Ariana's POV
I screamed and buried my head in my arms when there was a great thud on the door, a moment before it came crashing down, I slowly raised my head to behold Dylan, he was covered with bruises and blood, what happened out there? His eyes located me and he rushed towards me, "Ariana, thank goodness I found you here" his voice sounded like a prayer as he crushed me towards him, I buried my face in his shoulder briefly before raising my head to stare at his face, he quickly untied me and his eyes darkened on the red marks the rope had left on my wrist, "who did this to you? You must have seen the person behind your kidnap, who is it?" His eyes had taken on a feral look, that molten colored eyes were so bright, all fire, ready to set anyone ablaze, he was already so injured, telling him Eric was behind this won't be fair to him because he must surely sought him out, who knows what Eric will do to him, no, telling him will only cause more problem for him, "my eyes were bounded, so I couldn't see who was behind it" the lies flowed out from my mouth easily and I almost bit my tongue, he was still staring at me as if he wasn't sure weather to believe me, if he continue this, he'll soon find out that I lied to him, to avert his probing eyes, I simply wrapped my arms around his neck, "I knew you'll come and save me, I...I...was so scared" my heart soared because his presence had proven that he cared deeply for me, he feels what I'm feeling, he hugged me tighter to him and exhale harshly as if relieved he had found me, who would have thought that my absence will affect him this much, he drew away from me a little with our bodies still touching," we need to get out of here" he whispered and I nodded, running my hand all over his face for a moment before standing up to follow him, to my amazement, my legs gave way, it must have been bounded for too long that it lost all it's feelings, his arms quickly wrapped around my waist to steady me, "are you okay?" His molten eyes studied me and I simply nodded, his eyes color tells me he was angry, although, I don't know with whom but I know it's definitely not with me, he looks so concerned when he stared at me, perhaps, he was angry with the kidnappers, I moved my legs but ended up limping, he swung me in his arms before I could protest, "I can manage" I whispered weakly but he paid no heed and simply carried me out, I felt a slight buzz just as we stepped out and I heard him inhale sharply, what was that, I glanced at him, he was sweating profusely and he kept gnashing his teeth like someone in so much pain, I frowned, puzzled at his odd behavior, "are you okay?" He looked at me and simply nodded without uttering a word, his hand holding me shook a bit and I urged him to put me down, he did as I urged without any argument, he staggered forward and I watched his hand crept to his chest, falling and rising, I held his arms to steady him, this must be Eric's doing, I was so sure of it, I glanced around if I could see him anywhere near but I didn't, which means, he was doing his spells from somewhere he couldn't be seen, well, one thing is for sure, I won't let him hurt Dylan,
"Keep moving" he gritted when I stopped to steady him, "are you okay?" I asked once more, afraid that he will pass out, he didn't get the chance to reply as he suddenly screamed and arched his back like a bow, "what the heck was Eric doing to him?" I was confused as I didn't know what to do to make him feel better, I don't even know a damn spell, if I was a witch as Eric kept telling me, why can't I just swing my hand and things start happening, "Is anyone there? Please, help us" I screamed running around in a circle, I ran back to where he has fallen on his knees, blood coming out from his mouth and nostrils, "j..j..just g..go, l...leave me and g..go" I shook my head vehemently disputing his suggestion, I wiped my tears with the back of my hand, "I won't leave you here Dylan, you're coming with me, we either leave here together or we die here together"
"Y... you're one s...s... stubborn woman" he rasped, his eyes already turning to a glaze, I shook him hard, terrified for him, "j...just look at me Dylan, please, hang in there"
He tried to focus on my face and I was happy that he was at least making an effort, I swung his arms over my shoulders and made him lean on me for support, "just get me out from. this marked place and I'll be fine" he whispered, I grimaced, that means he knew a spell was cast here and he still risked it to save me.
I dragged his almost dead weight with me, I could feel him shudder as spam after spams of pain washed through him, finally, we were able to leave the marked place and I placed him down, his eyes were closed and his breathing was no longer heavy like someone in pain, I watched him for a moment and ruffled his hair and ran my fingers down to his chin, even in his current state, he looks like a Greek god all in his glory, I don't know what came over me as I slowly bent my head and met his lips, they were soft, a sharp contrast to his harsh features, they were soft and inviting me for more, I felt his tongue suddenly penetrated my mouth in response to my kisses and my eyes widened, I never knew he was awake, I jerked away from him and heard him chuckled weakly, "think only you can steal a kiss, huh, gotcha" my face flamed crimson, "I w... wasn't stealing, I...was.. only...." He raised his brow as I stuttered, waiting for my complete statement but unfortunately, I had no complete statement because I don't even know what I was going to say, I frowned as I gazed at him, " how come you're okay so quickly?" He raised his brow at my question, "don't you want me to be okay?" He shook his head and stood up fr. the ground, dusting his pants, " shall we?" He offered me his hand and I took it, standing up from the ground, it suddenly occurred to me that neither Eric nor I told him where to come, was he actually who Eric says he was? I shook my head at my own thoughts, I must be going paranoid "how did you find me?" I asked out of pure curiosity and I felt his corner eyes glance at me, "couldn't find you at home, traced you to the alley and found one of the men who had kidnapped you, he directed me her"
"He simply told you where I was,?"
"Not without some cajoling" I giggled at his double meaning, liking this form of his.
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I sighted Eric walking towards the male dressing room, perhaps to prepare his model for that show this evening, I quickly followed him and caught up with him just before he entered, I held his wrist and dragged him to the corner of the room, out of the view of anyone passing, I immediately let go of his hands and landed him two hot slaps, "that's for the pain you caused Dylan" I gritted, angry beyond words, "he could have died you know, how dare you show your face here after what you've done" he calmly rubbed his cheeks as his eyes narrowed on me, "but he didn't die, did he? I could have killed him if I had wanted to" his words made me feel like giving him another slap, I pointed my fingers at him, "I won't allow you hurt even a hair on his head" I vowed
"How long are you going to keep up with this Ariana? You believed me that's why you didn't tell him I was the one who abducted you, right?"
I gritted my teeth, the nerve of him, "I didn't expose you because he was not in a good condition to go against you then, I didn't expose you to protect him, it has nothing to do with you but if you keep this up, I will tell him everything about you because for as long as I live, I'll be by him, get that into your head and don't try anything stupid"
I turned to walk away but his next words stopped me, "you think he loves you just because he came to rescue you?"
I slowly turned towards him, "isn't it obvious? Who would risk his life to save someone they don't love?" I could see he was dumbfounded at my words, he opened his mouth to answer but shut it back, obviously lacking words, I walked away from him in that state.
Eric's POV
I narrowed my eyes at her retreating back, it seemed my plans had backfired for she trust him even more now, if only I could kill him with my powers I would have, but the truth is that I could only inflict pain on him, my spell can't kill him "the only one who can kill him with a spell is you, Ariana, because you were born with your powers and I must see to it that you'll help me kill him, even if that's the last thing you do" I rubbed at where she had slapped me and set my jaw, "the show has just begun Ariana, time to take this game to another level for I have several aces up my sleeves".