“Not where she is concerned.”
Mergle hopped down and came to the bars. He rested his elbows on the rungs and gripped them. “Why are you here then?”
“I am planning our celebration festivities. It has been a long time since I last hunted, and I was curious if the great beasts still roam the same areas. Or if they have migrated.”
Betrayal glinted in his eyes. “You’re planning the celebration?” The words “without me” hung unspoken on his thick lips.
“When was the last scouting mission?”
“It was recent.”
I nodded. “And that included the four corners?”
It was subtle, but his hands gripped the bars a little tighter. “Why do you ask?”
“We don’t always go out that far, and I want to ensure Calista’s safety while on the wild hunt.”
Mergle dropped down to one knee, head bowing with a fist to his chest. “Will you do me the honor of leading you for such a momentous occasion?”
“Depends.”
His head popped up. “On?”
I knelt in front of him and covered his hand that gripped the bar. “Feed me a morsel. End this excruciating gnawing in my gut so I can release you.”
Mergle clenched his jaw, pulled his hand out from under mine, and took a step back. “I think it best if you stay away from the four corners.”
The gray skin of my knuckles turned a sickly white around the bar. “Why?”
He turned his back on me, but I wasn’t certain if I wanted the answer for why he rejected me or why we shouldn’t go to the fourcorners. I wanted both, but in this instance, I wanted the former more.
Mergle paused in the middle of his cell, his shoulders drooping in defeat. “I have always protected you from outside forces and yourself, Astaroth, and will continue to do so. Even from behind these bars you’ve trapped me in.”
I stood to my full height and talked myself out of opening the door and shaking him until his neck snapped. “You did this. To yourself, to Pearce, and to our brethren I executed. It was your treason that cost us all.”
I left the dungeon and emerged in the kitchen where I grabbed four bottles of wine before I departed for the labyrinth. I would rid myself of frustration by drinking, slaughtering our dinner, and if I had my way, fucking my future queen.
Calista
A commotion outside drew me from the bed to the balcony. The guards swarmed the courtyard, chattering away as one body stood out. Astaroth heaved something massive through a portal. Goblins jumped in to help when he was part of the way through. When they were done, he looked up at me. A skull covered his face. I didn’t understand why he wore them, or why he kept his face covered when he came back into my life. If it was to scare me, job well done. Especially the one with the horns. He reminded me of the devil when he wore that one.
The way he stood still and stared at me was unnerving. Maybe it was because I couldn’t read his face, and it made his eyes look dead. Maybe because he blocked our connection, and I didn’t know what he was feeling. Had I known this would be part of it, I wouldn’t have agreed. Not that he would’ve given me a choice in the end.
I backed away from the railing and bumped into something hard. His chest rose and fell in excited exhalations against my back. They brought the scent of wine and something else with them. It smelled like he bathed in it.
“Where have you been?” I asked, veering around him and returning to the room so I didn’t have to face him.
“Wandering,” he whispered in my ear, and I froze.
Once again, he loomed over me, pressed against my back. Our shadow cast on the wall in the dimly lit room, straight out of a shadow puppet horror movie. The mouth of the skull looked like it opened, and the jagged teeth aimed at my head like he was about to swallow me whole. I wanted to smooth down the hairs rising on my arms and rid myself of the nervous energy tickling my skin before he saw it.
“You smell like you’ve been drinking.”
“That too.” He chuckled and draped an arm around my shoulder, turning my chin to the side. His fingers were slick on my skin and slipped off when I resisted. When his hand fell away, I saw the bloodstains on them. I wanted to wipe it from my face, but I was too scared to move.
“Why are your hands bloody?”
His voice came from across the room. “That happens when one hunts.”
