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But he bent, and I had to lean back into the strong arm behind me. He dropped the hand he held in order to cup my face, soft white kid leather stroking at my cheek as he tipped my face up. His face was less clear to me than ever as he ducked down, features all blurring strangely. I shut my eyes and found full and heavy lips covering mine, thick breath rushing over my numb face.
The kiss was chaste, barely more than a press, but the power that came with it was like dropping an anchor into my belly, the weight sinking and sinking, measuring the real distance and depth of my hunger.
I gasped and my hands flew up, eyes opening into a confusing cross of visions. The face in my grip did not match the man looking down at me.
"No!" I breathed, but I was swaying, my legs weak, my starvation pleading a new demand formoreof this man. But he was not a man.
Two brows furrowed, one human and handsome, the other dark and powerful and familiar.
"Forgive me, daughter of Hedone," the low voice rumbled.
And then his hand rose up to smother my scream, bringing with it a heady, dizzying scent that blotted out the world.
* * *
I woke,my head heavy, and my hands tightened beneath me. In their grip they found velvet, so thick and lush and soft that I moaned, rubbing the fabric between my fingers. I turned my head, and the pillow beneath me gave way sweetly, silk cool against my cheek.
My breath caught, a whimper stifled in my chest. I smelled foul, and I only knew as much because the air around me was thick and redolent with lavender and rose and gardenia. I was in the softest bed I was sure I'd ever known. I opened my eyes and shut them again, gasping.
Decadence.
I sat up, eyes squeezed shut, and tried to make myself let go of the velvet blanket draped over me.
"Move slowly," a gentle voice offered, a woman's. "I promise you're safe."
I forced my eyes open again and searched the glittering, gleaming, and lush surroundings. A woman sat on the foot of the bed, pretty and pale, her gaze milky and absent. In the corner of the room, another figure moved, and this time I hissed, scrambling backwards. My strength faltered at the perfect cushion behind me, a mountain of pillows offering mecomfort.
But the man, themonsterin the corner of the room, was familiar. The basilisk. He'd never touched me, but he'd been there in Birsha's lair—more than once, from what I could recall. He was tall, with black horns curling high, and he wore a pair of black spectacles that hid his gaze.
"She recognizes me," the basilisk said.
The woman sighed. "I told you."
"I'mnotleaving you alone with her," he growled, arms crossing over his chest.
And it took me a moment to realize he was speaking to the woman, as ifIwere the threat in the room.
There were bouquets in every corner, works of art on the walls, golden filigree frames, chandeliers dripping with crystals.
"My name is Lillian. I'm human," the woman offered. "And that is Marius. He is—"
"I know what he is," I said, my voice croaking.
Lillian dipped her head. "He isnota danger to you."
"Unless you are a danger toher," Marius warned in a low snarl.
And the woman, the human woman, sighed in amused acceptance, her lips quirking. She was blind, I realized, watching her stare move aimlessly. And he wasprotectiveof her. Was she his to torment? Except she wore an elegant yet simple dress, and she had color in her cheeks, and there was…a hint of satisfaction in the air coming from her. I sat up again, scooting down the bed, and my lips fell open, trying to catch the taste.
They were lovers. And it was a sweeter flavor than I'd known in…
"We have a bath prepared for you," Lillian said. "And there will be food. Anything you'd like. For now, I have this."
She lifted a delicate cup on a small plate, both painted and touched with gold. A dense and delicious fragrance floated to me from the cup, and my mouth watered.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Chocolate," Lillian said, with a secretive smile. "When Asterion told us what you'd need to recover, this was the first thing I thought of."
