Page 14 of The Immortal’s One (Bound to the Immortals #1)

The suffocating pressure makes it nearly impossible to think. Tears slip down my face, but I can’t wipe them away.

How is Evetta doing this?

It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is getting away from this crazy bitch.

I try to move, willing my legs to carry me, but my body betrays me. My muscles are stiff, rigid, like they’ve been carved from stone. The only thing I can control is my eyes. I force them to shift, desperate to take in my surroundings.

Evetta’s friends watch from a distance. Stasia and the other woman stand frozen, their faces as pale as paper, eyes wide with fear and uncertainty. They see what’s happening. They don’t agree with it, but they’re too afraid to do anything.

I’m on my own.

My vision starts to swim, everything blurring as the lack of oxygen begins to take effect. My senses dull. The world around me fades into a fog I can’t escape.

But through the haze, there’s something—someone. Green eyes .

Vibrant and unmistakable, their pointed stare cuts through my panic, bringing with them an odd sense of calm.

The eyes from my visions. They’ve always unsettled me, but now, something akin to trust warms my chest. I cling to that feeling desperately, hoping the eyes will somehow guide me through the chaos.

Then, the noxious scent of gasoline and smoke fills my nostrils.

My face presses into rough gravel. Jagged stone slices my cheek. I try to push myself up, but a heavy weight keeps me pinned to the ground, crushing my lungs.

Wait…

That isn’t right.

The sensation, the environment—it’s wrong.

A deafening crash tears through the bathroom, the door slamming open with enough force to rattle the walls. The noise jerks me out of the strange memory—no, not a memory.

It couldn’t be.

I’ve never been held down in the middle of a dark parking lot…

The strangeness fades into the background when a man storms into the women’s bathroom. Even through my dimming vision, the fury contorting his face is unmistakable.

The women scream. If I weren’t already struggling to breathe, their overwhelming terror would choke me.

“M-my lord.” Evetta’s haughty tone is gone, replaced with panicked deference. “What are you doing here?”

The man doesn’t speak. He prowls forward. A dangerous aura surrounds him.

Evetta stumbles back, knocking me to the ground, revealing I’ve regained the ability to move.

My bones rattle when I land on my hands and knees, sending a shockwave of pain up my legs. The invisible vice around my neck falls away.

I gasp for air, my throat on fire, my gaze fixed on the dirty grout between the tiles, unable to lift my head.

“Do not be hasty, my lord,” Evetta’s words shake. “We only meant to do you a favor. We heard how angry you became when Thane started sharing his incorrect assumptions about the girl’s identity.”

The man still doesn’t speak.

With each shaky inhale, the darkness pressing against my vision starts to recede. Ignoring the ache in my neck, I tilt my head up.

Broad shoulders and a muscular back come into focus.

The man stands motionless, his body tense, facing Evetta, who’s backed herself into the handicap stall on the far side of the restroom.

Her two friends huddle together near the sinks, fright written across their pale faces as they cling to one another.

“Y-you know I am devoted to the Council,” Evetta’s words tremble with an urgency that borders on pleading.

“You have to understand; we were only doing what we thought was right. It’s unwise to have discord between us.

We all suffer when the balance is disrupted.

The rebellion would use it as an opportunity to undermine the Council. ”

Her strange words hang in the air, thick with a sense of looming danger, but the man doesn’t react. His silence speaks volumes.

Despite Evetta’s use of the word “we,” I get the sense the man is only holding her accountable for what’s transpired here. Though, why he’s upset about how she’s treated me, I don’t know.

Sure, anyone would be upset to find a person being attacked in a bathroom, but the anger rippling off the man seems excessive. It seems… personal .

My throat aches and my lungs are sore, but I take a deep breath and find the strength to get to my feet. But I tip back, and my hip hits the counter. Pain blossoms through my body anew.

“Ow,” I groan, shifting so the sharp corner isn’t digging into my skin, but I use the sturdy surface to help hold some of my weight.

The man’s head turns, revealing a sharp jawline and the corner of his mouth. A muscle flickers in his cheek. I bite my lip and tamp down the unexpected desire to approach him to see more.

He turns back to Evetta. A faint glow seeps out of the stall where she stands.

“No, please!” she cries in terror. “My lord, don’t?—"

Brightness blinds me. I slam my eyes closed and hold out a hand as if it can save me from the burning white light shining from the bathroom stall.

Two screams make me jump. Off balance, I fall to the ground.

Light continues to shine behind my eyelids. I crack one eyelid open and look at the two women cowered on the floor a few feet away. Their eyes are wide with horror, locked on the man.

“W-we did not harm the girl.” Stasia’s voice trembles. “O-only Evetta touched her.”

“Please, Your Highness,” the other woman begs. “Have mercy.”

The man lifts his chin, his features unreadable. “Mercy is a gift I will not be giving this day.”

My body warms at the sound of his deep, commanding tone. Calm flows over me, and a sense of safety washes away the unease that had taken root when the women first entered the bathroom.

Whatever happens next, I know that with him here, I’ll be okay. I’m sure of it.

That is, until another blinding light flares to life, this time starting beneath the two women huddled in the corner.

“What? No!”

“Please, we didn’t—” Whatever the woman wants to say is cut off. Her mouth falls open in a silent, agonized scream.

I reach out as if I can help, but I can’t.

One second, the women stare at the man in horror. Next, there’s another bright flash. When I open my eyes, tendrils of smoke curl into the air.

The women are… gone.