28. Kavian

Isit motionless at my desk, wondering what I have just done. Contrary to my body, my mind runs amok with an endless train of thoughts, all of them about Meera.

Sighing in defeat, I lean my head back on my chair, staring at the ceiling as I think of my brief but wonderful time with Meera.

Despite the mission of taking Gorran's slave trade down hanging over our heads the entire time, they were still the greatest days of my life.

"I guess it was simply too good to be true. How could a demon like me have a perfect woman like her? Do I deserve this for telling her I didn't care about humans?"

I shake it off, knowing my head is talking nonsense. The real reason prevails above all, knowing she's being sent away for safety and safety alone.

The thought of harm coming her way worms into my mind, of Gorran's goons or the xaphan himself slaying her, all because I deemed it safe for her to remain with me.

If that happened, I don't think I could ever forgive myself. As unshakable and stolid as I carry myself, every man has their limits.

"I love you. That is why I must let you go."

I glance around my study, remembering when we had sex in this very room. I can still hear her screams of pleasure in my head.

But something about them feels strange.

They sound a little too real, like screams of… terror.

I hear her scream again, shaking me to my core when I realize it's coming from outside the mansion.

In half a second, I run as fast as my feet will carry me. Each turn at the end of every corridor seems to take longer than normal, frustratingly so. Meera's scream rings out again, louder now that I'm drawing nearer.

You've failed her, I hear the voice in my head say. You couldn't even protect her.

"Shut up!" I yell, fighting off the horrific thought that the worst is coming to fruition.

I turn the final corner and see the doors in the distance. Sprinting for them, I can't help imagining what horror awaits me on the other side.

Meera's shriek at least lets me know she is still alive. I only hope she is in one piece. Hurling a shadow orb at the doors, they fly open just in time for me to burst through the threshold.

"The carriage!" I blurt out, seeing it tilted with two of the wheels broken off.

I look around, spotting no sign of Meera.

"How?" I snarl. "I heard her just a moment ago!"

But a blinding light flashes in front of me, distorting my line of sight for a brief moment. Through the gaps in my hands, Gorran materializes, and in his grip is Meera, held by her hair.

"Meera!" I yell.

At that moment, every ounce of blood within my body turns to ice. She cries out in agony, tears running down her face like a burst dam. The skin beneath her hairline is as red as the sky, flushed red from the pressure of Gorran's grip.

The xaphan bastard stands across from me, his free hand dangling over the hilt of his sword. He wears the dirtiest smirk I've ever seen, the smile of a xaphan who knows he has his opponent right where he wants him.

"Gorran! Let her go!"

"But you didn't say the magic word," he quips.

Clenching my fist, my hand begins to swell with the force of my magic as I take a valiant step forward. Gorran's smirk drops, coiling into a vicious seething glare of anger as he grips Meera's neck like he's about to break it.

"Stay right where you are, Kavian! You're lucky the bitch isn't already dead."

I spread my fingers, releasing the buildup of magic. It dissipates as I raise my palms, hesitantly showing the intention not to attack.

"Leave Meera out of this," I call out. My voice wavers and threatens to break, my throat closing at the sight of my girl inches from death. "Your problems lie with me and me only."

"Don't you dare mock me, demon scum! Those slaves we recaptured spilled all of the details, including the name of this little whore."

He pulls back on her hair, forcing Meera to look up at him.

"She's quite a treat to the eyes, though I'm sure you already knew that. Maybe I'll have some fun with her first."

"You fucking bastard…"

Redirecting his stare toward me, the vexation in his eyes grows, now baring his teeth like a feral animal.

"Did you really think you could get away with disrupting my slave trade? That was my business, my livelihood that you fucked with! What on Aerasak convinced you that was a good idea?"

I want to argue back, but my mixture of anger and concern for Meera's life prevents any words from forming.

"Both of you will suffer for that! But maybe, just maybe I will give her a swift death if you offer your life first without resistance."

It's a choice no one should have to make. The xaphan's abhorrent words slip in one of my ears and out the other, I'm too blinded by the building rage to even consider his deadly offer.

"I will rip the flesh from your bones!" I yell.

"Don't!" he spits, tightening his grip on Meera. "This is your final warning."

"Kavian!" Meera cries, digging her nails into his hands.

Desperation spills out from her expression, mixing with fear in a dreadful concoction that rids her face of the happiness it deserves to wear every day.

"Fuck," I whisper, my lips trembling with uncertainty.

Meera's eyes dart sideways, widening as if spotting someone she recognizes.

"Korval!" she calls out. "Help me!"

The next moment slows the passing of time, each second feels like a minute. I shoot my glare to where she looks, confused when I notice Korval is nowhere to be seen. Gorran follows her line of sight too, his eyes vigilant for any sign of movement from the gardens.

That's when I realize she hasn't seen Korval at all. She has merely created a distraction, creating the opening I so desperately needed to close the distance between Gorran and myself. I have only a split second before the xaphan catches on.

But a split second is all I need.

My shadow powers propel me forward, I shoot like an arrow from a bow, moving faster than ever before. I hurl a black cloud of shade into the xaphan's eyes that sends him reeling backward.

The moment Meera is released from his relentless grip, I pounce like a predator claiming his prey. In a heartbeat, I'm on top of him, one hand trying to gouge out an eye, the other trying to choke him.

"Fucker!" he screams, grabbing my wrist.

He pulls me down and uses the momentum of descent to hoist himself over me. Now he's on top, raining down blow after blow. Most of them miss, but the ones that land hurt like nothing else I've ever taken. The xaphan is a strong bastard.

I blindly reach for his neck, pulling him down and butting his head with so much force that we both roll away, stunned and disoriented.

It feels as though someone is shaking my head, my line of sight can't stay still. In my haziness, I spot a familiar face in Meera, though her outline is blurred.

"Get back to the mansion!" I yell as my vision returns to normal. Glancing over my shoulder, Gorran is getting back to his feet. With reaffirmed desperation, I repeat my order. "Now Meera!"

"But I can help! Let me fight!"

"Get the fuck back to the mansion!"

She spins on her heels and breaks off. I turn around to face my foe.

In the back of my mind, the voice of doubt tells me I could have done it with the extra help.

But I have to fight or die trying. Each of us unsheathes our swords. Twirling the hilt in my hands, I charge, rolling beneath him as he swings like a madman.

He turns in the nick of time, our blades clashing as we do battle. Each attack is precise and deadly, designed to take him out in a single blow. I come close every time, but his defense is unmatched, and his attacks are even fiercer than mine.

I duck as his sword speeds towards me, feeling it graze the tip of my horn. Had it been my head, it'd have been rolling across the ground.

Our swords collide, the battle becoming a test of strength as we push into one another. I'm so close to him that I can smell the reek of his determination to kill me.

"You should never have fucked with me," he snarls, spitting foamy bubbles onto my face.

"You'll pay for everything you've done to Meera, and for every human you've wronged, you conniving?—"

A mighty headbutt sends me back, blood spraying out from my nose like a fountain. I raise my sword but Gorran knocks it out of my grip. He hits me again, this time on the side of my skull with the hilt of his sword.

The overwhelming force of his kick whisks the wind from my lungs. I tumble back, my knees buckling. Another kick sends me rolling backward.

Gorran grips me by the throat, unleashing fist after fist that bloodies my bruised face. I'm on my knees, raising my hands but it's no use. I can barely see, my vision once again blurred from the cruelty of Gorran's blows.

He knees my chest. I barely have time to breathe before he continues his rampage.

Is this it? Is this how it ends?