Maiden of the Peach

Chapter twenty-six: A Dawn of Black Feathers!

"Well, I have found you once again, Milady~!" That almost sickly sweet familiar voice rings in my ears.

I could feel all the blood drain from my face as my body froze, almost as if time itself decided this was the best possible moment to stop turning. My heart took flight and leaped miles up into my throat; my mind's racing a mile per minute. For a moment, I could only fool myself into thinking that for the first time since I came to this era, I was safe, that the Blackwing Brothers weren't after me at that moment; I was praying to whatever gods could exist that it was only my mind playing tricks on me. That is, till my frightened gaze catches that unmistakable bright flaming orange hair from outside my peripheral.

"It's you, Zenki-" I mumbled under my breath in a near-silent scream, fear chilling my blood and freezing my entire being. I couldn't even raise my voice; my vocals felt constricted by a vice that I couldn't shake myself free of, his brows casting an eerie shade over his dark purple-y gaze; they almost seemed to glow in response.

"I wonder," Zenki started with a mild gleam of evil in his gaze, making me swallow dry as if it was getting harder to breathe underneath his menacing presence. "Should I rid you of your voice so you shan't scream for help, that you are so lovely at displaying in our early activities..." he mumbled in a deathly calm manner as I could feel his icy-cold fingers tipped with dark talons creep around from my shoulder to my exposed neck like a spider, the sharp points pressing further against where my arty pulsed. "Or perhaps I should snap these dainty wrists like a twig so you can retaliate... removing a limb or two wouldn't damage your image either, might even improve it and make you more... tolerable," he hisses his venomous words against my ear, pressing his nose to gaze over the shell and parting some of my hair.

It felt so intimate and made my skin crawl in a vile way that I couldn't help but whimper as I tried to move away from the intrusive touch, only to have his arm wrap around my midsection, pulling me closer to his cold and solid chest.

"Let me go!" I screamed only to be met with his claws nearly clamping shut around my neck as it kept my head tilted back, resting on his shoulder, while his other arm held me even tighter, rivaling steel and iron.

"Don't move," Zenki hissed against my hair, his eyes gleaming to reflect his demon nature. "Eldest brother didn't mention that he wants you in one piece, so you better behave!" An almost low growling-sounding rumble emanates from his chest.

'I need to think of something and fast!' I'm practically screaming at my brain. The tips of his sharp nails are breaking skin now as warm liquid trickles down and along my throat. 'If I even move a muscle or try to say anything,' small tear prickles at the far corner of my eyes as I close them tightly, fighting to hold them back. 'He'll kill me... or worse, follow through with his threats. Damn it, what should I do?'

And instantly, an image flashed across my mind like a fleeting thought; I saw Shino and his gentle dark beady eyes. I never wanted anything more than to have him here, to save me again, and to get me out of here. 'Sh-Shino, please... help me!' With that thought lingering in my mind, I found my body unwittingly moving either against my will or for it.

"Didn't I tell you to stop squirming-" Zenki's steely grip around my neck suddenly vanished as his arm around my waist loosened up enough to let me slip past his murderous embrace. "Argh!" He yelped in pain as I quickly turned my head along with my body to see his face twisted in both pain and silent burning rage. "You blasted mutt!" Shino's sharp fangs are buried deep into Zenki's right shoulder, drawing thick heavy crimson rivers pouring down his arm.

"Shino!" my gaze widened in bewilderment, 'But I- that's right! He could bring himself out of the charm like last time when I was in danger! How could I have forgotten that?' For a moment, I was angry with myself, but it quickly evaporated when I saw Shino coming to my aid again, and all my worries seemed so distant.