I am still for a moment before realizing the weight of Octavius' actions. God no. My feet are on the floor before the rest of my body can follow. I am running through halls, endless and identical, turning left, right, right again, and I am in a labyrinth created by my terror.

"Octavius!" I scream, but my mouth doesn't open. But I scream as I run, my head turning side to side, my hair attacking every inch of my exposed skin like whips. My feet are slapping the ground, the sound echoing louder and louder.

Where is he? Is he already with Titan? Octavius. Octavius.

I turn my head back to see if anyone is following my grazed form through the wing.

And I slam into a wall.

A wall that smells of cinnamon and smoke.

Octavius.

I cling to him, practically climbing up his body, a koala on a tree, holding on for dear life. My head is in his chest and his arms are holding me everywhere. Holding me together. I can hear the beating of his heart next to my ear, and it's strong and clear.

"I love you, I love you, I love you." I repeat over and over, and he grips me tighter with each time. He slides down the wall, so he is sitting on the hard concrete floor, and we sit together for a moment.

I grasp his cheeks, tracing his long lashes, his sharp features.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I love you, I love you." It's like a chant, the rhythm holding my heart in my chest and my veins in my skin. I kiss his cheeks, his nose, and his lips before I rest my forehead against his.

His silence is excruciating.

He pulls back, and my heart begins to crack.

Please don't leave me.

He takes my face in his hand, and I lean into his touch.

"Let me save you." He whispers, desperate. "Let me love you."

I just nod, and he moves forward, bringing his lips to mine. It is soft but strong, and my skin is on fire, so desperately needing him to be closer, to touch every inch of his skin to make sure he's real.

He is whispering between each kiss, utterances I can't understand, but I feel the love in each syllable.

He pulls away for a moment, but the space is miles in my mind, and I grasp the collar of his shirt and reel him back into me. The kiss is slow and short, but so unbelievably perfect. He is a fire on a winter day, melting the ice around my heart.

"As much as I'd love to stay like this forever," He whispers, "We have important matters to discuss."

"Ok." I whisper, and I allow him to carry me away.

We're sitting in his office, with him sitting in his large red chair, and me sitting on the desk in front of him. I still haven't been able to wash away the feeling of Titan's breath on my cheek, a wet spray of venom fanning my skin. I have, however, been able to change out of the dirty hospital gown, into a large soft shirt of Octavius' and some soft shorts.

Octavius clears his throat.

"Alessandra, I need you to tell me everything that happened. Leave nothing out."

I take a deep breath, having the liberty of sweet oxygen seeming like a blessing.

"What happened when you walked in?" He rests his hand on my knee, his touching reassuring.

"He-He started calling me things. 'Lovely', 'beautiful face', 'daughter-in-law'." Octavius' hand tightens around my leg, his restrained anger bubbling slightly. He squeezes his eyes shut for a moment, and nods for me to continue.

"I asked him, why he was here, why he had called the meeting with just me," I begin to shiver slightly. I can feel him in front of me, his devilish heat pressing into me like a tarp.

"And, he said he had a, proposition." I squeeze my hands together, my palms damp with a cold sweat.

"Go on, Alessandra." Octavius urges, his hand moving higher on my leg, tracing small circles.

"He-"

You will watch every single person you have ever loved be ripped apart, piece by piece.

I will skin him alive.

My dear Alessandra.

"Alessandra." I blink through tear filled eyes, breaking from the visions of Titan's cold red eyes.

"He wanted me to kill you." I mumble, my words crushed together into one polysyllabic mess. My voice was so soft, it could have all stayed behind my lips.

"What?" A gasp, a shout, a shock, all live in Octavius' voice.

"He wanted-"

"I heard you!" He shouts, his voice grinding like two stones against a concrete wall. He stands up from his chair, and I shift backwards on the desktop, shocked.

He is pacing in front of the chair, molding his fingers together, wringing them and writhing them. I can see the gears in his mind turning, but he stays silent.

"Octavius, I would never-"

"I know that." He snaps, his voice more alert than angry now. His mind is turning over and over, trying to make logical sense of the situation. "Why the hell would he try to get you to kill me, why not Kane or-" He freezes.

A lightning bolt erupts in his head, and realization shadows his eyes.

"In your hospital room, you said your father was...He couldn't...you saw him kill your parents-" His thoughts are spewing from his lips like bullets from a gun.

"My mother is..." I falter, and bite my lip to hold back tears. "But my father is alive. Titan wanted me to trade your life for my father's."

He just stares.

"He's been planning this. For so many years, he's planned this all. But how could he have known we would be, only the goddess..."

"Look, I don't know how he knew, or how the hell he did this. But my father is alive. He has to be." Octavius sits down in his chair again, gripping his hair as he lowers his head momentarily.

"We'll get him, Alessandra. I promise you. I'll call a meeting in an hour to put together a search and rescue mission."

I reach out to stroke his hair lightly, and he leans into my touch, pulling his chair forward so his head is practically on my lap. He reaches his arms around me and grips the sides of my waist, and I sigh.

"I don't know how many more times I can almost lose you before I lose my mind." He whispers against my skin. I shiver with pleasure and sadness.

"I'm sorry." I whisper.

He leans his chin upwards, lightly kissing my stomach, pulling my shirt away from my waist slightly to press his warm hands against my bare back.

"I'm so so sorry." I whimper, tears building behind my lashes.

He stiffens against my skin, and pulls away slightly, his hands wrapping around me, and he brings me down to sit with him on the chair.

Our noses brush softly, breath mingling between our open lips.

"I don't ever," he says, his voice deep and smooth, "want to hear those words come out of your mouth again."

And he kisses me, his lips and tongue meeting mine in a burst of sparks. His hands are running up my bare back, under my shirt, and my hands are at his hips, tugging his shirt up, higher, and away.

My lips are on his skin and his hands are moving to my chest. Heat and fire is everywhere and I'm burning in pure pleasure.

He brings his lips back to mine, his movements fast and deliberate. I'm moving against him, my whole body humming and alive. He kisses me into a dream that I can wake up to and fall asleep with. He kisses me under an ocean of moans and I want to drown in him. I want to touch every inch of his body with my lips.

But then we're rising together, my legs wrapped around him tightly, as he carries me to a room that is his and mine, and I only wish that I had five more senses to feel everything that was to come.