42. Thea

Chapter 42

Thea

T hea didn't resist when the Skull yanked her, her eyes unable to look away from Jax. A heavy collar locked around his throat, attached to thick chains that also bound his wrists. His muscles strained, sweat a slight sheen across his brow. She desperately wanted him to look at her again, to explain she knew what she was doing. But he didn't, instead his back hunched over, jaw clenched with concentration.

The pages had been placed on the floor in front of him, all three glowing gently against the candlelight.

She had no idea where she was, Roach placing a blindfold over her eyes before guiding her to a car. Concrete, steel beams and mould, that was what surrounded them. The walls were wet, glistening with the air uncomfortably humid. She tried to ignore the gentle patter from the man held on the hook, his blood dripping down into a pit that had crudely been built into the floor. Bile had burned her throat at the smell, but she'd managed to swallow it back down.

Weird thing to be proud of, but she was.

She'd moved well past fear, determination surging through her as she tried to keep herself calm and under control. When she was calm, she could call wild magic. Not that it would be much help.

They just had to survive.

That was it, her plan.

Simple, without much fanfare to distract her or go wrong.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

She was achingly aware of steel, the manacles throbbing where it touched her skin. They locked around Jax's golden bands, because of course the Skull couldn't take them off either. It meant the manacles weren't too tight, but the chain that joined them together was unnecessarily thick, the weight heavy enough that her arms quivered.

Jax let out a grunt, the sound barely audible before his body twisted painfully. His muscles seized, each one visibly rigid as the collar at his throat burned like coal.

"Stop!" she screamed, the seconds ticking away as Jax convulsed violently. "You're hurting him!"

Jax finally collapsed, arms trembling as he tried to keep his body off the floor.

"Continue," Gideon demanded, his voice edged with irritation. "Now."

Jax spit blood from where he'd bitten his tongue onto the concrete.

With a sound of impatience, Gideon marched towards her. "It seems he needs a little… persuasion."

Wrapping his hand in her hair, Gideon dragged her kicking and screaming across the space. In her panic, she knocked over a candelabra, the candles clattering to the floor. A few of them extinguished from the fall, while others rolled and revealed more of the room. Corrugated steel pressed against the furthest walls, half sunk into the concrete with wooden shelves. They were mostly broken or rotted through, displaying canned food gathering dust.

Where were they? A bunker?

Gideon forced her onto her toes, her scalp screaming as she reached up to grip the hand, trying to ease some of the tension.

"You'll read the pages." Gideon directed his words to Jax. "Otherwise, she will be the next to hang from my hooks."

"You don't understand how this works," Jax said, his voice guttural, strained.

Gideon's hand tightened, and Thea pressed her lips together to stop the squeak of pain from escaping.

"You'll need different catalysts, offerings to unlock each part of the text. Otherwise it'll remain unreadable."

A hand stroked along the side of her neck, coming around the front to caress her jaw. "What's the first catalyst?" Gideon asked.

Jax glanced at her for a split second, and she swore something tugged between them. "Celestrial blood."

Gideon released her without warning, her legs collapsing at the sudden weight. Jax rushed forward, arms stretched as if to catch her. But the chain stopped him, and her knees hit the hard floor painfully.

"Thea – "

"Touch her, and she'll be punished," Gideon said calmly, drifting over to grab the chalice while the blond haired Daemon hauled the angel up. A blade slashed from the angel's throat to groin, the flood more than the chalice could take as half the angel's blood and guts hit the floor.

Thea waited, holding her breath as the entire room stilled.

Except nothing happened.

Gideon's body remained a thing of granite, his anger palpable when he turned back to face Jax, his entire arm soaked with red.

"He was already dead," Jax explained.

"You never specified they had to be alive." Gideon's nostrils flared. "We'll have to try you."

"I'm not a celestrial."

"Yet your ancestry is."

Jax glared at Gideon as he approached, the chalice held in one hand and a knife in the other. He didn't fight, his posture defiant, strong despite being forced to kneel.

"Stop it!" Thea cried out, scrambling to her feet when a heavy weight struck her to the floor. Her front was forced against the concrete, knocking the breath from her lungs.

"Hold him," Gideon said to the other Daemon, who appeared behind to grip Jax's head steady.

Thea couldn't contain her scream when Gideon sliced lightly across Jax's throat. Blood sprayed, a gush that quickly stemmed to a trickle. The black stones that surrounded the chalice cracked, as if light was trying to break through.

Jax slumped once he was released, hair brushing forward to obscure his face.

Tears burned down her cheeks, still pressed to the cold concrete. She fought the weight on her back, but there was no moving the Skull that had her pinned, her hands caught awkwardly beneath.

Jax was still alive, his chest heaving as if struggling for every breath. His spine arched, head resting against his forearms. Slowly, his hands curled into fists, veins popping with how tight he held them.

Please be okay, she silently begged.

Gideon looked over his shoulder, the first of the three documents looking the same as the stones, but in reverse. The pages had darkened, with random slashes of white that revealed text. "What's next?"

At Jax's silence, he kicked him in the ribs. The momentum shot Jax onto his back, the red line of his throat raw, but not deep. Relief softened the sharp ache in her chest.

"Answer me," he barked, followed by another kick. "What's the next catalyst?"

Jax swallowed, causing blood to trickle from his wound. "It'll take some time to be revealed."

Gideon stilled, his smile on edge. He slowly brought the chalice to his lips, grey tongue licking along the rim before sipping the blood that had been caught. His eyes seemed to glow, the red burning like embers.

"Hurt her," he said to the Skull, his lips stained when he drifted across to place the chalice back on its platform. "Maybe you'll be more compliant after you hear her screams echo against my walls."

The weight on Thea's back left, the respite only lasting a second before she was yanked to her knees. She barely stifled the cry when the first whip hit her back. It split skin even through her shirt, her body tensing as the distinctive whistle of the weapon moved through the air seconds before she felt the pain.

She tasted blood, her teeth clenched so tight to muffle the screams that wanted to break free. But she couldn't keep them down, even as Jax roared, tearing at his chains and trying to reach her.

Thea fisted her hands, the manacles an uncomfortable weight against her wrists, and it wasn't long before the whip was changed to something heavier, blunter. Thea gave up, not screaming when she felt her first bone break.

Being tortured was not part of the plan.

But for him… she would survive it. She had to.

Her eyes felt bruised, heavy as she tried to open them. Her tender back was pressed against something like stone, the room cold and with a breeze that created goosebumps across her exposed skin. She wasn't sure how long they'd hurt her until she'd been dragged to a cell. Long enough for her to know she didn't want to repeat it. Ever.

She'd never seen Jax so feral, his usual calm fa?ade crushed beneath such violent fury. He'd torn his chain anchors from the concrete, and for a split second she thought he'd actually reach her. Except the collar had ignited, sending him to his knees and seizing his muscles.

They were going to kill him, she was sure of it. So, the plan had to work. There was no other choice, because no way was she losing him.

Groaning at the violent headache, she blinked past the blurriness, the room taking a second to come into focus. There were no windows, the air damp as if underground. It meant she didn't know how much time had passed, or whether it was still the same day.

Jax was chained to the wall opposite her, his body sagged forward and wrists pinned above his head in much a similar position to herself. The wound on his shoulder looked aggravated, the hole where the pipe had impaled him red and angry. Slices had been cut across his skin, some deeper than others.

"Jax?" she whispered, getting nothing in return. He didn't move, his chest barely stirring. Thea tried to wiggle closer, but the chain hooked to the wall above stopped her short. "J – "

A weight knocked into her side, falling with a thump to the floor at her feet. Forgetting the pain, Thea scrambled away as much as she could .

"Fuck!" Wild magic hummed inside her head, the annoying drum beat quieting as she shook her hands free of the power.

A Skull had fallen on his back, eyes open and deathly white. His skin had been pulled tight to his bones, and his cheeks somehow looked even more hollow. It was as if his life had been sucked out, leaving only the husk.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, stretching so she could kick him in the side and check whether he was indeed dead. He was. Or, at least, really good at faking it. "It was an accident."

She'd never killed someone with her power before, her stomach churning at the sight. A heaviness had settled in her stomach, a strange taste at the back of her pallet. She'd taken the Skull's essence into herself, and she had no idea how to get rid of it.

Everything ached, from the bottom of her toes to the tips of her fingers. She could feel her fingers, despite a particularly horrific memory of watching them be broken. Frowning, Thea wiggled the ten digits, and other than a dull throb they felt… fine.

Had someone healed her?

Or was she just losing her mind?

Trying not to overthink it, she reached up and pulled at the manacles binding her to the wall, the chain clunking so loud it was enough for her to pause.

Silence, no whispers or footsteps. Nothing but her own heartbeat, which was so loud it was ridiculous. Trying to calm herself, she pulled at her wrists once again. Her hands spasmed, but pushing past the pain, she managed to get the left free. The metal had cut her skin, and before she could hesitate, she used her entire weight to pull at her right hand. Stifling her cry, her hand came free, the momentum sending her to the floor, and on top of the Skull .

Scrambling back until she hit the wall, Thea stared. His torso had caved beneath her weight, as if his bones were turning to dust at the slightest touch. He must have been dead for a while, which was a whole lot of trauma she didn't have time to deal with.

Rubbing her wrists, she checked her fingers, happy that they were definitely not broken, just bruised. Jax's slim bands were still locked around her, although a bit scratched. She never thought she'd be thankful for the bloody things, but there she was. They'd stopped the manacles from being locked too tightly, and was the only reason she'd been able to escape.

"Jax?" she whispered quietly, dropping to her knees carefully in front of him. She cupped his face, wincing at the bruises and cuts marking his skin. He remained limp, eyes closed.

She knew she wouldn't be able to break him free of his manacles, his hands much larger than hers. Reaching into her hair, she pulled out a few pins from her ponytail. The lock was common enough, the metal heavy and aching against her fingertips. She unlocked his wrists quickly, catching his arms as they fell.

The wound on his shoulder gaped, wet and oozing. It was angled, and she had no idea how he could stand, never mind survive an injury like that. The tattoos surrounding it glowed when she hovered her hand, many of the delicate lines ruined from where his skin had torn.

"Just so you know, you don't have my permission to die," she continued to whisper, more to herself than to him. "It's not allowed, okay? You're far too infuriating of a man to die like this."

Her fingers brushed against the collar at his neck, the metal even thicker. It burned at her touch, and before she could pull back her hand, an electric volt surged through her body. Every muscle tensed, lasting a few seconds before her body sagged forward. She caught herself against the wall, careful not to put any weight on him.

She'd never felt anything like it, the pain so intense it locked her lungs. Spitting the blood from where she'd bitten herself, she carefully inserted the pins into the lock with shaking hands.

"Shit."

Giving herself a second to calm herself, she tried again. The click of the mechanism echoed, and before the collar could ignite again, she pulled it from his neck. It clattered to the floor, the metal burning like coal. Jax jerked, and Thea gasped as she found herself pulled against him.

"Thea?" he rasped, meeting eyes edged with silver.

She didn't pause, her hands sinking into his hair as she pressed her lips against his in a burst of relief. She wasn't sure what came over her, her body shaking as Jax gripped her harder. Her muscles hurt. Her bones ached. Yet she couldn't pull away, needing to feel his warmth against her skin.

He was alive.

"You need to leave."

"Of course not," she said, her voice hoarse. Probably from all the screaming. "Trust me, this is all part of the plan."