I laugh to myself, loud and twisted. He has no idea how wrong he is …
No. Fucking. Idea.
Jakar didn’t gift Rhordyn shitexcept barbed chains.
“That some people have been led to believe Jakar slaughtered hisowncreations just shows what an undeserving coward Rhordyn was.God Blessed,”Cainon muses, the words a snarl of disgust. “Thatanimal? Really? The only time I’ve ever seen him support the Shulák was when he invited two to the ball, though I’m certain he had blasphemous reasons behind it.”
I laugh some more.
Boy’s got it in for having a limp power-dick courtesy of his half-mortal heritage. There could be worse things—like watching every female in your race get hunted and slain while the males are farmed like animals.
“Real blessed, that one,” I mutter, trying to itch a spot beneath my right wrist shackle, not quite able to reach.That’s gonna be a pain.“He used to wake up every morning and thank the Gods for their great contribution to his cheerful existence.”
The silence stretches so long I could strangle myself with the length of it, and I get the sense Cainon’s not impressed with my tone. I probably shouldn’t goad him, but this dick just gives me the urge to sling shit from my cage. I figure words are the lesser evil.
Rhordyn should have put him down years ago.
I bet he’s a feral knot right about now. Poor Laith. She might’ve survived Cainon, but Rhordyn’s a different story. You don’t simplysurvivethat man after you nudge against his grain. You weather him like a storm. You batten down the hatches and pray he doesn’t rip off your roof and tear you to shreds. And when you step outside again, the world will not be as it was before because he’s not a storm that treads lightly.
He reshapes the fucking terrain.
And she didn’t just nudge him, she stabbed him through the heart.
He’ll eat her for breakfast if she’s not careful.
Cainon pushes to his feet, clonks a key into the lock, and whips the door wide. I would get a little excited if I wasn’t shackled to the floor by a length of chain that barely allows me to scratch my ass without pulling a muscle.
The hairs on my arms lift as he crouches before me, and I tangle my fingers between each other.
“You know, I always thought you were Rhordyn’s pet,”Cainon says, andthatgets my fucking attention. Not enough to look at him, but enough that I shut my mind down and listen. “That he’s been feeding you his blood and gifting you long life because he liked your taste.”
I swallow thickly, waiting … Knowing there’s a reason for this particular line of babble that makes my skin burn like I’ve just been rolled in stinging nettles.
He taps my ring with the tip of his finger, freezing the fucking blood in my veins. “That right there—Orlaith wears a necklace with a similar jewel.”
My heart drops, and I look at him for the first time since I clawed my way back to consciousness, eyes widening.
Fuck me.
His right eye is an inky orb, a burst of black capillaries webbed across the skin surrounding it.
And hisleftone … It’s glass—just like the scribble of thin, glassy fractures that weave across his cheek and temple and stretch into his hairline.
He’s a monstrous mix of flesh and translucent splits, some areas leaking threads of blood that drip to the floor.
Guess the side splash got him in the face. Poetic, all things considered.
I take note of the smudged remains of gray scripture painted across his naked torso—much like Rhordyn’s. Like he’s been playing dress up.
A smile weasels past my lips. “You look like shit.”
He rips off my ring.
My breath comes hard and furiously fast as my skin peels down, inch by fucking inch, until every visible bit of fragile, pearly flesh is exposed.
Every bite of shame.
Cainon doesn’t look surprised, just satisfied he was right. This sick feeling swirls in my gut with all the salt water still sloshing around.
