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I’ll buy his fucking clothes! I type back, my blood boiling with territorial fury, the cryptid inside of me growling in agreement. Not you.

Chapter five

Bellamy

“What the fuck?” I murmur out loud. “Didn’t I just pass this statue?”

The estate is an endless labyrinth of cold stone and mysterious hallways that seem to stretch whenever I turn my back. I’ve spent the past two hours trying to find the front entrance, the actual grand foyer with the large doors that open to the driveway.

I know I passed through it the night Vesper brought me here in a haze of shadows and fever. Yet every damned corridor I walk down seems to loop back on itself. The moment I look away, the walls begin to shift and bend. Magical shadows pool in the corners, playing quiet tricks on my mind. Whenever I think I’m approaching a set of outer doors, I end up back near the grand central staircase or outside a room I’ve already passed.

I’m fucking trapped, and I swear the house is conspiring to keep me here.

My bare feet slip quietly over the dark hardwood tile of a long, narrow gallery on the second floor. The air in this corridor feels different. Strange. Not wrong, but definitely not right. Instead of the usual faint scent of roses, old books, or cinnamon, it smells like cedarwood and smoke.

I pause in front of a pair of massive iron doors.

Unlike the polished oak throughout the rest of the estate, these doors are made of thick, dark iron. They’re carved with hundreds of deep, glowing runes. My fingers hover just over the marks. They seem to hum with a faint crimson light. The stone frame around the doorway is gouged by large slashes. Claw marks that cut deep. Scorched iron wards line the floor, forming an eerie crescent barrier right at the threshold.

My heart races. I reach out again, my fingers halting an inch away from the scorched slashes.

“I wouldn’t touch those if I were you, little bird.” The voice purrs out from the dark alcove to my right. It’s low and seductive.

I jump, whipping around to face the shadows, hand to my chest. “Do you constantly need to sneak up on me?”

Vesper steps out of the alcove, moving with that creepy, liquid grace that makes no sound as he walks. He still wears the thick wolf pelt draped over his broad shoulders, the dark hood pulled low over his head to keep his face completely obscured.

Even shrouded in dark fur, he’s intimidating as hell. The collar of his tailored white dress shirt is unbuttoned, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows to reveal thick, muscular forearms covered in intricate, swirling black tattoos that seem to shift slightly beneath his skin. His skin is a striking shade of cerulean blue, smooth and unnervingly cold to look at.

Why the hell does he have to be so damn attractive, even half hidden like this? I’m desperate to see his face.

And then I notice something else. Slinking out from beneath the long hem of his black pants is a long, thin tail. Pale blue and tipped with a smooth spade. It lashes back and forth, slow and hypnotic, against the floor.

A gasp tumbles from my lips. My body reacts instantly, my blood heating up in a way that pisses me off. The intoxicating scent of hot cinnamon, sea salt, and sensual clove rolls off him, wrapping around my senses until I’m dizzy.

“I wasn’t sneaking anywhere, little human,” Vesper says, his voice dripping with cocky amusement. “Don’t blame me if you were distracted by my containment chambers.”

“Containment chambers. Is that some kind of sex dungeon?” I ask, stepping away from the iron doors, my eyes glued to the sexy flex of Vesper’s tattooed arms. “What the hell is this place?”

Vesper leans against the stone wall, crossing his thick arms over his chest. I swear the demon is doing this shit on purpose. His long tail flicks, brushing lightly against the hem of my borrowed shirt as it passes.

A shiver runs straight up my spine.

“That’s where I keep the beast when its blood runs too hot for the wards,” Vesper murmurs. “Scorched iron is the only thing that keeps an infernal cryptid from burning through the town.”

I study the claw marks in the stone, my chest tight. “Why do you own such a dangerous creature, then?” As soon as the words leave my mouth, the blue eyes of Vesper’s pelt flare to life. I stumble back, my heart hammering. Is he actually wearing the beast’s skin? Did it hear me?

Vesper is silent for a long moment. The dark shadows beneath his wolf hood shift as he tilts his head. “Come,” he says softly, turning his back on me and gesturing down the hall. “You must be famished. I had dinner prepared for you. It’s in the conservatory.”

“I’m not interested in dinner with my captor,” I snap, but my stomach chooses that exact moment to let out a loud, traitorous rumble.

A dark, quiet chuckle echoes from beneath the hood. “I admire a human with a spine, but your body is far more honest than your lips. Walk with me, Bellamy.”

I glare at his back, but my damn feet move on their own. I follow him through a set of double doors into a breathtaking glass conservatory. Outside, the harsh, freezing rain lashes against the glass panes, while inside, the room is warm, filled with lush, dark ferns and glowing red hearth fires. A small wrought-iron table is set with silver covers and burning candles.

“That’s what you are. My captor. And I’m your damn captive. A little toy you think you can play with.”

“My Captive? No,” he purrs. “You walked into this cage willingly, little bird. Don’t forget that.”