Bound By Chains (MxM)

Chapter Thirty-Three

Death was...strange, to say in the least. Most would assume death to be a cold and lonely journey to either the Heavens or Hells...yet, weirdly enough, I only felt warmth, and a heavy sense of relaxation, almost as if I were cocooned in the warm embrace of a loved one. My body...or, well, my soul, also felt incredibly heavy, as if I had large stones piled atop my chest, which would make sense, I guess, considering I was dead, and all. It wasn't painful, or anything, just...unusual. What the weirdest part of it all, was the fact that I was warm and that I could smell something. It smelled like sandalwood with the barest hint of smoke; almost akin to that of an incense stick.

If I was dead...then why did I still have the ability to smell? And why sandalwood in particular? Shouldn't all my senses be completely nullified? Or...was death different than I had interpreted it to be? Gods I was so confused. I shouldn't be feeling anything, or smelling anything at all, yet here I was with most of my senses still intact.

Unless...

It was incredibly hard to open my eyes. After all, it felt as if they had been glued shut for an eternity. But once they were opened, I noticed a few things that were...odd. One, I was in a room with a small bed and minimal furniture; the ceiling and walls looking as if they were made out of a cheap wood. Secondly, there was a tray of cold, untouched food sitting on the drab nightstand right next to me, and finally...Cayden was nowhere to be seen.

As soon as I deduced all of that, I could feel the itchy sense of panic crawling up my spine, causing me to frown as my mind supplied me with all the worst possible outcomes.

1: Cayden was killed, and Terry had taken me to some sort of secret hideout of his that was separate from the camp.

2: Cayden was alive, but imprisoned by Terry, and the fae was waiting for me to regain consciousness so he could torture the other man in front of me.

3: Cayden was alive and found by Alton, and I was awaiting my inevitable return to that hellish place.

As these scenarios crossed my mind, my fear began to climb as I struggled to get into a seated position. However, my body was too sluggish and refused to cooperate with me, so I was forced to remain staring at the ceiling as panic clouded every inch of my mind. I needed to get out of here. Any one of those scenarios I had thought of were bad news, and who knew what the hell would happen to me if I didn't bolt to safety.

As I was about to try to pull myself up once more, the door to this miniscule room opened, causing me to tense with bated breath as I waited to see who was entering.

A flood of relief washed over me when Cayden's familiar form walked inside...though, the poor man looked like absolute crap as he pulled the tattered cloak from his shoulders and sat it on a chair. No offense to him, or anything, but he definitely had seen some better days. Still dressed in his tattered clothes that were dirtied and bloodstained, his right arm was dressed in a sling and his legs were heavily bandaged. Or, well, I could only guess, considering what I saw through the holes, anyway. His skin was practically ashen, and there were heavy purple bags under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in days.

But once he saw that I was awake, his sullen demeanor shifted into something akin to a tired relief, and he didn't even hesitate before he made his way over to me, placing a cool hand against my cheek. Then, bewildering me, those dark eyes filled with tears and the next thing I knew, Cayden had pulled me against him with his good arm and began sobbing against me.

"Thank the gods. Thank the gods you are ok," he cried against me, his grip just a tad too tight, as if he were afraid I was going to leave him. "I thought for sure I had lost you..."

Feeling my heart clenching for him, I was able to lift my hand just a tiny bit as I lightly patted his knee. "I'm ok," I told him, causing him to tighten his hold on me. "But Cayden? H-How did we get here? A-And where are we exactly?"