Chapter dedicated to Best4DaysIKnow. Thanks for reading and voting! You are awesome!  And might you be a friend from FF?

Chapter 72 – The Gift – Raine's POV

Time didn't seem to exist in the black void under the earth's soil. I had no idea if 10 minutes or two hours had gone by as I held onto Teo for dear life, while he weaved through the underground tunnel.

Abruptly, he came to a halt. My anxiety spiked and I whispered, "Are we there?"

"We have gone as far as we can. Now we wait," he replied tightly.

"What are we waiting for?" I breathed.

"The sun to go down."

The sun to go down?! When I left, there were still several more hours before the sun would set! I gasped, "We are just going to sit here for hours?!"

I couldn't see his face, but heard his quiet reply, "Yes."

Oh. No!  I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make it for that extended timeframe. The deprivation to my senses and claustrophobia had already started to make me a little crazy. My chest began to ache, and I couldn't seem to fill my lungs completely.

It was obvious Teo sensed my growing neurosis because he began murmuring soft shushing noises of comfort, "Shhh...It's going to be okay. As soon as the sun goes down, they will be here to dig us out."

Dig us out?!!

What the hell did he mean by that?!

If he was trying to calm me down, telling me that we were effectively buried alive, was certainly not the way to do it! My voice rose an octave as I demanded shrilly, "Teo, what in the hell do you mean by dig us out?! Are you trying to tell me there is no door at this end of the tunnel?!"

He realized his mistake and stumbled over his words as he rushed, "You are perfectly okay! I promise! You are in the safest place possible right now. I'm going to sit down and hold you in my lap so that you can relax."

I had no idea what his definition of relax was, but I was fairly certain I would be doing none of it. I felt him slide down to the ground. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have held onto the chest of a random vampire like a spider monkey, however my normal behavioral protocol had to be adjusted to compensate for my need not to lose my sanity in the next couple of hours.

The clocked ticked by excruciatingly slowly.

Teo continued to speak softly to me; no words of real consequence, only soothing tones and the occasional encouragement for how well I was doing. I wasn't sure I agreed with his assessment. I still fought every few minutes to slow my frantic heart.

I gripped the necklace Alaric had given me as it hung around my neck. I was incredibly thankful I had been wearing it at the time of my departure, because it was at least one reminder of him. I traced the familiar stone with my fingertips as sadness washed over me. Before I arrived in Quinn's kingdom, I had expected to hate my life with Alaric, but together we had built a successful alliance; not one based in love, but functional nonetheless. I sighed heavily. All of that was over now.

Even more disheartening was the realization that I had nothing, no tangible item whatsoever, to remember my time with Cage. Maybe it wasn't really necessary, because he had engraved himself directly onto my heart. Devastating pain washed over me at the thought of never seeing him again. But once I secured my freedom, I could never risk reaching out to him.

It was strange to think I would never step foot back inside of this world. I shifted in Teo's arms, and attempted to redirect my thoughts, before the pain suffocated me. He suggested softly, "Why don't you try to get some sleep? It will make the time go by so much faster."

That was a freaking fantastic thought, but I had no idea how to accomplish it. However, his attempt to manage my fear must have been successful because I nodded off about twenty minutes later.

I was awoken abruptly to Teo shifting beneath me. His hand clamped down on my mouth and he whispered in my ear, "Do not make a sound!"

My heart fluttered in my chest.

Whatever he heard; whatever was happening around us, had him alarmed. In the next instant, I heard the soil and dirt next to us being disheveled and unearthed rapidly. Teo shot to his feet and shoved me behind him. I heard him growl to himself, "It's too soon!"

Fear crashed through me, hard and strong.

I understood what he meant in the next instant, when sunlight suddenly burst into our dark cavern. Teo's scream chilled me to the bone. It didn't last long. Almost in the next second, he was obliterated, nothing more than a pile of ash at my feet.

I screamed.

Too quickly for my brain to really follow, I felt someone drop next to me, wrap their arms around me like bands of steel and vault out of the pit. And then, whoever he was, cradled me to his chest in a vice grip, and ran at a breathtaking pace.

My heart pounded in my chest. The sun was out, and we were moving at more-than-human speed. That could only mean one thing! I only knew of one vampire capable of standing in the sun – Marku!

My brain fiercely rejected the truth, gripping tightly to my denial, but he confirmed it when he purred in my ear, "I must say, my dear, every interaction with you is unexpectedly pleasurable. You almost had me convinced. After several hours of running through this forsaken forest, chasing empty trail after empty trail, I almost believed you had successfully evaded me. It truly was a shocking idea. To think one tiny little human could navigate through miles of forest without being detected by me, a predator of unmatched skill. Laughable really."

I was frozen in his arms.

He continued, "But then the most magical thing happened. I heard your heartbeat. Imagine my amazement when I realized you had hidden yourself, quite cleverly I might add, under the ground. Brilliant maneuver. And I'm guessing your pet tiger quite willingly spread your scent throughout the woods," he looked down at me for confirmation.

I was unable to speak, my body no longer willing to function properly. But my expression must have been enough of an answer because he nodded and murmured to himself, "Brilliant."

Suddenly, my brain seemed to connect again with my body, and I fought him viciously, twisting and turning, trying to wrench myself free. All of my maneuvering was in vain. I was no match for his strength.

He grunted and held me tighter, his grip on my thigh and shoulder causing shooting pains through my body. I stopped fighting and whimpered. He looked down at me and growled, "Stop fighting me, my dear, or I am going to have to hurt you. And I would rather not start our relationship in that manner."

I stared at him in shock. Clearly he wasn't quite connected to reality. I spat angrily, "We will never have a relationship! I don't give a fuck what Armand agreed to! I will never be yours!"

My response caused him to chuckle.

I clenched my fists, confused by his abrupt change in demeanor.

He explained his humor, "I am afraid, love, you made the mistake of underestimating me this time. You see, Armand never agreed to a deal."

I gasped, "What?!"

He smirked, "Indeed, no. While I was prepared to pay an unheard-of amount to obtain you, I realized the better solution was simply for you to come to me of your own free will, without costing me a dime."

I stared at him in utter confusion.

He continued gleefully, "I lied. Earlier, when I told you Armand had made a deal. I lied because I knew you would run. I also knew you would somehow find the means to make it out successfully. And then all I had to do was wait for you to come to me in the woods, completely free of that pesky prince's protection."

I inhaled sharply as I understood. Armand had not given me away! Marku had set a trap for me, and I had run straight into it! Rage at myself and rage at him ignited inside of me. My heart rate slowed, and I felt a familiar vibration in the air.

He looked down at me in alarm, no doubt wondering what caused my abrupt change in heart rate. I didn't give him time to think about it. Instead, I felt power course through my body. Whatever fighting skills I had tapped into previously, roared to life, as I exploded out of his arms, launched myself into the air and landed softly on the balls of my feet.

He stared at me in complete shock and then breathed, "Fuck! You are like the gift that just keeps on giving. Layer after layer more intriguing than the last. I have never met a woman of your caliber, one who was truly deserving to stand by my side."

"What about your Queen?" I spat, desperately trying to get his attention away from all of the little things that he seemed to fixate on with me.

He shocked the hell out of me when he countered, "If you would like that title, it is yours!"

My mouth fell slack and I gasped, "You can't be serious!"

"I am deadly serious. I told you before I would be willing to concede a great deal to have you. If that is what it takes to convince you to stay by my side willingly, I will gladly make it happen..."

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Sooo.....thoughts here?  Hmmm...maybe I don't want to hear them just yet. lol.  I will circle back around to that question in a few chapters... :) :)