Chapter 34 #2
“Oh. Are you not hungry?” He lifted his brows as he peeled back the plastic wrapping. “Here.” He held out the plate as I zeroed in on the meat. The hunk of beef sat in its own juices and looked so good, it made my stomach ache. “Take it.”
On reflex, I reached up, touching the split in my lower lip.
Aric smiled as if I were a child showing him a report card with straight As. “Come on, it’s just food. It won’t hurt you.”
That was a lie.
My hand trembled, and I quickly hid it in the folds of my stained dress. The female fae remained quiet, still standing by the door.
“Be a good girl,” Aric murmured.
Anger flushed me as my gaze flew to his. I’m going to kill you. A shudder rocked me as I forced myself to take a breath. I’m going to rip your fucking head off. Slowly, I lifted my hand and reached to the plate—
He tipped forward suddenly, and I couldn’t stop my reaction. Flinching, I pressed back against the stone, waiting for the blow.
This was why food equaled fear. Why hunger had truly become painful and something to dread. It was another form of torture, one both physical and mental. I was Aric’s messed up version of Pavlov’s dog, but instead of salivating at the sound of a bell, I saw food and experienced horror.
Classic fucking conditioning at its finest.
“Take the food,” he ordered when I didn’t move. “Take the food, or I will take from you.”
Ice dripped down my spine as I found myself stuck between a rock and a more messed up rock. Reach for the food and most likely get punched or kicked or slapped or grabbed? Don’t reach for the food and he’d feed.
I chose the former, lifting my arm once more.
His other hand whipped out, catching mine. My heart jerked to a stop as he squeezed—squeezed until the bones of my hand ground together. I gasped back the cry of pain.
“You do not learn, do you, you stupid cow?” His smile twisted into a snarl that made him look more rabid animal than human. “What are you supposed to say?”
What he wanted tasted of bitter ash on the tip of my tongue.
“Say it.”
I knew what was coming.
His lips peeled back. “Say it.”
I said nothing because all I had left was my will, and I clamored to preserve that even when I knew he was going to take that, too.
“Say it!” he roared.
I swallowed hard. “Make me.”
Letting go of my bruised hand, he grasped my chin, digging his fingers into the skin. He yanked me up onto my knees with his grip. His eyes caught mine, and there was no looking away, no blinking as his pupils seemed to constrict to pinpoints.
Without the four-leaf clover, I was like any other mortal, fully susceptible to a fae’s glamour, and it took nothing for Aric to seize control of my mind.
And in a sick way, it was sort of a relief the moment I felt the icy brush against my consciousness. Because then, I felt nothing. No fear. No hate. No dread.
Nothing.
“Say it,” he whispered, but his voice echoed throughout me. “Say please.”
“Please,” I repeated.
Aric’s smile returned. “Good girl.” Letting go of my chin, he dropped the plate of food in front of me. “Eat.”
I ate, using my sore fingers to pull apart the cooling meat.
“When you’re done, you will be bathed,” Aric explained. “You reek of sweat and humanity.”
Pausing mid-chew, I glanced over at the female fae who remained silent by the door. Was that why she was here? There was a niggle of concern as if the idea of being bathed should concern me, but the sensation floated away, and I resumed eating.
Once the plate was empty, the female hurried over, placing the tote beside me.
She went back to the door, disappearing for a moment only to return with a small army of fae.
They carried a copper tub, dropping it in the space between the stone slabs.
Water sloshed over the edges, hitting my legs.
I jerked my feet back. The liquid was cold.
Aric snapped his fingers, and the other fae quickly left. Only he and the female remained. He turned to me. “Stand.”
I climbed to my feet.
Aric tilted his head, his pale gaze flickering over me.
“You’re so much easier to deal with like this.
” He approached me, curling his fingers around my chin and tilting my head back.
“Which means, this will go so much more smoothly. Because I know the minute I release my hold on you, you’re going to fight this. ”
I blinked slowly as he reached around, unhooking the band secured to my neck. He placed it on the stone.
“Because I know you’ll find every second of this utterly humiliating, being stripped and tended to as if you are nothing more than a child.
I want to see that. The red flush of embarrassment, and the futile attempts to cover yourself.
” His eyes closed as he sighed. “It would truly be a marvelous sight to behold. But alas, I fear it would break you, and since you’re my favorite new pet, I’m not done playing with you. ”
He opened his eyes. “Plus, I have important business to do today.” Slipping his hand from my chin, he stepped back and motioned the female forward.
I stood still, waiting.
Aric pivoted, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a cellphone. He stared down at it as the female picked up the tote and began taking out items. Removing two pitchers, she filled them with the water from the tub.
“Undress,” she said, her voice sharp as an icicle. “And get in the tub.”
My gaze flicked from her to the Ancient’s back.
The female beside me sighed with annoyance. “My lord.”
He glanced over his shoulder and, a moment later, he chuckled. “Undress and get in the tub, little bird.”
I did as he requested, letting the soiled clothing fall to the floor.
The water was a shock, stunning me into immobility as the cold shot straight up my legs and my spine.
There was no time to adjust. Hands landed on my shoulders, forcing me down so I was sitting.
Gasping, I reached out, clasping the sides of the tub.
The female got to work, working a lavender-scented bar of soap against my skin.
The sting against the raw cuts warred with the numbing properties of the frigid water, and eventually, the water won.
The smarting pain faded as the female moved to a cloth, dragging it down my arms as she knelt behind me.
Quickly, the once-clear water turned murky.
Aric moved to the other slab of stone, stretched out on it, reclining as if he were lounging by a pool. “Ask me what business I have to take care of, little bird,” he said, looking up from his phone.
Teeth chattering, I winced as the female dragged the soapy cloth along my back. “W-what business d-do you have to t-take care of?”
“Well, since you asked.” He returned to thumbing through his cell. “I have a very important meeting with a…certain member of the Summer Court who, like me, wishes to see the return of the Queen. For very different reasons, but reasons nonetheless.”
My head jerked back as the female scrubbed at my tangled hair, lathering the oily strands.
“I’m so close to reopening the doorway and freeing my Queen.” Looking up from his phone, Aric glanced over at me just as the female tugged on my hair once more. One eyebrow rose as his gaze dipped. The corners of his lips tipped up. “Do you know how I will succeed? Answer me.”
My spine bowed as the female guided my head. She picked up the pitcher. “No.”
Swinging his legs off the stone, he stood and approached the tub. “Obviously, the likelihood of the King having a child with a halfling is slim, but there is one way that the gateway could be opened. The King himself can do it.”
He dropped to his knees in front of the tub, snapping his fingers. A moment later, he held the pitcher. “But why would he?”
Shivering, I waited for him to continue.
He curved a hand around the nape of my neck.
“Tip your head back,” he coaxed, and I obeyed.
“The King wouldn’t unless he was forced.
After all, he would do anything to protect his mortuus.
The Summer fae can bring me the King’s weakness, and with that, I will be able to make him do whatever I want. ”
The cold water pouring over my head wasn’t as much of a shock as it had been when I first climbed into the tub, but it still caused me to jolt.
“And as more younglings and Summer fae taste the Devil’s Breath, the Order will be too busy wrangling them as I force the King to open the doorway.
” He picked up the other pitcher, rinsing the remaining soap from my hair.
He placed it aside. “When that happens, this world will finally become the Queen’s, and nothing will be able to stop her this time. ”
Drops of water blotted his white shirt as he slid his hand to the front of my throat. “You’ll most likely be dead by then.”
His fingers followed the stream of water coursing down my shoulders and then lower. His gaze tracked his hand. “Perhaps you will make me a liar. You are strangely resilient, and I have yet to bore of our time together. I’m not ready to silence your screams.”
I sucked in a sharp breath at the sudden pinch.
“You’re surprisingly…pleasantly developed for a mortal,” he murmured, the coolness of his palm branding my skin. “I am starting to understand why the King became interested. Then again, he was, how do I say? Always virile before he was mated to Siobhan. His escapades were rather legendary.”
The pale gaze remained fixed below my shoulders, as did his hand. “Your skin here is soft. Unmarred. We shall have to fix that, won’t we, little bird?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
Chuckling, he slid his hand down my stomach and then under the water. I jerked at the contact. His smile grew as his gaze finally lifted to mine. He held my stare for a moment and then looked at the female who waited behind us silently. “Finish with her.”
Aric withdrew, and the female fae did as ordered, making sure the rest of me was clean.
Then I was guided from the tub and dried off with a small linen that did more to irritate the numerous cuts than it did to soak up any of the water.
A clean slip was tugged over my head, and when I looked down, I saw that it only reached to mid-thigh and offered little coverage or warmth.
Still shivering, I waited where I had been left as the female went back to the door, and both male fae returned, taking the tub and exiting. Suddenly, I was alone with Aric.
“Much better,” he commented, lifting a hand. He crooked his finger. “Come to me.”
I went to him.
His touch against my cheek was almost gentle if not for the pressure against the tender skin there. “I think it’s time to let you free, don’t you?”
Unsure, I nodded.
He bent, picking up the band and securing it around my neck.
His eyes caught mine again, and he whispered something.
The icy brush of fingers retreated from my consciousness.
It was like a retractable leash. Free will snapped back into place with such force that it drove me back away from the Ancient.
Slamming into the edge of the slab, I stared at him, gulping air.
“Welcome back, little bird.”
Chest heaving, I pushed off the slab. “Fuck you.”
He smirked. “Oh, how I missed that mouth. But I wished you knew what I missed”—his gaze dipped in a way that made my skin crawl—“most of all.”
I knew what he missed. I could still feel his hands on my skin, touching me. And what he didn’t realize was that I remembered everything. What I did. What he said. I didn’t know how or why, and while there was a whole lot I wished to forget, I now knew how he planned to free the Queen.
So I smiled.