“Without my permission?”
She frowned. “You’ve always been okay with me talking to him before. I didn’t realize I needed permission.”
“Because you’ve yet to learn your role in this new world,” Michael grumbled behind me.
Yes, speaking of roles…
I turned toward him once more.
Time to let my beast loose.
“Ismerelda is myErosita, Michael. Not yours.” I took a step in his direction. “I’ve already stated thatIwill be the one to handle her. Not you.”
He shuffled backward. “Of course, my?—”
“No,” I cut in. “That response isn’t acceptable, Michael. Because you’ve already demonstrated that you don’t respect or understand my position.”
I phased forward and grabbed him by the neck before he could try to reply, the force of my movement sending him back into the wall beside the door.
His eyes widened, his lips moving soundlessly as I squeezed. Unlike how I’d handled Ismerelda moments ago, I didn’t bother controlling my strength with Michael. He deserved to feel my power, to realize whom he’d crossed with his careless actions.
“Ismerelda might be human and therefore beneath you in rank, but it isn’t your job or your right to train her. She’smine. If I want her disciplined or interrogated,Iwill handle it. Never you. Becauseshe is not yours to touch.”
I lifted him up against the wall, causing his legs to dangle.
“I warned you earlier to stay away from myErosita, yet you left marks on her delicate skin. Bruises with your imprint. All because you felt it was your right to do so.”
He started to shake his head, which only infuriated me more.
“I saw the imprint, Michael. There’s no denying what you’ve done, nor is there an excuse for it. I made myself clear and you disobeyed me.”
His hand came up over mine, his eyes beginning to water from the lack of oxygen. But there was also a lack of grief in his expression, no hint of remorse or a plea for leniency.
Instead, all I saw was rage. Likely because he couldn’t believe I’d punish him over a human. It was belittling and cruel, but that arrogance was precisely why this needed to happen.
“She isn’t just a human,” I reminded him. “She’smyhuman. My pet. My charge. That makes her superior in ways other mortals are not becauseI am your king.And you do not touch a king’s property without permission.”
I released him just before he would have passed out, his pained gasp echoing through the room as his knees gave out beneath him.
He crumpled to the floor and started coughing, his long blond hair covering his face.
“Do not touch her again, Michael. Or I will take away your immortal gift faster than you can blink.”
I trapped his ankle under my leather shoe and pressed down with all my strength. He shrieked, the sound raspy and broken and nowhere near as loud as the snap of his bones.
But my inner beast wasn’t satisfied.
I neededmore.
He’d disobeyed me. Touched my female.Marked her.
I shattered his other ankle in the next breath, then leaned down to grab hold of his neck and opened my door with the other.
“Consider this your one and only warning, Michael. Do not disrespect me again by touching my property.” I dropped him in the hallway and slammed the door.
It was that or end him.
Alas, he’d been particularly helpful these last few weeks while I’d awoken from my prolonged sleep. Thus, I was willing to give him this one chance.
