Day nine, it all went to shit.
Uriel burst into my apartment before dawn, waking me up and setting my pulse racing. He was scruffy and smelled vaguely of whiskey and cigars, like he'd been up all night celebrating something.
"Uriel," I said cautiously, sitting up in bed and reaching for a sweater to put an extra layer of fabric protection between us. "What's going on?"
He crossed the room and yanked the sweater out of my hands, tossing it away before looming over me. "Don't presume to question me, Rose," he replied in a dark growl. His eyes were glassy and the alcohol on his breath was practically flammable.
Fear flashed through me as he climbed onto my bed, straddling my legs and pushing me back into the pillows with a rough hand. Sober Uriel was capable of some atrocious things, but he was predictable and with all my knowledge of how he worked, I could sometimes manipulate him.
Drunk Uriel? Capable of fucking anything. The last time I'd seen him intoxicated had been the night I'd stupidly thrown myself at him, believing my naive sixteen-year-old self in love. He'd used me, then tossed me aside with a few callous words about how I "wasn't ready" for him. At the time I'd thought he meant my lack of experience in bed, but now I knew better. He'd meant that I wasn't ready to fall into his plan to topple the monarchies.
"Uriel—" I started to say, but his hand wrapped around my throat, cutting off my voice.
"You think you're so fucking smart, don't you?" he snarled, his face twisting with anger as he tightened his grip around my throat. I was no stranger to being strangled by him and knew how to survive long enough for him to get over whatever had triggered his murderous rage. He always stopped eventually, even if I had passed out by that time.
Except this time something was different. His eyes glittered with darkness, and he was growing hard against me. His tightening fingers constricted against the veins of my neck, cutting off the blood supply to my brain as well as air to my lungs, and fear coursed through me at a million miles an hour. I couldn't panic, though. I couldn't show any reaction. He'd trained me better than that.
A commotion at my door pulled Uriel's alcohol-impaired attention, and his hand eased long enough for me to suck in a huge, gasping breath.
"I told you,no interruptions!" my sensei roared at whoever had just opened the door.
The guard—I assumed it was a guard—said something back, but I couldn't make out the words. My ears were whooshing with my thundering pulse as blood returned to my head and air into my lungs. Fucking Uriel. I'd forgotten how scary his rages could be.
"Fuck!" he cursed, releasing me completely, but he cracked a hard fist across my face as he climbed off the bed. "Don't fucking move, little flower," he snarled at me. "We're not even close to done."
I pressed a hand to the side of my face, watching as he stormed out of my apartment, not even trying to hide how tented his pants were. When he left with two of the three black-clad guards who had been standing near my front door, I collapsed back into the pillows and let my heart thunder.
My face was throbbing, promising a bruise across my cheekbone. It fuckingkilledme not to fight back against him. If that had been anyone else, they'd be currently trying to pick pieces of their shattered jaw up off the floor. But when it came to Uriel, I knew better. Healwaysbested me in a fight, even when he didn't have the upper hand. Worse than that, he was holding Jordan's health and well-being in his iron grip.
My front door slammed shut, and I covered my face with both hands. I wanted to cry and scream and rage, but nothing came out. Nothing. As badly as I was resisting Uriel's reprogramming, some old habits had started sinking into my bones again. Never showing emotion was one of the first things he'd drilled into me as a child, so it seemed reasonable that would be the first thing to return.
A shoe scuffed on the carpet, and I sat up with a jerk. I'd thought I was alone—stupid me for not checking—but the remaining guard was still there with me.
A brief ripple of apprehension radiated through me before he took two steps closer and I locked eyes with his deep sapphire-blue ones.
"Rafe," I breathed, scrambling up and launching myself into his arms.
He caught me, but his body was stiff and I could feel the tension and anger radiating off him in waves. "What did I fucking tell you, Vi?" he growled, even as his arms banded around me. He held me to his body, my feet off the ground, but his mind had gone to murderous places.
"Like I fuckingaskedhim to come in here and try to kill me?" I snapped back, pushing him away and dropping my feet to the floor. "I'm not exactly carrying on some kind of creepy affair here, Rafe; I'm just trying to get usallout alive."
His eyes were hard, his dark brow furrowed as he inspected the marks blooming on my face and neck. "I'm going to kill him with my bare hands," he told me, "and then—"
"No," I snapped, cutting him off. "No, if anyone is killing Uriel, it'sme. We just need to figure out how to get out of here first."
Rafe's eyes narrowed at me, anger burning bright, but after a minute he released a frustrated sigh. "That's why I'm here. It's happening today. The heads of all the Society factions are meeting here to discuss the next steps, and there's a plan in place to get you out."
My brows shot up. "And Jordan too?"
"Of course," he replied. "But he can handle himself; you're my priority."
My heart thumped a little harder at that statement—at the fierce protectiveness in his voice—even though I felt Jordan needed to be the priority. He had never suffered torture like this before. Who knew what it might be doing to his mind...?
"When Uriel comes to take you to the meeting around midday,don't go," Rafe implored me with his eyes. He hadn't removed his half mask, so I could only see his eyes, brows, and part of his nose. I couldn't kiss him, despite how badly I ached to do so. "I can't stress this enough, Vi. Donotgo to that meeting, okay? I'll come for you when the time is right."
He started to leave, and I grabbed onto his arm.
"Wait, what the fuck? Rafe, you can't be serious. That's it?" I gaped at him in disbelief. "Just...wait here until you get rescued? You're kidding me, right?"
