“Or what? You’ll punish me? Are you going to flog my back like you did Svend’s? Do you actually believe I’d ever let that happen?”
“When I punish you, my skjaldmær, it will be nothing like what I do to Svend.” Wregen pushes off the wall, stalking toward me like a predator pursuing prey. “But you will grow to crave my punishments, the pain that tells you you’re alive.”
“You promised you wouldn’t get near me,” I remind him as I straighten my back and reach for one of the blades I’ve stolen since we got here.
“I’m a liar,” he counters with a shrug as he closes the distance between us. “One of my many sins.”
I lift the knife, positioning it at his neck as he gets closer, but he smirks, leaning in far enough for the sharp edge to nick his skin. He lifts a finger, wipes the drop of blood rolling down his skin, and lifts it to his lips.
“Just say what you came to say and get out, Wregen,” I tell him with a frustrated sigh. “I’ve had an exhausting day.”
“With him?” Wregen demands. “Did he show you around town? Maybe buy you a meal?”
“What the fuck does it matter?” I snipe, anger at this presumptuous bastard setting my nerves on fire. “It’s none of your business. If I took him out behind a tavern and fucked him, it still would be none of your business.”
Wregen stills, even his chest motionless as he watches me with eyes that would burn me where I stand if their fire could escape. And then he lifts his fucking hand so fast he knocks the blade from my grip, and grabs my throat.
“If he ever touched you,” he murmurs, his lips nearly brushing mine, “I’d flay him alive, and then tie you to my bed until you swore your fealty to me. You are mine. I will never share you.”
“Gods, you’re frustrating,” I bitch as I push his hand away. “I’m not yours. I never will be. As soon as we free my dragon, we’re going our separate ways. That isn’t going to change.”
“How the fuck are we going to free your dragon if we’re trapped here with that bastard?” Wregen demands, his voice rising. “He’ll never let you go once he realizes we’re bonded. You can’t let that happen.”
“Good thing we’re leaving tonight then, isn’t it?” I smirk, digging the key to his manacles from my pocket.
His eyes blow wide as he leans back, gaze roaming over me as if he’s seeing me for the first time. “What have you done, my crafty skjaldmær?” he purrs, lifting his head to look at me.
“Not that it’s any of your business,” I tell him, “but I spent time with Balin to figure out where he kept these. Rata got them for us. Ruxi found the cavern, so we know where to go. We’ll wait until it’s late enough to slip away, and she’ll carry us back down.” Now I smile, because as pissy and frustrating as he is, I still love it when he’s happy. It settles something inside me.
“Well, why didn’t you say so?” he asks, a grin creasing his cheeks and crinkling his eyes. “It’s about time we got the fuck out of here.”
Chapter nineteen
Wregen
Balin, the Bastard
Shediditforme.
I felt her approach earlier today, when she started walking back toward this place they’ve trapped me, so I moved to the window where I can watch people come and go. But she paused, giving that bastard the smile that belongs to me. Wrath grew furious enough to remind me he still lives, deep inside me. He couldn’t do anything else—these fucking shackles bind him more firmly than even Hel could—which only stoked his anger.
That rage, though, was a sprinkle of rain compared to the tempest of fury that drenched me when my skjaldmær left with my nemesis. It had stirred inside me the moment she stopped to speak with Balin, the bastard, a cloud gathering energy and moisture. With each step away from me they took, it grew larger, unleashing its fury when they left my sight. My hatred for him—disgust that she’d share his company—exploded into a destructive mass. Worse even than my beast’s hatred, the deluge of my malice threatened to drown me if I didn’t get her back from him soon.
I’ve never despised him more. Even his betrayal all those years ago pales in comparison.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have treated her as I did when she returned. I was … hasty … in my rush to condemn her for betraying me. I might have been rougher with her than I should have been.
A better male would apologize. But she knows what I am. I’m not that male. And she’s going to free me anyway.
She probably made some excuse to herself—she can’t release her dragon without me—but she’ll realize soon enough. She’s taking me with her because she must. I’m her mate and she won’t be separated from me again. Much as she tells herself she wants a life without me.
I stick out my arms, waiting for my mate to remove my shackles, but the stubborn female shakes her head.
“Not yet,” she insists as she tucks the key back in a pocket. “We can’t give them any reason to suspect I have the key until everything’s in place and we can leave.”
A snarl erupts before I can stop it. “I need them off before I crawl out of my skin.”
“You need to wait,” she tells me, her voice gentle, as if she’s trying to soothe me. “You’ve suffered them for this long. You can stand a few more hours.”
