The Wicked & Divine

Chapter 13• Falling For You

I was a pretty fast runner as a kid. I remember how fast I could run away from the big, dark dog chasing me when I was little, making me giggle as it would swoop me up on its back.

And how I admired its eyes which burned like red rubies, and the shadows on its back that hovered above its thick body like a rain cloud.

Then mom would come out and get mad, and I remember the same words always falling from her lips.

"These goddamn hellhounds"

"You can run but you can't hide" his deep, eery voice chuckled across the castle. It was almost as if the wavelengths from his voice trailed right behind me, grabbing out at my ankles.

Damian was making a game of this, and I only knew that because I knew damn well a 6'4 grown man with legs longer than bamboo sticks could outrun me.

But he didn't. On purpose.

I have no clue where I'm going, in fact, I'm most likely running down the same hall right now. Every corner is identical, and I've convinced myself his earth home is a maze meant to drive me mad.

I wanted to scream out into the air and curse him for being such an ass, but I'm afraid if I do I'll run out of breath completely. I could already feel the muscle in my legs getting sore. I'm really not running material.

I pass wide and long glasses that give me a view of the mountain range, and in the distance I can see a small city. If only I could get to there.

I arrive at another pair of stairs, and as I turn around the corner completely, I can see a pair of wide doors that look to be and exit out of the castle. I gleam in excitement as I quickly pad over to the wide wooden doors.

I don't even look for a coat as I run out into cold, windy winter air. A relieving sense of freedom washes into my pores and combs through my hair. Very quickly.

The freedom is erased by panic as I fail to feel a surface under my feet, instead empty space as my stomach drops to my feet.

The white and black stone castle surrounded by snow covered trees rushes past me as I fall into a pit created by boulder and rock.

It all feels to slow, to unreal to be real. My life doesn't rush past my eyes, instead the feeling that I really haven't had a life. I have yet to live.

And like a deep rooted instinct within me, I call out his name so loud that it rings against the corners and curves of the German mountains.

"Damian!" before I can even comprehend his name, a dark figure flies out from the open doors and down towards me. Black wings sprout smoothly from his back. He reaches me within seconds, and right before my back makes contact with the rocky ground his arms wrap around my waist.

We hover just above the ground, his thick and feathery wings whooshing loudly as I clutch onto his hard, lengthy body for life, my legs wrapping around his waist as I whimper wide eyed.

His arms circle around me tighter like a snake, when his wings increase in speed and we begin to rise slowly. I can feel myself shaking and it's not from the cold, only from the panic and terror that whispers into me. I almost died.

Again

He says nothing, I can't see his face as mine is burrowed against his neck, not daring to open my eyes. But within a minute the wings circle around my body like a tight wrapping and I can feel the warmth of the castle envelope me.

The door shut with a loud slam, but I still have yet to react. I only feel the intense heat from Damian's body, the pressure from his fingers against my rib cage.

"Damian" he says, and surprisingly it's not angry, nor pained. Only struck with surprise. "No ones called me that in thousands of years" he whispers huskily, though I think he only meant for it to remain in his thoughts.

But as I should've expected, he does a full 180 on me.

"You are not to leave my watch, ever"