"I misspoke. I don't have multiple souls." Lexi reiterated defiantly.
"So you have more than two souls?" Eromaug pressed curiously, "And, what do you mean bound?"
Lexi snorted incredulously at him and narrowed her eyes.,
"You're fucking kidding, right? You were the one who told Narcissa to bind my fucking abilities and now you're asking that?"
"I did no such thing." Eromaug answered carefully as he stepped back, dragging his eyes over Lexi's body as if looking for something and frowning once his eyes settled back on her face, "Are you telling me she bound your soul?"
Lexi pursed her lips as she considered the best way to answer him. So far, he didn't seem to be inclined to hurt her in any way, although it was clear he would happily cause pain to those that had wronged her…or loved her. Her dilemma now was to whether or not she would mislead him about his assumption that Narcissa had bound her souls and if she would redirect him into thinking her abilities had been bound.
After all, even if he discovered the truth, she could always play dumb and feign innocence of any wrongdoing. By the looks of it he was more prone to believing her over Narcissa anyway.
"Do not think about lying to me to protect the witch, Lexi," Eromaug warned darkly and Lexi breathed a silent sigh of relief that he hadn't guessed she was debating the merits of lying to him.
"I have no intention of protecting her," Lexi spat, "I hope she dies a painful death every time she fucking resurrects."
"Then tell me." Eromaug ground out, "I did not tell her to bind you, your souls, your abilities…whatever you want to call it…that was never my intent."
"No? Well she fucking did and if it wasn't for Bella's offspring then I would have been in far more agony than I am now." she hissed furiously, "It's painful as it is even with their intervention."
A terrifying shadow seemed to pass over Eromaug's face as he slowly turned to Narcissa's lifeless -for-now corpse and the corners of his mouth seemed to turn downwards.
"She will pay for this," He hissed, "They were explicitly told not to harm you in any way, Lexi."
"Yeah...so you keep saying, yet here I fucking stand." Lexi snorted, "Funny how having psycho's do your bidding gets you less than desirable results, isn't it?"
Eromaug tore his eyes from Narcissa and focused back on Lexi, stepping towards her slowly as she pressed herself back onto the pillar once more, her brain too slow to react rationally and have her move around it thanks to the constant throb in her chest.
As he reached for her with his enormous hands, she slapped his arm away and her fight or flight instinct kicked in as his mouth set in a grim line.
"Don't fucking touch me!" She hissed as she sidestepped and stumbled over her own feet as she sought to create distance between them.
"I want to see what she has done to you…the extent of it." Eromaug said carefully, his hands held up in front of him in a non threatening gesture, "I won't hurt you."
"I'd rather gouge my own eyes out with a rusty spoon than have your hands on me." she hissed vehemently as she turned and bolted for the door she had been led through by Narcissa.
It wasn't that far away and she was sure that she could make it. She had no idea where she would go after she got through it, or what she would do about the guards outside the door, but she could deal with that when it came to it.
Her chest burned as her legs pumped as best they could in her state and she knew within seconds of reaching the colossal doors that there was no escape from him. In the time it took her to blink, Eromaug had appeared in front of them with an indulgent look on his face, his arms crossed in front of his broad chest.
She tried to stop as soon as she saw him, but her legs were slow to respond and counteract the forward momentum that her body exerted at the sudden change in speed. With a small cry of outrage she stumbled, crashing head first into his waiting arms.
"Get off me!" She screamed as he sighed.
"No." He answered simply, "I didn't want to force you into this Lexi, but I don't really have a choice. I can't help you if you continue to fight me, so I'm taking that choice away from you."
Lexi struggled against his grip but it was useless. He turned so that her back was against the door and with one hand, he held her arms above her head, pinning her securely to the hard surface with little effort and drawing a cry of pain from between her lips.
"You're fucking hurting me!" She protested loudly as she struggled beneath his grip and Eromaug hummed in displeasure.
"I told you I didn't want to do this." He growled, making it clear that he held her entirely responsible for his actions, "You aren't making it easy to care for you." He muttered as he used his free hand to slice through the material covering her torso.
"You're fucking sick you know?" Lexi spat, "Is this the only way you can get a girl naked? Kidnapping her, restraining her, and then cutting her clothes off? I wonder how many women you've subjected to this torture?" She continued with a sneer as he began to methodically cut through the layers of bandage on her chest that Orynn had so carefully applied.
"There were none before you," Eromaug answered impassively as Lexi snorted in disbelief.
"I bet you tell that to everyone…" She sneered as his eyes flicked upwards to hold her gaze and her breath caught in her chest at the intensity, the mocking smirk that she had worn sliding off her face in an instant.
"It has always been you Lexi…the only woman I ever craved and WILL ever crave. I desire no other." He ground out huskily as the last layer of bandages fell away, leaving only the makeshift dressing atop the medicinal packing.
Lexi felt as though she had been swallowed whole by his gaze and she was unable to move, even as his nostrils flared at the foul scent that was now emitting from her wound and a snarl of fury erupted from his chest as his eyes snapped to survey the damage.
For a moment, he didn't speak, but the raw anger and murderous aura that erupted from him was unmistakable as he took in the soiled dressings.
"Narcissa did this to you?" He snarled, his lips pulling back to bare his delicately pointed teeth.
Lexi nodded and whimpered as his fingers gently traced the skin around the outer edges of the dressing that was now an angry red.
He pulled his fingers back without hesitation, and ripped his cloak from his back, draping it around her shoulders as he released her arms and they fell to her sides.
"I am sorry, Lexi, truly." He murmured as his voice lowered with the promise of violence, "I swear to you now, I will see that she pays for this."