(Lucian's POV)
I could not sleep.
My wolf wouldn't let me.
He paced in my mind, snarling, restless, my mind going back to one place only, her.
Aria.
I smashed my fist against the headboard.
It cracked.
Still, the beast in me continued to snarl Go to her.
Now.
I cursed under my breath.
I got up, put on a black cloak and crept out of my rooms like a thief in my own bastard palace.
When I reached the dungeon, I stood in front of her cell door.
I leaned there in the dark, watching like some morbid predator.
She sprawled on the harsh straw mattress.
Her hair spread about her head like a halo.
But she was no angel.
No, she was a storm bottled up in delicate skin.
I spoke to myself quietly, "I do not want you."
Liar.
I took a step forward.
Even in sleep, her strength battered against the walls.
The air hummed with it.
Sparks crackled around her fingertips.
Shadows entwined themselves at her feet.
"She doesn't even know what she is," I snarled.
My mother's screams still echoed in my mind.
The smell of seared flesh.
The spatter of blood against marble floors.
All for the sake of a witch with Aria's damn blood.
I suppressed the image and clenched my fists at my waist.
I should hate you.
But my wolf simply howled Mine.
Suddenly, her skin glowed, a chill silver light.
Her lips parted.
Her breathing quickened.
I frowned.
"Aria?"
I reached for the lock but was frozen when a cold foreign wind swooped down the corridor.
The torches faded and we were left in the dark.
A whispered message pierced the darkness.
For the Hollow Claw.
My eyes grew even wider.
I spun around just as seven masked individuals dropped from the ceiling, daggers out, gliding as shadows.
I entered the room completely.
"Back away from her."
They spat at me, "Too late, King.
She will die tonight."
Aria awoke.
She grunted my name but did not open her eyes.
I bared my fangs.
"Go ahead."
The first attacker struck.
I grabbed his wrist and twisted it back.
His dagger clattered on the floor.
I jabbed my elbow into his throat, breaking it.
He fell silently.
Another hit me from behind.
I dodged, grabbed him by the cloak and thrust him into the bars.
Bone cracked.
Blood sprayed.
I heard the thud of feet racing to Aria's bed.
"No!" I roared.
But he was fast.
He kicked her ribs to awaken her.
She sat up with a gasp, threw out her arm by reflex.
A blast of energy emanated from the palm of her hand, sending the assassin crashing into the wall.
She stared at her hands, which radiated like embers, with horror.
"What.
what's happening?"
"Get down!" I screamed.
I batted another blade for her heart.
Metal screamed against my claws as sparks fell like fireflies.
I pushed him back and cut his throat open with one motion.
Two others closed in on me, their actions too practiced to be normal rogues.
Elites, then.
Wonderful.
I relished a challenge.
One faked left, one came in right.
I dodged, whirled, grabbed the first by the leg and threw him into the second.
They bumped into each other.
I killed them both with a spin of claws.
I turned around, too slow.
One had moved around me.
He grabbed Aria by the hair and jerked her up.
She kicked him in the jaw.
He wincing just barely.
I attacked him but she surprised me,her eyes glowed white and blackness oozed from her pores.
She pinched his wrist and her magic flared through him.
He screamed as smoke curled up from his flesh.
"Stop, Aria!" I shouted.
She ignored my cry.
Her magic was wild, exploding the stones beneath her feet.
I shoved her aside.
She hit the wall with a grunt.
The contact broke her hold and the assassin crumpled, half-burnt.
I stood in front of her, chest heaving.
"Stay behind me.
Do not move."
She blinked at me, dazed.
"Lucian."
"Stay," I growled again.
The last one struck me.
He was the biggest, his sword slanted with silver.
I caught his arm but he turned and sliced my side.
Pain burst bright and hot.
"Is that all you have got?" I snarled.
I bashed my face into his, caught his jaw, and wrenched.
His neck cracked like dry wood.
Silence fell.
I scanned the cell.
Bodies all around.
Blood on my boots.
Aria leaned back against the wall opposite her, knees pulled into her chest, panting for breath.
Guards finally poured in, too late as always.
One pointed to the only survivor, the half-burnt man Aria had targeted.
"My King, he lives."
"Take him," I ordered.
They dragged him out, but before they had gotten the door, the assassin laughed, wet and broken.
"Hollow Claw.
rises.
long live."
He bit down on something hidden in his mouth.
His eyes rolled back.
Foam foamed around his lips.
Dead.
I booted the nearest corpse.
"Fool! You let them pass through the wards! Find out how they got in, NOW!"
The guards ran off in all directions like scared pups.
I looked at Aria.
She gazed at me, hair mussed, eyes wide, hands still trembling with lingering sparks.
"I. I couldn't help it," she panted.
"It just.
burst."
I knelt at her feet.
"I know."
She gritted her teeth.
"I hurt you, did I not?"
I ignored the tenderness in my side.
"You protected yourself.
That is what matters."
Her lower lip trembled.
"What if I lose control again? What if I injure.
you?"
I put my hand on her cheek before I could stop myself.
"Then you will learn to control it."
She gazed at me, hope flickering behind terror.
"How?"
I leaned in, so she would be able to hear the promise in my voice.
"I will show you."
Her breath caught.
"Why? You hate me."
I closed my eyes.
My wolf growled Mine.
Guard.
Love.
"I do not hate you, Aria," I said softly.
"I am afraid of you."
Her forehead creased.
"You are afraid of me?"
"I am afraid of what you do to me.
What you create within me.
What I will do to destroy for you."
She blazed at me, eyes wide with shock.
I brushed a tear off her cheek with my thumb.
"You will learn to master that power," I said to her, steel in words.
"And I will stand beside you until you do."
Her eyes searched mine, searching for the lie.
She didn't find it.
I rose, extending my hand.
"Come, Mate."
She wavered, then placed her shaking hand into mine.
And in that moment, I was gone.
I pulled her close, allowed her to sense the warmth of my chest against the cold of hers and exhaled gently against her ear, "You belong to me, Aria.
And I will ensure that no one and nothing ever gets you out of my grasp again."