CHAPTER ELEVEN #2
Agnes watched him go, her face still twisted in anger. Then she softened, turning back to Daphne. “I apologize for my brother,” she said with a rueful smile. “He has a lot on his mind.”
Daphne could do nothing but nod. She could only imagine what a frightening basilisk like that could possibly have on his mind.
“Shall I take you to Kronos now?” Agnes asked.
Daphne opened her mouth, then closed it. She was relieved Agnes was still willing to take her. But now that seeing Kronos was a definitive possibility, the thought was suddenly terrifying.
As if she could tell what she was thinking, Agnes leaned in and said, “You came here for a reason, Daphne. Do you not wish to see it through?”
Daphne did wish to see it through. “Take me to him,” she said.
Agnes flashed a brilliant smile. “Very well. Follow me.”
They traversed the passageway back the way they came, and soon Agnes was leading them down turn after turn until they stopped before a tall wooden door.
“These are his chambers,” Agnes chirped. “Good luck.”
“Wait.” Daphne grabbed her arm the way her brother had, taking care to do it gently.
Agnes paused, raising an eyebrow.
“Why did you help me?”
To her surprise, Agnes smiled.
“Because you needed help. And I like humans.”
Daphne blinked. Agnes was perhaps the only basilisk in the universe to say that sentence. “You like humans? Why?”
Agnes bit her lip, thinking. Then she said, “They are…vulnerable.”
“Does vulnerability make someone likable?”
“Not necessarily,” Agnes laughed. “But how you treat someone more vulnerable than yourself says a lot about your character. Humans give us an opportunity to do the right thing—to be better. I like that about you.”
Daphne stared at her. She was still quite new to the basilisk world, yet she knew without a doubt that Agnes was unusual. “Well…” Daphne was truly at a loss for what to say. She settled on: “Thank you.”
Agnes smiled. “You are most welcome, Daphne.”
She turned to leave, and Daphne turned to the door.
“By the way,” she heard over her shoulder. “He is thinking of you.”
Daphne looked back at Agnes. “Who is?”
“Kronos.”
Despite the heat, a chill tingled down her spine. “How do you know that?”
In response, Agnes tapped a single finger to her temple.
A moment later she was gone. Daphne stood frozen, her heart pounding.
She remembered what Kronos had said about reading minds: That ability is only between basilisks.
Daphne hoped Agnes was right. The door to his chambers loomed before her, thick and solid.
She hardly dared believe that Kronos was behind it.
She wondered briefly whether she should knock.
If Kronos was truly thinking of her, perhaps it didn’t matter.
Although Agnes hadn’t specified whether he was thinking good things about her.
Daphne raised her hand. Before she could knock, the door swung wide open.
The moment she saw him, her throat closed. She barely had time to take in her surroundings—a moody room with a crackling fireplace and a bed built straight into the stone—before Kronos said, “Daphne? What in Kora’s name are you doing here?”
“I—I, uh…” Daphne couldn’t find the words.
Kronos was completely naked.
It was difficult to concentrate on anything other than his bare cock, which was without doubt the largest she had ever seen.
The moment Kronos saw what she was looking at, he covered himself with his hand.
It was a testament to how long his fingers were that he was even able to do so.
Daphne barely caught a glimpse before he covered it.
What she had seen made her even wetter than she was already.
She could not fathom anything like that inside her.
She blushed furiously, attempting to look him in the eyes, which somehow felt more erotic than looking at his cock. What was wrong with her?
“You should not be here,” he said.
The same thing Agnes’s brother had told her. Daphne was starting to believe it. “I know,” she managed to say. “But you…didn’t show.”
In reply, Kronos pulled her inside his chambers and slammed the door behind her. “Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?”
“Yes, but I—”
“You came under the mountain, alone, without an escort.”
“Agnes was with me.”
His eyes blazed. “In that case, I will have to have a word with her.”
Before Daphne could defend Agnes, Kronos shifted, and the firelight hit his chest. Only then did Daphne notice the smear of blood on his skin. Without thinking, she reached for him, brushing her fingertips over the blood. It was still wet. “Are you hurt?”
She hoped he didn’t notice how high her voice was, how clearly desperate she was to hear his answer. Daphne expected Kronos to push her away. Instead he shook his head. “I am not hurt.”
“Then what happened to you?”
“The blood is not mine. I was hunting.”
Daphne dropped her hand. “Oh.”
There was a pause. She dared to ask, “Is…that why you weren’t in the cave earlier? Because you were hunting?”
Kronos squared his shoulders. “No.”
Daphne suppressed a wave of fear. The way he was looking at her made her feel uneasy. She took a deep breath before asking, “Then why weren’t you there?”
The pause went on for what felt like forever. Kronos seemed to be mulling something over, and Daphne wished she knew what it was. Finally, he said, “You are the prince’s first choice.”
Daphne frowned. “You already know that.”
Kronos didn’t answer. She didn’t know what to say, whether she should bring up what happened last time or not. It seemed safest to stick with the topic at hand.
“Aren’t you…happy I’m his first choice?”
Kronos let out a harsh laugh. “Happy is the last thing I am.”
“But why? You’re the one who told me to find another way to win.”
“I am well aware of what I told you.”
“Did you change your mind?”
“No,” he gritted out. “I did not change my mind.”
In that case, Daphne was going to force him to say it. “So you still want me to win?”
Kronos sighed, and the motion seemed to ripple through his entire body. “Yes. I still want you to win.”
“Then why are you—”
“Why did you come here, Daphne? To my private chambers.” He cut her off, taking a step closer. The air seemed to crackle between them. “It is dangerous. You should have just gone home.”
Tears pricked her eyes. He was rejecting her. “I wanted to see you, and you weren’t in the cave,” she whispered.
She expected him to scoff or at the very least admonish her. He did neither. Instead, Kronos closed his eyes. Daphne studied his face in the glowing firelight, tracing the sharp angles of his cheekbones. The Y-shaped mark on his chest stood out against his smooth skin. She wanted to kiss it.
“Daphne,” he said quietly.
She waited for the rest of his sentence, but it never came. His eyes remained closed, his hand still cupping his cock. Daphne wished he would release it.
“Kronos,” she said back, because she wasn’t sure what else to say.
The only sound was the snap of the fire.
Everything that had happened at their last meeting ran through her head: the way she’d touched him, the way he’d placed his hand over hers, the way they’d almost kissed. Was he thinking of it too?
He opened his eyes, looking straight into hers. “I have never had a student like you.”
Slow, delicate hope bloomed in her chest. “To be fair, you haven’t really taught me anything. So I’m hardly your student.”
The slightest smile pulled at his lips.
Daphne smiled back, encouraging his with hers.
“As I recall, you said I had nothing to teach you.”
Daphne smiled wider. “And I meant it.”
Kronos let out a low chuckle. His expression softened. “Stubborn girl.”
Infernal. Stubborn. To other people, the words might not be compliments. But to Daphne, they were. Lately she’d gotten used to words that hurt her. If felt nice to hear the opposite.
“Kronos,” she said quietly. “Just tell me the truth. Why weren’t you there today? Are we…?”
She trailed off, unsure what she was even asking.
Are we over? They had never begun in the first place.
Are you mad at me? It was juvenile to wonder such a thing.
Do you feel the same as I do? Not possible.
In the silence, Kronos stepped closer. Daphne’s breath hitched as he raised the hand that wasn’t covering his cock to her face, brushed a single finger under her chin and tilted her head up to his.
“I was not there because I could not bear to hear how you gave the prince what you refuse to give me.”
Daphne stared up into his golden eyes, which were rapidly turning black. “You left before I could tell you I gave him nothing.”
His hand tightened. “Do not lie to me.”
“I’m not. We didn’t even kiss.”
“That does not mean you gave him nothing.”
Daphne didn’t dare speak. She couldn’t tell if Kronos was angry at her, the prince, or both.
“He is falling for you,” Kronos whispered. “And if he finds out you do not feel the same, he will eliminate you.”
“He won’t eliminate me.”
Kronos frowned. “And why not?”
“Because we have…an arrangement.”
His frown deepened. “What fucking arrangement?”
Daphne had never heard him swear before. “He’s still grieving the mother of his child. He isn’t ready to marry, and he doesn’t want to do the competition. He’s going to choose me so his father calls off the wedding.”
Kronos stared down at her, his eyes still narrowed. Daphne could see his mind working as he processed what she’d said. “You…are not sleeping with him?”
“No.”
Kronos dropped his hand. The place where his fingers had been was suddenly cold. He shook his head. “You cannot trust the prince, Daphne. It is not wise to make arrangements with the royals. They do not keep their promises.”
“He’ll keep this one.”
“How can you know that?”
“Because he’s still in love with Lilibet. He can’t feel anything for anyone else.”
Kronos snorted, turning to the fire. “You are naive.”
“I thought I was stubborn.”
“You are that too.”