CHAPTER 6
My eyes flutter open to see the ceiling, my entire body is aching, and I know the fates didn’t grant my wish of death.
No, they once again fail me, painfully proving to me that they don’t care for us anymore.
I scan the room and see Dragus to my side, casually flicking through the page of my grandmother’s book.
Sitting up, I realize I’m only in my underwear. I quickly cover myself with the sheet underneath me.
“You’re awake. How do you feel?” Dragus asks, dropping a book in my lap.
I snatch my hand away from his sight. “Like I’ve been hit by a truck.”
Every part of me aches, especially my back. The slightest movement makes me gasp for air.
“Can honestly say no one has ever referred to me as a truck,” a voice says, making my heart race.
Silas walks in, his towering presence more intimidating than I remember. Taller than Dragus and Matitus, his amber reptilian eyes glare at me.
His muscular arms stretch the fabric of his tank top, veins pushing out of his skin. A five o’clock shadow darkens his sharp jawline and high cheekbones. His hair is jet black, shaved on the sides with length on top.
He strides over to the bed, stopping at the end. I shuffle back, instinctively wanting to flee. Dragus grips my shoulder, keeping me in place.
I stare at the man who caused all this pain.
Silas leans forward, trying to grab the book from my hands. I pull it against my chest.
He growls, a low warning, before snatching it from me.
Flicking through the pages, he raises an eyebrow. “What’s so important about an empty book?” he asks, glaring at me.
“It was my grandmother’s,” I answer, staring at the book clutched in his hand.
“So, nothing important, then?” he questions again, and I fight the urge to answer.
I am not even sure what’s in it, my grandmother only knows. Only a Fae with magic can read the words inside. He moves to the fireplace and goes to chuck it in the flames and I scream.
“No, don’t!” I scream to him as I see him about to toss it in the flames. He hesitates, leaving his hand just above the flames. Dragus grip on me tightens as I am about to throw myself after it.
“Tell me, now,” Silas demands. I shake my head because I can’t tell him what I don’t know.
It only angers him. He storms over to the bed and grabs my throat, pulling me toward him.
He is so close we are nose to nose, and I find myself staring into the green and golden eyes of this predator.
I feel tears well in my eyes as his grip tightens restricting my airways.
“Silas, let her go,” Matitus murmurs.
“Not until she tells me what’s so important about an empty book,” he growls, his eyes not leaving mine.
“Elora, tell him, please,” Dragus pleads. I try to speak but cannot with his grip cutting off my air.
Silas lets go, and I suck in a breath, my hands clutching the top of the mattress to remain upright.
“I don’t know,” I tell him, and he rips my head back by my hair. I hiss at the pain radiating from my scalp.
“You’re lying,” he growls, raising his hand and I know he is going to slap me.
I flinch and brace myself for the impact of his hand on my face.
Only after a few seconds and it doesn’t come.
I open my eyes, and I can see he is struggling for control.
I watch the muscle in his jaws tense as he clenches his teeth. His grip tightens in my hair slightly.
“Please, I don’t know. Only a Fae with magic can read it,” I beg.
“Come on, Silas, you know she can’t lie, without Magic,” Dragus pleads.
Silas lets go after examining my face for a few seconds. “Why do you have it, then?”
“It was my grandmother’s; she could read it. She wouldn’t tell me what it said though, said it was too dangerous.”
“Why would she say that?” he asks, stepping closer, making me lean back. I try to fight the urge to tell him. He leans down, placing his hands on either side of my waist on the bed. Leaning in closer and staring me in the eye.
His breath fans my face, and I involuntarily lean in without realizing, inhaling his intoxicating scent. He smells manly, a cross between sandalwood and with a hint of spice.
His voice snaps me out of my trance.
“Why would she not tell you?” he asks even slower, like I am mentally challenged. I fight against the urge to tell him. Sweat beads on my neck and my skin becomes flushed. My muscles tense as I fight with everything in me not to utter the words. I clench my eyes tight.
“The pain will stop if you just answer Elora.” His husky voice is now next to my ear.
He runs his nose down the side of my neck, making me shiver and arousal floods me. How can he possibly have this effect on me after what he did to me? My hands begin to tremble, and my skin breaks out in goosebump while nausea runs through me.
“Because it’s about the Chosen One,” my words spill out of my mouth like word vomit, so fast I wasn’t sure I said it right.
He chuckles softly and I feel his lips move on my neck. “That wasn’t so hard now, was it?”
I shake my head.
“So, the fact you can’t read it either means you’re not twenty-one yet or you have no magic, so which is it?”
Why did I have to be cursed with having to answer honestly?
“Don’t try to lie to me now, Elora.”
“I’m not twenty-one,” I answer, knowing he would find out sooner or later.
“When?”
“I don’t even know what the date is,” I tell him.
He crouches in front of me, putting his hands on my knees.
His hand rubs up my legs sending tingles everywhere he touches.
He smirks, and his hands slide up my sides and tug the sheet away, exposing my breast to him.
He runs the pad of his thumb over my nipple.
It hardens, and my breath hitches. I close my legs as arousal floods through me.
What the fuck is wrong with me, this man is a monster, yet here my body is betraying me in the worst possible way.
“It’s March 10th,” he says, pulling my legs apart, one of his hands skimming up the inside of my thigh toward my panties. Not wanting him to go higher, I quickly answer and attempt to close my legs.
“March 14th,” I yell, pushing his hand away from my leg. He growls softly.
“You may think you can escape the mate bond, Elora, you’re wrong. you will give in.”
“Fae don’t have mates, and I would never be with a monster like you,” I spit back.
Silas tightens his fists. With a growl, he stands. “Take her back to her room, leave her there for a few days till she changes her attitude,” he commands, storming out.
“Silas, what about her injuries? These will take days to heal, weeks even,” Dragus says, making him stop.
I stare down at my nearly naked body and am horrified with what I find.
My skin is no longer the beige color, now it’s a mix of blue and purple.
Massive bruises cover my legs and arms, even my ribs.
I touch my throat and flinch, which explains why it hurts so much to speak.
And if what I can see is anything to go by, I know my back is just as bad.
My back where I hit the tree is throbbing painfully to its own beat.
Silas stops at the door. His back tenses.
He turns around, heading straight toward me.
I scramble backward on the bed, and he grabs my wrist, pulling me from the bed.
He wraps his arm around my chest, holding me in place.
I watch him bite into his wrist, he presses it against my lips.
I squirm trying to get away from him, and he just pushes harder forcing my lips to part as his blood runs down my throat.
He lets go and I fall to the floor. I watch as every mark on my body heals miraculously like they never existed and were a figment of my imagination. He then stalks out, turning his back on us and leaving me with Dragus.
Dragus grabs my elbow and pulls me down the stairs and all the way to my room. He says nothing the entire time, and I can tell he is angry. Not like Silas angry, but still his anger is enough that I can sense it. When we get to the room, he pushes the door open and shoves me in.
“We told you not to provoke him, we didn’t say it for our benefit.
You will learn, Elora, he isn’t as forgiving as Matitus and I,” he says, turning on his heel and striding out.
Sitting on the bed, I stare out the small arched window.
The open fireplace cast shadows on the stone walls making this depressive cold room feel claustrophobic, as if the shadows would come off the walls and transform into more monsters to haunt me.
I have never been scared of the dark. Being here, I know I should fear it more than I had.
Only now recognizing the true extent of what lurked in the shadows, that knowledge made the walls feel like they were closing in on this already small room.
It is dark outside, and it makes me wonder how long I had been unconscious for when I woke.
A few minutes later, Matitus comes in and places a tray of food on the desk.
He says nothing, doesn’t even acknowledge I’m here, just places the tray and stalks out, locking the door behind him.
Going over to the tray, I stare down at the food.
It is soup, making me think of Lilith. I smile at the thought of her, wondering if she is okay.
My appetite is completely gone, so I lay on the rug in front of the fireplace.
My thoughts are churning in my head loudly.
How my life has changed drastically in a few short days and not for the better.
I miss my old life. I may have been in hiding and constantly on the run, at least my grandmother was still here, at least I wasn’t alone in this world, alone with these monsters.
My birthday is in a few days, and I pray I don’t have magic. They might realize I am not the Chosen One and finally decide to kill me. Death is better than being forced to live with these monsters, to be tied to them in the worst possible ways.