Chapter 21
Nelle
Wintry air swirled along my cheekbones as Graysen reached for me, intending to push his hand into my hair and clamp down. Not with fangs but fingers. To grasp the back of my neck with ruthless intent and force me to submit.
I reacted in pure, mindless terror. My heart slammed in my chest as I whirled around and fled, chased from the Great Hall by the cruel sound of laughter.
Sage surged beside me as I escaped, then shot ahead.
He led me through twisting hallways and past startled servants, his keen senses honing in on a way out of the Keep.
Anxiety clawed up my throat as I burst into a gateway framed by curved arches and iron portcullises, their menacing lattice looming above as I tore beneath and erupted outside.
Part of me knew it was useless even to run.
This was Graysen’s territory. There wasn’t an inch of it he didn’t know.
Yet I had to try. Pure survival drove me on.
I flew across a weathered porch, down stone steps, and into a lush garden where pebble paths cut toward a copse of trees with drooping, serrated leaves.
The thick canopy scattered dappled light that skittered across my frozen skin. Sage raced ahead, his paws spraying stones in his wake. My braid slapped against my back, and spindly branches scratched at my face as I tore across the pebbled path.
All I could see in my mind was that cold, empty look Graysen had delivered while his brothers closed in like an unyielding wall, waiting to see him break my spirit.
Had I read him wrong these past few days? He’d been nothing but disarmingly solicitous up at his residence. I’d been the one tormenting him in my childish way, and he’d borne the brunt of my wrath. But was that just him playing a twisted game simply to amuse himself?
Terror rattled through me at the eruption of noise.
Graysen was right behind me.
Hunting me like an animal.
His pounding footfall crunched through pebbles.
His breathing—excited.
He could have caught me so easily, but he’d let me run just to terrorize me further. I didn’t know where I was going, shoving past low-hanging branches and following the twisting path ahead.
Suddenly, his arm banded around my middle, lifting me right off the ground.
I screamed and thrashed, kicking out as I fought to free myself. “Let me go!”
My heel slammed into his shin, wrenching us off-balance. He stumbled back with a startled oof, my high-pitched shriek ringing loud. We swayed wildly as he lurched backward, falling hard on his ass. I jolted with him, briefly airborne before crashing down.
Graysen only held me tighter as I half-twisted around, trying to hit him with my fists, screeching at him to let me go.
One hand grabbed hold of my wrists, handcuffing them with fingers.
His stubble-dusted chin was right beside my ear, but all he did was shush me.
“It’s okay…I’ve got you… I’m not going to hurt you,” he repeated until my ragged, panting breaths quietened and my weary limbs were too heavy to put up a fight any longer.
I sagged against his chest, feeling his heartbeat against my back, an uneasy pace that matched my own.
It took a long moment for it to register that Graysen wasn’t cold.
His body didn’t hold the subarctic temperature he’d projected within the Great Hall.
And, strangely, Sage wasn’t baring his teeth or growling.
My wraith-wolf lay down on the path, watching us both with bright silver eyes, more intrigued than anything else.
Twisting around on Graysen’s lap, I wondered who I was going to face. Both of us pulled back to look at each other better.
There was life back in his gaze and lingering wariness. My gaze bounced between his eyes, the thick, long lashes as he blinked. The blankness was gone, along with the cool indifference.
My braid slipped off my shoulder as I tilted my head to the side. I was genuinely curious. “How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Become so cruel and intimidating?” Because he’d terrified me, and so easily too. And like the snap of fingers, it had vanished. And here he was, the man I knew up in his tower.
He raised a brow, looking at me as if he couldn’t understand why I didn’t get it. “I’m an enforcer,” he said slowly, his tone rising as if he’d asked a question.
I frowned at him. I knew that. Upper House Novak sent in his family to deal with wayward crime lords who sought to free themselves from our reign. Often ending with him breaking bones and ending lives.
“My father raised us all in the art of violence,” he answered when the silence dragged on between us. “Our House terrorizes the crime syndicates. Sometimes it’s not the loud, angry face that scares someone so much. It’s the smile, the quietness of it all.”
“You’re so good at it,” I replied, as I scrutinized his relaxed features with narrowed eyes. “Switching between the two.”
“It is a talent,” he grinned.
I sharpened my tone because that slide into menace simply to intimidate me in the Great Hall was bullshit. “What are you playing at? What was all that in there? That performance in front of your brothers?”
His eyes widened a bit, and he sucked in a breath as if giving himself time to consider how to word it. “It will be easier for you to roam freely if they believe…”
“Believe what?” And then I understood. “That you’re doing what they think you are. Breaking me, so they won’t interfere.”
“If I didn’t, then one of them would try to step in.”
“You’re all fucking psychopaths,” I spat, thinking back to his brothers trying to intimidate me. Kenton telling him I should be locked away in the dungeons below the Keep.
He gave a pained sigh, his gaze dipping to the weeds daring to peek between plantings of hosta that edged the path. “Yeah, we are,” he agreed quietly.
A gentle breeze swirled through the garden, swaying leafy greenery and bringing with it a hint of jasmine and roses. I wriggled my hands in his grip, glaring down at his makeshift handcuffs. My wrists looked tiny and delicate with his large fingers banded around them. “Let me go.”
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he protested, sounding slightly offended.
“No. You might not. Not directly. But you’re taking me to the Emporium!” I couldn’t help how shrill my voice was. “Have you been there?”
“A few times,” he admitted reluctantly.
“So you know it’s a bordello for the Horned Gods.”
“The Houses attend too,” he added, frowning.
“Because they’re sick,” I shot back. An icy sensation slithered down my spine as what I knew about the Emporium flooded through my mind. “They eat people in there as fucking snacks.”
A notch formed between his brows as he slowly shook his head, deep in thought. “I don’t know… I don’t know what Jett’s up to.”
“Your brother is a psycho,” I snarled, jabbing an elbow into his chest to make my point. “If he, if any of you, so much as plucks a wisp from Sage, I will kill you.”
“He’s just messed up.”
“You all are! And you, you most of all, Mr. I-love-to-hunt.”
His gaze dipped to my mouth. “It’s the thrill of the chase, and your fight…” The last few words drifted apart, and he swallowed thickly as if he suddenly realized what he was saying.
And just like that, I became aware he was holding me. My side curving into a hard chest. Warm fingers forming a handcuff while his other arm banded my waist.
The air thickened between us. Tension coiled. Energy flowed back and forth.
If I tipped my head a fraction at the right angle, he could kiss me.
He raked his teeth across his lower lip, a war raging in his expression as he stared with want at my mouth.
“It’s just chemicals, that’s all. It doesn’t mean anything.” My voice was barely a whisper.
He blinked rapidly as if coming to his senses.
I tugged my wrists free and eased myself awkwardly off his lap and onto the path, the pebbles digging into my knees. He rose, offering a hand. When I stared at it as if I’d rather set it on fire, he withdrew, retreating a step and waiting patiently until I got to my feet.
Flicking my fingers across my skirt to dust it off, I then readjusted my sleeves to sit properly on my shoulders and tossed my braid to my back. Pouting, I glanced about. “Where are we?”
“My mother’s gardens.”
I hmmmed, careful not to let my tone or expression reveal my impression.
The garden was magical. Thick plantings of ferns and wildflowers surrounded us, with jasmine draping from majestic trees and white climbing roses twining around everything.
Motes danced in the shafts of sunlight while a soft drone of insects came from within the shadows.
I sucked in a breath, indulging in the moist, pungent, earthy smells permeating the air.
It reminded me of running through the woodland, amongst the wild, rambling trees, every morning and every evening.
I’d practically lived in the woods back home.
Home.
A sharp pang of homesickness cut through me, so hard and swift and sudden it was a sucker punch to the heart.
Graysen’s hand went to his chest and he kneaded it with the heel of his palm. His gaze sliced to mine, full of understanding.
“Don’t,” I said, my voice breaking. Needles pricked the back of my throat and tears threatened, tickling my nose. “Just don’t…okay.” I hung my head until I got hold of myself once more. Sage rose quickly, nudging himself into my thigh as he gave a concerned whine.
“What are you doing? Why are you pretending to break me?” My fingers sifted through Sage’s soft fur as I studied Graysen.
“Because we don’t need to break you to sell you at the Witches Ball. It’s a simple transaction,” he said quietly, shoving his hands into his pockets.
My body went cold.
“One I won’t be able to fight, right? Because by then you’ll own me with the Alverac, and all you have to do is to command me to go with them willingly and I’ll not say a single word.”
He didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.
None of that was going to happen if I had my way.