impossible to convey the amount of relief and happiness I felt. I had to hope it showed in my eyes.
I remembered his question.
“Um, I don’t know yet.” I looked up at him, my chin resting on his chest through the wide space the iron bars provided. “I was thinking maybe we could come up with some things that makes you stronger, while we tell him the opposite.”
My eyes caught on the injury on his forehead, and I found myself growing pissed again. It was so close to his eye. Just an inch, and it would have been a different form of scar entirely.
“Lycans aren’t like witches.” He shook his head down at me, but with a small smile on his face. “Things don’t just make us stronger. We only grow stronger with time and age and unless I’m looking to be in here for years, there’s no way to get out.”
I guess this was his way of trying to tell me that my plan was dumb. He just didn’t want me to feel bad.
“To be honest, I didn’t think as far as that.” I grumbled, my eyes falling to his chest. “I just really wanted to see you, that was the most important thing.”
His hand traced my cheeks tenderly, his way of telling me that he appreciated my efforts. His hands trailed from my cheek to my lips, tracing the outline, and judging by the look in his eyes, I could tell that he would very much prefer it if his mouth replaced his fingers.
Except that we couldn’t. Not here.
We were already taking risks by being this close to each other and talking. I was pretty sure that whoever was monitoring the cameras probably suspected us. But did I care at the moment?
No.
It had been so long since I touched Cyrus, since I felt his skin and it felt like I was starved for him. I was hungry for his touch, his scorching kisses, and his burning eyes that left a trail of fire anywhere it touched on my body.
“Actually,” his voice dragged my eyes up to his, pulling me out of my thoughts. “There is one thing that makes us stronger.”
“What?”
“The moon.”
“The moon?”
“A full moon.”
I was intrigued. “How so?”
“A direct light from a full moon, fills us with tremendous power. It’s just like we are being charged by the light from it. ”
“Wow.” I breathed. Okay, I couldn’t believe that I was saying this, but his powers sounded cool as hell. I mean, getting charged by the moon? How cool was that?
He was amused. “How are you not freaking out?”
My eyes darted. “Because I’m not?”
Did he not get me when I said that I was okay with who he was? It was probably too soon for for him to completely come to terms with the fact that I was accepting him for who he was, and it was soon for me too anyway, seeing as I had made the decision only a few hours ago. The thing was that, I was actually okay with who he was. I didn’t care how long it took to prove it to him, but I was willing to do it.
It was the least I could do anyway since I was partly to blame for all this.
Maybe if he had been with me, he wouldn’t have gone out to drink that night and these people wouldn’t have captured him. He had been drunk. I couldn’t imagine Cyrus drunk.
“Cyrus…” I waited until he looked at me before I continued softly, “In the video, you were drunk. Why?”
He drew back, putting some space between us and I hated it immediately, but I wasn’t going to force him to come back. He scratched his jaw, eyes going dark. “The past week without you has been rough. Really rough.” He swallowed. “Drinking doused all my feelings, made me feel numb. It was the better option over thinking about you non-stop all day.”
My heart ached. “Baby.”
God, I was such a fool. I was so stupid for leaving this bold, strong, beautiful old man. What on earth had I been thinking?
It had been a rough guess when I assumed that he had drank himself to a stupor that night because of me, but hearing him confirm it now, was a different thing. Whether I wanted to believe it or not, this man had real feelings for me. And I was starting to see it.
“Hey, stop doing that to yourself.” He touched my cheek. “All that is in the past now.”
This man was so thoughtful. He was always thinking about how I was feeling and trying to make me feel better.
I shook my head, coming out of it. “Yeah, so,” I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. “So the moon. How are we going to make that work?” I glanced around, taking in the cell room and the corridor. There were no openings that could lead to the sun above. “How do we get the moon’s light to touch you?”
“The only way is to get me out of here.”
“He might not agree to that.”
“Thats the problem.” He sighed.
I took my first look at him. He looked so tired now, even more than he did when I came in. Maybe I had been so focused on the fact that I was finally seeing him, that I had not actually paid attention to how he looked. How utterly tired he was. It tugged at my heart.
“Look, don’t worry about it, Cyrus. I’ll convince him to get you out. I’ll come up with a ridiculous idea and he’ll buy it. He bought the first one right? So why won’t he believe me this time?”
I was trying to convince myself at this point.
His nostrils flared, anger flaring in his eyes. “He bought your idea because he wants you.”
I knew this was true, so I didn’t bother to argue. What I didn’t know, was how Cyrus clued in on it so quickly. He had said it before and I dodged the topic. There was no dodging it now.
“He… I can tell he’s interested in me, but I plan on acting like I don’t see it.”
That still didn’t reassure him, but he didn’t say anything.
I checked the time on my phone. It was getting really really late and as much as I didn’t want to leave him, I knew that I had to. Unless I wanted to sleep in here with him. But that asshole general wouldn’t allow it.
“Cyrus, I have to go.” My heart was heavy as I told him, “I need to try to convince the general into letting you out.”
His eyes dimmed and he nodded. “I understand.”
If there was any other way I could leave here with him tonight, I would.
“The next full moon is in two days. Which means you have less than a day to convince him.”
I nodded. Was it possible to convince the general to let a man he had only just captured, out of his cage, simply because he believed the words of a stranger that claimed to know everything about the man he had captured?
Just as I made to pull away, he caught my hand and stopped me. I thought he was going to kiss me-which was insane since there were cameras, but he said, “Slap me before you go.”
“What?” My head reared back in shock. “I’m not going to slap you.”
He was dead serious. “You plan on going out there to tell him that we talked, right?” I nodded and he continued, “It’s the only way he’s going to believe that this ended on a bad note. There are cameras, Avery, he’s going to watch the tape.”
God. I knew that what he was saying made sense, but at the same time, I did not want to hit him!
“Do it.”
Fuck.
I squeezed my eyes shut. I had no choice.
Rearing back from him dramatically-so that the anger on my face was visible to the cameras-I slapped him hard on the cheek.
He didn’t even turn, didn’t even look like he had felt it at all. Instead, his eyes were lit with humour. He mouthed ‘good’ to me, before I turned and stormed the hell out of there, hating that I had to hit him, but chuckling when I remembered the look in his eyes.