“Enough, Luna,” he snarled. His hand laced through mine, stopping my assault as the darkness thickened. Then, the pull I associated with moving through the shadows tugged at me.
Thick, black, horrible darkness surrounded me and my anger increased ten-fold. How dare he pull us into the shadows during an argument? My heart thundered and my lungs tightened as a bitter, arctic wind slammed into me with the strength of a thousand soldiers. I tried to breathe, but the air felt like bits of glass stabbing my lungs.
Cold
I was so cold.
Shivering, my teeth chattered as I blinked. There was nothing but darkness around us. The wind howled, and I tried to figure out where we were. Had someone opened a window?
Warmth tickled my ear, and Sebastian asked, “Do you still think you’re the only one suffering here, Luna?”
“I do,” I replied as the darkness continued to be absolute. “You don’t seem to have any issues. Unlike me, you’re a gods-damned pillar of strength.”
To prove my point, I struggled against his grip. I kicked what I assumed was his knee, but of course, he didn’t react.
“You’re wrong,” he snarled. “I am suffering.”
“Tell me then,” I hissed as another gust of wind blew by. “How are you suffering? We’re in your home with your people. Your friends. Every day, we sleep in your bedroom. How are you suffering, oh great, mighty vampire? You haveeverything, and I havenothing!”
A long moment passed, and the air became impossibly thick as tension grew between us. Sebastian’s arm was an iron band around my waist, locking me against him.
Then, when I thought I couldn’t handle another second of complete darkness, the shadows lifted. My eyes widened, and my heart dropped straight to my feet.
Snowflakes were landing. On. My. Head.
Even here, in the freezing north, it did not snow indoors. It did not take a scientist to deduce that we were no longer inside. Looking up, I gulped as I saw nothing but the dark, cloudy sky.
Then I looked down.
“Oh my gods,” I moaned.
That was definitely a mistake. I should have shut my eyes the moment I saw the sky. My stomach churned, and a tremor ran through me despite the arm locked around my waist. I stood on the thinnest of ledges, my slippered feet an inch from being on nothing but air.
And Sebastian?
He was not standing on the ledge.
No.
His arm was locked around my middle, and there was nothing beneath his feet at all. Those large, dark wings were beating steadily in the air as heflewin front of me. Below him, there was nothing but snow-covered trees.
“I don’t have everything,” Sebastian snapped, drawing my attention back to him. His brows were furrowed, and he frowned. “I haven’t left the castle since the night of our wedding. I’m as much of a prisoner as you are.”
My stomach twisted, and bile rose in my throat. It took everything I had not to lose the remnants of my breakfast. Whether it was because of his words or because of the heights, I wasn’t sure. Closing my eyes, I took a series of deep breaths, grounding myself.
When I was certain I wouldn’t throw up, I opened my eyes and met his black gaze once more. My voice was cooler now. More level. “We are not the same, Sebastian. You have a life here. I have Julieta. That is it. She’s all I have. You haveeverything.”
He stared at me for a long moment, his dark eyes filled with storms and secrets. Then, his jaw hardened and he did something I never expected.
Hemoved.
I squealed, wrapping my arms around the vampire prince’s neck and holding on tight as I squeezed my eyes shut. His wings beat in my ears, stirring the wind, and my teeth chattered as my bag hit my hip.
That arm tightened around my middle, and he growled, “Look around, Luna.”
I didn’t want to. My entire body urged me to keep my eyes closed, to shut out the terror of flying. But I didn’t. I forced them open, keeping my gaze trained on Sebastian as he carried me over the forests.
“I used to have all of this,” he said angrily. “I could go flying every night. The entire world was mine. Now, I am trapped by your side.”