Chapter 56: Chapter 56

Chapter 55:

Sanaya’s P.O.V

I woke up with a start; gasping in huge gulps of air like I’d been starving for days.

“Hey, it okay! Sanaya.” Lancelin’s voice came from somewhere next to me and I reached my hands out towards him instinctively.

A pair of strong arms wrapped around my body, pulling me taunt against a hard muscular chest. “Shhh…it’s okay. You’re safe now. You’re home.”

I hadn’t realized I was struggling against him until Lance had to hold me to him even harder, trying to calm me down.

“It’s alright. I’m here now. I’ll never leave you again, I promise.” Lance pressed me to his chest even harder and I began to calm down slowly.

It took a while for my eyes to the room and I realized that this was no longer the lightless world of Shadowland but Lancelin’s room in Castle Estella. Lance was the first person I saw beside me along with Acelin, who was sitting at the foot of the bed I was lying on. It took a few minutes for my heart to stop racing and my breathing to even out. Both men waited patiently for me to come to my senses, providing constant support through skin contact.

When I was finally stable enough, I lifted my hands up to my eyes, inspecting them carefully for any cuts or scars. There was none.

“How?” I whispered, my voice sounding hoarse, showing my palms to Lance where there had been cuts and scars and even a chunk of flesh missing.

“Here,” Acelin walked over to the bedside table and handed me a glass of water. I took it from him and gulped it down within seconds but my thirst didn’t feel quenched.

“You’re safe,” Lance told me while running his hand through my hair soothingly while his other hand held me close. “We’re in my room at Castle Estella. You’ve been unconscious for two days.”

“Two days?” How can I be out for two days? It seemed like I was inside that never ending nightmare just seconds ago. “Venom?” I wanted to ask if my healing was because of the vampire venom I injected myself with but I couldn’t seem to form coherent words yet.

“Partly, yes.” Acelin told me, retaking his seat at the foot of my bed. “You managed to inject Erick’s venom directly into your heart so your transition began almost immediately. It was a good thing too; otherwise it would’ve been very difficult to save you.”

“Acelin.” Lance gave him a warning.

“She needs to know what happened to her, brother.”

I nodded my agreement with and Lance gave a small squeeze of my shoulder to let me know that he understood.

“Like I was saying,” Acelin said. “You healed so fast partly because of the venom.”

“And partly because I gave you my blood.”

I looked around the room in shock, searching for the female voice I just heard when a girl came into view and stood next to Acelin, placing a hand on his shoulder. She was young, about fifteen or sixteen but she was gorgeous. Her long hair was in a braid down her back and it looked to be a dark red under the light. Her eyes were a dark shade of green I haven’t seen on anyone. Her skin was porcelain white and she wore a dark green cashmere sweater paired with black jeans and knee high leather boots. She was also quite tall, around five feet five; and when she saw me inspecting her, she smiled a bright smile that immediately put me at ease.

“Hi, I’m Miaka.” She said. “I’m the Demon King. Sorry for the late arrival.”

“Your Hig-”

“Please just call me Miaka.” She cut me off but the smile never wavered from her face. “All my brothers and sisters call me Miaka. It makes me happy.”

“Of course, Miaka.” I managed a small smile that made her grin.

“And don’t worry about my blood,” she added. “You didn’t drink any. It was fed into your bloodstream through tubes to fasten the healing process and to make sure you don’t feel too thirsty when you wake up. My blood has healing powers but very few people know that. So shhhh!” She brought her fingers to her lips to emphasize her point and I pretended to zip my lips and throw away the key.

“Good girl.” Lance patted my head with a smile. “Are you thirsty though? Do you want to have some of my blood?”

At the mention of blood, my mouth started salivating but my stomach revolted. I shook my head immediately, fearing I might throw up if I even saw the sight of blood at this point. “I want to hold up a bit longer…until I can’t control it anymore.”

“You tell me as soon as the thirst gets too much, okay?”

“I promise.” I told Lance before turning to Miaka. “Thank you.”

“Anything for Lance’s mate.”

Mate. The word fit an animal more than it did humans, but somehow, it fit. I was Lance’s mate, like a soul mate. It was way more meaningful than saying boyfriend and I was no longer human either.

“Sorry to spoil the good mood…but we need to know what happened, Sanaya.” Acelin said solemnly. “We have Asmara detained in the dungeons but we need to hear the truth from you before we take action.”

Even the thought of Shadowland brought chills down my spine, but I knew I had to tell them the truth. So I did. I told them everything that happened after I left the throne room with the guard. From getting lost to Asmara and the hooded figures finding me and being thrown into that land of eternal darkness. I then told them about the red lightning and the black skeletal creatures with red eyes and the man who saved me. I also told them my near death experience with one of those creatures and how I escaped.

By the time I had finished narrating the entire story, my entire body was trembling once again and Lance was holding me tightly to his chest, his own body unmoving like a statue.

“We have never heard of or seen a person who came out of Shadowland alive, so until now we had no idea there were any creatures in Shadowland at all.” It was Miaka who spoke into the silence. “I always assumed it was a black hole.”

“Don’t go getting any ideas, Miaka.” Lance warned her in a stern voice. “Sanaya survived but you might not.”

“I’m not getting any ideas.” Miaka said innocently, blinking big green eyes at her brothers who both scoffed at her attempts. “Alright, fine! I won’t try anything stupid…yet.”

“You better not.” Acelin said and rose from the bed. “We need to go question Asmara. Miaka and I will wait for you at the entrance to the dungeons. Take your time.” With that, they left the room to give Lance and me some privacy.

“I can wait here.” Lance told me immediately. “Asmara can rot in prison for a thousand more lifetimes for all I care.”

“No.” I shook my head, feeling better as the clock ticked by. “You should go. You have your duty towards your kingdom.”

Lance cupped my cheeks in his hand and pressed the gentlest of kisses to my forehead. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t on time. You suffered so much because of me.”

“You saved me.” I reminded him, placing my hands over his. “Nothing else matters. You saved me from that hell.”

“There’s so much I have to tell you. I-”

I stopped him with a kiss to his lips. Lance immediately wrapped his arms around me, giving me the comfort and strength I needed to get better. What I experienced in Shadowland…the nightmares would always be with me, but I will be fine as long as I had Lance.

“I love you.” He told me when we pulled apart for air. “You have no idea what I felt when I saw you in that state. I would never forgive myself for letting you get so hurt.”

“I love you too.” I told him. “And that’s all I care about. Now go.” I pushed him away so he could go perform his kingly duties. “We will catch up once you have dealt with Asmara.”

Lance reluctantly left with Acelin and Miaka, making sure I was tucked in so I could rest. And even though I wanted to go with them to speak to Asmara about Keith, I didn’t have the strength to do so. As much as Lance told me before he left, Keith had been held in a different cell for questioning and all his words had been recorded. He was now home with his parents and the memories of the last five years had been wiped from his mind to be replaced with a simple, believable lie that no one would question. Lancelin had wiped his memory himself and also made sure that Keith didn’t come looking for me.

It saved him the heartache of knowing that Asmara never loved him, even though he already had his suspicions. I no longer held any grudges against him either and I wished him good luck with his future, no matter where he went next.

My eyes were almost drooping shut from sleep when the doors to the room were flung open. At first I thought maybe Lance had returned but when I sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I saw that it wasn’t Lance at all.

It was the former King of all Incubi, Nathaniel Eustein.