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What the actual—?I didn’t let myself think. My knee struck out, slamming into Locke’s crotch. He doubled over in pain, and the distraction was enough. I wrenched my chin from his grip and launched toward the shelf of weapons.
If I can grab a weapon, I can—
Two yards from the shelf, my gaze set on a pair of knives, long clawed fingers wrapped around my shoulder and jerked me around. Stepping forward, Locke pushed me against the bare wall on the right, my back connecting with smooth stone. His wings were back again, flared above his shoulders, and his intense eyes were like black pools of night.
He leaned toward me and fisted the front of my shirt, making the gray material ride up my thighs. “Kick me there again, and you’ll beg for me to hand you over to the Taratun.” His voice was low, promising violence.
Glaring, I squirmed against him, but he held me fast. All my struggling was doing was making my shirt lift further up. “Let me go,” I hissed.
His dark gaze dropped to my bare thighs and trailed upward until it lingered on my neck. As he continued to stare, his mouth parted slightly, showing his long white fangs. His breathing was heavy, his muscles twitching as if he was trying to stop himself from lashing out.Fuck. Is he going to bite me?
A confusing surge of excitement went through me. I should have been terrified. Here was death personified, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to headbutt him or let him draw me closer. A strange energy lured me toward him. I inhaled, taking in his intoxicating scent of cedarwood, ash, and spice. I hated him, but Iwantedhim. I wanted to feel the hard press of his body against mine, and his fingers sliding up my thighs.
“If you’re going to kill me, just do it,” I finally managed to say. I was sick of this. This stupid game they’d thrust me in. Their experiment, whatever the hell it was. So many questions and riddles it made my eyes hurt. They’d saved me but for what? To keep playing with me? I didn’t want to die—I needed to find Cara—but something told me if I moved right then, I might have snapped whatever control this monster had.
His gaze slid to mine, and he leaned even closer. Close enough that his breath puffed on the side of my face. Finally releasing my shirt, he lifted an arm above me, placing his palm against the wall as if he was bracing himself against the stone. Slowly, his breathing began to calm. “What are you?” he said in a rasping whisper, and I wasn’t sure if he was expecting me to answer.
I opened my mouth, not sure what I would say, when the door to the room opened, and Ash and Darian strolled inside, followed by Kade.
They stopped when they saw us, taking in how Locke had me pressed against the wall. Now that he’d released my shirt, the gray material reached back toward my knees, but that didn’t stop the warmth from growing in my cheeks as I took in their amused gazes. The three other monsters turned from us and strolled right past, making themselves at home in the room.
“Lyr will be here within the hour,” Kade growled as he dropped onto a settee.
As if pulled from a trance, Locke pulled his hand away from the wall and strode over to the others, leaving me glaring after him.
I remained where I was, watching as Asher picked at the platter of food, not at all bothered by the droplets of blood that had speckled over the display.
My gaze flitted to the shelf of weapons, and I sighed, turning back to the monsters. All four of them were sitting now, and Locke had his book propped back on his lap as if nothing had happened.
“I fed her blood,” Locke said to the others, speaking as if I wasn’t in the room.
“Looked like you were doin’ more than that,” Asher said with a grin, stuffing a rolled piece of cured meat into his mouth.
“What happened?” Kade asked, his face hard.
“Nothing,” Locke said, and for a moment, I wasn’t sure if he was talking about the blood or…something else. “Not even a glimmer of black in her gaze when she drank the stuff.”
Right. The blood. You’re officially an idiot,I scolded myself.
“I’m still here,” I said, irritated that they were talking about me as if I was nothing but a fly on the wall. I moved closer to them, though I didn’t know why I wanted to draw their attention back to me. Four gazes slid my way, and I stopped where I was halfway across the room, wishing I’d kept my mouth shut.
“Like we could forget, lovely,” Darian said with a smile.Goddess, he was beautiful. The male had the face of an angel.Tail. The monster has a freaking fishtail when he’s in water,I reminded myself. But it was hard to convince myself that was even true.
“If you’re going to keep me caged here like some animal, the least you can do is tell me what you have planned for me,” I said, determined not to lose my nerve. I was so damn tired of these assholes.
To my surprise, they didn’t dismiss me.
Asher swallowed his latest mouthful and spoke. “There’s no point keepin’ her in the dark about everything. She’s part of this world now. Better that she knows what’s goin’ on, so she’s prepared if the Taratun take her.”
Locke’s jaw ticked, but he gestured to an unoccupied space on the settee near Asher. “Sit,” he commanded.
“I’ll stand, thanks,” I said, glowering back at him.
“Suit yourself.”
“You’ve told me that you expect me to turn into a monster. But why? What is all this?” I opened my arms, gesturing to the room, when I really meant the past few nights. The offerings. Everything I knew about this place. I folded my arms in front of my chest.
“We don’t have time for this,” Kade growled.
