Page 46 of Elysian

“He’s started to react to your scent,” Al mused, jotting something down. He stood near me, blocking my view of the interlopers speaking amongst themselves. I turned to Cassiel as he yanked at the chain attached to the stone.

‘Force them to take you from here. I cannot—’ Cassiel snarled, turning rigid as he looked at me. ‘You smell delectable.’ A shudder wracked over his frame.

“Al.” He stopped scribbling and looked at me. “He does not seem himself. He will break me,” I whispered.

“You needn’t worry about that. You survived Awakening.”

Another screeching sound of metal on metal pierced the air. Stone cracked with Cassiel’s next yank of the chain.

He will gain freedom.

“Will he get through the glass?” someone asked.

Gasps behind me made me face the onlookers.

Al knocked on the surface.

“No, it is indestructible. We had it imported before we lost communication with Jalixo,” Vaner said to Lord Cedric Tagon who stood beside him.

The realm Jalixo? They lost communication with an entire realm?

Another screeching yank and this time, the tumble of stone clashing with stone enhanced my dread. I shakily turned to face Cassiel. He’d managed to rip half of the embedded hook in the wall. Only one more yank and he would free the chain from stone.

As soon as my gaze clashed with his, he growled, shooting a hand out as if he were to scoop me closer.

A rumble vibrated through him again, and he grabbed the chain. With another pull, he finally ripped the chains off. In a breath, he was on me, palms striking the pane behind my head. It trembled, but as Vaner said, it did not break.

Cassiel closed his eyes, his shoulders jerking up and down. He lifted my chin to press his nose against my skin. His tongue traced the length of my throat. Cassiel lifted his head slightly.

“They watch us,” I whispered.

He tore through the front of my frock. It continued hanging from my shoulders, keeping a tether of modesty. Tears surfaced, blinding me.

“Cassiel, please.” My voice cracked, and it was as if a jolt went through him.

Stillness. Such intense stillness. A harsh exhale from him blew the tendrils of hair against my cheek.

“Look at me,” he whispered, his fingertips pinching the bottom of my jaw to force me to look up at him.

I couldn’t stop my lip from trembling. The chill raised small bumps along my skin.

A look of determination crossed his face.

He lifted his wrist to his mouth, and keeping his eyes on me, he let go of my chin. Gold and red pulsed in his irises, the throb sluggish . As he stepped back from me, he ripped his teeth through the flesh of his wrist. Black blood dripped down his arm in a wave.

I was still staring as he offered the same treatment to the other wrist. He strode to the slim window where faces hovered in preparation for a show.

Cassiel ran his palm down his arm, collecting all the dripping blood. In the same movement, he splattered it against the pane. He rubbed the glass surface until a thin layer of black clung to it. He bit into his inner arm and raked his mouth toward the inner dip of the elbow. Black blood welled upon the pale surface. Cassiel pulled me forward, and I stumbled, clasping my breasts. He painted the entire surface black until there was nothing but smears and the entire pane could not be seen through. The surface vibrated from whoever continued banging it on the other side.

I let out a shaky breath, holding my arms tight against my bare breasts.

“They will all die for doing this to you.” Each word was carefully said, but I did not miss the tremble in his hands. He was near my face so quickly I gasped, pushing back until my shoulder blades were flat against the cold wall. “You, more than anyone, need not fear me.” His sweet breath mingled with the iron smell of his blood. A heady, delightful scent that I could not stop my body from reacting to.

I shook, my body incrementally warming. His distinct smell of leather mingled with the copper of blood. The walls ran black, yet his heaving body remained before me as he reached to tear the clothes from his frame. Bits of tunic and trousers littered the ground until he stood before me nude . . . and throbbingly erect.

My body woke, and my entire focus narrowed on him. His swollen knot throbbed, and the veins that ran up the length of his shaft pulsated under the thin layer of silk skin.

‘When you look at me like that . . .’