36

The demon lord was just doing one of his usual visits to his prisoners. But he knew something was off. And feeling Regan's presence there was absurd, but he didn't ignore it. He thought to go to her room and check, but the guards informed him that she wasn't there. The thought of her being in the dungeon seemed unbelievable, but she was Regan, she did unbelievable things and he wasn't surprised.

Sirius cursed under his breath. What the hell was she doing there? Escaping, of course. But couldn't she have chosen a less worse place to escape? He almost chuckled to himself.

Regan for her own part, had ran into a dead end. The line of cells had ended with only a pair of stairs that led up and down. Down might be more dangerous, she thought. So she chose the way up.

Sirius sighed, getting quite annoyed with searching her. He had better things to do but he had to take care of that first. "You want to play cat and mouse, Regan? Let's play then," he muttered, a hint of smirk on his face. He summoned the power of eternal ember, and it worked. A line of fire appeared, tracking her.

He smirked and calmly followed the lead.

The line of fire reached Regan, and hit her straight in the chest. She felt a sharp pain as it did and covered her mouth to keep from crying out. She waved her hand through the line, but it passed through it. "What the fuck is that?" she muttered, her heart racing with fear.

But she kept going up, it was even harder because the stairs were spiraling and she had to turn on each step, her mind spinning with the process.

Eventually, she reached the end of the stairs. It was another dead end though, a small cubical room, with a single barred arched window that reached taller than her height.

Regan cursed under her breath and she could feel his presence growing stronger. He had caught her and she was just standing there, waiting for it. The window was small anyway, she couldn't use it. And she didn't want to climb down the stairs anyway, it would be pointless.

The line of fire hadn't disappeared, but it didn't hurt. It looked to be made of dust, burning dust.

"Here you are," the gruff voice startled her and she turned around, seeing Sirius standing there with a smug smile. Her eyes widened as she saw the fire of line was coming from his chest.

"You're clever, aren't you?" he teased, taking a step closer.

Regan didn't reply at all. She continued to stare at the spark that bore in his chest. It was maddening. Sirius noticed and with a wave of his hand the flame disappeared, leaving only a spark of smoke in the air.

Mathias's words about the playroom rang in her head like a curse and they made her skin crawl. That asshole had probably escaped by now and she'd be held accountable for it. God knew what Sirius would do to her if he found out she had given him the key, even though he had taken it forcefully.

But he turned away, his posture stern, "Follow me," he said quietly, snapping Regan out of thoughts.

"I didn't come here to follow you," Regan retorted, her voice surprisingly firm despite the fear chilling at her core.

Sirius stopped, his eyes narrowing with a hint of amusement, but he didn't turn to her, "If you don't follow, you'll get punished," his voice was low and filled with a warning, "And then we'll see how much of a firecracker you'll be. I choose when to be generous, princess Yloria."

Her birth name coming from his lips was like a taunt. Regan's hands were shaking but she shoved them in the cloak's pockets. She followed reluctantly. See, she could get punishment for not even following, let alone for helping a prisoner escape.

"What was the fire line?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

Sirius smirked, "The eternal ember bond. An unfortunate one."

She felt a surge of anger and the mention of the bond, "Yours is corrupted," she spat.

His expression hardened just like the stone walls of the dungeon and he turned to look at her, "It's not corrupted. It's part of who I am."

"You must've stolen it somewhere," Regan accused, "You can't have born with it."

"I was born with it," Sirius retorted, halting on his steps, "I don't know what my ancestors did before....I never got to know them because of your father."

Regan felt a twinge of doubt. She didn't even know her father. "You're lying to me about my parents. You're not telling the truth."

"The truth is subjective, princess," Sirius replied cryptically.

"It's not. The truth is the truth, it doesn't matter what you think!"

"Let's not fight about that now. It's the middle of the night and you want to argue with me."

As they stepped down the stairs, Regan saw a white door on her right. Her eyebrows furrowed with frustration, wondering how she hadn't seen it before. She twisted its doorknob, not caring if Sirius saw. It was locked.

"That's locked," he chuckled, "you think I'm going to leave some random door unlocked so you can escape like a lost kitten?"

Regan's fists clenched tightly. Did he just call her kitten? "Just shut up," she snapped, "You think I believe these lies about my parents?"

"And what do you believe? The lies you've been told your entire life?" Sirius shot back, "There's no precise truth in your life, Ylor. So even if you believe what I say, don't call it a dead end. It might lead you somewhere."

"Your lies won't lead me anywhere," Regan retorted, "you'll regret everything you've done."

"And what if I told you that your destiny is intertwined with mine? That your parents made choices that led to this very moment? Would it lead you somewhere?"

"My destiny isn't intertwined with yours!" Regan hissed, her voice echoing in the dungeon. She couldn't understand. Where was he going with all that? It was infuriating. "There's no destiny in this! Choices come by free will, not destiny. If you have my power, it's not like destiny chose you. Your ancestors stole it from my family."

His steps halted and then he turned back, stepping up the stairs to reach the ones Regan was in. Her breath hitched as he leaned close. The space was very cramped and she felt trapped.

"You're intelligent, I get it," his eyes narrowed coldly, "but call it whatever you want, destiny, choice....you're still bound to me." His words stung and she swallowed nervously. Bound? Bound to him. It terrified her.

"I'm not bound to you," she snapped. "You don't scare me."

"It's not meant to scare you," he smirked. "It's just that this pathetic bond, added by the fact that you survived the destruction, makes us sworn enemies for life. It's amusing, isn't it?"

"Get away from me," Regan demanded, her hands coming to push him away by his chest. But he didn't move, instead he leaned closer, the cologne he was wearing —a mix of musk and leather, hitting her nose.

His hand reached out and brushed the crimson locks from her face. Regan flinched but the wall behind her wasn't going to vanish and let her escape. And he wasn't vanishing either.

"Don't touch me," she said, her voice trembling slightly, feeling he suffocating heat of his hand.

"Why not?" he whispered, his voice low and dangerously gentle. He placed his hand on the wall next to her head, effectively trapping her in place. He leaned in closer, his lips dangerously close to hers. "Afraid of what might happen if I do? Afraid of me? Why are you afraid, Ylor?" he murmured, his breath warm against her skin.

Regan's heart was pounding with a surge of fear, anger and a strange thrill. He looked very beautiful that close. But she didn't dare let that show.

"I'm not afraid of you," she lied, her voice steady despite the tremble in her hands. "I'm not afraid of anything."

Sirius chuckled, the sound sending shivers down her spine. "You shouldn't be," he whispered, his lips brushing against hers in a tantalizingly soft touch.

Regan's eyes fluttered, her hands gripping her shirt tightly. She was frozen in the spot, her mind a chaos of escape thoughts, but her body refusing to carry her away. It was like he took advantage of her daze, closing the remaining gap and crushing his lips against hers.

His hand slid from the wall to tangle in her hair, angling her face for better access. It was a kiss that stole her breath, that set her soul ablaze. She brought her hands up to push him away, but he caught them both, pinning them above her head. His other arm snaked around her waist, pulling her flush against him.

Regan's eyes fluttered shut, a strange warmth spreading across her chest, and she felt an absurd sense of comfort. She needed air. But the air was filled with a dreamlike sensation, making the very action she should've been disgusted of, blissful. He kissed her with a reverence that was almost painful.

But he broke the miss, his breathing ragged, "You," he said, his bangs covering his eyes, "you make me feel things, Regan."

Regan swallowed hard over her dry throat, her hands falling to rest on his chest. She didn't know what was happening, what had gone wrong with her, "W-what things?" she stuttered.

He took a step back, and felt the loss of his warmth, "Things that I shouldn't feel," he answered cryptically, his voice taking a colder quality, "You're.... you're making this too difficult," he added, almost frustrated.

"I...." she began, the world around her spinning, "I don't understand. I don't...." her words trailed off as she gasped for breath, her vision blackening out. This couldn't be real. The image before her twirled and twisted, his scent and essence fading with every turn. 

And then, her eyes flut

tered open with a jolt, only to find herself lying in her bed, covered in sweat, her heart still racing.