"Save me," Rawn croaks out. "Why don't you save me?"
Uksean stops walking and turns around with a whisper, "I can't."
"Then will you at least heal me with your blood?"
Firnes heal faster when they take in supplements like blood or cum. In Rawn's case, even if she doesn't heal fast, the blood will ease the pain a bit.
However, at the moment when a Firnes sucks blood from a person, the latter's vulnerability can be dangerous, seeing that the Firne would read all their thoughts and secrets unless the victim has a powerful mental fence.
Rawn doesn't think Uksean would risk that.
"Okay," he mutters, much to her surprise. He retraces his steps back to her before putting his hand into the cage. "Here," he urges Rawn to take the hand.
She does as he says, standing to her feet and supporting her body against the steel rods.
The space between the rods are distant enough to fit Rawn's head. So, she stretches her neck and pops her head out of the cage, holding onto Uksean's broad shoulders as he squats down to her height.
Her left hand shifts to the back of his head, nudging the latter downward before leaning her face toward his nape.
She only now notices the bruises on his face as she sinks her fangs into his nape and sucks, slurping sounds echoing in the room.
Pleasure tingles in her gums, and a calmness spread through her skin. Fragments of his thoughts and memories flash in. He seems pretty strong enough to be able to keep so much from her.
Or she's just weak.
She sucks fast and hungrily, unable to stop, and Uksean holding her firm by her nape is an encouragement to keep going until Ju Xiang's voice drives her back to reality.
"You'll drain him dry, my love."
Rawn instantly pulls away, wiping her lips as she leans back into the cage.
She doesn't feel pain anymore. And the world doesn't seem to ache just by staring at it.
Now she has clearer eyes to regard Uksean, who rises to his full height, staring at her.
The man is beautiful, which only makes her regret that he turned out to be an asshole like his brother.
"First son?" she suddenly asks. Why does she even bother? Or maybe she has just been curious, since Lyecan and Uksean has the same physical demeanor.
Except, Uksean must be weaker or pretending to be.
"I'm the last of three. Lyecan's the first," he replies almost quietly.
"How about the middle child?"
There's a moment of silence and an exchange of stares before Uksean's brows knit. "If you think Lyecan is a beast now, avoid Zeonath at all cost."
"Zeonath," Rawn mumbles. "Sounds better than Uksean, or Lyecan. Lyecan fits his nature. Like a brutal Lycan king who favors keeping humans as souvenirs. What rhyme does yours have?"
"Nothing. I'm an ex-mercenary. That's all."
"What exactly are you now?"
"Just a wolf." Or a Rhotheli with the inherent insanity. Uksean turns to leave. But, on reaching Ju Xiang's cell, he stops and regards her for a while. "Who put you here?" he asks.
The lady frowns instead of responding, looking away before Uksean proceeds to leave.
Minutes later, Rawn opens her right palm to reveal the heavy, metal key she swiped from Uksean's pocket while she hassled his mind by sucking his blood.
"That a key?" Ju Xiang asks, staring intently at Rawn's hand. The latter nods, and gets an unexpected reaction. "Foolish girl. Do you think Lyecan would trust his Beta or even his brother with the key to a cage he put the girl he believes to be his?" Rawn blinks in pure confusion. "You don't know this, but that bastard is more than greedy and possessive. He's ready to swallow the key and render the cage only accessible by his fists if he could."
Rawn thrusts the hand forward. "Yet here is the key."
"That is the key." Ju Xiang jerks her head toward it. "So what now? Unlock the cage and just walk out the door?"
Rawn scoffs. "Maybe free you too if you shut up."
"I'm not going."
"Why?"
"What do you think?" Ju Xiang rises to her feet. "This a game. Another silly trick by Lyecan, and I'm not even sure his brother's aware." She clasps her hands around two rods and leans forward, pressing her face into the space between those rods as if trying to phase out of the cage. "The key was planted by the Alpha. Even letting his brother in here when he normally wouldn't is a plan. He knows you'll want to drink his brother's blood. And it's quite shocking but the latter might actually be sincere with his words earlier. But that means he also grew dumb. Dumb is weakness. Weakness is death. Yours, and his maybe."
"I don't see where you're getting at. But I'm gonna unlock this cage and flee even if you decide to stay."
"Flee to where precisely? You've tried twice without success. What makes you think the woods surrounding this pack will grant you access to the other side without getting caught?" Ju Xiang's cage lock suddenly explodes, causing sparks to fly. Rawn's own explodes next, and before she could process what's going on, Ju Xiang steps out of her own cage.
"Now not many know of this skill of mine," the latter continues. "I have an ability to do tricks. Like knowing someone's name when I meet them. Or like exploding a lock, or moving a small quantity of water. Et Cetera. Et Cetera. It doesn't go more than those tricks except I link with someone. I could link with you, and we could teleport out of here in an instant into my safe home beyond the woods."
"Sounds perfect." Rawn lets out a humorless laugh. "A witch and a Firne; sworn enemies suddenly working together for an escape."
"I'm no witch. Even if I am, your prejudice stinks. However did you survive the world with that thought?"
"What are you then? I know you're not a Firne."
"I'm a Chinese dancer. A human who has taken the time to heed the winds and bond with the sands of earth and with water. Witches and Firnes are naturally born to channel these powers—a huge amount of them. But it doesn't mean they're the only one's whom the earth's essence obey."
"Fine. Let's say you're not a witch. How do I trust you?"
"Because I'm a woman who doesn't approve of female molestation. Between, should you be asking of trust in a place like this? Do you trust that Lyecan won't walk in here minutes now and slice your neck for stealing a key, then laugh above your decapitated corpse and watch as the eyes on your dismembered head shifts?"
No, she doesn't. Rawn can't deny that Lyecan will do that. After all, that's just how crazy he can be.
Maybe she should take her chances with another female who could also be a victim like her. It's better than placing her entire being in the hands of the very man that wishes to devour her.
She slowly steps out of her cage, and without a word, tosses the key aside before stretching her hands toward Ju Xiang. "Do what you need to do then."
~
On getting to Ju Xiang's apartment, Rawn's strength diminishes from her.
The place offers warmth and solace; feels comfortable than her own home in the Firne horde.
The bed is soft, soothing—qualities she hasn't met before, as she was often forced to lie on the hard, rough floor beside a chilling pool.
And it's not like she's one of the stronger Firnes who prefer the cold. She couldn't handle shit since she's more human than Firne.
Ju Xiang watches her sleep for a while.
She notices the strokes of pain in the girl's face. But instead of weeping on Rawn's behalf, she smiles.
That pain is what gives her joy; what would give her master the content of scrutinizing Rawn's shape.
The spots of agony embedded on her skin, the wet baby hairs spreading over her forehead, and the wrinkles that can only be seen by a telescope or supernatural eyes tell a lot more fascinating tale than Shakespeare's tales of tragic love—sweetened by reality.
With a finger, Ju Xiang shifts the girl's stray strands to the side of her face and pats her ear.
"Take care, sweetheart," she mutters before pecking her own thumb tip and pressing it softly on Rawn's eyes.
She then heads out of the room into a dark corridor stretching out before her. Her steps echo in the corridor first, then her singing follows, soft whispers of soprano tone sailing within the corridor's cold walls.
"When the earth's air whispers, the feathers ergo disperse—of birds, of men—rolling seas as gathering dust coats trees, and sparkling bursts set the path for a roaring wildfire and a thousand troubled flocks."
She repeats the song, this time with a hum, threading confidently through the dark corridor with the reconciliation of its unending track.
When she finally gets to her destination, she walks into a warm room that stinks only of blood.
The room is spacious, and much more brighter than the corridor. It has no window other than the glass one stretching about six feet horizontally.
Through it, one can see the numerous chirping birds flocking around trees, others perching the window sill, pecking on the glass.
It's probably some of those birds that were caught and put in several metal cages dangling down the room's ceiling. But aside from those, there are also other animal trapped in these cages as well.
Ju Xiang grabs a bird and crushes it without mercy, facing a full length mirror that she taints with the poor creature's flowing blood.
"Let this soul follow the breeze, and a soul with it," she mumbles, closing her eyes, "talk to me."
The chirping noises fade as silence embraces Ju Xiang before she opens her eyes to find she has arrived at a new place.
The first thing she notices is the striking difference between the gory smell of blood and the enthralling aroma of fried eggs.
She also captures the man standing beside the kitchen counter, but can only see his backside. Even so, it is evident this person's an artist.
His body itself is artistic—tattoos inked on every skin of his arms, back, neck, and even on the shaved corners of his head, where the center are full, long dreadlocks stretching down to his back, gathered with a red ribbon bow.
"I've a new name for you, Mister," Ju Xiang says while hurrying to a drawer.
"Mister?" the man repeats.
His rumbling voice hints amusement, and most of all, sex…