Lyra's POV
I hit the water with a loud smack, and the water spread, splashing everywhere around the bathtub. The ice felt like rocks under me, triggering more agony that radiated from my butt up to my brain.
Spasms rippled through me, and I shuddered in the bathtub, just as I struggled to catch some air for my aching lungs.
I had longed for his touch, longed for his warmth, and my lips had puckered up, begging and hungry for that kiss he was about to deliver. But what had ended it all was pain—the same pain I have had to contend with all through my entire existence across lifetimes.
But what was I expecting from a version of the man I loved that doesn't love me—his love—his touch? He can't give me any of those. Right now, I was a walking reminder of the biggest mistake he'd ever make in his immortal life—falling in love with a human, who was doomed to die before she clocked thirty-one in every lifetime. Sometimes when Zarek was overly enthusiastic, I wouldn't even make it past twenty.
I winced softly through my teeth amidst my struggle for hair. My palm on my chest as I gradually guided my breath. The memory of when he'd dropped me flashed in my mind, but I shook my head to shake it away, refusing to remember the look I had glimpsed in his eyes when he did—that raw hate that has reduced me to nothing.
I shook my head again, trying to shake it off completely. Having some control over my breath, I rose up gently from the bathtub, my body glistening and slick with water, as I dropped slowly to the stone tiles.
A maid grabbed me a towel from a small set hung on a towel rack a few feet away from the bathtub, giving another maid the other edge to hold. Then they closed in on me to wrap it around me.
I had lived lifetimes in this castle, enough in the future to know the demons could slip poison into anything—even a bath towel.
My eyes strayed to the maids free hands—the slim, almost human hands dangling beside their petite bodies—there were no daggers.
I sighed with relief, a lightness flooding my chest. But then, my breath caught immediately again.
I had witnessed before how fast they could produce a dagger if they wanted to. They couldn't teleport like Draziel, Zarek, and Varin, but being demons as well, they were just as fast.
I jumped away from them and the towel, circling away from the other maids too.
Their head flinched back, startled, and their eyes narrowed on me. They stared up at each other, rambling something in their local demonic dialects excitedly—perhaps how to murder me upon Zarek's orders. Draziel had asked to treat them accordingly, but the only way I can do that is to avoid them. I still have to save the future Draziel. I can't afford to die here.
The maids with the towels walked closer again to drape the towel over me.
"Stop," I screamed, throwing an arm forward to stress the word. They froze on their way, holding the towel on separate sides like a banner. I walked backwards, watching them closely, making sure my gaze covered every one of them while ignoring the bewildered expressions on their faces. I could care less about their confusion.
I bent low at a point, my eyes still fastened on them as a collective, and I snatched my clothes from the floor. I hurried into them as fast as I could and draped Draziel's robe over my shoulders.
I sniffed the earthy scent of my Draziel still clinging to the robe, and I felt some strength slip into my arms. Somehow, the scent of him gave me strength. I was ready for a fight if the maids ever chose to attack me. The present Draziel may forsake me, but not the future one.
I kept my arms forward still, to keep the maids from coming after me, while I continued walking backwards until I left the bathroom completely.
Then I spun fast into the room, only to collide against a huge body. My eyes flickered on the robe, even before it jumped to the face—Zarek. I jumped away from him, almost dropping back into the bathroom, a loud, aching gasp tearing out of my throat.
I stared up at him, my eyes wide with fright on my forehead, so that I couldn't blink. My heart was beating so hard, it pulsed loudly in my ears in a low, slow, ominous rhythm.
His whole face dissolved into a smile as if that would make him appear less evil to me. Just like the maids, the best way I wanted to treat him accordingly was to avoid him, not having him so close around me. He leaned out his arms as if to grab my shoulder.
The ominous rhythm of my heartbeat growing louder. I threw my eyes fast everywhere around me. I found a rod beside the bathroom door, and I snatched it, poking it straight for his neck.
"Stay away from me." I yelled at him.
His hands froze mid-air, and his gaze dropped to the rod, prickling his neck. He grunted, turning briefly in frustration as he threw his hands back to his side.
"I thought Draziel said he has spoken to you,"
"Yeah, he did," I answered, still holding the rod to his neck. My hate unfiltered from my voice, which made him groan more with frustration as he dropped back from the rod. "He says you aren't evil now. But I know he would say anything to make his beloved brother feel and look good. And even if you aren't evil now, you will soon be. I know that for sure." I snorted, my jaw tight with disgust.
Zarek threw his muscular arms in the air, grunting more from defeat this time than frustration. His gaze narrowed down on me. "What can I do to make you believe that I am not evil? I really want to be your friend, Lyra. Draziel said your name is Lyra," he said. He sounded so sincere I almost believed him—almost. I can never trust that the man that killed me more than a hundred times before could possibly be a good person, even in his past.
"Yeah, I am Lyra. And the best thing you can ever do for me is stay away from me. That way both of us are happy. The less of you I see, the happier I will be."
I heard soft, gentle footsteps graze the stone stiles behind me—the maids. I glanced back with the aid of my peripheral vision—the maids were walking out of the bathroom. Quickly, I pushed Zarek back with the rod, and I ran forward until I was completely clear of the bathroom. I stood in a position where I could cover both Zarek and the maids with the rods.
The maids stole quick glances at me as they filed into the room and then towards the door. I could see in their eyes that they thought I was crazy, though I couldn't decipher their demonic whisperings to be sure.
Gladly crazy I am, I muttered under my breath. I would rather be that than unalived. Not when I still have a purpose to live—saving Draziel from his future death.
Somehow, watching the maids seemed to have stolen my attention a bit from Zarek. When I shifted completely to him, I found him already before me.
I lifted the rod to attack him, but he knocked it out of my hands. "I have to show you something," he forced a smile at me. Then he grabbed my waist. Before I could struggle from his grip, he teleported out of the room with me.