Grounded ~Book Four of Winged~

Head Lac

"I will take her out of here. It clearly is not safe here for her." Eli announces and looks at me, waiting for a response. I want to say no. I want to take her from him. I want to snatch her away from him, but I know it's not that safe for her to be here. Is it safer though for her to be with him? Most likely he will take her to Hell as soon as he is able to.

"He should, Etheriel... You know she's safe with him." Azrael speaks up and rests a hand lightly on my shoulder. I feel him lightly sapping at my energy and I pull my shoulder away from him. He is strong enough. Zerach stares at me before he seems to hear something I cannot and looks ahead of us concerned. He squints into the dark past the light that the torch is given off. I look back at Eli who is still waiting for me to say something with his head tilted and his eyes slightly narrowed.

"Go... Keep her safe." I step forward and press my lips to her temple, the one that is not covered in blood. He nods and turns toward the way we came and disappears into the darkness. I hear his footsteps start up the stone steps. I listen until I can't hear his footsteps anymore.

"There's something with a lot of energy in here with us..." Zerach comments and Azrael looks at him before nodding slightly in agreement.

"Something...?"

Trinity

My head is throbbing like crazy and there is a sharp pain stabbing at my brain. The lights in the room I am in sting through my eyelids and I roll over, hiding my face in a pillow. What happened? My memory is fuzzy, but I kind of remember being with Etheriel, Zerach, and Azrael in the forest. Where am I? I'm in a bed, but my head hurts too much to look around but I do know that I can't be in a forest obviously. How did I get here? Where is everyone else?

"Madame Trinity? Are you okay?" I sit up fast at the unknown voice and it is a mistake. My head feels like it is being ripped apart and I almost pass out from the pain. I'm in Eli's room in Hell. A young boy stands at the side of the bed. He looks like he is younger than I am and he is wearing a servant outfit and his hair is slicked back. His eyes are a dark green and they stare at me concerned.

"Madame?" He questions lightly and his voice seems louder than it is. I hold my hand to my head and find a bandage covering a very painful spot.

"How did I get here? Where's Eli?" I question and spot a bowl of water on the nightstand with bloody rags in it.

"Sir Mammon brought you here early this morning. He stepped out for a bit, but should be back soon." He informs me in a level tone.

"Do you have painkillers?" I question and he nods picking up a couple pills off of a napkin on the nightstand that I didn't notice before and then a glass of water. "Thank you." I take the pills and wash them down with the water.

"Do you need anything else?" The kid asks and I shake my head. He nods and turns to leave.

"Oh... Can you turn the lights off on your way out?" He turns to face me and nods, bowing before walking to the door, turning the light off and then shutting the door behind me, encasing me in darkness. I roll onto my side and I'm not sure what those pills were, but soon enough the pain fades away and I fall back asleep.

"Trinity..." Eli's voice breaks into my sleep and I groan slightly as the achiness against my skull comes back. "Trinity..." A hand comes into contact with my face and messes with my hair. I pout and open my eyes a little to look at Eli. He sits on the bed beside me and is leaning his weight on his hand on the other side of me so he is leaning over me. He stares down at me with a mixture of concern and care in his eyes.

"What?" I mumble, still drowsy.

"How are you feeling?" He questions and I groan in response. He begins to play with my hair. I sit up, ready to get up and try to not be so close to Eli. At the sign of my movement, Eli leans close and his hand that was resting beside me on the bed, slides onto my side. His face gets closer to mine and I look away to avoid him trying to take the opportunity to kiss me. I hear him chuckle and in response to me looking away, he leans closer and his lips come into contact with my jaw. I feel him smirk against my jaw before he kisses softly down to my neck. His light kisses turns into a soft sucking and I pull away, slipping out of his hold and crawling across the bed away from him.

"What happened?" I question while turning around and motioning to the bandage on my head.

"You don't remember?" He questions and stands up, walking around the bed to me. If I remembered, I probably wouldn't ask 'what happened'. I shake my head no and he starts taking his shirt off. "Well, I don't know myself honestly... All I remember is walking out of a passage and finding you on the ground bleeding. It seemed that you had fallen down the stairs or something?" He continues to walk toward me casually and he drops his shirt and his hand go to the button on his pants. My eyes flicker down to his hands undoing the button and then back up to his face.

"Why are you taking your clothes off?" I question and he tilts his head, staring at me.

"Am I not allowed? This is my room after all." He stops in front of me and drops his pants. He starts to pull down his underwear and I quickly close my eyes and cover them with my hands too. I hear him laugh. "You can look." He comments and I shake my head, keeping my eyes shut and covered. He laughs more. "Seriously you can look; I'm dressed now." I peek out from behind my fingers and sure enough he is wearing a new pair of clothes. He takes another step closer and I have the urge to step back, but I don't move. He reaches out and grabs onto my hips, pulling me to him and pressing me against him. I stare up at him frozen and he stares down at me.

"I wish things were different or back to the way it was before I died." He says quietly and I stare up into his eyes. They're sad and I can see that he is lonely. I feel bad for him. I wrap my arms around him and hug him tightly. He seems slightly taken back, but hugs back after a hesitant second.

"Eli... What are you doing?" I didn't hear the door open nor did I hear Dominic come in, but I quickly pull away from Eli and look at him standing near the open door. Dominic's eyes scan my body and stop and stare at the bandage on my head. "What happened? Are you okay?"