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“Silly little Lightning Bug. Did you think you could come here with your powerful new friends and things would be different?” He hissed, and she looked up at him, hatred painted across her pretty face.
“I told you, you would never escape me. I will never leave you alone. And here you are, back where you belong.” He purred. He ran his thumb over her mouth, pulling her bottom lip down, exposing her teeth. She tried to twist away but he had a chokehold on her skeleton.
“I don’t belong to you.” She whispered. He drew her face closer to his, his evil smile widening.
“You’re right. You belong to the Queen. I was just renting you.” He sneered. “You were worth every shard though.” He gently slapped the side of her face twice, before stepping back. He turned to face us, and I had him back in my shadows in an instant. I threw him up against the wall and he laughed, holding his hands up in front of him in surrender. “Relax. I was just saying hello. It’s been so long since I’ve had a chance to touch that pretty face. I couldn’t resist.”
“Touch her again and I will remove your fingers.” I spat, but he just smiled at me, flashing his straight, white teeth.
“You seem to need me a great deal more than I need you, Raven Fisher.” He drawled. I wasn’t sure why, but him speaking my full name made my skin crawl. It felt like a threat leaving his mouth. Amon growled softly in my mind.
He hadn’t liked it either.
Raven
“If you want your precious chameleon, it would be in your best interest to stop threatening me. She’s not like the rest of the whores on this strip. She’s priceless. There’s almost nothing you have that would be worth a trade.” His eyes fell on Cerenah as he said this, and a wave of sickness rushed through me at the implication in his gaze.
“Cerenah is not for sale.” I snapped.
“I can see that.” He replied. “How did that come to pass? I know it was not at Prince Amon’s hands. It would seem that he is back where he belongs, as well.”
‘Don’t, Raven. He’s baiting you. You’re above this.’ Amon knew me better than I even knew myself. He knew how Zayne’s words would affect me. ‘Love is a weakness to daemons like Zayne. Do not let him use it against you.’
Fine. This monster wanted to play? I could play.
I allowed my aura to snake towards him. His energy was thick and mottled. It was reminiscent of a twisting river of viscous blood, rushing through haphazard islands of sharp bone. There was a putrid sweetness to it, as if he walked the cusp of life and death. One foot on each side of what it meant to be mortal. In a horrifying, buzzing layer on top of it all, was the electric collar that was the slavery bond.
Zayne eyed me warily as I stalked toward him, my hips swaying as I moved. I schooled my expression into a dangerous saccharine grin that I had seen Kasha use countless times before. Amon’s shock of approval roiled through me as I slid one of my shadowstone blades out of its sheath.
Wrapping my midnight energy around the slavery bond, I pulled it away from him, making a small gap between his viscera-like aura and the metaphysical shackle. His hazel eyes widened as I slipped the blade between his aura and the bond. It crackled and popped against the edge of the knife, and I smiled up at him.
He was not looking at me with contempt anymore. He was looking at me as if I were the devil, and I had come to answer his prayers.
“It seems you’re not the only one who has something of value, Zayne.” I whispered, gently running my knife over the edge of his bond. He shuddered and closed his eyes, his throat constricting with a tight swallow. “I could free you, right here, right now.” My voice was soft and full of promise.
He opened his eyes to watch the gentle play of the blade. He stared at me through his thick dark eyelashes and licked where his scar cut through his lip.
“Do it.” He breathed, but I leaned in, shaking my head.
“No. I don’t think that I will…” I pulled the knife away, and he made a frustrated growl in the back of his throat. It was animalistic, nearly a whimper. I paused. “Unless… maybe we could come to an agreement.”
He was standing so still; I wasn’t even sure if he was breathing.
“I could make you do it.” He murmured, the marionette strings of his energy snaked up around us, twisting towards me menacingly.
I scoffed. “You tried that already. You’re not strong enough to hold me.” I held his gaze as he searched my face. I could almost see the cogs in his mind whirling at the possibility of freedom. Finally, he nodded.
“Alright.”
‘Make him define the terms of the deal. Ensure that it is ironclad.’ Amon warned. There was something off in his voice. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but he seemed annoyed.
“Alright, what?” I asked innocently. I stepped away from Zayne, taking my shadowstone blade with me. The slavery bond snapped back against his sanguineous aura and he visibly winced.
“I will bring you back to speak with my sister.”
“Not good enough.” I growled, he narrowed his eyes at me.
“For a little half-human brat you’re incredibly irritating.” He snapped, and Rycon barked out a laugh. I shot him a glare. He just shrugged as if to say: he’s not wrong.
