On the second day of the games, I woke up wondering what the task would be.
Flinging open the wardrobe, I brazenly pulled on one of the shorter dresses. It ended well above the thigh, and I frowned. I added a pair of breeches underneath, and it was tolerable. The green velvet suited me and acted as a tunic when paired with the breeches. I wasn’t sure if I’d strapped the sheaths on correctly, but at least they were there and within reach. I stood, much more prepared to take on the world. I braided the front part of my hair away from my eyes but kept the rest flowing free down my back. I slid on the flat, leather boots, and I was ready.
Georg was nowhere to be found, but I was confident in my ability to get back to the arena myself. After a few nerve-wracking twists and turns, the pathway took a sudden steep incline and I grinned: I’d done it. It was just further proof that I didn’t need to cling to Benedict or any of these drakens like an unprotected child. I was capable of handling things myself.
I couldn’t help but wonder if that meant I was capable of handling these drakens as well.
I walked onto the balcony to a roar of welcome. The drakens rose to their feet upon seeing me, cheering and clapping, stomping their feet, and flashing their fangs. Embarrassed, I gave a shy wave and sat down on my throne.
Benedict was already there, grumpy at my happiness. Figures. “Word travels fast in a stone prison. Every draken is dreaming of their own evening with you.”
I was proud of myself for not flinching when Benedict’s voice whispered by my ear. I didn’t bother acknowledging him. I had friends here now and didn’t need to beg him for attention or help.
“If it’s such a prison, let them leave,” I challenged.
A growl was his response, and my stomach flipped in giddiness. What was it about annoying him that sent my heart racing and my blood pumping?
“I can’t.”
I flicked an imaginary piece of dirt off my neckline. “Why not?”
He hissed back his reply. “You are a pathetic, little human who understands nothing.”
I lifted an eyebrow, casting my gaze around as more drakens arrived. “So, word about what traveled fast?”
He grunted in annoyance. “Kieran admits things could have gotten out of hand yesterday, and D’Arcy even agrees that you should have a . . . chaperone present for the future.” He nearly spit the words out, and I lifted my chin in satisfaction. He continued, a mean look in his eyes. “I don’t see the point. If you die, I could just take another—’
My dagger flashed downwards, striking the stone edge of the armrest where his hand had been only a split second earlier. He slowly turned his head to me, and now he was smiling. “That was naughty.”
I turned away, covering the flush of my chest. Benedict only seemed to like me when I was angry. And why did my heart race when he looked at me like that?
D’Arcy appeared in the middle of the pit and started speaking, but Benedict ignored him and asked, “Were you always this much trouble?”
I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. He must have moved closer, because he felt close enough to be practically touching my arm. I refused to turn around. Benedict slid one finger down my shoulder, covering my forearm. I bit back a curse, hyper aware of every slight movement he made. He was just trying to distract me, to keep me from listening to D’Arcy!
“Just making sure you don’t go anywhere, siren,” Benedict said.
I snorted. “And it has nothing to do with how you’ve got your hand on my dagger?”
“Bold words for a breeding cow.”
His words stung, and my hands curled into fists on the edge of my chair. I imagined several creative ways I could murder him. If I had as much power as he claimed, maybe the other drakens would even clap as I did it. Then we could all leave the mountain together and live happily ever after. Benedict turned sullen when I flinched and turned away.
D’Arcy’s voice painted a magnificent tale about an island covered in flowers and fruit, protected from outsiders by jagged cliffs and the powerful voice magicks: the island of Lyoness. I tried to focus, but Benedict’s words affected me more than I wanted to admit. They could call me an honored guest all they wanted, but in the end, I was just a piece of flesh being used, no different than the women at the breeding house.
“Today is round two of the games!” D’Arcy’s blue eyes shot towards our balcony once before turning back to the crowd. “Anyone who wishes to spend the evening with the female will first brave the skolex!”
There was a terrible roar, and out of one of the stone tunnels burst a large, writhing white worm. It roared its defiance at the drakens watching, displaying four rows of massive teeth. It was easily the size of a quarter of the arena, and there were cries of dismay from those watching.
Benedict pushed himself up from his throne, fury emanating from every muscle. “What the fuck?”
“I take it this challenge is a surprise?” I asked, not expecting an answer.
He slid into his draken form, and I ducked as his wings flared in annoyance.
“Where do you even get a . . . What did he call it?” I asked.
“Skolex. Deep from the rivers east of here. Carnivorous, chaotic, white energy. It had apparently found its way into one of the underground lakes under the mountain. I didn’t think D’Arcy would ever use it for something like this.”
I shook away thoughts of man-eating worms living in the same mountain as me. “White energy?”
An irritated growl rumbled in his chest. I stood, unable to take my eyes off the savage monster, which had begun throwing itself against the stone walls to try and reach the drakens in the bleachers. Unsurprisingly, no one had yet volunteered to fight it.
I announced, “You can’t claim I’m a stupid human when you won’t help educate me.”
Benedict hissed at me, torn between wanting to fling himself at the beast and proving me right. “All magicks in the universe are either black or white. Drakens are one of the few neutral species that practice both in moderation.”
The skolex roared again, and the stone walls shook.
“Wouldn’t white energy be good and black bad? That thing looks pretty bad to me!”
Benedict grabbed the edge of the stone balcony, and I noted how it crumpled slightly under his grip. Five drakens stood and flew down to the pit. Benedict cursed.
“White is chaotic; uncontrollable, it reflects everything back out at the world. White power, or magick as humans say, relies on the pain and suffering of others. Black is the absorption of everything. The power comes from the caster’s own pain and suffering. Get it? Drakens are grey, this fucking thing is white. Now, if you promise to stay put, I’m going to kill it.”
Before I could say anything to protest, he leapt from the balcony and landed on all fours in the sandy pit. D’Arcy’s eyes flashed in annoyance at the interruption, but I couldn’t help but notice the immense relief on the faces of the five drakens in the pit.
“The goal is to replenish our species, not kill more of us off,” Benedict’s voice rang clearly throughout the arena.
D’Arcy stood his ground. “She is one female, and we have too many males as it is. This ensures only the strongest will take her.”
Well, someone apparently didn’t approve of Kieran and Ronan.
Benedict and I snarled at him in unison, and it might have been humorous if we both weren’t so angry. Breeding cow. I shook my head, unwilling to linger on it.
Benedict’s eyes glowed in the dimness, his claws and wings flared in a defensive position. The skolex turned, apparently smelling fresh meat within reach.
Benedict addressed the other drakens one last time. “You’re determined to try?”
One of the five drakens bowed, backing away and going back to his seat. The other three remained, not blanching.
Benedict growled. “Fine.”
He pumped his wings twice and sat on the wall opposite the skolex. D’Arcy laughed, clapping his hands once. The skolex lunged, and the three drakens scattered. Two dove left, but one wasn’t quick enough. The skolex swallowed him whole, not even leaving him time to scream. The cracking sounds as teeth crunched bone echoed through the stone walls. The remaining two drakens glanced at each other with regret. One immediately flew out of the ring, and the other fainted.
Benedict slowly stood, as if he had all the time in the world. He hissed and flared his wings.
The skolex twisted, sensing a target with more fight in it. Benedict towered on top of the wall just as the great beast thrust forward. Benedict raised his hands, freezing the monster in place. It roared against him, and cuts and welts erupted over Benedict’s body as he struggled to hold it in place. With a yell he made a twisting motion with his hand, and a loud crack pierced the air.
Blood dripped down Benedict’s nose as the skolex fell, paralyzed. He wiped his hand across his face and waved to the crowd. Blood from various lacerations ran down his skin in tiny rivulets.
“Finish it.”
Paralyzed as it was, the drakens didn’t hesitate to swarm the skolex, clawing and slashing at it with swords and blades until it was a giant pin cushion. My eyes were glued on Benedict. He beat his powerful wings, propelling his body into the air and gliding back to the balcony. He slumped heavily against the wall, then glared at me as if it were my fault he’d had to fight a monster.
“You act like that was hard,” I joked lightly, though more to relax the lingering tension than to make him angry.
He was usually quick with his retorts, but he only managed to give me a rude hand gesture.
I didn’t look back at the pit. I could hear the other drakens screaming their victory, so I certainly didn’t need to see it. It was so stupid, so infantile. They wouldn’t be anywhere near it without Benedict, would they? This had to be the black magick he spoke of—magick that took from you.
I approached him cautiously, but he had nothing to say as I helped haul him up. His blood was dark, and I caught shimmers of deep indigo as it caught the torchlight.
“Will you escort me back to my chambers? No one won today.” I made it about me because I knew he would refuse on his account.
With merely a grunt, he thrust his arm out though he leaned heavily on me as he limped down the passage. Benedict ducked awkwardly against the small ceiling and narrow walls. I wondered with growing horror if drakens were claustrophobic, and how horrible it would be to be trapped under a mountain when your species was used to the open air.
Benedict’s arm shot out and grabbed me around the waist, pulling me in tightly against him. I didn’t even have time to yelp before the world dissolved in shadows and darkness, and I breathed in the smell of blood and ashes on him. He was massive, his muscles hard and unyielding. A moment later the light returned, and I could finally exhale. His grip loosened as my sitting room greeted us, already laid with light sandwiches and tea. Was there ever a time food wasn’t laid out? It seemed wasteful. I pushed his arms away, spinning around.
“There. Safely delivered.” He swayed slightly on his feet, and I shot him a look.
“Was that a draken thing?” I asked, wondering if all drakens could disappear into the shadows, reappearing at will. Benedict and D’Arcy both had the ability.
“King thing, bloodline thing,” he muttered.
I rolled my eyes.
“Sit down before you fall down.” I pushed him towards a chair, and he fell into it. I frowned; the various cuts and lines in his scales had yet to heal over.
“Is this an example of the . . . black magic? You took from yourself to defeat the skolex?”
He nodded, not bothering to open his eyes as he rested. As my eyes ran over his wounds, I wondered why he didn’t just shift back to his draken form.
“It hurts less as a human.”
I jerked, eyes narrowing. “That doesn’t explain why you won’t heal.”
“What else do you want to learn?” It wasn’t a very subtle change of subject, but he rarely indulged me like this.
I sighed and thought more about the different creatures. “I assume the demons are white magick, based on what you said earlier. Their biggest allies are the vampyres, which makes sense since their entire existence is dependent on drinking the blood of humans. If that isn’t taking from others, I don’t know what is.”
Benedict gave me the slightest of nods. “And the black species?”
I thought about it. “The lykoses transform. . . . It’s a power that only affects them, and it sounds painful to change. They don’t need to attack humans to survive as a species. They just choose to. Or at least, some of them do.”
I moved to sit on the armrest of his chair, ignoring the twitch of his body. He stood shakily and moved to the door, the one that connected to his own quarters.
“Will you heal yourself?” I asked.
“Are you volunteering?”
Considering I had no idea how I could help him, it seemed unwise to agree to anything.
“Hardly. I just find it interesting you’re not healing from this wound like you did other wounds.”
He leveled a glare, then stood. “I didn’t realize you cared, siren.”
He disappeared down the hall that connected our rooms. I headed into the warm oasis that was my bathroom, looking forward to taking my time exploring the bath. I had hauled up water for Crullfed more times than I could count, and even some of the birthers were allowed to wash this way right before the birth. Everyone said it was calming, so I might as well see what the fuss was about.
I dipped my fingers into the water, which continued to bubble up gently from the center. It was as warm as it was the previous night. I’d have to ask Kieran how they did it. He was likely to tell me without any insults.
I disrobed and slid into the heated water with a sigh. I closed my eyes as the water lapped at the edges of the pool. The water went to my waist if I stood in the middle, but the raised benches on the edges were much shallower. I had fun going through all the different ointments now that I knew they were for me and not for someone else.
I sniffed delicately, the scents as exotic and new as the drakens that surrounded me. I chose an oil that smelled like fruit and put it on my hair. I scrubbed my body vigorously and then lay still in the water, understanding why the other women loved their baths so much. To just sit in the warm water and do nothing was incredible. My eyes drifted closed, and I fell asleep.
I woke suddenly, and the reason for that was slouched against the doorframe, his face bored but his eyes telling a different story.
“Get out!” I screamed, thrashing slightly when I realized there were no more bubbles left to cover my body.
My hand found one of the ceramic bottles and hurled it with impressive accuracy at his head. He snatched it out of the air and with a vicious grin hurled it back. His face flattened when I caught it just as easily as he had.
I picked up another, holding one in each hand. “Care to try your chances with two?”
Benedict gave a long-suffering sigh and turned sideways so he wasn’t staring at me anymore. “I was trying to come and say, well, never mind now.”
“Say what?” I challenged, grabbing my dress from earlier and wrapping it around my body. I didn’t care if the water ruined it. I hated most of these dresses anyway. He faced me again, his lips pursed.
“I was trying to say thank you for assisting me earlier, but clearly you wouldn’t appreciate the effort.”
I let both bottles soar, and to his credit he managed to catch both.
He set them down at his feet, keeping an eye on me in case I threw more. “You don’t act like most human women.”
I rolled over onto my stomach, refusing to let his presence ruin my good soak. Either way, I wasn’t about to give him a free show.
“Is that supposed to insult me?” I asked heatedly.
He laughed: a real one. “Not if it isn’t working.”
I rolled my eyes and gestured over my shoulder to the bottles at his feet. “If you’re going to laze about, you can at least be useful. Bring me that little blue bottle there.”
I could tell he thought about refusing because there was a long pause. Then a sigh, and he was in front of me. The cuts on his arms and chest had stopped bleeding but were still noticeable. He handed me the bottle without comment.
“Thank you.” I dabbed a bit of oil onto my hands and spread it over the top of my back. I struggled to keep the dress around my body and maneuver the oil, and Benedict snorted with impatience.
“Here, I’ll just do it, if you’ll stop writhing around like the skolex in its death throes.”
It was tempting to make a smart remark, but I didn’t. The rough texture of his hands landed on my back, and he hesitantly rubbed some of the oil across my muscles. His fingers paused over the many scars he found, and I swore internally.
He inhaled. “Your back—’
“Like I said, it wasn’t too hard of a choice between Crullfed or an unknown man kidnapping me in the darkness.”
He shut up after that, and I knew a few minutes of peace as I soaked in the tub, his hands rubbing my back. The warmth of the water and him was soothing, and my eyes slowly drifted shut. A sudden blast of coolness hit my skin as his hands lifted, and I registered a large splash next to me.
“What—’
He grunted as he slid into the bath. My eyes zeroed in on the leather boots and breeches discarded by the side of the tub. I squeaked and turned over, moving away even though the small pool was easily big enough for six people. I’d seen naked men before, usually after they’d finished breeding. At those times as I gathered the soiled linens and made sure the woman was unhurt, I was never the focus. I could have been invisible to those men for all they cared. Men that damaged the breeders wouldn’t be invited back, after all.
But with Benedict a foot away and naked, it was undeniable I held every ounce of his attention. Even worse, I didn’t completely object to it.
“Don’t worry, I still find you an annoying little twit.”
I stiffened, but his tone wasn’t harsh like it had been before. It was teasing. I sniffed in mock protest.
“Only humans have this odd need to be clothed all the time,” he continued, his eyes shooting to my arms, which were still stubbornly covering my breasts.
“Really? All the vampyres and lykoses—’
“They dress opulently to rub in the fact they own you. Before the Demon Wars, lykoses never wore clothing, and vampyres stuck mostly to pants and vests, like we do. It’s for fashion, not function. Clothes easily get ripped in battle, after all. The easiest way to conquer humans would simply be to steal your clothing. None of you would dare venture outside.”
He had a point.
“Why does D’Arcy wear a tunic, then?” I asked,
Benedict gathered a clump of bubbles in his hands, then let them float away. “He is covering an old scar he is embarrassed of. White magick gone wrong that killed several drakens before we withdrew from the war.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I didn’t say anything. My mouth opened, but then I closed it, since he liked to accuse me of babbling.
“Just ask your question already, so you don’t implode and ruin the bath,” he said.
I shot a glance to the other jars lining the bath, and he cocked an eyebrow, daring me. I sank further down into the water.
“How do you get the hot water here? At the breeding house, it would take five of us at least an hour to haul up enough water to fill a barrel, and that was after the cooks heated it over a large fire.”
“Natural hot springs,” he grunted, and I pondered that.
He moved closer and grabbed my hand. I squealed, but he ignored me. “Put it down close to the bottom, and you’ll notice warmer water. We use metal pipes to pump the water up straight through the natural spring in the ground. Other pipes take it away and dispense for use elsewhere in the mountain.”
“Pipes,” I said, testing the new word in my mouth.
His face twisted in disbelief. “You didn’t have pipes in the breeding manor?”
“Enslaved race, remember?”
I splashed him in his face for good measure. He blinked, rapidly clearing the water out of his eyes. Then he got a calculating look on his face, and with a swipe of his hand, he sent half the contents of the bath pouring over my head. I coughed and sputtered, my feet slipping into the deeper end as my body twisted and tried to right itself. Water was everywhere: in my ears, my eyes, my mouth and nose. I choked, and my hands reached out for anything to latch onto. That was how I found myself grasping onto Benedict’s naked body, gulping for air in panic.
His face and body flushed a dark shade of brown. “I imagine enslaved humans don’t learn how to swim?”
My arms tightened around his neck, unwilling to leave the relative safety of his arms just yet. “You imagine correctly.”
His hands moved to my waist, and I was extremely aware of the heat radiating off him, much more intense than the heat in the water. This close, I could see the wounds cut across the fine scales of his chest, jagged rips that tore across his skin. I wondered again why he didn’t just heal them like he did when I stabbed him. I gently trailed the edges of one scale with my fingers, and he growled in warning.
“You’re so angry all the time,” I said.
He pushed my hand away and set me down beside him on the bench. I clutched the dress to my body, still unwilling to be as free with displaying my body as he was. He stood and stretched, letting tiny rivulets of water cascade down his muscles. I looked away, not bold enough yet to stare at his naked form.
“Like what you see, siren?”
I crossed my arms again, refusing to turn around. “Your pet names are as stupid as you are.”
He dried off with a nearby towel, ruffling his hair vigorously. “Sticks and stones.”
He threw the towel at my face, and I caught it, immediately dropping it to the ground with a grimace. He threw on his breeches and sauntered off. Hopefully to his own rooms.
Rather than hang around and run into Benedict again, I immediately set off to find Kieran or Ronan. They promised to start working with me on my daggers, and I meant to hold them to it. As luck would have it, Kieran was already on his way. I bumped into him not far from my rooms. Maybe he would know why Benedict wasn’t healing?
“I was coming to fetch you for your lessons!” Kieran’s smile was blinding, and exactly what I needed right now. As he drew closer, he took in my anxious face, and frowned.
“What is wrong?”
“Why won’t Benedict heal after the skolex hurt him?”
Kieran nodded as if the question made perfect sense. That was one of the reasons I liked him so much. “Magick takes more time to heal, especially black magick. Do not worry, Benedict is a draken king. If he needs to heal, he will pull energy from us. Or if he doesn’t, he’ll keep the wounds until his own energy stores can handle it. A knife directly to his heart won’t kill him unless he wishes to die.” He laughed, apparently finding the idea completely absurd.
Oh.
“Are you plotting to kill him?” he continued, his eyes alight with amusement.
“I mean . . . no,” I finished lamely, feeling rather foolish.
I glanced up at Kieran and let the tension bleed from my body. In a way, Kieran made me feel warm and safe as if there was someone in this damn mountain who cared about what happened to me. Such feelings were addictive, a drug that I was starved for. I gripped the neckline of his shirt, and his face tilted down to meet mine. Decisively, I brushed my lips against his. Kieran made a surprised noise, but quickly recovered as he melted into me. He tasted musky and tangy like he’d been drinking an ale earlier. His hand gripped onto my face harshly as his wings flared around us, cushioning my back as he pushed me up against the stone wall. His scales and feathers were beautiful, reminding me of the sunrise. I moaned as the rough scales of his hand brushed over my breast, and he was careful to avoid my skin with his claws. It was all I could do to wrap my legs around his waist as he picked me up, hanging on tightly as his lips traced a path along my collarbone. I whimpered when he lightly pinched my nipple.
“If you were my mate, I would kill myself before I made you upset.”
I believed him. More than that, it would be so easy to pick him and be done with it, wouldn’t it? Why did I have to choose multiple men? Kieran was kind, thoughtful, and genuinely liked me. Unlike Benedict. A different sort of need rose in me as I thought of him, and I decided to embrace it. Why shouldn’t I take what I wanted, especially when it was so freely given? I would take Kieran’s kindness and Benedict’s darkness.
Kieran paused as he noticed the shift in my demeanor. “If you do not choose me, I would still beg for the honor to be by your side, whether that is on your court or just as a friend.”
I was truly touched by his gesture. It was so easy to like people who were nice, especially when they were in such short supply. I leaned in for another deep kiss, and he hissed with pleasure as our lips crushed together. His tongue quested into my mouth, and I obliged, opening wide for him. His pelvis ground against mine even as his hands slipped under the edge of my dress and across my stomach. His teeth pulled down on the neckline, and I knew I needed to stop before we got carried away where anyone could see. I put my hands on his chest, and he gently lowered me to the ground.
“I can assure you, you’re in the lead,” I said.
Kieran beamed at me, and I laughed. He may be a draken, but he acted like a giant puppy most of the time. “Why don’t we get some proper training with your knives? If you’re free, that is. I’ve found a good workout is the best way to bleed off the emotions.”
Did he mean metaphorically or physically? Either way, it wasn’t a bad idea. My daggers were still sheathed against my thighs.
“Knives, it is.”
Kieran nodded and led me on a long walk through the fortress.
