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As soon as he said that, my questions and worries all disappeared, because I only had one option. I needed to do this, so the risks, the reasons it was dangerous, none of that mattered.
“Nod if you want me to continue.”
I nodded.
He exhaled, the noise sounding as if he’d hoped I’d back out.
Too bad.
He pulled me backward and wrapped an arm around my waist. It pinned me to his chest and forced me to recognize he was far stronger than I’d realized. It was probably because of the way he dressed, but I’d assumed he was thin and weak. That was clearly not the case.
And my heart sped all the more, my body reacting to his closeness on an instinctual level.
He grasped my wrist to trap my arm across my body, then used his other hand to touch the crook of my elbow. When he spoke, his lips brushed my ear. “My toxin is in my claws, so I’ll need to change.”
His hand, the one that touched my arm, shifted. I’d seen it before, but it never failed to startle me.
He looked nothing like a human when he changed, instead resembling some sort of ancient evil creature, some nature god. His entire body shifted behind me, which made me think he’d pinned me there so I didn’t have to look at him.
I was oddly thankful for it right then. Just seeing his shifted, clawed hand was freaky enough. I couldn’t imagine allowing him so close to me fully changed.Worse, his body was so much larger now, making me feel like a tiny, trapped creature.
“I’m going to inject a small amount into the crook of each elbow. It may make you sick at first as it works through your bloodstream, but it shouldn’t hurt much as I do it. I’ll make it as quick as possible.”
I nodded, then closed my eyes so I didn’t have to watch.
The pain was quick, as he’d promised, and it made me snap my eyes open out of instinct. I saw the long white claws there, and the sharp tip had punctured into the crook of my elbow. It didn’t go in far, not nearly asmuch as a syringe would. When he withdrew, a dot of blood puddled on top of the skin.
He repeated the motion on the other side, and this time, I watched. He struck fast, clearly comfortable with the claws and easily able to use them with precision.
“All done,” he whispered when he pulled his claw away.
The moment he released me, I yanked back and got to my feet. I rubbed at the crook of each elbow, trying to ease the sting.
Except, the sting wouldn’t go away. It increased, shifting until it turned into burning. Instead of rubbing, I scratched at the spot on each arm.
Hands wrapped around my wrists, and they were the still shifted ones that had just done this to me. All the passion I’d felt a moment before had withered, and when I looked up into the true face of Kit, I fell into his black eyes.
Where on a human face they seemed odd, they fit perfectly against the white bone that made up his entire head. The antlers reached up, making him even taller, though he didn’t stand up straight. He bent forward, which made me wonder just how tall he was in this form if he rose to his full height.
“Relax,” he said, his voice forcing my compliance.
I took a deep breath then let it shudder from my body.
“I know the spots hurt. They will burn for a short while, but the discomfort will go away within ten minutes. After that, you’ll have a headache and feel nauseous, but that will also go away within the hour. You should feel fine by the time of your appointment.”
I nodded, trying to ignore how fire crept through my veins, searing me. It was so strong, as if it would turn me to ash right there. I recalled the apple, the way it had disintegrated to nothing in Kit’s hand just days before. Had he tricked me? Would that happen to me?
He must have noticed the fear on my face, because he shook his head. “It won’t hurt you. If I wanted to harm you, I could do so at any time. I wouldn’t need to trick you like this.”
Even though he told me that, I struggled to believe it. Panic beat at me, reminding me of the pain when that man had slit my throat, when I’d realized just how powerless I could be.
He let out a sigh, then dropped lower so his face was just in front of mine, so I couldn’t look away from those bottomless eyes of his. His voice changed as well, taking on the tone I’d heard just before he’d killed that dragon shifter. “Relax, Hera.”
My body obeyed. Some part of me knew I should fight it, that there was no reason to trust him. I didn’t want to give in, to give any more of myself to others, but I couldn’t. His voice and his eyes had some endless void inside them, something dark and deep enough to drown me and never let me surface again.
“If you panic now, the guards will suspect something when they arrive. You need to take deep breaths and relax.”
The fresh air that filled my lungs as I listened to him was nice and made me realize I hadn’t been breathing deeply enough. It was as if my conscious mind and my body obeyed him, relaxing and breathing slowly, but another part of me rebelled, silent and trapped.
