Her Saving Curse
Chapter 3 - Opinion
Hissing in pain, Kelsey spat out an uncomplimentary word at the guard who seemed to only speak Hindi, the one that had just shoved her roughly down the hallway to hurry her up, resulting in her stumbling and slicing her palm on the wall when she tried to steady herself. Her hand had caught on what seemed to be an old, rusty nail sticking out of another cell door, the tip of which glistened with shiny red blood, the sight of which made her stomach drop.
Kelsey had never liked seeing blood; it always seemed so wrong. Blood was something that was meant for the inside of your body – it wasn't supposed to pour from wounds like water from a broken fire hydrant; it was something that did its job without being seen as long as you didn't give it cause to meet the open air. Aside from that, even, she didn't like it because it was normally Ren and Kishan who got hurt, and that was never something she liked to witness, and Kelsey had bad memories associated with how bloody people could become when her parents had died.
The torn flesh on her hand burned and itched, dripping blood onto the uneven floor despite cupping her other hand over the injury.
"Lokesh wishes to speak," The second guard repeated in his choppy, garbled version of English, stopping them at a door several minutes later.
The trio had passed into slightly nicer accommodations, with cells no longer lining the opposite side of the hall, and the walls and floor having been smoothed out far better than they had been in the direction of Kelsey's cell.
Kelsey looked up at the English-speaking guard, who had two feet on her modest height, curious as to any emotion being shown on his face towards his prisoner, but the man simply glared and pushed her through the door; it was pulled shut behind her with a slam.
Brown eyes wandered the room; observing the empty fireplace, bricked walls, and intricately carved wooden furniture. Kelsey took a step forward to examine a carving on a shelf, only to gasp when her foot caught on something sticking up from the rug.
Lying before her, in bright orange, striped glory, was obviously the skin of a large Bengal tiger. Its paws were spread out to form an 'X' on the ground, claws still attached, with a long, solid, black-tipped tail sticking straight out behind the slaughtered animal.
The tiger's head was still attached, shrunken slightly in death, its mouth open in an eternal snarl at the door she had come from. The canine teeth of the big cat curved downwards towards its lower jaw, slightly yellowed fangs that held a vaguely pearly sheen.
Kelsey backed up against the wall, eyes and mouth open as she stared at the trophy resting on the floor; it's glassy, lifeless eyes seemed to stare right at her, even in death. The young woman dug her fingernails into the wall as she gave a small squeal, still staring at the formerly powerful creature in a horrified, fascinated manner.
It was only when she heard the chuckling that she remembered that she was not, in fact, alone.
"You don't appreciate the décor, darling? There'll be a white and a black one there to join it before too long, you know."
The voice that came from the handsome young form Lokesh had donned was clearly amused at her disgust for the tiger's fate, and his lips curled into a small smile as he watched her tremble slightly as she digested the meaning behind the simple statement he'd made.
Kelsey's eyes were trained on Lokesh's movements as he sipped an unknown amber liquid – undoubtedly an alcohol of some form – ready to bolt for the door at any given moment. Her expression was akin to that of a deer's when faced with a wolf toying with it, tensed up and just waiting for a moment to flee, no matter how futile the effort would be.
"Y-You're evil and disgusting," Kelsey spat, berating herself inside for how her voice trembled on the first word.
As much as she loathed to admit it, Kelsey was scared. She was not thinking of brave plans of escape, of ways to attack Lokesh - no, she was trapped in the mind-numbing feeling of being the prey in the hunt; and her mind kept going back to when she'd watched the brothers hunt; how futile their prey's attempts to get away were when faced with such a magnificent machine designed to kill and fight.
Lokesh was the tiger now, and Kelsey was the prey desperately seeking a path to escape on even though the end was obviously drawing near.
It made her bitter to think of it now, but Kelsey knew now that she relied too much on the Rajaram brothers to protect her, for one of the princes to ride up and be her knight in shining armor. Now she had no Ren, no Kishan, not even Mr. Kadam or Nilima to save her – it was all on her.
"Evil, am I?" His voice was silky, like a snake's whispering softly in her ear; a shiver rippled down Kelsey's spine as goosebumps rose along her arms.
Lokesh set his glass down on the polished surface of the desk, walking around the desk to stand a mere two feet in front of Kelsey, his eyes staring right into hers.
"Evil is a mere matter of opinion," He said, closing the distance between them, leaning his forearms against the wall on either side of her head as he watched her expression.
Kelsey pressed her back against the hard stone, trying to put as much distance between her and the sorcerer as was physically possible; he was taller than her; she glared at the collar of his shirt, wishing it would catch on fire if she glared hard enough.
A finger touched her jaw, and Kelsey jerked away from the touch; Lokesh's fingers were cold and his grip hard as he lifted her chin up so that she was glaring instead at his eyes, though if anything he seemed amused by the obstinacy she was showing.
"The only thing that matters in this world is power," His voice was softer as he spoke this time, his lips very close to her own – far too close for her liking. "Those who have power, and those who do not. Those who seek power, and those too cowardly to do so. You will come to agree before long."
They stared at each for several heartbeats, Kelsey with bated breath and Lokesh with a small smirk playing on his lips; then he moved his head and pressed a small kiss to the side of her neck, just below her jawline.
Kelsey jerked backwards so fast her head hit the wall and produced a throbbing sensation, but the man had already moved away, barking an order in Hindi as he did so. The door beside her was thrown open, and she was forced back down the hallway to her cell once more.
She found she welcomed the solitude of her cell after the meeting with the sorcerer; Kelsey sat against the wall with her knees drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped around them, replaying the encounter over and over in her mind.
Her skin still itched where he'd kissed her.
Okay, so this update is 5 months overdue. -_- There's several long stories that that can be attributed too, but I literally stayed up all night to work on this fic because you guys seriously deserved an update... I'm not even joking, it's 5:27 AM here in Texas. I went to Oregon over the summer though! Didn't get to go to Tillamook despite my pleas, though. :( Anywho - reviews are always loved, concrit welcome, and flames... Well, fire is my element, peeps. :)