He wanted her to understand, to know she knew nothing, was nothing, and he was everything; one day, she’d even think him to be her everything.
"Have you wondered why the fae worship a bastardization of the gods that the shifters and other creatures bow to? Have you wondered which are the true gods?" His pale finger brushed over the line of her shoulder, toying with the fallen strap of her silken gown.
"Why does the power of the sun and moon—Solis and Luna—light and darkness—not pass down. What makes them so different?"
As he spoke, he felt his vessel surge to the surface, their will mingling, as well as their thoughts, until the Tenebrae found himself wanting her to know, if only it meant he could be saved.
Luella’s lips parted as she looked up at him. "What do—what do you mean?"
His vessel surged to the surface until the Tenebrae felt his eyes shift, shadows retreating.Help me!
And their wants were so entwined, the Tenebrae himself yearned to be helped, to escape from this prison of his own making—from this cage of flesh and bone he had forced his way into all those centuries ago, as the one called Caliban had stumbled into the forest. He had sensed him, sensed his suffering and weak will, and he had known:
A perfect vessel awaited him.
As the Tenebrae had called out, luring Caliban closer, he had struck, shadows twining around his flesh to pull him down into the cave in which he slumbered. But not just any cave, an ancient one tucked in the Silva Noctis—a perfect trap, laid by his sister, where he had been condemned.
For so long, time lost its meaning. He had languished, waiting…
Now he waited for an entirely different reason.
For her to bend, to break, and to be molded by his hand.
And she would be. It would happen. The sooner they got to the Lunar Temples, the sooner he could force her to be his. After he bedded her, drove between her thighs, and claimed her, no matter if she screamed or begged or cried, their union would be consummated, unbreakable.
The Lunar Temples awaited. He would take her right now, but the enchantments around the Lunar Temples, situated deep within the heart of the Lunaria Mountains, kept him from portaling there.
"My bride," the Tenebrae said, voice strained as he shoved his vessel deep below once again.
He reached for her, wanting to touch. Something inside hercalledto him. He didn’t know what to do with it—these feelings—so he found himself wanting to snuff it out, wreck it, ruin it, so he wouldn’t have to be faced with it ever again.
Shadows curled around his neck.
Please, his vessel whispered, meek and soft.
"Do not plead with me," the Tenebrae spat.
When his attention snapped, drawn back to Luella, he found she stared at him with a small furrow between her brows. A part of him wanted to soothe her, comfort her. He curled his hand into a fist and slammed it on the floor of the cage, feeling the whole structure rattle.
When the violent movements stilled, and she still did not move, he found her throat working. Blood slipped down the line of her delicate throat, and he so wanted to crush it under his hand, feel the breath in her lungs still from his will, feel her chest hitch and seize as she struggled to take in air.
He released a tight breath, the end like a growl.
And she lay there—one wing, chained, covered in her own blood, and entirely at his mercy—and said:
"I pity you."
He laughed, and the cage trembled around them. "Do not pity me. I want fornothing. I know things. I have things that you would willingly cut off your littlest finger to have. I have an army, and you will be my bride."
"I will be your nothing. I grieve the male whose life you have stolen."
Thank you,his vessel murmured in reply, that strange affection welling once more—and it was too storge, reminding him of how the Lux had once treated him. The Tenebrae was too angry to shove him down any longer.
The shadows of his portal swirled at his back, and he turned and slipped through the darkness, purposefully banging his shoulder against the gilded bars as he fell through them, leaving the cage swinging wildly.
81
LIKE SMOKE AND AIR
