Chapter 82

A knife in the dark was what drew Lucien from sleep. As he opened his eyes, he could make out the cool blade pressed to his throat, and he was careful not to move as his eyes tried to adjust. Elain was no longer beside him, Lucien noticed before he tried to even move and, as he reached a hand out to where she had been beside him when he'd fallen asleep, the blade at his throat pressed closer.

"Uh-uh… Keep still…"

Lucien's heartbeat increased in pace at the sound of his brother, Connal's voice. "What… do you want?"

"Not much…" Connal said, an instant before there was a flash of flame and the fireplace erupted into a merrily burning fire. The point of the knife indicated for Lucien to sit up, and he struggled to do so, leaning back against the headboard.

"Wha-" He lurched forward when he saw Elain, only to be shoved back against the headboard, the blade digging into his throat as a warning. Unable to take his eyes off of Elain, Lucien fought down panic. Elain was bent over the edge of the bed, pinned face down by Tallan who had one hand pressed to the back of her neck, and one of his knees pressed into her lower back. Tallan's amber eyes were on Lucien, and his brother grinned, running his free hand down Elain's side.

"Lucien…" Elain whimpered, meeting his eyes from where she was pinned to the mattress, her cheek firm against the covers. Lucien could see her tears, glinting in the flickering firelight, and he swallowed another wave of panic.

"It's okay, my love…" he murmured, holding her gaze, willing her to believe him. "It's going to be okay."

"You can't tell her that." Tallan chuckled, the fingers of his roving hand coming up to trace the thin straps of Elain's silken nightdress. "Her idea of okay is the two of you walking out of here… and that's not going to happen."

Lucien lifted his eyes to meet Tallan's again. "Let her go…"

"Nah."

"Tallan…" Lucien snarled, "This has nothing to do with her."

Tallan tilted his head, smirking at Lucien, and slowly dragged the straps of Elain's nightdress off of her shoulders. Lucien heard her soft whimper, and surged forward again, knocking the blade from Connal's hand as he did so. He hadn't had time to dive across the bed, to get his hands on Tallan and rip him away from Elain, before Connal had pulled a larger blade, forcing him back once again. Lucien couldn't so much as take his eyes off of Elain, Tallan now stroking his fingers across her bare shoulders.

Elain's dark eyes were trained on Lucien, even as her tears slid into the bedspread she was pressed against. He wanted to tell her it would be okay again. He didn't care what Tallan said, Lucien would make sure that it would be okay.

"I told you you'd pay." Tallan said, amber eyes fixed on Lucien once more. "For what you did to our brothers…"

"Then let Elain go." Lucien said, "You want me."

"Nah…" Tallan pressed his knee harder into Elain's lower back causing her to give a pained cry, her hands clenching at the bedspread. Lucien snarled. "You see?" his brother said casually, "This hurts you… and I do intend on hurting you more."

"Let her go!"

"And who do you think you are to be giving orders?" Tallan snapped, "You're nobody. You renounced anything that made you important."

"If you hurt her, I will destroy you."

Tallan laughed then. "It's going to be one or both of you…" He said, his hand moving across Elain's bare back now. "And I think doing this hurts you worse than anything we could do to you directly…" Lucien watched with horror, unable to do anything, as his brother bent and licked a long stripe up Elain's back. Her shriek sparked something inside of Lucien and he threw himself at Connal, taking his brother to the floor.

It was a desperate scramble but, at some point, Lucien was able to bring his knee up into Connal's face, and his brother went still on the rug. Standing quickly, Lucien snarled, seeing Tallan still holding Elain pinned to the bed. As he watched, Tallan seized a handful of Elain's honey-brown hair and yanked her back, pulling her to her feet, and holding her in front of himself as he moved back.

"You wont get away with this." Lucien said, "What were you going to do? Murder me in bed and expect everything to go on as normal?"

"You're not here as Emissary." Tallan said, "Rhysand couldn't do shit."

"My family can." Elain said softly, her hands tugging at his, trying to remove it from her hand. "Nesta could kill you."

"Unlikely." Tallan replied, "But I'd like to grapple with her to test that theory…" One of his hands slid down Elain's body and Lucien saw her cringe away from him. He took a step toward the bed, his eyes never leaving Tallan now.

"Let Elain go, or I'll kill you."

"You've rather got it backward. You're not leaving this room breathing… or, I'm really going to hurt her and I'll make you watch."

Swallowing, Lucien forced himself to keep breathing. He felt the anger rising within him, felt himself growing hot with it. Before he knew what to do with it, however, he exploded. Unsure entirely what had happened, all he had noticed was the bright fiery light and the heat, and he found himself sitting on the bed what must have been moments later.

Elain's hands grabbed Lucien's shoulders, and he looked up at her, feeling slightly dazed. "Lucien?" her voice was concerned, and he blinked. "Are you okay?"

"Yes…" he murmured, everything coming into focus when Elain pressed a kiss to his forehead. Carefully, he lifted a hand to her waist, his eyes now moving back and forth across her face as he looked her over. "Are you?"

"Yes."

"Did he hurt you?"

"Nothing a hot bath and a massage from my mate wont cure…" Her lips brushed his cheek then, and Lucien noticed there were others moving around them.

Tamlin was suddenly there, telling Lucien that he needed to get dressed, and Lucien go to his feet without thinking. He quickly pulled on the clothing that had been handed to him, and then he noticed that both of his brothers were gone. He knew they had been taken away by Eris' men, and he wondered where they would be taken, and part of him hoped it was the same cell he had been kept in mere days before.

When Elain had pulled a day dress on, Lucien moved closer, encircling her with his arms and enjoying the moment she leaned back into him. "We have to speak with Eris." She told him, "He wants to know what happened… he wants to know it all."

"I'd wager he knows already." Lucien murmured, "Maybe less detailed…"

"Just tell me we can go in the morning."

"As you wish, Petal." He smiled at her, running his own fingers down her arms to her wrists. "We can be long gone by breakfast, even if the others choose to stay…"

"Let's get through this, though." She murmured, stepping aside so that he could inspect himself in the long mirror before it had been taken.

"Glad you think so."

Elain took his hand then, and Lucien walked with her out into the hallway where they met Nesta who looked beyond livid. He did not dare to speak to her, not yet.