Selena’s gaze fell upon a young man’s body, the one that had kept watch outside her prison. There was another one, by the base of the stairs.

Aaran stepped over the first one as if he were stepping over a puddle, without even giving him a second glance, but Selena couldn’t help notice the blood stains soaking the man’s clothes.

“Are they dead …?” she asked in a heavy murmur and Aaran stopped for a moment, averting his gaze, as if he felt too embarrassed to face her.

“No.”

The sigh of relief that echoed around him left him puzzled, and then Selena had passed him, jumping over the second body and stopping on the third step to look back at him with a smile on her face.

“Good,” she told him gaily, again the mischievous child he always had trouble dealing with, and turned to climb the rest of stairs. “What happened, Aaran?” she finally asked, finding three more bodies as she reached the corridor, six more a few feet away. Had he defeated them all on his own?

Aaran passed by her and Selena found herself having to run to catch up with his wide stride.

“I’m sorry for all this mess,” he told her in a heartfelt tone and Selena raised her head to look at him. His face still showed an absolute and undisturbed indifference but there was something in the way his eyes glowed that told her otherwise.

“And Alexis?” she asked, half guessing, and the tension that immediately took over him didn’t go unnoticed.

“He went to find your sister. So you have nothing to worry about.”

“Hum … I see. This is ridiculous!” she declared in a critical tone.

“Ridiculous …?”

“Of course. They’ve captured me, to capture Sarah. So that they could then capture the two of you? Really?” she spat with clear disapproval, crossing her arms over her chest, and Aaran found himself smiling.

“You’re right,” he merely agreed and she suddenly stopped.

“I’ll be right back! It won’t take a second!” she told him in an urgent tone and Aaran was only in time to see her disappear behind a door. He was about to call her back or maybe follow her inside, when he noticed the sign on the wall beside the entrance - a bathroom.

Taking a hand to his face he forced himself to take a long deep breath.

“Human … a mere Human …”

And yet, what had she been through since the moment they’ve captured her? What had she seen? To which point had she learned the truth? Not that he was an expert at dealing with Humans, but Selena had always been especially hard to understand … Too complex, too used to pretend to be who she wasn’t.

Still, the logic and safest path to take would be to start from the assumption she still didn’t know the truth. That her young, dreamy mind had somehow been able to find explanations and excuses to whatever strange things her eyes had seen. If not, how would she be able remain so calm in his presence? Surely if she had seen the true form of her captors the fear and terror alone wouldn’t allow her to act in such a relaxed manner.

For a moment, when he’d found her in that cell, he’d been certain of the worst. But she’d recovered too quickly for someone who’d suddenly seen herself fall prey to a maddened Araphel addicted to Ishar. So he could only conclude that she’d been merely scared for being locked in that dark place, and that the other Human had probably been the one who’d brought her there.

Aaran folded his arms and sighed impatiently. For someone who’d said she’d only take a second she was taking far too long! Besides not being safe to simply stand around like that, he wanted to catch up with Alexis as soon as possible. Preferably in time to avoid a direct confrontation between him and Farran.

With a new sigh he walked to the door and knocked lightly.

“Selena? Is everything all right?” he asked while keeping a watchful eye on the corridor, searching for any unwelcome guests.

“Ah, yes … I’ll be a second …”

Her uncertain tone made him push the door open and peer inside.

He found her immediately, standing in front of the mirror, but it took him some time to understand what she was doing. He ran his eyes over her from head to toe, and the sudden impact that made his chest resonate made him clenched his fists. How was he supposed to keep himself under control around that kid …?

“Selena …? What are you doing …?” he asked, although it was now obvious, and she jumped back, looking at him with an alarmed expression.

“Ah! Nothing, really!” she replied nervously, and she couldn’t help take a step back when she noticed he was looking at her now naked legs.

Her skin was still wet, he noticed, which meant she’d washed herself. And the pieces of black fabric that had once been her tights were now draped around her knees, covering her scrapped bleeding skin. Selena had already bandaged her left hand, but seemed to be having some difficulties repeating the feat on her right one, although he’d caught her making use of her teeth, trying to tie a knot.

She stepped back again as he approached her and hurriedly tried to wrap her injured hand.

“Hum … I thought it would be safer, this way,” she declared with a trembling voice. “Because of the danger of infections and stuff like that,” she added, giving up on her improvised bandage, and closed her hand into a small tight ball when he stopped right in front of her.

What kind of excuse was that? Had he been wrong about her? Had she realized the truth? Because it was surely safer! Because the scent of her blood would certainly leave his enemies completely insane.

However, as he was about to question her, his voice got stuck to the back of his throat.

“Let me see,” he told her, reaching out his hand, and Selena clearly hesitated before obeying.

With her heart drumming heavily she watched in silence as his long, delicate fingers, finished wrapping her hand with hypnotic, elegant gestures; and yet the tension that had stiffened her body only left her when he finally finished tying the knot.

“Is that okay? Too tight?”

She opened and closed her hand, ignoring the burning, throbbing pain, and smiled.

“It’s perfect. Thank you,” she replied and Aaran released a defeated sigh.

“Good! Let’s go then!” he declared, as if somehow he’d lost his patience after waiting for so long, but as he turned to walk away he held her by her hand, and pulled her with him.

Selena practically stumbled out of the bathroom, feeling dizzy. And then she had to almost run to keep up with him, her stunned gaze locked on the tall figure walking right in front of her, his white hair shining like silver down his back.

Sure her hand hurt as he squeezed it. But the strong fingers holding her gave her an unshakable sense of security. Because as long as he remained by her side, Aaran would never allow anything bad to happen to her. And suddenly she couldn’t help feeling happy for having decided to bandage her wounds. Because she knew Aaran would never have touched her as long as her skin remained stained with blood.