Chapter 3 #2
It’s also... intriguing.
“You,” I say softly, almost to myself. “You’re the cause of all of this.”
The human stirs faintly at the sound of my voice.
His fingers twitch, curling against the damp fabric of his trousers, and I’m surprised to find myself wondering what they conceal.
His head tilts slightly, exposing the curve of his neck, and my eyes narrow at the sight of his pulse thrumming beneath his skin.
Warm. Fragile. Mine to break.
“Out,” I snap at the guards.
They scatter without a word, leaving me alone with the human and the echo of their retreating footsteps.
I crouch before the cage, my claws curling around the bars as I lean in closer. His scent envelops me, and I inhale deeply, letting the sheer audacity of his presence settle in my lungs.
He groans again, softer this time, and my lips curl into a dark smile.
“Wake up,” I murmur, my voice low and dangerous.
Nothing.
I reach inside the cage, my claws grazing his jaw as I tilt his face upward. His skin is warm against my touch, far too warm, and I feel the faint stir of life beneath his flesh. His lips are slightly parted, his breath brushing against my fingers in shallow puffs.
He’s beautiful, I realize.
For a human.
It’s an insult to the perfection of my kind, of course, but there’s no denying the symmetry of his features. The sharp line of his jaw, the dark sweep of his lashes against his cheeks, the curve of his mouth.
His shoulders are broad, though not from the heavy muscle of a warrior but the lean strength of someone accustomed to endurance rather than outright power.
His chest rises and falls, firm under the soaked fabric clinging to his skin, the faint outline of muscle tapering into a trim waist. There’s a subtle grace to him even now, a quiet beauty that grates against my better judgment.
Every inch of him is unguarded, yet his body holds a kind of restrained tension, as if somewhere beneath the surface, something untamed waits.
It’s all infuriatingly pleasing to the eye.
“Helena’s bloodline,” I mutter, my thumb brushing against his lower lip. “She always had a flair for theatrics.”
My thumb presses down, just enough to feel the heat of his mouth, and I watch as his lips part further, a soft sigh escaping him. He’s still unconscious, his body slack and pliant beneath my touch.
I could do anything to him right now.
Anything.
The thought sends a rush of heat through me, dark and dangerous.
I pull my hand back abruptly, rising to my full height as I glare down at him. This human is a puzzle I have no intention of solving gently. Whatever power Helena passed to him, whatever debt she thought she could avoid, I’ll find it. I’ll drag it out of him piece by piece if I must.
“Wake him,” I call, my voice sharp and echoing through the chamber.
A soldier hurries back in, carrying a bucket of seawater. He glances at me for permission before tossing the water over the human’s head.
The reaction is immediate, as it damn well should be.
The human gasps, his body jerking violently as he chokes on the sudden rush of cold. His eyes snap open, wide and unfocused, and he scrambles back against the bars of the cage, coughing and sputtering.
“Finally,” I drawl, folding my arms as I look down at him. “The guest of honor decides to join us.”
He blinks up at me, his chest heaving as he struggles to catch his breath. His gaze flickers around the room, taking in the dark, glistening walls, the faintly glowing coral, the shadows that seem to shift and twist on their own.
Then his eyes meet mine, and I see it.
The fear.
It’s exquisite.
It’s brief, just a flicker, but it’s enough to make my smile widen.
“Do you know where you are?” I ask, my tone almost conversational.
He doesn’t answer, his throat working as he swallows hard.
I step closer, and the water outside ripples as I crouch just outside the cage.
“Do you know who I am?”
Still nothing.
His silence grates, and it’s beginning to irritate me, but it’s the defiance I see lurking beneath his fear that truly stirs my anger.
This human has no idea who he’s dealing with, no idea how precarious his position truly is.
I could rip the heart from his chest and watch it beat in my hand, and no force in this world could stop me.
I could tear the secrets from his mind, shatter his soul until all that’s left is the echo of his screams. He’s a toy in my grasp, fragile and breakable, and he doesn’t even realize it.
It’s all too tempting to resist.
“I’ll make it simple,” I say, my voice dropping to a dangerous growl.
“You’re in my kingdom, human. You’re in my throne room, in my palace, in my capital, under the ocean, and there is no escape.
I rule the waves and control all that swim in its currents.
Everything here belongs to me. Including you. ”
His eyes widen slightly, and I feel a twisted satisfaction at the way his breathing quickens.
“You’re here because of a debt,” I continue, reaching out to trail a claw along the edge of the cage. “A debt your aunt thought she could escape in death. But she was wrong. And now, you’ll pay it in her place.”
His lips part, and for a moment, I think he might speak. But then he presses them together, his jaw tightening as he glares up at me.
Defiance.
Sheer and dazzling defiance.
It’s been centuries since a human dared look at me like that.
And it’s stoked a fire in me that I thought had died.
That reckless flicker of desire to crush something so beautifully unyielding, to see how far it will bend before it shatters.
It’s not enough to own him, not enough to make him bleed.
I want to peel back that stubborn defiance layer by layer until the only thing he knows is me.
My will.
My power.
My name on his tongue.
“This is going to be fun,” I murmur, leaning in closer until the scent of him fills my senses. “Let’s see how long you can hold on to that stubbornness, human. I’ll enjoy breaking it out of you.”