CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Daphne
Daphne decided to tell her mother that she was babysitting Gabriel.
It was a lie; Nathan was gone for the week, so Ella was home with the baby.
But it was the closest thing Daphne could think of that would not draw suspicion.
She’d babysat for Ella before, and often for days at a time.
Daphne did not mind lying to her mother.
It was another thing entirely to lie to her best friend.
“I don’t understand,” Ella said, her arms crossed. They were sitting in her kitchen drinking the wine Maximus had gifted her. Gabriel was cooing in his nursery.
“What is there to understand? If my mother asks where I am, just tell her I’m babysitting Gabriel.”
Ella frowned. “But…you’re not babysitting Gabriel.”
“Obviously.”
“Then why am I lying for you?”
“Because…I have to do something.”
Ella arched an expectant eyebrow. Daphne knew it was probably time to confide in her best friend, but that didn’t make it any easier to do so.
She took a deep breath before diving in. “I have to help Kronos.”
Ella frowned. “Help him how?”
“He’s in the running to become Serpent King, and he needs my help to win.”
“Serpent King?”
“The ruler of the basilisks.”
“And why does he need your help becoming the ruler of the basilisks?”
“Because we’re together.”
“You’re…together.”
“Yes.”
“Together together?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.” Ella shook her head as if to clear it. “Are you saying that you’re dating your teacher?”
“I’m not…dating him, exactly. We’re just…” Daphne had no idea how to define it. Boyfriend felt far too casual for who Kronos was to her. She settled on the word they’d already said too many times: “Together.”
Ella took a sizable gulp of wine. “Daph,” she said slowly. “That’s a little bit insane.”
Daphne almost laughed. It was incredibly insane. “I know,” she said. “Trust me, I know.”
“Trust you? Daphne.” There was a pause as Ella drained her wineglass before refilling it immediately “You’re involved with a basilisk. Even if you did actually want to babysit Gabriel, I wouldn’t let you do it because clearly you’ve lost your mind.”
“I haven’t lost my mind,” Daphne insisted. “Kronos is different than anyone I’ve ever been with.”
“Obviously. He’s a reptile.”
“He’s honest. And patient. And kind.”
“And hot, I’d assume.”
“Yes,” sighed Daphne. “He’s hot.”
Ella shook her head and took another gulp of wine. “So… How is it?”
“How is what?”
“You know…the sex.”
“We haven’t had sex yet. At least…his cock hasn’t been in my pussy. We’ve done pretty much everything else.”
Ella frowned. “Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I told you I wanted to be in love the next time I slept with someone, remember?”
“I remember. But I kind of figured you’d abandon that within an hour or two.”
Daphne gave her a playful shove. “Well, I didn’t. Kronos and I are…waiting.”
“Until you’re in love.”
Daphne nodded.
Ella leaned in. “Daphne,” she said. “You’re telling me that you’re going to be with him for three days and you don’t even love him?”
Daphne pursed her lips. “I just have to do this, Ella. It’s…important.”
Ella shrugged. “If you say so. But he better be worth it.”
Daphne’s response came easily—the same response she knew Kronos would give about her. “He is.”
She heard nothing from Maximus.
He sent no more gifts—no bottles of wine, no bouquets of flowers.
The ball where he would select the final three women to move into the castle was the day after the Ranking, and Daphne doubted she’d get an invite.
The thought of their conversation still felt like a knife in her chest. The prince had declared his affection for her, then withdrawn it when it was not reciprocated. It was not the behavior of a man.
By the time she reached the caves, Kronos was already waiting for her with his arms outstretched. She ran into them gladly, smelling his familiar scent. They went first to his chambers, where he said, “If you are willing to undress, now would be the time.”
That didn’t surprise Daphne; she’d been under the mountain before, after all—she’d seen how the basilisks were naked at all times. Yet undressing here, right in front of Kronos, was somehow terrifying.
When she didn’t move, Kronos said, “I have seen you naked before, Daphne.”
“I know,” she said. “This is just…strange for me. I’m not used to being naked in public.”
“We are hardly in public.”
“But there are about to be people around.”
“They are not people.”
“You know what I mean.”
His smile widened. It was not a cruel one; Daphne knew he was right there with her.
“You may take as much time as you need,” he said. “We have all night.”
Daphne didn’t want to take her time. She was eager to see what the evening had in store, and whatever it had in store could only happen once she was naked. So she took a deep, calming breath and said, “Try not to enjoy this too much.”
Kronos gave her a small smile. “Impossible.”
Despite herself, Daphne smiled back. Without further ado, she undressed slowly, fully aware that Kronos was watching her every move.
She removed her dress first, tossing it onto his bed.
She was down to her underclothing. Then she removed that too, letting it drop to the floor.
Kronos’s pupils dilated immediately. He let out a soft breath.
Daphne wanted to taste it. She saw him draw closer, wondering if he even knew he was doing so.
They stepped into the passageway together.
“Tonight will be fairly tame,” Kronos said as they walked. “Each host must finalize their choice of guest. After that, there will be a celebration in the courtyard.”
“What kind of celebration?”
He glanced down at her. “A traditional one.”
Daphne got the impression he wasn’t going to elaborate. “So…where are we going now?”
“We are going to the officially declare you as my guest.”
“How do we do that?”
“I will write your name beneath my vial.”
“Your vial? What’s that?”
Kronos looked down at her. “Daphne,” he said calmly, a hint of a smile on his lips. “Somehow I think it may be better just to show you.”
Daphne smiled back. “So show me.”
“It would be my pleasure.”
They traversed the passageways together, winding deep beneath the mountain.
Contrary to what she expected, the air grew warmer the deeper they got.
By the time they reached a large pair of double doors, she was sweating.
Daphne excepted Kronos to open them, but he didn’t.
Instead he turned to her and they stared at each other in the dim lighting of the passageway.
“I cannot believe you are here,” he whispered. “I cannot believe you are doing this.”
Daphne stepped closer. “I would do anything for you,” she whispered.
He shook his head. “You do not understand how much this means to me.”
In reply, Daphne stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to him. They kissed slowly, running their hands over each other’s bodies. He brushed his palms over her hips, up her waist, and onto her breasts, squeezing them gently before cradling her face.
“You honor me,” Kronos whispered. “I will repay you.”
Daphne required no repayment. “Just… Don’t let Caspenon hurt me.”
She was almost joking. But his gaze hardened anyway.
“No one will hurt you. I promise.”
Daphne had heard that before.
Kronos nodded at the doorway. “There will be basilisks in this room.”
“Will they be in their human forms?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, her voice small.
“Yes. They will not transition during the Ranking.”
“Why?”
“Because of you.”
“Me?”
“Not you specifically. It is tradition.”
“Will there be other human guests?”
Kronos shook his head. “I very much doubt it. Your presence is…an anomaly.”
“Is it even allowed?”
“It is. But it is rare.”
Daphne sighed. Truth be told, the rarity of their situation no longer bothered her. If the basilisks wanted to get upset over her presence, that was their problem. She merely wished to get through the next three days in one piece.
“It is unusual to have a human guest,” Kronos continued. “We will face scrutiny. Possibly violence.”
Daphne didn’t like the sound of that.
At the look on her face, Kronos said quickly, “I do not say this to make you afraid. You must know I will not let anything happen to you.”
She nodded. Her chest felt rather tight.
“I mean it.” He leaned in, and her breath caught in her throat. “No harm will come to you as long as I am by your side.”
“Then you’d better stay by it.”
Kronos smiled and pressed his lips to her forehead. “Always.”
They entered the room together.
Daphne took in everything at once: the high ceilings, the sea of nude bodies, the twelve tall glass vials on the far wall.
She was suddenly glad she was naked. Anyone wearing clothing would stick out like a sore thumb.
The basilisks already looked at Daphne enough as it was—everyone they passed gave her lingering glances, staring first at her face before their eyes slid down the rest of her body, landing unmistakably on her center.
Daphne had never experienced anything like this.
She’d never been stared at by so many people at once. And certainly not while naked.
True to his word, Kronos stayed by her side. The room fell silent as the crowd parted for them. Daphne threw her shoulders back, determined not to show her fear. She was not ashamed. She was here for Kronos.
His arm went around her waist protectively as they approached the far wall. Twelve tall, glass vials loomed above them, each embedded directly into the stone.
“That one is mine,” Kronos said, nodding at a vial in the middle.
It was filled with a dark red liquid that sloshed around as if it had a mind of its own.
Daphne remembered how he told her that a basilisk’s rank could change by the hour.
She saw now that he’d meant that literally.
The blood in the vials was in constant motion, ebbing and flowing, rising and falling. It was like a living thing.
“Is that…blood?”
Kronos nodded. “It is.”
“There’s so much of it.”
“I only provided a drop. It multiplies on its own.”
“Kora.”