Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
HANNAH
God, I’m still amazed at these new legs and what feels like a new body, even if it still looks like the old one from the outside.
And my balance!
It’s bananas that I’m flying down these stairs without even holding onto a banister.
It’s a miracle, even if in the end it comes from a most decidedly unholy source. Even though I’m running stairs, something that’s been historically a dangerous activity for me, I start going faster.
Pumping my arms, I glory in the icy wind gust from the completely open windows against my sweat-slicked body.
We’re really going to have to do something about this no-clothes situation if I’m gonna stay much longer… And if I’m ever going to face that snow outside for very long, if I try to escape...
I bite my lip and run harder.
At least the stones underfoot are well-worn and smooth under my bare feet. And now, on my second time down the stairs, my internal temperature has warmed me enough that I don’t feel like I’m freezing anymore. For once.
Where on Earth is this castle, anyway? If, by some miracle, I do make it out, how will I even begin to get home? Either way, the first step is endurance. Hence, running stairs.
I’m almost down to the ground floor again. I can tell because even though I can’t see far down because of the staircase’s tight spiral, I’ve started counting windows, and this is the last one before the stairs continue underground.
I shudder to think of what lives down there.
I jog down the last few stairs, about to turn around in the only area where the stairwell widens slightly at the ground-floor foyer, before the stairs continue on into the dark shadows below.
Just as I slow—
The shadows suddenly come alive.
Some huge thing leaps at me, and I scream my head off.
“Beast!” I fling my arms up over my head as my life flashes before my eyes. “Save me!”
Abruptly, like being yanked back by invisible strings, the attacking shadow stops.
Whereas before I only saw it from the corner of my eye, now I look at it full on.
And see that it’s him. He pulls back, looking confused, retracting his extended claws.
I stand up straight. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I yell at him. “You just scared the shit out of me!” I’m livid. What the actual hell?
He’s silent for a moment, as if taken aback by my anger, but it passes quickly enough.
“What am I doing?” he asks sarcastically, something I haven’t been sure he is capable of.
In fact, the more we’ve communicated, the more eloquent his speech has become, as if he simply has to remind himself of human speech patterns after a long spell of not speaking.
But the sarcasm drips off his lips as he leans forward. “What are you doing? Did you think I would not catch you trying to flee?”
“I’m not trying to flee, you big oaf!” Only a small twinge of guilt hits after I say the words, but I push them away. Because I wasn’t trying to flee right now, anyway.
“I’m jogging. Running stairs!” I gesture behind me, as if that will make it more obvious.
His eyes follow where my hand gestures, then narrow back at me.
“Yes, I see you were running down the stairs. Fleeing.”
I roll my eyes. Then put my hands on my hips.
“I’m sorry, am I a prisoner here? Or did I get the wrong impression when you unlocked those chains around my neck?
I thought I was free to walk around. Or jog.
You know, for fitness?” And so I can build up stamina.
Not that he needs to know why I want stamina.
His eyes narrow even more. “Fitness? What is fitness? I healed you. You are fit.”
Again, my eyes roll. “Jesus, is this about the size of your dick? Not everything’s about your ego.”
He looks baffled by my words. Maybe he’s not familiar with the saying, because he just looks down at his own member swinging freely between his legs. Even when it’s not engorged, the damn thing is huge. I really need to introduce the concept of clothing.
I shift my thighs, feeling a little sore, though not nearly as much as I ought to be, really, considering the size. I shift my eyes away and fight the heat in my cheeks.
Jesus, I’m mad at him right now. So not thinking about how that thing was rock hard and somehow inside me last night. Nope. Not thinking about it at all.
Right. I’m pissed off.
I fix my gaze back on his face. He looks curious now instead of angry. He didn’t miss where my eyes were just focused. Dammit. I’m losing the upper hand. It is not cool the way he just jumped out at me, even if he does think I was trying to run away again.
“So? Am I a prisoner?”
The furry eyebrows go up, and then he glares at me as if considering.
Then, even more terrifying, he smiles at me.
My, what sharp teeth you have.
I stand taller, keeping my shoulders square. Now that I can.
The terror of a predator appearing suddenly from the shadows and leaping at me is still fresh. What would he have done if I had been running away, for real? Except for real this time. I gulp. Hard.
“No.” His word growls out low. “Of course, you are not a prisoner. As long as you obey and keep your word. You promised me forever.”
Those terrified screams from the basement. Are those his former consorts? The ones who didn’t obey? Did they promise him forever, too? Is that what their forever looks like now?
Instead of calling him Beast, should I call him Bluebeard? One day, will I join the rest of his… collection?
I stiffen my spine, then jerk a thumb over my shoulder. “I’m going to continue my jog.” If my voice comes out a little strained, well, who can blame me?
“I will hunt and return after sunset. Do not test me by trying to flee.”
I want to snap at him again that I wasn’t fleeing but hold my tongue when he narrows his eyes at me again.
“You will meet me at moon’s rise in the Great Hall at the dining table. On your knees. Waiting like the obedient consort you claim to be.”
I arch an eyebrow and flash my own toothy smile. “Sounds great. See you then.”
I almost wish him happy hunting, but after being his prey myself, I can’t really wish that upon any poor creature out there.
His narrowed eyes stay locked on mine as he stalks toward the open window. His wings flatten against his body before he leaps straight out of the tall, slim window.
I can’t help but gasp, my breath taken away by the sight of his bulky body suddenly turning smooth and streamlined as his black wings flare out and he takes flight.
Instead of continuing to watch, I turn my back to him, suck in a deep, icy breath, and head back up the stairs.