Chapter 31 #3
He wasted no time jumping into the pool, causing a chaotic wave that threw her off balance.
She stumbled, and her hands again found her breasts, creating whatever covering she could as the sheen of soap glossed her skin.
She immediately felt self-conscious of her scars.
She had acquired so many new ones since her arrival.
He was seeing too much of her this close.
“Is that really what you want, Helaina?”
Her name from his mouth sounded so . . . right somehow. How could her name sound that way from such a beast?
“You want me to take you to the Mirrored Deserts? So you can be a broodmare for some rich royal? Is that what you’re so eager to get back to? A fat, rich prince who summons you whenever he pleases, until your belly swells with his heir?”
She shifted uncomfortably as he once again invaded her personal space. Why did he continue to do this to her? For every step she retreated, he advanced.
“You’re disgusting.” She nearly spat out the words.
“And you don’t have the slightest clue what you want, so you just stay motionless because choosing a definitive path means taking a risk.”
She didn’t like the accuracy of that statement. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know more than you think.”
“Enlighten me.”
“I know you hated that life. I watched you for days in that castle. You weren’t living, you were just surviving.
I bet you hated them for locking you up, but you were too scared to do anything about it.
You didn’t have a clue what you were capable of, so you let them waste your years, tucked away.
” He brought his hand up to her neck, gliding his fingertip along the vein there with fascination.
Her breath hitched at his touch, but she didn’t pull away.
She couldn’t move. With furrowed brows he traced the scar on her neck next.
Their naked bodies were almost converging.
She could have sworn she felt his length graze her stomach.
She squeezed her thighs together, trying to chase away her body’s reaction to him.
He stopped himself in his exploration, dropping his hand to his side.
“I know there is profound sorrow within you. A guilt you can’t overcome, blanketed with the anger you put off on everyone else.
It’s an effective disguise, your little mask, but I see right through it.
Something was taken from you, something so precious that you were willing to put a blade through your—”
“Enough!” she shouted, pulling her hands away from her chest to push him away.
She could only reach the top of his rib cage with her outstretched arms as she tried to create space between her and his accusations.
The lump in her throat grew heavy as she swallowed the tears she wanted to shed, but for some reason never could.
Krysta and Adriel.
Her eyes burned bright as she held his gaze. Her breathing picked up as she tried to gather any type of words to fight back.
But she had none. She let her angry mask fall.
“Just . . . enough.”
Once she calmed herself, she was horrified to find him staring right at her bare chest.
No, not her chest, his piercing gaze was fixed on her brand.
She crossed her arms over the ugliness.
“I’ve seen it before. The night we came for you.”
“You—you’ve seen me naked before?” She clutched her chest tighter. “How many times? Were you . . . were you the one that changed my clothes?”
“Who . . . marked you?” She thought she detected a tremble in that low voice. Like he was harnessing a menacing fury.
“I don’t remember.” She traced the circular burn with her thumb, wishing it would sink back into the youthful skin she once had there. There was no way she was having this conversation. Not with him.
“Liar,” he snarled. “Who did this to you?”
She shook away the shame. Her fierce fire inside returned. “What? You thought you were the first to find me? Think again. I was discovered long before you showed up, years even.”
A growl rose from his throat. “And they did that? For what purpose?”
“A reminder.”
“A reminder of what?”
“Can we please drop this?”
His face said that he wanted to press forward, but his questioning turned elsewhere.
“What about that?” He lightly traced the long vertical scar curving down her upper arm.
She recoiled, remembering that rushing water all around her. The hungry monster that made her fall.
His scowl deepened. “Having trouble remembering where this came from as well?”
“No. That was from a syren hound. When I tried to . . . leave, before you came for me in the water, it—”
“A syren hound? You’re sure?”
“I think so. I’ve never seen one in person before. It looked like pictures I’ve seen. It was scaled like a reptile with the build of a wolf. Only its eyes were . . . red.”
“Those eyes are a signal of the undead.” His thoughts seemed to be on something he wasn’t saying. “Creatures made from dark magic that survive on flesh and blood. The hound had been turned.”
She tried to tame the fear that rushed through her so she could ask more. He changed the subject again.
“If it wasn’t for reasons of your own selfish desires, then tell me . . . why did you stay hidden? If you knew who you were, why stay invisible?” He scanned her skin, like he was looking for more markings.
“I only found out a short time ago. My family knew almost my entire life. My brother and sister—” She paused when he noticeably tensed. “They saw things. Strange occurrences that only got worse as I aged. They finally told me why I was locked away, why I was dangerous.”
Theodon let her answer unfurl, his attention darting down to the outline of that brand from time to time.
“My brother made me swear a thousand times not to tell a soul. To stay hidden until we could come up with a way to fight this together. I broke that promise, and it cost me everything.” Her eyes sparkled with the threat of tears that did not fall.
“What happened to them, Helaina?”
“I killed them,” she replied without hesitation.
His shoulders sank like he actually might feel sorry for her.
That was the last thing she wanted from anyone. She moved to the edge of the spring.
“So, yes, I hid and I lied. This curse is a poison to all who find out it exists. It brings nothing but death to anyone who gets close to me, anyone I love. You’re right, I do hate everyone who locked me away, but the person I hate the most is myself. I would bet I hate me even more than you do.”
She lifted herself from the water and covered herself with a towel. Teeth chattering, she swiped up her clean clothes and boots, leaving the old ones deserted on the ground along with her dirty bandages as she fled the cavern.
“You don’t know your way back,” he called after her.
“Maybe I’ll find Orm and he can show me the way.”
She could have sworn she heard the water from the spring start to boil behind her.