Lexi held the cloak tightly closed around her, the throbbing of her chest intensifying by the second as she dragged her eyes from Eromaug's gaze.
"The wound smells off, how do you feel?" He asked, the concern in his voice confusing her.
"I'd feel a lot better if I was home and not here with you." She snapped half-heartedly as a sudden wave of dizziness and nausea rippled over her.
"This is your home now, and the sooner you accept it, the better." He said matter of factly as he expertly lifted her off her feet and cradled her gently in his arms and began to stride purposefully towards his throne.
"What are you doing?! Get the fuck off me you perverted…"
"Enough Lexi. You need to sit before you pass out. Your human skin is fragile…weak even…and that wound is infected." He said firmly, loudly speaking over her foul mouthed protests, "I assume you will want to be well enough for the numerous escape attempts I am no doubt sure that you will attempt during your time here? I also think I am right in assuming that you will want to be well enough to witness Narcissa's retribution for her transgressions...yes?"
Lexi clenched her jaw in annoyance. She had little choice but to go along with whatever Eromaug demanded at present and honestly, she knew that it was probably in her best interests to do so because if he could put an end to this burning in her chest then it meant that she would survive a little longer to rescue her mates from whatever hell Narcissa had put them in.
"Fine," She snapped as he placed her gently on the surprisingly warm stone of his throne, "But don't get any ideas that I'm doing this for your benefit."
Eromaug chuckled as he stepped back and smirked down at her.
"I wouldn't dream of allowing such a foolish notion to even enter my head." He said just before a sequence of sickening cracks and crunches came from the direction that Narcissa's body lay.
His head snapped to the side as he focused his attention on her twitching form, a sinister smile that promised nothing good spreading slowly across his face.
"Well would you look at that, it seems that she's eager to pay for her mistakes." He murmured sarcastically as he stalked slowly towards her.
Lexi watched in fascinated horror, unable to tear her eyes away as Narcissa's body jerked and rearranged itself back into a functioning position. It wasn't everyday that her usually morbid curiosity had the opportunity to be sated with so little effort.
Her chest heaved with a final crack and the sound of Narcissa's panicked gasp echoed in the room as she sat bolt upright and sucked air into her lungs greedily. She sat there a moment, panting and clutching her chest, coughing once, twice and then finally turning to see her Master staring coldly down at her.
"My lord…I..." She stammered, her voice hoarse as she tried to piece together the last moments of her previous life before she was unceremoniously resurrected again.
"Silence." Eromaug hissed as Narcissa froze and her face fell at his tone when addressing her, "You have gone too far this time." He continued as she cowered back from him, her already pale face losing what little color remained and her eyes bulging.
"No! Wait...whatever it is...I can explain…" She rushed out, licking her dry lips nervously as she struggled to stand but Eromaugs boot planted itself firmly on her hand that was splayed on the floor.
She didn't flinch, not even a little, instead she became very still as Eromaug sneered down at her.
"The way you speak is as if you have many things to explain…" he mused, "Is that the case, wraith? Have you gone against my orders multiple times and now you're trying to figure out which one I've found out about?"
Narcissa's eyes darted around the room until they finally landed on the shrouded figure of Lexi, enveloped in Eromaug's cloak and perched on the throne.
She couldn't explain it, but the sight of it made her burn with fury, and it must have shown in the way her gaze hardened as Eromaug snarled loudly, lunging for her neck and lifting her effortlessly, slamming her against the closest stone pillar.
"Must I keep resorting to the same tactics to hold your attention?" He snarled as Narcissa hung limply in his hand, her attention now fully on him.
"My apologies, my lord." She forced out.
"Now, I'll make this easy for you and not leave you guessing as to what you have done to provoke my ire now." Eromaug snarled, "I was very clear on my instructions to not harm Lexi, was I not?"
Narcissa nodded as best she could and Eromaug grunted in response.
"Then why the fuck have you yet again disobeyed me?" He practically purred, the sound making every hair on Lexi's body stand on end.
Narcissa blinked at him, clearly trying to think of a way to talk her way out of this but she knew deep down, nothing could save her from this.
So, with no choice left to her, she forced a defiant smile on her lips and met his gaze confidently.
"It was a necessity, my lord and I knew that you would not accept it. I did it for you..to protect you from..." She began but she was cut off by his mocking laughter.
"Protect me? You?!" Eromaug laughed incredulously again and threw her to the side, sending her crashing to the floor, "You think too highly of yourself, wraith. I do not need protection from my own Eternal...it is more likely the other way around."
"I wasn't talking about Lexi," Narcissa hissed furiously, glaring across at Lexi, whose stomach suddenly seemed to have dropped to the floor, "I was talking about her souls…both of them wild and still untamed. She has not yet mastered them, nor her abilities and the fact that they are bound to her mates…"
She trailed off as she felt the pressure in the room increase to an almost unbearable level thanks to Eromaug's uncontrolled aura of anger.
"Mates?" He snapped as his eyes darted back to Lexi briefly before returning to Narcissa, "As in, more than one?"
"Don't listen to her, she's lying!" Lexi yelled from the throne as she pushed herself up to stand, instantly regretting the sudden movement and failing to conceal the sheer panic in her voice.
"I suggest you sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up," Eromaug warned without so much as glancing at Lexi, his focus entirely on Narcissa, but Lexi understood perfectly that it was meant for her.
She couldn't bring herself to sit down though, not on the throne that belonged to this madman. For a few moments, she had almost believed that he was harmless…she had almost fallen for his manipulation and she felt a gnawing guilt inside of her that disgusted her. Instead, she hovered by the arm of the throne, gripping tightly onto the stone armrests for support as she became an unwilling bystander to something that she could not stop.
"Tell me again," Eromaug demanded, his voice colder than death itself as his eyes bored into Narcissa, "Explain to me what I think you just said, and make sure that everything you say is one hundred per cent truthful, wraith, because this is your one chance to redeem yourself in some way. You will still be punished for harming her…but the severity of that punishment is now subject to change."