Fragmented bond
Chapter 7

I managed to replace the edge of the bed. Unfortunately, the way I found it was by rolling over the edge and falling on my back. “Fuck.” I groaned as I awkwardly rolled over and pushed myself to my feet. My eyes had adjusted enough that I could make out the vague shapes of furniture and avoided bumping into it as I stumbled out of the bedroom.

My hands grazed the wall in the next room, trying to replace the rune engraved in the wall that would activate the crystal lights. When I didn’t immediately replace it, I pulled my hands away with an annoyed huff.

Closing my eyes, I attempted to pull energy from my dragon, funneling the scraps I managed to pull from her to my eyesight. When I opened my eyes, I was able to make out more of the room. My visibility still wasn’t great, but it was enough for me to see the sitting room furniture. The small room was cramped with the furniture they managed to fit. It would’ve been a bitch to move through it without being able to see.

On the wall across from me was the outline of an iridescent rune. I weaved between the furniture and awkwardly raised my joined hands to touch the engraved surface. As soon as the bright lights flooded the room, I squeezed my eyes shut and stumbled into the wall.

The front door, which I hadn’t noticed, swung open. My eyes snapped open, still watering from the jarring shift in lights. I hadn’t been expecting these lights to be so damn bright, for some reason, I thought they’d be dim.

I got my first real look at my abductor, most notably was his height and muscular frame. He was casually leaning back against the front door, his arms crossed as he watched me. The light purple tattoos trailing down his left arm stood out against his bronze skin.

“It looks like I’ll have to cuff you to the bed next time,” he murmured, but he didn’t move toward me.

My entire body was tense as I watched him, trying to discern from his demeanor if he brought me here to take advantage of me. “You could try,” I shot back, mustering all the bravado I could while being handcuffed and more vulnerable than I’d ever been.

Even on my best day, I would be nervous in this type of situation, but this wasn’t my best day. It was one of the worst I’d ever been through. If he brought me here to take advantage of me, then he lucked out when he found me today.

When he shoved off the wall, I tried to move away from him but ended up bumping into a sofa and flipping onto it. Before I could roll off my back, he knelt in front of me. Acting on instinct, I kicked him in the face and his head snapped back.

I expected him to be enraged when he turned back to me, but he wasn’t. A smirk tugged on his lips as blood trickled from his split bottom lip. He wiped it away with his thumb and managed to dodge my next kick.

It was a little embarrassing how easily he caught my joined hands as I swung them at him. Holding the chain in one hand, he held my hands immobile as he pulled out a ball of black metal from his pocket. The ball began warping, turning into liquid metal as it trailed off his hand and onto the chains between my cuffs. It quickly formed a medium-length chain. He used blood magic to securely attach it to the wall. I tried struggling the entire time he did this, but was unsuccessful at stopping him.

Once he was finished securing the chain, he did the opposite of what I was expecting. He moved away from me. All I could do was cautiously watch him, not letting my guard down as I waited to see how he’d go about this. Would he try and act charming to get what he wanted? Did he just now realize this wouldn’t be as easy as he previously thought and was now rethinking his approach?

He watched me for a few moments, but I couldn’t discern anything from his expression. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. I’d tell you not to do anything stupid, but…” he trailed off, coming to stand before me.

My entire body locked up as he reached for me, ready for whatever he was about to attempt, or so I thought. Once again, he did what I hadn’t been expecting. Instead of touching me he grabbed the chain connecting me to the wall and made it even shorter. Now it was only a foot long and I could barely move my hands. “Sorry, but I don’t trust you.”

He ignored my swears and insults as he left the cabin, and once again, leaving me alone. I waited for a long time, not moving as I stared at the door, half expecting him to reappear. This had to be a tactic to get me to lower my guard so he could attack. But the longer I waited without him reappearing, the less I believed this. What kind of game was he playing?

Who abducted someone, handcuffed them to the fucking wall, only to leave them alone? Don’t get me wrong, I was glad he wasn’t forcing himself on me, but none of this made sense. It seemed to be a new common theme in my life lately.

The longer I sat chained to the wall unable to move, the more furious I became. When that fucker came back, I would replace a way to beat his ass. I was seriously considering killing him for this.

My rage toward him and this whole situation wasn’t able to distract me for too long. The deafening silence enveloped me, with no distractions in sight. It left my mind free to wander and right now, that was a dangerous thing.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about the rejection and my intense reaction. It was like I wasn’t in control of my body, like this haze of despair washed over me and took control of my body. I knew that wasn’t the case. What happened to… What happened was no one’s fault but my own. I couldn’t even bring myself to blame this on Lukas. Somehow he must’ve instinctually known what kind of monster I was.

Along with the memories I didn’t want to keep reliving, was the pain that had me wanting to wrap my arms around my chest. But I couldn’t, because oh yeah, some asshole handcuffed me to the fucking wall. It was a good thing I hadn’t eaten or really drank anything recently. If I wanted to lie down, I would have to lie on my back with my arms raised above me. If he had left the chain at its original length, I would’ve had more range of motion.

Sadistic asshole. Was this how he got his kicks? Did he have nothing better to do? He was probably waiting outside, watching through a window, laughing at my suffering. The only problem with that theory, was the fact there weren't any windows in here.

I was slumped against the wall, awkwardly hunching over as if that would help. It didn’t. Nothing could ease this, except maybe unconsciousness. But anything short of smashing my head into the fucking wall wouldn’t work. Not only because I spent an entire day in the Death mage lands unconscious, but I doubted my brain would shut off to let me sleep.

I tried keeping my breathing even, attempting to breathe through the storm that kept trying to pull me under. If clawing at my chest would’ve stopped the nothingness that seeped from my fragmented soul, I would’ve done so. I would’ve scratched at my chest until it bled if it would give me even the smallest of reprieves.

I couldn’t say how long I sat in the silence, struggling to hold myself together and avoiding feeling anything. It felt like hours, but then again, time didn’t make sense in the fog of nothingness that had eventually descended upon me. Unfortunately, the fog didn’t spare me from the burning agony.

Somehow, I was utterly exhausted, even though I’d long since given up trying to rip the chain from the wall. When it all became too much, I once again renewed my attempts at getting free.

Planting my feet on the wall, I tried using my weight, leg, and arm strength to try and wrench myself free. I knew it wouldn’t work, but that didn’t stop me from trying over and over until my wrists were raw and I gave up again. Not that I even noticed the sting in my wrists.

A hand gently brushed over my cheek and I jolted out of my hunched-over position, meeting the light purple eyes of my captor. Worry swam in their depths and I hated seeing it. I jerked away from his touch glaring at him and refusing to say a single word.

I hadn’t heard him enter, having been so focused on trying to stay afloat.

“I’m sorry I was gone for so long, there was something I had to take care of,” he murmured after a long beat of silence. His gentle tone and the soft way he touched my cheek were at odds with how he’d cuffed me to the wall.

I gave a derisive scoff. “What, busy abducting another woman?”

He chuckled, the sound was warm and rich but did nothing to thaw my cold demeanor. “Don’t worry, you’re the only one. I like to give my captives my full attention, and I can’t do that if I have more than one.”

A playful smile lifted his lips, and I wanted nothing more than to smack that look off his face. He’d pulled his shoulder-length curly hair back into a low bun, but a strand had slipped free and brushed his cheek. The color was that of pure gold, and part of me wondered if it would burn a death mage since gold was their weakness.

I didn’t deign his joke—at least, I thought it was a joke—with an answer and instead, continued giving him a bland stare. When he reached for the chain, I flinched back into the cushions of the sofa. His expression tightened as he grabbed the chain and the metal turned to liquid, forming into a ball. I stared numbly at my newly freed hands, having not expected him to do so. What kind of game was he playing?

Whatever the reason for this, I wasn’t about to let this opportunity go to waste.

I was so consumed by my plans on how to overpower him that I flinched when he began rubbing a salve on my red and raw wrists. Once he was done he turned his back to me, a big mistake on his part. I attacked, kicking at his back with all my might—which admittedly wasn’t as strong as usual, what with my dormant dragon. Then there was how I hadn’t eaten in over a day. We could easily go days without food, but in doing so we put ourselves at risk. When we didn’t eat, we weren’t in peak condition and any expenditure of magic would substantially weaken us, making us easy targets.

I didn’t relent or wait for him to get his bearings. Over and over, I kicked and punched his sides as I climbed off the sofa, trying to get in as many strikes as I could. It didn’t last long, he eventually whirled around and caught my leg mid-kick, holding my thigh in a steel grip.

He dropped my leg when I hit him in the side, but my victory didn’t last long, not when he spun me around and pulled my back against his chest. My arms were crossed over my chest and my hands were held by his, preventing me from moving them. Since the bastard was too tall, head-butting him was out of the equation, and kicking back at him accomplished nothing.

A tired sigh came from him after I tried, and failed to stomp on his foot. “And here I was being nice, uncuffing you so you’d have an easier time eating. I guess we’ll have to work our way up to that, won’t we?”

Wait, what? He was offering to feed me? I’d been struggling against him up until this point, but now I stilled. What was this man up to? His behavior was all over the place and contradicting itself. First, he was saving me, then taking me against my will and handcuffing me to the wall with a short chain, and now, he was taking care of me. None of this made any sense.

He pulled my wrists into one hand and before I knew it, I was handcuffed again. Only this time, the chain between the cuffs was longer and allowed me to move one hand without moving the other. I guess he decided to be less of a dick this time around.

“Now, I’m going to let you go,” he said slowly. “Don’t be stubborn or do anything stupid, otherwise I’ll have no choice but to tie you to the chair, and I doubt you want that. Unless I’m wrong, and that’s exactly what you want.”

I made an indignant sound, wanting to punch him all over again.

“Is that a yes to being stubborn?” I could practically hear the smile in his voice, and I really wanted to be stubborn and keep fighting him. But I was reasonable—usually—and I knew there was a time for fighting, and a time for patience.

He slowly released my hands and stepped away. When I spun around to face him, I found him kneeling in front of one of the three bags on the floor. The one on the far right held containers of food that he stacked on the floor. All of the bags in our realm contained expansion spells, allowing them to carry more than you’d think possible based on their size. Which made me wonder what he had in the other two. I probably didn’t want to know.

“That’s what you were doing?” I asked when I finally found my words.

He glanced over at me every so often as he placed the containers on the small table. His movements were smooth and graceful despite his size, making me realize I needed a better plan the next time I attacked him.

“Planning out your next attack?” I jolted at his words since that was exactly what I was doing.

He was casually leaning back against the table, his long fingers gripping the edge. A small smirk lifted his lips as my shocked expression confirmed his suspicion. There was an ease to him, with not a single ounce of tension to be found in his muscular body. What did he have to worry about anyway? He’d already proven multiple times he could easily subdue me.

“You brought me here against my will,” I said and shook my cuffed hands for effect. “Why wouldn’t I plan my escape?”

I went to place my hands on my hips until I remembered I couldn’t. Letting out an annoyed sigh, I tilted my head back, staring at the exposed wood beams as I searched for patience. Attacking this bastard wouldn’t do me any good.

He shocked me yet again when he pulled out a chair and then took a seat in the other one. I carefully approached the table half-expecting him to attack, but since he’d yet to do so, I doubted he would. He was probably waiting for me to put down my defenses.

Not likely.

It seemed he enjoyed keeping me off-kilter because when I sat down, he pushed a plate toward me full of food. Despite not eating in a while, I had a lack of appetite. I knew that I needed the food, but I wasn’t craving it like I normally would be.

He let out another low sigh at my reluctance to eat as if I was acting like a brat. “Eat or I will force feed you, and no, I’m not joking.” Based on his expression I had little doubt he would do just that.

“Put your hands anywhere near my mouth and you’ll lose them,” I growled, even though the threat was marred by my obvious disadvantage. It also wouldn’t be permanent since his hands would grow back, if I somehow managed to remove them with no weapons.

“Behave and you won’t have to worry about that,” he murmured as he waited to see what I’d do next.

Even though I knew I needed the energy boost from the food, I still hesitated, glancing between the food and him. Rolling his eyes, he reached across the table, grabbed a piece of food from my plate, and popped it into his mouth.

“See? Not poisoned. It would be a waste to do so after saving your life earlier.”

“There are other things you can slip into my food,” I murmured and his relaxed expression shifted. Anger simmered under the surface at the accusation, but I made a fair point. I mean, why else would he be keeping me out here?

It was possible I was wrong and this was politically motivated. In my overwhelming agony, I’d forgotten how many others would love to see me dead. Since he wasn’t a summoner, I doubted this was the case, but I couldn’t rule it out.

As I ate, I mulled over this new possibility, welcoming the distraction. I was nearly finished with all the food on the plate when I remembered an important detail from right after he saved me. Something I hadn’t been in the right frame of mind to notice at the time, but now I did.

“How do you know my name?”