Page 121 of Chain Me

“Do you really think Dublin would let me meet with you alone, even as part of some harebrained scheme?”

Hence, I was here on a whim, trembling as the seconds ticked past, cutting my brief window of time shorter and shorter.

Raphael cocked his head as if catching a far-off sound. “Of course…” In a dazzling display, his smile widened. “Well, then we have a deal, my dear. And just in time, I suspect.”

He turned to the door as a figure appeared there, his eyes blazing silver. They cut to me and he was beside me in an instant, shielding me with his towering frame.

“Eleanor—”

“It’s okay,” I told Dublin, bracing my hand over his forearm. Coiled muscle lurched beneath my fingertips, readying for battle. “Everything is okay. I’ve gotten your time back.”

“In exchange for her own,” Raphael murmured. His eyes danced, portraying something akin to glee. “Every year of her life, sacrificed for you. It is very touching.” He brought a pale hand to his chest. “What say you, Dublin? Do you accept this freedom so graciously bestowed upon—”

“No!” In a blur of motion, Dublin whirled on me, his expression agonized. Gripping my shoulders, he yanked me from my chair and shook me so violently that my head jerked back and forth. “Tell me that you didn’t—”

“It’s too late,” I whispered. “It’s already done.”

“No…” His hands skimmed my shoulders, caressing my throat. Encircling it…

Tightening.

Clenching.

Suffocating.

Gasping, I strained on the tips of my toes. Terror goaded my pulse into a frantic hammering—but whatever I was feeling was nothing compared to what his expression revealed. His eyes glowed, radiating pain and agonized intent. With every ounce of air to escape my lungs, something vital drained from his soul, rendering him hollow.

Lifeless.

Merciless.

And, as if from lightyears away, I heard Raphael…growl.

“Enough.”

I broke away, sputtering, clutching my throat. Through watering, burning eyes, I watched Raphael’s flicker in my direction. A crumpled piece of paper slipped from his fingers to the floor at his feet.

“Release her,” he commanded, though Dublin had already let me go. “Such a foolish game,” he hissed.

“But I’ve won,” I declared hoarsely, still rubbing my throat. “Haven’t I?”

Raphael said nothing, turning on his heel to leave the room. But his poised frame was trembling. For the first time, he no longer resembled that frozen, emotionless angel. He raged, every bit as vengeful as the serpent hanging from his throat.

Near the threshold of the room, his voice slithered back to reach us, a furious hiss. “You are freed. But trust, Cael, that when you falter. When your pathetic attempts at protection fail. When you require my mercy…I will be waiting. And you will come.”

He left, and tension I didn’t even know I’d been carrying within me snapped. I fell to the floor on my hands and knees, eyeing my reflection in the polished surface. Who was that wide-eyed woman with the stubborn tilt to her chin? Emotion constricted my chest, more suffocating than the hands that threatened to choke me only seconds earlier.

I wanted to laugh.

I wanted to cry.

I wanted to scream.

“I’m sorry.” Dublin stood above me, staring down at his hands, his brow furrowed in agony. “Eleanor, I’m sorry—”

“Don’t be.” I managed to stand on quivering legs, but rather than comfort him, I crossed to the center of the floor and stooped for the page Raphael had discarded. On it was my scribbled answer. I traced every word as tears escaped down my cheeks, impossible to contain any longer.

Facing Dublin, I held the page out to him.