Chapter 1
1
CAT
I was going to kill him.
I wasn’t one to have murderous intents… I mean, not unless you were Fernando, my cheating ex-boyfriend who, hell, I never even had the chance of breaking up with. But damn, I wanted to kill Damien. I’ve never wanted to kill someone as much as I wanted to kill him. I wanted to flay him like a fish and serve him to my neighbor’s cat Marvin.
I huddled in the corner of his bedroom, feeling the warmth of lava trapped within the walls as I trembled, still drenched from my dip in the river and the torrential rain I endured to reach the riverbank. My hair was in disarray with strands pulled out of my once neatly crafted updo. The thunderstorm – my one chance to return home – had long since passed. I bit my lip to keep the tears at bay. I refused to cry. I didn’t want to show him how much his actions hurt me. Not that he cared. All Damien cared about was keeping me captive in this goddamn volcano he called a home.
The acrid tang of sulfur stung my nostrils, though I was gradually becoming used to the smell. The space was dimly lit with flickering candles that gave this place a spooky vibe, especially because there was no way out unless you had wings. If I wanted to leave, my only option was to have Damien fly me out through the mouth of the volcano.
After he pulled me out of the river, Damien shifted into his half-dragon form and flew me to his island. The instant he did, I knew I would no longer have the freedom I’d been granted when I first arrived in Elaria through the portal that straddled this world and mine. I no longer had the luxury of pretending to be Arya, the spoiled Ryder brat. Those pretenses were stripped from me the second Damien threw me onto the riverbank, gasping for air.
Now, my mind raced to figure out what to do, how to fix this mess, and how to get back home. This wasn’t my world. This supernatural world with dragons, witches, and vampires didn’t belong to me. And if I stayed any longer, I would go crazy. I already felt my sanity slipping away by the second.
I glared at the imposing stone door of his bedroom. Long, skinny taper candles placed all around the room threw long, quivering shadows across the walls, their flames dancing as if swayed by whispers of the dark secrets this place held. Each flicker seemed to pulse with my rising anger, reflecting the turmoil inside me.
The walls, lined with frozen lava, retained a warmth that was a stark reminder of the fire that once flowed here—fire as fierce as the fury burning within me now. I hugged my knees tighter to my chest, the fabric of my damp clothes clinging uncomfortably to my skin. The sulfur-tinged air was a constant, pungent reminder of the volcano’s dormant power. It mingled with the damp earthiness that clung to my skin since my ill-fated swim, creating a heavy, almost suffocating atmosphere.
From somewhere within the depths of the volcano, I heard footsteps approaching. Each step was a clear, deliberate sound that echoed ominously through the halls. My heart hammered in my chest, not in fear, but in fierce, defiant anger. As the door creaked open, I lifted my chin, meeting Damien’s dark gaze with fiery intensity.
Damien paused at the threshold with an unreadable expression. The candlelight played across his features, softening the hard lines of his face and casting him in a more vulnerable light than the fearsome dragon form I had last seen. But I wasn’t fooled.
“You can’t keep me here.” Somehow, I managed to keep my voice steady despite the quiver I felt inside. “This isn’t my home. Elaria is not my world!” I screamed. Lunging to my feet, I clenched my fists at my sides and fought the overwhelming urge to punch him.
He stepped inside and closed the door behind him, the soft thud sounding final. “I know this is hard for you to understand, but you can’t leave, Cat. You belong with me.” His voice was a blend of frustration and pleading, but the man was obviously unhinged.
“No, I don’t!” I countered, my voice rising. “All I want to do is go home!” Reaching for the nearest object, which happened to be a candle holder, I hurled it at his head. He easily ducked out of the way and it slammed against the wall. The bastard. “Get me out of here, now !”
Damien moved closer, the scent of rain that lingered on his clothes mixing with the natural musk of his dragon heritage. He stood in front of me and dipped his head to the side to meet my eyes. “I pulled you from that river because I can’t lose you.” He gripped my upper arms and gave them a shake.
My hoarse voice rang out as I screamed and tried to rip out of his grasp. “Let me go ! Don’t touch me! Get away from me, asshole!”
“Cat, stop!” Wrenching me to his chest, he wrapped his muscled arms around my back and trapped me against him. “Relax!”
I struggled in vain against his iron grip. “No! I want to go home! Please!”
His proximity was unsettling, not just physically but emotionally. The warmth from his body contrasted sharply with the cool air of the room, and his scent—a complex blend of earth, smoke, and something uniquely Damien—filled my senses, making it hard to focus on my resolve.
“Why?” The question escaped me, softer than I intended. “Why do you need me?”
He hesitated for just a moment before his arms tightened. “Because you’re the key to my freedom, Cat.”
His words, sincere and laden with an emotion I hadn’t anticipated, left me momentarily stunned. But the reality of my captivity quickly stifled any burgeoning sympathy.
“I don’t want to be your freedom,” I whispered. “I don’t want to be your anything. I want to go home.”
I felt Damien’s jaw clench, and then he released me. Pacing a few steps away, he turned back to face me, his face unreadable. “Well, you can’t go home and that’s final.”
I sighed heavily. “I don’t belong to this world, Damien, and I certainly don’t belong to you.” My voice echoed off the lava-filled walls, a stark reminder of the physical and emotional barriers between us.
Damien took a deep breath, then his features hardened. “You can’t go back, Cat. You are too important.”
My heart sank, the finality in his voice sealing my fate as clearly as the walls of the volcano. Trapped, not just by physical bounds, but by the manipulations of a prince who saw me as nothing more than a means to an end.
“I won’t stay here to be used by you,” I whispered, defiance burning through the hopelessness. “I’ll find a way back home, with or without your help.”
Damien’s expression softened momentarily, a flicker of conflict in his eyes. But it quickly disappeared, replaced by the steely resolve that had shaped his life in exile. “Then we are at an impasse,” he said quietly. “Because I can’t let you leave.”
I stormed toward him and glared up into a handsome face that was inches from mine. “Then I’ll just have to kill you,” I gritted between my teeth.
Damien smirked and looked down at me without speaking. Before I realized what was happening, he had pushed my back against the wall. Grabbing my cheeks in a punishing hold, he forced my head up to look at him. “Do you think it’ll be that easy, Cat? That you, a mere human , can kill me?”
I tried to tear out of his grip, but he tightened his fingers in a vise I was certain would leave bruises. “I can certainly try,” I said stubbornly. With an awkward trajectory borne from being trapped by his body, I raised my arm and slapped him across the face as hard as I could.
He froze for a split second as if he hadn’t expected me to hit him, then released a massive growl. He pushed his face down until we could feel each other’s breaths, his dark eyes wild with anger.
I should have feared for my life… but I didn’t.
Maybe this was my ‘too stupid to live’ moment.
He squeezed my face even tighter. I groaned in pain and tried to clutch the wall behind me, but my clammy hands couldn’t gain any traction. “Listen to me, and listen to me clearly, Cat. I don’t have much patience, and the little I do have is running out.” Damien’s glare was chilling. “The next time you lay a hand on me, I won’t be so forgiving.”
I scoffed and tried to grin. “Is that supposed to scare me?” I returned his glare. “Kill me, then. Because that’s the only way you’ll get my compliance.” I punched his abdomen, stunning him long enough to release my face. Once he hunched over in pain, I elbowed his face and sneered when I heard cartilage crack in his nose.
Taking advantage of his distraction, I pushed him out of the way and ran toward the bedroom door. I knew there was no escaping this forsaken volcano, but I had to try. Unfortunately, I didn’t get very far. Damien wrapped his strong arms around my mid-section and hauled my back against his chest. I felt the contours of his muscles through his wet clothes, along with the erection placed firmly on my behind.
“You think you can run from me?” he whispered in my ear, eliciting a storm of shivers. “There is nowhere in this world or the next you could go that I wouldn’t find you, Cat. Remember that.”
A single tear slid down my cheek as the truth of his words hit me. No matter where I went, he would follow.
“Just send me home, Damien,” I whispered, lowering my head in defeat.
“I already told you—”
“Then send me to the Ryder residence!” I cut him off. “If I’m going to be forced to stay in this world, I don’t want to be trapped on this island with you. Let me keep pretending to be Lady Arya. Please.”
There was a pregnant pause as he tightened his grip and inhaled deeply. I could only stand there, frozen in place, letting him reach a decision.
“If you run…”
“I won’t,” I promised.
“If you do, there will be consequences,” he growled. “If you disappear, someone will bear the brunt of my anger. Who knows where it will land?”
I stiffened. “What do you mean?”
“Garrick, Maeve… Gianna… Lord Zacharia… and I hear Arya’s brother Jacob is arriving this weekend,” he whispered in my ear. “Beyond them, everyone else in the Ryder residence will feel my wrath if you try to disappear, and no one will know who did it. I’m known as the Shadow Prince for a reason, Cat.”
The threat was not lost on me. These people weren’t my family. Hell, I wasn’t even close to any of them besides Maeve and Garrick. But I couldn’t live with the guilt if I was responsible for their deaths. The memory would haunt me the rest of my life. Besides that, I’d also promised Maeve to protect her as long as I was here. Leaving her to be killed by a crazy-hot dragon would certainly break my promise.
“I won’t leave,” I sighed. “I promise.”
Damien ran a hand down my arm in a gentle caress. “Good girl.”