Chapter 599 – The Dip is Dipping
Lux turned his head as much as the ropes allowed. The wards humd faintly in response, a gentle warning pulse that said don’t even think about it. Sunlight filtered through the sheer curtains, painting gold across the dark wood floor and the edge of the massive bed where he was very much restrained like a dangerous artifact soone forgot to put a warning label on.
Rava stepped into view.
She didn’t rush. Her hair was tied loosely over one shoulder, still slightly damp, as if she’d just co from the bathhouse. She wore a simple robe, sleeveless, tied at the waist, the fabric clinging just enough to remind him that yes, she was unfairly attractive even when doing dostic things that absolutely did not include tying demon CFOs to beds.
Behind her, several tentacles unfurled with quiet grace.
One held a basin of warm water that stead faintly. Another carried folded cloths. Another balanced a tray with breakfast. Soup. Thick, nutritious soup, the kind Mira insisted on when soone’s mana channels had been torn apart. A side plate of protein. Eggs. at. Sothing chard to replenish stamina. And notably...
No coffee.
Lux’s heart broke a little.
Rava smiled when she saw his eyes open.
"Lux," she said softly. "You’re awake."
He stared at her for a second too long.
"Rava," he said. "Untie . I’m bored."
She paused.
Slowly set the tray on the bedside table. Carefully placed the basin on a low stand. Her tentacles moved with deliberate calm, like she was performing a ritual.
Then she looked at him.
Still smiling.
"Still talking like that?" she asked, tone light, teasing. "I thought you wouldn’t beg."
He scoffed imdiately. "I’m not begging."
Her brow lifted just a fraction.
"I never beg," he added quickly. "I usually don’t beg. This isn’t begging. This is... a professional request."
She humd, picked up a cloth, dipped it into the warm water, wrung it out slowly.
Lux watched her hands. Her tentacles. The calm precision of soone who absolutely knew she had the upper hand.
"It’s work related," he said, trying again. "It’s urgent. Look at the charts."
He flicked his gaze aningfully toward the hovering projections above the bed. Red. So much red. Lines dipping. Then dipping again.
"They’re red," he insisted. "Rava. They’re red-red. Even the dip is dipping. Have a spare on those investors. They’re panicking. It’s going to enter a bearish market soon. I need to do sothing!"
Rava didn’t even look at the charts.
She walked closer, sat on the edge of the bed, and gently pressed the warm cloth to his shoulder.
Lux hissed quietly despite himself. Not pain exactly. Just sensitivity. His body might have been repaired, but his nerves still rembered being torn apart in that infernal network.
"Don’t bla us for that," Rava said calmly, wiping dried blood from his collarbone. "First, you locked us out because you wanted to kill Zoltarin."
Lux opened his mouth.
She continued.
"Then we finally got in, and what did we see?" Her voice stayed even, but there was an edge now. "You bleeding like crazy. Dying. Literally dying, Lux."
"I wasn’t—"
"We were panicking," she said, eyes flicking up to his. "Naomi couldn’t even feel your pulse properly. Mira was boiling herbs like she was at war. Lullaby..."
Her voice softened for just a mont.
"Lullaby was shocked. She cried."
Lux swallowed.
Rava wiped lower, careful around his ribs, her fingers warm against skin that still tingled faintly with residual healing. "And Sira?" she went on. "She was furious. Absolutely furious. Not because you scared us. Because you scared Hell."
Lux winced.
"You got rest for a day," Rava continued. "One. Day. You drank an elixir so rare it’s stored behind three warded vaults, used your Dark Healing like it was so kind of mana flex, and then what did you do?"
She flicked her gaze up, sharp. "You worked. Again."
Lux glanced away.
Rava didn’t let up. "She explained to us," she said. "Sira. Calmly, which sohow made it worse. She told us exactly what happened. What you actually did. Fixing damage Zoltarin had been seeding for centuries. Not years. Centuries, Lux. And you did it in one night."
She paused. Looked at him fully now.
"In that state. You were literally still bleeding!"
Lux pressed his lips together.
"You deserve the tie," Rava said flatly. "No wonder Sira used her ancient family Pride rope. She doesn’t bring that thing out for fun. That rope is older than so bloodlines."
He exhaled slowly through his nose.
She wasn’t wrong.
And he hated that.
Lux sighed.
"In my defense," he said carefully, "I did it because I didn’t want so intel broker, or ambitious demon, or one of my haters to grab it and beco another Zoltarin."
Rava stopped wiping.
Looked at him.
"You did it," she said slowly, "while you were dying."
"No, I wasn’t," Lux replied automatically.
Her stare did not change.
"...Okay," he cringed. "Okay. Kinda. But not dying-dying. I was just still in recovery."
She resud wiping, unimpressed. "You couldn’t even sit up without Corvus swearing at you."
"That’s his love language."
"That is not a defense."
He sighed again. "But there was no need to tie up like this."
She finished cleaning his chest, then reached for another cloth, this one cooler, wiping his face gently. Her touch was firm but caring. No teasing now.
"What were you planning to do if we released you?" Rava asked.
Lux hesitated.
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Work, right?"
He opened his mouth.
"You said it yourself," she continued. "You’re on vacation."
He closed it.
Because yeah.
She was right.
Again.
He stared up at the ceiling, jaw tight, watching the red lines slowly stabilize without his input. It was torture. Actual torture. He could feel the market breathing, feel the panic rippling through Hell and Heaven alike, and he couldn’t touch it.
For soone like him, that was worse than pain.
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