The Devil Doesn't Bargain (MatD part 2)

Chapter FORTY FIVE - Dare Presume

It seemed time was entirely wasted upon our breaths, my lungs straining to keep pace as we wound our way to the castle and beneath it, our things placed safely in the Undercroft beforehand. The prickle of ancient magic crept along my skin and hitched itself over each of my ribs with every step down towards the Keepers. Tighter and tighter it clawed until I was heaving and gasping desperately.

Sebastian's pace slowed, his fingers laced around mine and his hip braced against me; a gathered practice of assurance.

"I've got you. Keep going." His lips curved up, his eyes tracing down my face. His thumb swiped reassuringly across my wrist as he had done so many times before. The heat of his skin on mine felt a comfort. I leaned desperately into his touch, addicted to the little spark within it.

When was the last time I slept?

Head turned and eyes locked to his, I was surprised to find my thoughts flitting from my exhaustion to instead a tattered sort of awe. Here was the one my heart craved, whose own heart had been ripped entirely time and time again, holding me up with a shallow smirk. The thought gripped my chest, pulling at the aching heartbeat as I noticed the nuances in the way he moved and breathed - a far cry from the boy I'd first met. Yet here he stood, pain and passion glittering across his irises. His messy hair sticking out at odd angles, a disheveled light in the dark.

"My Atley." He nodded, needing no further words to speak the thoughts between us. 

I hummed. 

A flitting thought. A motivation nipping at my heals.

Be strong for him. Be strong like him.

Sebastian scooped my arm over his shoulder and we continued our decent on shared weight.

Shoes toeing the last stair, we stepped forward only to be met with a brisk, stagnant air. The chamber felt colder still than I'd ever recalled it, a thick fog had settled higher along the edges of the room and the map below our feet twinkled in greeting. Each glittering light a droplet against glass. A faint blue pulsed deeper still, swimming ahead, leading us forward.

Sebastian pulled my arm from his shoulder and though I longed for his touch, I was thankful he had given me the opportunity to appear stronger than I felt to the Keepers.

I watched him from the corner of my eye as we walked forward, a sinking nervousness prickling up my arms. His eyes flitted from the floor to the ceiling and back behind us again. His fingers brushed against his palms, fists at his sides. The casual urging and comfort he'd shown me in the stairway had been pulled from him so suddenly. The energy in the room rough against his chest that rose and fell quicker with each step. His eyes on alert, an unease threaded between his lashes. He looked not unlike the Sebastian I had come to know in combat.

I pulled my attention from his body and turned my eyes ahead, a chill creeping down my spine.

The stone arched portraits, grand as they were, felt rather unimpressive before us. They held nothing more than muted tones and painted rooms - as empty as I'd once found them that very first time.

"Hello?" My voice felt flat and I tried again, louder this time. "Hello? Professor Rackham?"

Quiet still they remained.

Sebastian grumbled next to me. "Oi! Time's ticking ya twats."

I elbowed his side and he shrugged, a tightness forming in his eyebrows. "It's not like you've bent to their every wish and command... the least they could do is show up when they're supposed to." His teeth grit tight and he raised his voice noticeably. "What could possibly be more pressing for a bunch of bloody paintings?"