“I don’t think you fully understand your situation Ms. Lopez.” He says, but it’s as playful as it is threatening.

She was giggly. Drunk. Just a little dizzy. Five wine slushies and two shots into the night and way too tipsy for all of this right now.

Way too tipsy to do anything but stare at the pink lips of her friend.

There are unholy things in the forest, but she likes it that way.

He stares at the sky, cut open and bleeding, left to die among the rot and decay around him.

You were never nothing. Even when I hated you, I knew that.

Say you love me again.

I know you don’t mean it, but say it again anyway.

There is a pressure in her side that grows sharper and stronger as she begins to wake until she jerks with a shuddering breath.

The sounds of the night draw his attention, but they can be easily dismissed. Fluttering wings, chirping bugs, and the hoot of an owl can be ignored. The Empire’s soldiers announce themselves with the sound of chains grating against each other and the snapping of metal armor as they march.

“General Evie,” General Redbeard calls from below. She spots him in the crowd easily. His grin is feral, its why she nicknamed him the mad dog. “I was wondering how many more would have to die before I finally got to you.”

Her hands wrap around the golden bars of her cage. So much gold, so much time went into its construction, but the Little Lord was making a statement that went far beyond her. She looks down to where a chain holds her feet to the ground so that not even her wings could carry her away from him.

I’ve taken martial arts classes. I’m a strong person. None of it seems to matter against you. You don’t have to smirk as you pin me down, you don’t have to tease as you pull me into an arm bar, and you don’t have let out those grunts as you toss me to the ground.

“Thank you for the rescue.” She said as the noble faded from view. She pushed off the wall but he held her there with a hand on her shoulder, looking down at her with fire in his eyes. Goosebumps raced their way up her arms in response.

“What if I didn’t come here to rescue you?” He asked. He pressed closer to her, so that she was trapped between him and the wall with no space to move.