Chapter 3 Nory #2
I open my mouth but find I have no voice.
Trepidation has stolen it from me. I thought I could withstand the sight of him, but every instinct I have is begging me to run.
Fear spears claws into my stomach. I’m trembling but not from the cold.
I must steady myself and keep my wits about me.
One wrong move and I’m done for. I need to play my hand perfectly for my plan to work.
The revenant does not give me a chance to think, however.
In a flash, he is before me, nearly making me stumble back.
With a swipe of his bony hand, he snatches up the coins atop my mother’s grave, healing them where his nose should be.
With a growl, he sucks the gold into his mouth, licking my blood from them with relish.
The glow in his eyes nearly forcing me to look away.
He spits the now clean coins into his palm before tucking them away.
Before I’m aware of his movement, I feel a cool hand wrap around my wrist. Bringing my injured palm towards his mouth, I watch his strong jaw unhinge and his purple tongue sneak out.
My stomach tightens as I watch it lick up the inside of my palm.
The warm, wet glide of it sends tingles through my body. It is not an unpleasant feeling.
The revelation wakes me from whatever fear-induced stupor I was in.
Snatching my hand back, I glare at him. An unwise thing to do, but I do not take kindly to anyone licking me without permission—man or monster.
Glancing down at my hand, I expect to find he’s marred me in some way, but all I see is uninjured skin.
He has magic, something I knew, but now it’s been confirmed.
The revenant licks his pale lips, his skin growing more opaque. A deep chuckle leaves him as he stares down at me.
“What is it you want from me, human?”
His voice is soft and rough at the same time. Planting my feet firmly on the ground, and meeting his intense gaze with one of my own.
“For us to come to some sort of arrangement. If you will—”
He cuts me off with a wave of his hand.
“I don’t bargain with humans. I’m not that kind of demon.” He snatches my wrist again, tugging me closer. “Even if you are delicious.”
Warmth erupts on my cheeks, but I still manage to thrash in his grip.
“Then you are wasting my time,” I spit, trying to dislodge myself.
His grip on me never falters. Instead, he stares down at me with a bemused expression. That enrages me even more. He is not willing to help me, and now he is keeping me against my will. I fight against him, but it is of no use.
The creature chuckles again before shaking his head.
“I can’t remember the last time I’ve been amused. Quite a novel feeling.” He pulls me closer, our bodies nearly touching. “Go on, tiny human. Tell me why you’ve summoned me.”
With a deep sigh, I cease my struggling. This is my one chance to get what I need from him. Mother always warned me that creatures like him were fickle and their amusement could turn into annoyance in an instant. I should take advantage of his goodwill while I have it.
“There is a woman in town—she and her children are suffering greatly at the hands of her wretched husband.” I lick my lips. “If you would agree to help me, I could lure him out for you, and you could kill him just as you did Lord Gunnar last night.”
The revenant’s face twists, and I hold my breath, waiting for him to decide he’s heard enough and chooses to make a meal out of me instead.
“If devouring that disgusting man last night has given you the impression that I’m some sort of undead vigilante, then you have the entirely wrong opinion about me, human.
” I lower my brows as he presses on. “And what would my reward be for aiding you in dispatching this man? His festering blood—rotten from his putrid soul.”
I can’t hide my cringe. “Well, yes—I have some gold if you would like that as payment instead.”
The creature's eyes roam over me. I feel his burning gaze like a caress. It’s different from the way Gunnar would look at me.
My reaction to it is different as well. I don’t dislike how it makes me feel—I don’t want to hide from him.
I must have truly lost my mind. First, I summoned a demon, and now I am letting him gaze at me with unbridled wanting.
The urge to flee is also suspiciously missing the longer I stare back at him.
Licking his lips, his eyes blaze red.
“What about you?”
My body becomes warm and heavy. Without his grip on me, I know I would collapse to the ground in a puddle.
“What about me?” My voice sounds rough to my own ears.
The revevant skims his finger up my wrist, digging softly into my pulse point.
“The only way I’d be tempted to enter into this arrangement with you is if you offered me your blood as payment.”
A gasp puffs from between my lips.
“I—I don’t wish to die.”
Despite my desire to save Isabelle and her children, I don’t want to relinquish my own life for it. The revevant merely chuckles, his hand on my wrist moving higher, dancing between my own.
“It would be a waste to drain you dry in one go. I can savor it—savor you.”
His hand ghosts over my cheek before falling away.
“Still,” he says, “despite how tempting you are, I would require more than just your blood to satisfy me. Especially if there are others you wish to aid through our partnership.”
My cheeks warm at his assertion. “I hadn’t mentioned helping others.”
“But you would,” he says. “I tasted it in your blood—if I agreed to your terms, you’d seek me out to help all those you deem worthy of it. A noble feat—one I will indulge should I be compensated in a way I see fitting.”
My tongue suddenly feels too large in my mouth. Feelings I’ve never had before swirl inside me, encouraging my body to warm. I should be quick to deny what he wants—to tell him this was a mistake and that I am certainly not on offer.
I do nothing of the sort and am startled to realize that I am considering his proposition. However, I must make certain of what he is asking before I agree.
“Speak plainly, what is it that you demand of me?”
I sound breathless. The revevant is quiet in contemplation for a moment. His eyes continue their slow descent from my head to my chest. Lingering in my places that make my heart speed up.
“Companionship,” he says finally.
His request is odd enough to give me pause. He must read the confusion on my face as he presses on.
“I have been a solitary creature all my life. Created alone in The Woods by my maker, I survived on the blood of animals until I grew old enough to wander. Once I was mature in body and magic, I travelled this world as a seeking appetite, my only motivation was to satiate the hunger inside of me.” His eyes burn, and I feel the warmth on my face.
“Over the centuries, I’ve grown envious of your kind. Your bonds, your closeness.”
His hand returns to my face, skimming over my cheek.
The breath in my lungs still, and I’m left reeling.
Shockingly enough, I find myself leaning into his touch.
Whatever magic he wields, he is surely using it on me now.
I cannot control my body or the response he elicits from it. This must be some sort of trick.
Mustn't it?
The waxy softness of his skin envelopes my cheek. The slight touch makes me hot and aching all over.
“Your warmth calls to me,” he sighs. “If you wish for my help, you must give yourself to me—freely and willingly.”
“Are you,” I pause, biting my lower lip. “That is to say, are you not using magic on me now?”
The revevant’s eyes burn, and his hand on my cheek tightens.
“No.”
Shock renders me silent for a few moments. He could be lying, but he has no reason to. It is a dizzying revelation that my body is acting this way towards him because I want it to. There is some part of me that wants him in a way I never had another. My mind whirls, the world beneath my feet tilts.
“What—what does that mean entirely? I’ve never been with a man.” Fire erupts in my cheeks, and I drop his gaze. “Let alone a—”
“A monster,” he offers.
His hand drops from my face, and his gaze cools. There is suddenly a wall between us, and I don’t like it. My hand itches to take hold of his, but I resist the urge. It seems my mind and heart conflict with one another.
“I already knew this about you,” he sighs. “Countless men of this town have met their end between my lips, and more than a fair share of them had had thoughts about you—lecherous ones. I tasted the desire flowing in their putrid blood. None of them more so than the worm I drank from last night.”
His confession makes my blood run cold. Sure, I’ve caught the wandering eye of a few men in town, but I never thought they would have designs on me. Let alone such deplorable thoughts—bile races up my throat.
“When the news of that foul lord’s death spreads, they will come searching for you now that his claim is gone. Each one with their own agendas.” His eyes blaze a searing white light. “I will protect you from them, so long as you agree to be mine.”
Agree to be his.
The declaration settles into the marrow of my bones.
I’m not ignorant of what some of the men in town think of me.
In some ways, Lord Gunnar was protecting me, and his claim on me had kept the vultures away.
With him gone, there is no such safeguard, and some will not take my refusals as he had. I am very much in danger.
Unless I accept the revenant’s proposal.
“I will not force myself upon you,” he says, relieving some of my worries. “I merely want closeness. Warmth. To share a bed with you. To hold you while you sleep and to dine at the same table.”
It sounds simple enough—there are parts of me that desire the same thing even if my mind cannot make sense of it. I would be a fool to deny his protection and his aid in helping Isabelle’s situation. Still, I can’t help but question him.
“Why is this what you desire? You could demand anything from me.”
The revevant shrugs, his cloak flowing in the soft breeze.
“My time in this world is drawing shorter—each day is a battle to stay tethered here. I want to experience true companionship before it’s too late.”
My heart squeezes painfully in my chest.
“Why?” I whisper. “Why with me?”
The creature’s eyes blaze scarlet, and his hand reaches for me again. I hold my breath at the contact. His gaze turns gentle as it traces over my face.
“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. With the most delicious blood I have ever tasted. Never in all my centuries have I wanted anything as much as I want you.”
I suck in a breath. Confusion swirls within me at his earnest declaration.
I do not fear him—not as I did last night.
He will not harm me in the way Lord Gunnar had planned, or many of the men in the Snowlands would surely do given the chance.
If it is companionship he wants, then that’s what I’ll provide.
Have I not been feeling lonely as well? Are we really so different him and I?
Without giving myself time to reconsider, I nod into his hand.
“I will agree to your terms, revevant,” I say. His hand on my face flexes. “If you agree to aid me in my plan and keep me safe, I will give myself to you freely and willingly.”
A slow grin spreads across his face. It makes me shiver—not in fear but with rampant desire. He looks different when he smiles—less monstrous. The curve to his mouth is all male satisfaction as his hand slides from my cheek and falls down the back of my cloak. I allow him to pull me into him.
“There is only one way to seal our deal.”
With a nod, I know what he wants without even asking.
I tip my head back and stare up at the glowing moon.
The stars twinkle down at us as the cold night air stings my nose.
Snowflakes collect on my lashes. I shiver, and it has nothing to do with the temperature and everything to do with the feel of his massive body enveloping me.
“Tell me your name,” he commands.
“Nory,” I sigh as I feel his tongue skim up the column of my throat.
He murmurs my name against my skin as if savoring the taste.
“I’m Eryx.”
His cheek skims against mine, and I gasp.
His lips press softly against my throat where he just licked, and my knees turn to jelly.
Without warning, I feel a sharp bite of pain, and then euphoria erupts inside of me.
The soft sound of him sucking at my neck washes over me.
There is only him and me. His earthy pine scent wraps around me and suffocates me.
My body heats and clenches in places I didn’t know were possible.
I need more—I need everything from him. I could die like this and have no regrets. All I feel now is warm and complete. I tremble in his grasp, my body racing towards an unknown peak. The spot between my thighs grows achy, and I am desperate for any sort of relief.
With a broken growl piercing my ears, I finally feel him pull away. The wet slide of his tongue along my throat closes whatever wound he caused and breaks the spell I was under. My breathing is ragged as if I’ve just run a great distance without stopping. I look up at him.
I let out a whimper as he licks my blood from his lips.
“So, Nory. When shall we begin?” he asks.
The first part of my mission has been accomplished; hopefully, this next part will go off without a hitch. Blinking through my heavy eyelids, I find his hand and take it in my own.
“Right now.”