~LENORA'S POV
My eyelids felt glued shut, as if they were desperately trying to shield me from the nightmare that had swallowed my life whole before I slept.
Memories clawed at my mind, the swirling portal that had yanked me from the world I knew, Zephyr's fierce and possessive grip on my arms, Lucian's calculating gaze that seemed to strip me bare, and that eerie, blindfolded man with silver hair that cascaded like moonlight down his back.
Please, please be a dream.
I willed it to be, my heart racing with a mix of fear and denial. I should wake up to Skye's messy bed opposite mine, our dorm's chaotic mess of textbooks and discarded clothes. Fear of the brutal truth kept my eyes squeezed tight, as if not seeing it would make it untrue.
With a shaky sigh, I finally opened my eyes, and dread crashed over me like icy water.
This wasn't my dorm.
The room was dim, lit only by flickering torches set in sconces shaped like clawed beasts. Shadows slithered across walls of cold, dark stone, swallowing the meager light.
Heavy tapestries of crimson and midnight blue hung above, depicting winged demons fighting armies of shadows that seemed to writhe in the flames.
A massive, ornate mirror leaned against one wall, reflecting the bed I'd slept in its canopy draped in black velvet, embroidered with silver thread that glimmered faintly.
Panic clawed up my throat, and I scrambled off the bed, landing barefoot on plush, midnightblue carpet that felt like a lie in this cold, harsh place.
My bag sat neatly on a carved wooden desk, like someone had anticipated I'd need it.
I yanked it open, rifling through phone, wallet, keys, pepper spray.... all there, mockingly ordinary in this nightmarish place.
I grabbed my phone with trembling hands and desperately tried to think of someone to call.
Jason's name popped into my mind immediately, but the memory of what I had done made the guilt bite deep into my conscience.
I had cheated on him with two different people, and the shame of it burned in my chest.
I forced myself to shove those thoughts of Jason aside because I knew that survival had to come first if I wanted to escape this place.
I checked the screen of my phone only to realize that I had absolutely no service. The weight of helplessness settled like a heavy brick in my stomach as I realized how alone I truly was.
How do I get home?
Mum would kill me for missing Saturday at the hospital... and she'd probably care less about me being kidnapped, her disappointment and hate towards me was already a familiar wound. She'd probably hate me more than she already does.
This is bad. This is really bad for me.
"I need to get out of here," I whispered, the words barely audible. I strapped my bag across my chest with my heels on my hand, holding them by the straps.
The door creaked softly as I pulled it open. A long, silent hallway stretched before me, torches casting dancing shadows on walls adorned with more dark tapestries, making it seem like the shadows themselves were moving.
Both left and right were identical endless stretches of dimness, like choices didn't exist here.
I crept down the hallway, my bare feet making no sound on the cold stone floor, the only noise was the soft rustle of my clothes and the thump of my heart in my ears.
I reached the end of the hallway and stopped at a fork in the path where I had to make a choice I wasn't ready for.
The left side was lined with torches that had weird blue flames, casting a cold, icy light against the stone walls.
It looked like a path that required a lot of calculation and might lead to answers, but it also looked like it was full of traps.
The right side was lit with bright red torches that seemed to be eating up the darkness. It felt like a much more dangerous route, but at least it looked like a path where I could actually take some action.
I had no idea what would happen to me if I followed the blue flames, so I decided to go to the right instead.
I had barely taken three steps when someone suddenly yanked my body backward with a lot of force.
I stumbled into a room where the darkness completely swallowed me up, and I immediately started to panic.
I was hyperventilating and my hands were flailing around as I tried to grab onto anything I could find.
Then I saw them, two dim fiery lights in the shape of irises which shone brighter every second, like embers being fanned to life.
I finally figured where the light came from, and saw him standing there, making my heart completely freeze in my chest.
The memory of the way he had touched me and grabbed me when he kidnapped me slammed into my mind all at once.
I felt a mix of fear and anger twisting inside of me as the lights in his eyes grew brighter, showing off the sharp planes of his face and his strong jawline.
"Dove," he murmured in a low voice that sounded both amused and predatory.
Zephyr.
He finally lifted his hands away from my mouth, but his fingers brushed against my lips as he pulled back.
He stared at me with a cold expression and asked, "Running? You really think there is anywhere for you to go?"
The flames in his eyes seemed to flicker even brighter as he leaned against the wall behind him.
He crossed one ankle over the other with a casual power that made it clear he wasn't worried about me getting away.
He snapped his fingers and red flames erupted from his fingertips dancing in the air like fireflies before settling onto the torches in the room.
The space blazed with a warm crimson glow and I stared transfixed by the flames in his eyes, the flames that had sprung from his fingertips and while my mind reeled, this isn't a trick.
Halloween was over but this... this feels real.
Every instinct screamed at me to run. Every thought whispered that I was utterly trapped.
And yet... my gaze lingered on him.
I chuckled awkwardly and gripped my bag tighter as I tried to keep myself grounded. "No, I didn't think that," I said, and my voice actually came out steady, which felt like a miracle considering how much my head was spinning.
Zephyr's gaze dimmed as his eyes turned back to a dark onyx color. He pushed himself off the wall and took a slow step closer to me.
He made a low humming sound like he was thinking about something, but his expression stayed completely unreadable.
"You are not going anywhere," he said, his voice dropping to a cold, detached tone. "And you definitely are not allowed to wander around."
I felt a surge of hot, fierce anger because I was tired of him telling me what I could or couldn't do.
I squared my shoulders and looked him right in the eyes. "Let's get one thing straight, Zephyr. The moment we shared meant nothing to me, and you need to make sure your brother understands that, too. If either of you thinks it gave you some kind of claim over me, you're dead wrong."
He raised a brow at that, and I saw a flash of amusement cross his face. Even though he was trying to hide it, his eyes sparkled as he looked at me.
"And?" he asked.
"And I'm also sure Halloween is over, so you can stop with the act. You probably already won for best costume and trick anyway," I said, trying to inject some levity into the situation.
I forced a sharp glare at him instead of letting my face crumble, and Zephyr's gaze narrowed as if he was seeing right through my mask.
He took another step closer until his chest was almost brushing against mine.
"I need to return to my dorm. I have somewhere I'm supposed to be right now," I added firmly.
I reached for the doorknob behind me with my heart racing, but before I could even turn it, his arm wrapped around my waist and yanked me back into the room.
My back hit his solid chest, and the impact forced the air out of my lungs. He held me there, his grip possessive and tight, making it impossible for me to move.
"Not so fast," he murmured, his voice dropping octaves lower, sending a chill straight down my spine.
He leaned in until his face was right against mine, and I felt his teeth catch my earlobe in a sharp, sudden tug. The sting of it made my breath hitch, and the heat of his body seemed to wrap around me like a cage.
"You are remarkably brave for someone who does not realize she's trapped," he whispered, his breath ghosting over my skin. "In this realm, I do not let go of things I've decided to keep. And what I keep, I own completely. You're exactly where you're meant to be, Dove."
He spun me around to face him, his dark eyes glimmering in the red light like a predator savoring his prey, and I could only stare while my pulse pounded in my ears.
I realized, in that instant, my fate was no longer mine. And for the first time, I understood how small, and utterly exposed I was in this world of fire, shadow, and these otherworldly creatures.
He pinned me against the cold, unforgiving metal of the door, cuffing my hands above my head, making the metal bite into my wrists.
"Let me go!" I screamed, my voice raw with panic as I thrashed against him. "Let me leave before I scream, before the police get involved—"
"Police?" His laugh was low and mocking, and he sounded genuinely amused by the idea.
"And what exactly would the police do? Do you think they are going to march through the gates of Hell just to rescue you?" His breath brushed against my ear, warm and deliberately close.
"My boyfriend's father is the sheriff," I said, my voice cracking with desperation. "And I promise you won't be coming out of this alive if you don't let me go!"
The second I mentioned the word 'boyfriend' Zephyr's eyes flickered with a sudden, dark intensity. Crimson flames ignited within them for a brief second, and the pressure on my arms spiked so hard that pain lanced through my entire body.
His fingers suddenly locked around my throat in a grip that wasn't crushing, but was heavy enough to make my pulse jump against his palm.
"You want your human-toy's daddy to put me behind bars?" he whispered dangerously close to my lips, a slow, dark grin curling at the corner of his mouth.
"Your tongue was buried in my mouth just hours ago. How quickly the tables turn, Dove." He tsked at me, showing a mock disappointment as his eyes glinted with cruel amusement.
His gaze dropped to my mouth, lingering there for a long moment before he leaned in even closer.
His grip on my neck suddenly tightened, his thumb pressing firmly against the side of my throat, before pulling me flushed against him until there wasn't a single inch of air left between us.
"Do I need to remind you who you belong to hm?" he murmured. "Because I don't recall you fighting me when I had you pinned against that wall. I remember you begging for more."
I tried to pull back, but he didn't let go. Instead, he tilted his head and dragged his tongue slowly across my bottom lip.
I flinched from the sudden chill of his piercing, but I forced myself to keep my eyes locked on his.
Even with his hand still heavy and dominant against my neck, I refused to look away from that glowing crimson gaze.
He finally released his grip and leaned back just an inch, giving me enough space to actually look at him.
My eyes drifted upward, and that was when I really focused on them. When I first saw the horns curving from his temples, I had just assumed they were part of his costume.
But looking at them now, with everything I had just seen and felt, there was no way to deny it anymore.
"The horns," I whispered, the words barely leaving my throat as the reality of it hit me. "They were actually real?"
My mind was completely scrambled. I had been plucked from my normal world and dragged into this nightmare, and now I was standing face-to-face with a being that shouldn't even exist.
Zephyr tilted his head slightly, his expression staying perfectly calm. "Everything here is real, Dove," he murmured, leaning closer to me.
"And you're never going back to a world where it isn't."