Free Web NovelChapter 324: Chapter 324
A different ache started deep in his gut and spread outward, clawing up his chest and into his throat until it felt as though his insides were being scorched with flames. Casilo gasped, lungs dragging in air that did nothing to ease the agony. The feeling was unbearable. His tongue felt thick, useless, pressed too large against his teeth.
Not the dull ache he sometimes ignored when he got injured in a fight. This was sharp and consuming, a need so absolute it drowned out nearly everything else.
His eyes flew open.
For a few heartbeats, the world was nothing but blurred shapes and light. The ceiling swam above him, unfamiliar, and his tensed muscles screamed in protest.
He attempted to sit up and barely managed a strained twitch. That was when he realized he couldn’t move his arms.
The chains rattled loudly as he pulled, the sound cutting through the fog in his head. Steel bit into his wrists where shackles held him fast, thick links running up to the headboard. Confusion and panic flared briefly, then vanished beneath the roaring demand in his veins.
He tugged again, harder this time.
The movement sent fresh pain flaring along his side, but he barely registered it. His fangs ached, pressure building until it felt like they might split his gums. His throat burned so badly it was hard to think.
Blood. He needed blood. That thought was the only clear thing left in his mind.
A low, broken sound tore from his chest as he strained against the restraints again, chains clanging violently. He would tear free. He had to. There was no other option.
Footsteps thundered outside the door.
It opened abruptly, and three guards rushed in, hands already on their swords.
In Casilo’s fractured state, the sight of them registered as nothing but a threat. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
He bared his fangs with a hoarse snarl, muscles bunching uselessly as he fought the chains, eyes locked on them with feral intensity. The guards froze only for a moment before moving in, wary but prepared.
Then a fourth man entered, carrying a pitcher. The scent hit Casilo before he saw it.
Blood.
His entire body reacted at once. He thrashed violently as the guards grabbed him, pinning his shoulders and legs to the mattress. He fought them with everything he had, but he was weak and the restraints limited what little leverage he had.
The pitcher was pressed to his mouth.
He resisted for half a second more, instinctively, and then the first taste hit his tongue, warm and metallic.
He made a sound that was almost a groan and drank. He guzzled it down, swallowing greedily as the blood was forced past his lips, some of it spilling down his chin and onto his bare chest. Pig’s blood—he realized it dimly—but it didn’t matter. It dulled the fire just enough to make the pain bearable.
When the pitcher was finally emptied, his chest heaved as he dragged in rough breaths.
The guards released him cautiously, stepping back but keeping their weapons close. Casilo sagged against the pillows, sweat slicking his skin, his entire body trembling.
The hunger didn’t vanish.
It receded, just enough to let his thoughts reassemble even for reason to shine through.
He recognized the room then. The bed. It was his bed.
His gaze tracked sluggishly to the guards, recognition flickering behind his eyes. They watched him for a moment longer, then one of them gave a short nod. Without a word, they filed out, leaving him chained and alone.
Time stretched. Minutes blurred into what felt like hours. The ache in his fangs persisted, a relentless pressure that refused to fade. His throat still burned, though not as fiercely as before. Every breath scraped.
The wound at his side made itself known slowly, a deep, tight pain beneath the bandages. It was still only half-healed.
The door opened again.
Casilo’s head turned at once. It wasn’t a guard.
Nieah stood in the doorway.
His eyes fixed on her the instant she stepped inside, and they didn’t leave her as she crossed the room and came to a stop in front of the bed. The hunger flared again, not as violently as before, but sharp enough to make his fingers curl against the chains.
He didn’t snarl at her. He couldn’t have, even if he wanted to.
He just watched as she silently inspected his chained form.
Nieah’s gaze dropped to his bare torso, her eyes tracing over familiar lines of muscle before settling on the bandaged wound at his side. Her expression tightened, though her movements remained careful and controlled.
"How are you feeling?" she asked quietly.
Casilo didn’t answer.
His mouth opened, but no words came. His tongue felt thick, and clumsy in his mouth, and his thoughts lagging just enough to make speech impossible. A frustrated sound slipped from him instead, low and rough.
His eyes lifted back to her, still edged with that unrestrained hunger.
She swallowed and glanced briefly toward the door, where she knew a guard stood just outside, listening. It had cost her a great deal of effort to be allowed in here, and the guard only agreed because Casilo was restrained and freshly fed, hence he was less likely to cause harm.
She stepped closer anyway.
"I won’t stay long," she said softly. "I just wanted to see you with my own eyes." fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Casilo’s chains rattled faintly as his fingers flexed again, his jaw tightening as he fought the urge burning through him. His eyes never left her.
And Nieah, standing there by his bed, knew with a certainty that settled heavy in her chest that despite the blood he’d been given, he was still suffering.
And the worst of it was far from over. That was something both she and the guards knew.
He had lost far too much blood from his wounds and had sunk too deeply into the clutches of madness. No amount of pig’s blood fed to him from a cup would be enough to fully drive away the bloodlust or return his mind to normal.
