Chapter 34
ARIEL
A fter I calmed myself, I hurried back to the ball, focused on what I needed to do: get Vesstan alone, stab the bastard until his breathing ceased, and break his magic once and for all.
In theory, it sounded so simple.
How it would fare in practice remained to be seen.
Taking the most direct route to the staircase, I worked my way through the dancing crowd. Vesstan was nowhere to be seen on the balcony, which spiked unease in my gut. Our plan had not accounted for a missing god.
I quickened my pace.
The cluster of dancers around me seemed to close in, caging me in the center of the dance floor. With much effort, I pushed through, empty apologies rolling off my tongue with every step I took. As I made my way closer to the stairs, I kept my gaze on the balcony above.
“You seem a touch frazzled,” a voice said in my ear. I startled before turning quickly to find Vesstan smiling down at me. But it wasn’t a warm and welcoming expression; it was lascivious. Dangerous. And a clear reminder of what I was about to face.
I clutched my chest and forced a tiny laugh past my lips. “I was rushing to get back to you and managed to get lost on the way. I should have had Thallen escort me to my room in the first place, but I was a little too…overcome at the time to think clearly.” I looked up at him and bit my lip. “But I’m here now.”
“You most certainly are,” he said as he brushed a stray hair from my face,“but are you ready, as you promised? That is the question that interests me.”
I forced myself to edge closer. “What do you have in mind?” I asked, letting my gaze drift to the balcony above. “Are we to return to the others? Or could we go somewhere so that we might be alone? I must confess that the idea of sharing our first time together with an audience does not sit well with me.”
His hand wound around my back and cupped my ass, his fingertips digging in greedily. “Is it that you don’t wish to share, or does it scare you?” he asked.
My well-crafted persona nearly fell away for a moment. “There is little I fear beyond the unknown.”
“But the unknown is like a vast desert, Ariel. Harsh and often unforgiving. Dangerous , even.” He seemed to mull over the words as they passed his perfect mouth. “There’s something about you—something underneath this sweet, innocent exterior that makes me question if, somewhere deep down inside, there isn’t a part of you that courts danger.”
I looked up at him through my lashes. “I am a survivor. In some ways, danger is all I’ve ever known.”
“Perhaps now it’s all you want,” he replied, leaning in closer. “Perhaps it’s all you need .” His finger trailed up my spine to the back of my neck and continued around to the pendant hanging between my breasts. “And I think now is the time for us to slip away and find out.”
With that, he took my hand and led me through the crowd, weaving between the dancing bodies with ease. Along the way, we walked right past where Shayfer, Eldrien, and Hemming stood talking. None of them so much as glanced our way.
I was desperate to look over my shoulder to confirm that they had seen us—that they were prepared to follow—but I couldn’t risk it. Instead, with my heart hammering in my chest, I walked beside Vesstan into the darkened hallway I’d just returned from, past the room where Hemming had cornered me and touched me in ways I’d craved for far too long. Memories and feelings rushed through me as we continued down the empty hall, hand in hand, like lovers stealing away. The silence grew, only the sound of our footsteps filling the tense atmosphere growing around us.
I hoped he thought my anticipation had rendered me mute.
“Where are we going?” I finally asked as we rounded the corner to a hallway I hadn’t yet seen.
He smiled back at me as we continued. “You wish to be away from prying eyes, do you not?”
“Yes…”
“And do you not wish to see the Oracle?”
I stifled my surprise. “I do.”
“Then why not kill two birds with one stone?”
“That sounds perfect,” I replied, brushing my hand against the thigh to which I’d secured the dagger.
As we descended a staircase that seemed endless, the castle grew dimmer still. Only an occasional torch lined the stone walls, warm light flickering as we walked past. Vesstan seemed undaunted by the darkness, and I couldn’t help but wonder how much time he spent down here. If the Oracle was something he visited often. If it was somehow a source of his power.
My pondering was cut short when we reached the final steps, then headed toward a heavy wooden door a short distance beyond. He pushed it open to reveal a narrow stone corridor, better lit than the stairwell, but still darker than I’d have preferred. I also would have preferred not to see guards posted at the far end as we made our way toward yet another large double door.
“I thought we were to be alone,'' I said, doing all I could to sound amused by the situation when I was anything but. We were deep beneath the castle at this point, and the amount of stone surrounding us was immense. The isolation was perfect for my attack on Vesstan, but the guards were a variable I hadn’t anticipated and an obstacle I wasn't sure we could overcome. Even if Hemming and the others had followed us out of the ball, there was no way for them to go much further without drawing attention, and since Shayfer was unable to travel to a place he’d never been before, he wouldn’t be able to get them past the guards that way either.
I hoped that my father knew where we’d gone and wasn’t far behind.
The guards bowed low as we neared, then opened the metal doors behind them. The hinges squealed in protest as they swung outward, revealing yet another dark abyss.
Vesstan grabbed a torch from the wall and held it out before him as he stepped through. The guards watched me like a hawk as I followed behind him. Then the hinges groaned again just before the doors banged shut, closing me in with the god I had to kill.
And closing out those whose aid I might need.
I looked at Vesstan, who stood in the middle of a hallway lined with doors on either side. A fortress for his treasures, no doubt. “What are all these rooms for?” I asked, looking at the rows of ornate black metal doors.
“I keep many of my prized possessions down here…including the Oracle.” His fingers trailed along a pattern carved into the metal of one of the doors. “I will show you where it is once you do something for me.”
“And what might that be?”
“Remove your dress. I want to see you first.”’
The blade strapped to my thigh felt like a noose tightening with every passing breath. “Right here?” I asked, trying to sound playful.
“Is that a problem?” His tone and his harsh expression said it had better not be.
I forced a smile in response. “Of course not. I just thought that?—”
“That I’d suddenly be interested in what you think?”
Warning pulsed through my veins at his words, and I fought to maintain some measure of control over the situation. I needed him to trust me—to see me as the sweet thing he’d rescued on the shore. That was what kept him disarmed around me. That was my main weapon.
I let my smile fall away, leaving sadness and uncertainty in its wake, praying that my plan would work. “You’re cross with me. I don’t understand why…”
The sharp cut of Vesstan’s expression softened as he regained his composure, and he slowly walked toward me.
My hand longed to palm the hilt of my blade.
“I am not angry with you, sweet Ariel, but your reluctance to obey me is unnerving, and it makes me question why you’re really here. If you’re just using me to get to the Oracle?—”
“No!” My soft exclamation piqued a curiosity in his eyes.
“No? If that is the truth of it, then I need you to prove it. Take off your dress.”
I weighed my options and realized I had only one left. He was too far away to attack without giving him sufficient time to react. I needed to draw him closer—by giving him exactly what he wanted.
With that in mind, I turned my back to him and pulled my hair over my shoulder to expose the sensitive skin between my wings and the ties of the leather bodice. “Could you help me?” I asked, my words merely a whisper. “ Please… ?”
Cold fingers brushed against me as they trailed down my spine. “This is what I’ve craved since the moment we met, Ariel—this beautiful submission. I’m eager to see just how far it can be pushed,” he whispered in my ear before pulling the laces so tight I could hardly breathe. “How much you can handle before you break.” His hand wrapped around my neck, squeezing my throat lightly. “Tell me exactly what you did to prepare for this moment after you left the ball.” He loosened the bodice with a violent tug, and the midnight blue leather fell forward. “You were so flushed with anticipation when you returned…”
“You told me to hurry, so I ran.”
The hand around my throat tightened as his lips brushed against my ear. “Did I also tell you to fuck that fae bastard in the shadows of my castle?”