Chapter 11 #5
We spiralled into another fit of laughter, our bodies shaking. But the pain in our heads caught up, and we groaned in unison.
“Ugh. It feels like someone’s beating drums inside my skull,” I whined, pressing a cool pillow to my forehead.
Tavrik turned to me, eyes sharp with curiosity. He tapped his fingers methodically against the armrest. “Where did you go after you left?”
His tone was casual, but his gaze was anything but.
I shrugged, suddenly finding the loose thread on my pillow absolutely fascinating. Winding it around my finger until the tip turned an alarming shade of purple.
“Here. I just… couldn’t handle dealing with the king anymore.”
The lie stuck in my throat like a knife.
As Tavrik leaned forward, his gaze didn’t waver. “He disappeared right after you. He was pissed.”
I scoffed, shaking my head. “Yeah, well, I don’t care how he feels.” It came out too fast. Too defensive. I needed to move on before either of them tried digging deeper.
“I just want to get out of here. This place,” I threw my arms up wildly, nearly smacking Theo in the face, “is messing with my head.”
Theo and Tavrik both nodded, though hesitation flickered across their faces. There was some part of them that no longer minded being here. “I will try harder next time we go outside. Go further, see if I can find this damn thing.”
I shooed them away. I needed a moment alone to gather myself. To rebuild the walls that were crumbling faster than I could patch them.
No matter how many times I ran the washcloth over my body, I couldn’t rid myself of him.
The scent of my own arousal had stuck to me, a constant, damning reminder of last night.
I had to erase it. Erase him. But as the steam curled around me, I realised with growing horror that the scent filling the bathing chamber wasn’t the usual, sweet, floral oils.
It had been replaced with something richer. Darker.
It smelled just like him.
What kind of twisted game was he playing?
Mira arrived just as I stepped out of the bath, my skin still raw from how hard I had scrubbed.
I plastered a smile on my face, pretending that everything was fine as she set to work, brushing out my damp hair and adding delicate touches to my attire.
Our conversation remained light and easy.
I recounted Theo’s unfortunate encounter with his shadow.
Mira laughed, one hand clutching her side while the other swiped at a tear that escaped her eye.
“I thought I’d take you all back to the fighting pit,” she said once she’d regained her composure, her hands steady as she lined my eyes with kohl. “I know how much the boys enjoyed it.”
“I’m sure they would love that.” I smiled, feigning amusement, all while my mind screamed.
I needed to get outside to find the stone, but I couldn’t push my luck and seem too eager. I nodded along and agreed to join them.
Theo and Tavrik were practically bouncing off the walls with excitement. Theo kept punching the air, making ridiculous whooshing noises with each wild swing while Tavrik critiqued his form with increasingly creative insults.
As we walked, I tried to memorise the path ahead, to commit every twist and turn to memory, but it was pointless. Everything blurred together in an endless maze of indistinguishable corridors that seemed specifically designed to disorient.
Just as my frustration threatened to boil over, the darkness broke.
The sun bled molten gold through the hallway, its rays piercing the shadows like blades as we approached the stone archway of the viewing balcony.
Theo and Tavrik charged ahead, while I lingered at the threshold, savouring the warmth as it crawled across my skin.
Below, the pits were alive with brutality.
Jinn clashed with merciless precision, each strike sharp enough to sever flesh, yet their grins never left their faces. Their joy thick with the thrill of battle. Black blood spattered the dirt, but no one faltered. This was their nature.
Jasila commanded the space, moving through her opponents like a storm given form.
A flick of her wrist sent one opponent spinning.
A casual twist of her hips brought another to their knee.
Her foot connected with a challenger’s chest with such force that a resounding crack echoed off the stone walls, his unfortunate body hitting the ground with a meaty thud.
My own ribs ached in sympathy.
Tavrik leaned over the railing, never taking his gaze off her.
Jasila paused mid-slaughter, her head snapping up. Her eyes, wild with bloodlust, locked onto Tavrik. A slow, wicked smile spread across her full lips, transforming her into something dangerously beautiful. She crooked a finger in invitation—an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Tavrik shook with anticipation.
“She’s going to kill you,” I muttered, rolling my eyes.
Beside him, Theo bounced on the balls of his feet like an overexcited child.
They stood waiting, looking at me as if I held some authority over them.
I sighed heavily, my shoulders slumped. “Go then.”
They didn’t need to be told twice. Mira led them down the twisting passage and minutes later, they emerged in the pit. Their presence was met with a roar of approval from the crowd. Even Kaseer greeted them both with a sharp clasp to the back.
Jasila and Tavrik circled each other, their movements slow and deliberate. A game of patience.
Jasila struck. A blur of motion faster than the mortal eye could track. Tavrik twisted at the last possible second, his body contorting at an impossible angle. The air of her swing whistled past his face. The crowd jeered and taunted, a collective, mocking sound rising from a hundred throats.
They circled again, Tavrik bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet. A dance of predator and prey.
Jasila was fluid—a blade given purpose, while Tavrik was sharp and moved with calculated precision. He dodged her again and again. My heart stuttered at each near miss.
His lips twitched with smug satisfaction, but Jasila’s smirk only deepened.
She wasn’t frustrated. She liked the challenge.
She feinted left, but twisted mid-step, her foot sweeping in a vicious arc meant to take his legs out from under him. Tavrik barely caught himself, rolling through the impact with a grunt and springing back to his feet before she could capitalise.
The crowd howled their approval, fists pounding against whatever surface they could find.
Sweat beaded at my temples as I leaned forward, my elbows braced against the railing. Every muscle taut with anticipation. My eyes burned at the intensity of their combat.
Then two strong arms locked around me from behind.
I sucked in a sharp breath.
Dalkhan’s scent invaded my senses—the same that clung to my skin. I didn’t dare move as he leaned over me to watch the battle.
His scoff rumbled against my spine. “Looks like one of your pets does know how to fight.”
Something inside me snapped. I twisted violently in his grasp, my hip bones grinding painfully on the stone as my back slammed against the railing.
I glared up at him, my teeth bared in a snarl. “They are not pets.”
His voice dropped to a whisper as he lowered his head, his lips dangerously close. “What are they then? Hm?”
He was tense, the veins in his forearms standing out like ropes beneath skin as his grip on the railing tightened enough for it to crack. Flames skittered over the bare planes of his chest.
My heart skipped a beat.
“Is he your lover?”
I nearly choked at the absurdity. The thought alone made me want to burst into laughter. But then something wicked and reckless unfurled inside me. Such a delicious opportunity, how could I resist?
I watched with savage pleasure as Dalkhan’s expression darkened with each passing second of my deliberate silence.
Pure, unadulterated jealousy smouldered in the endless black depths of his eyes.
I tilted my head, purposefully licking my lower lip. “And what if he is?”
His flames flared violently before settling into a slow, dangerous burn that pulsed in time with his heartbeat.
Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have said that.
He took a step closer, until there was nothing separating our bodies but scorching heat. His thigh pressed between mine, the hard muscle forcing my legs to part. He grasped my chin, lifting my face up to his with a grip that walked the knife’s edge between gentle and bruising.
“He will burn if he so much as touches you again.” The promise of violence was clear in every syllable.
I should’ve been frightened or outraged, but instead, a thrill coursed through me.
“It’s none of your concern who touches me,” I whispered.
His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. He slammed a palm against the stone, rattling the railing behind me. Several small fragments broke free, tumbling into the pit below with tiny puffs of dust.
“No one touches what belongs to me.”
I huffed a laugh. “I belong to no one.”
Dalkhan spun me around to face the pit again. His massive hands gripped my hips, digging into the soft flesh. The thick, unmistakable ridge of his cock pressed hard against the curve of my backside.
I bit the inside of my cheek to stop a whimper from escaping.
His lips found the nape of my neck—the barest whisper of contact. One of his hands slid up, skating over my ribs to rest just beneath my breast, his thumb tracing maddening circles.
“Your body,” he murmured, the words like embers against my flushed skin, “thinks otherwise.”
Heat crawled down my spine, settling heavy between my thighs and spreading outward in a wave. My knees were weak. I squeezed the railing until my fingers ached, as if that alone could remove the surge of overwhelming need.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I tried desperately to focus on the fight below—on Tavrik landing a brutal hit, sending the crowd into a frenzy. Jasila merely licked her lips, her eyes gleaming with hunger.
She was just getting started.
Dalkhan chuckled darkly, his teeth grazing my earlobe.
“Pathetic,” he mused. His free hand slid down to splay possessively across my stomach, pulling me more firmly against him. “You think staring at them will make you forget just how much you want me?”
Mortification burned through me, tangling with something far worse—the knowledge that he was absolutely right. I clenched my jaw so hard I thought my teeth might crack, still stubbornly keeping my eyes forward.
“I can still taste you,” he continued. “I thought of you all night, little flame. Tried to sate myself on the memory of you coming on my tongue.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “It was not fucking enough.”
It took every fragment of my fraying willpower to not arch back into him. To not surrender to the furnace of his body or grab his wrist and guide his hand where I wanted it.
To not turn my head and capture his cruel mouth with mine.
No. No. No.
I remained rigid, eyes locked on violent clash below, as if Tavrik and Jasila’s bloody spectacle could somehow drown out the storm raging inside me. But Dalkhan didn’t move away. He enveloped me like smoke, suffocating and intoxicating all at once.
“Tell me mortal—”
The word struck like a whip. I snapped my head toward him, glaring.
“Elira,” I hissed. “Not mortal.”
He smirked.
“As you wish…” He paused, drawing it out while holding my eyes captive. “Elira.”
My name rolled off his tongue like dark honey.
A tremor shot through me, goosebumps rising on my skin. A small, barely audible gasp escaped me before I could trap it behind my teeth.
He pulled away at last and leaned against the railing, one ankle crossed casually over the other, like he hadn’t just unravelled me with a single word.
“What is he to you?” His eyes cut toward the pit. I followed his line of sight to where Theo stood, hands braced against his knees, watching the fight with rapt attention and completely oblivious to the dangerous game playing out above.
There was no use in lying anymore.
“They are my friends,” I admitted. “Nothing more.”
Satisfaction pulsed from him in waves, all but humming around me. “Good.”
He straightened, shifting his attention back to me with renewed intensity. “Walk with me.”
I crossed my arms over my chest defensively. “No, thank you.”
Dalkhan didn’t even bother to look at me as he walked away.
“It wasn’t a request.”
Damn him.
My feet were already moving before my mind could object. So much for staying away from him.
The hallways twisted like ancient veins through the mountain’s heart, carved deep into the unyielding rock.
Torches lined the walls, their flames struggling against the oppressive darkness that swallowed every morsel of light.
With each step deeper, the air grew heavier.
Thicker. Not from the descent itself, but from the man whose shadow engulfed mine.