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Either I hadn’t given him an answer in a timely enough manner, or he simply didn’t wait, because he was suddenly sitting on the edge of the bed, and I was in his lap, my godsdamn feet dangling in the air.
His hand tangled in my hair as he continued to breathe me in. He was still shaking, and my entire being was in the midst of a frozen rebellion, barely able to force a wisp of air into my lungs. Inside me, near the embers, a scream built. One only I could hear.
I struggled to stay calm and searched for a way to take his mind off me. “Will you release Nyktos now?”
He pressed his forehead against mine. “What?” he asked with a laugh that sounded uncertain.
My heart thudded heavily. “We made a deal,” I reminded him. “You promised to release him if—”
“I know what I promised,” he cut in, his voice changing, becoming thinner. “I cannot believe you would bring him up as I hold you.”
I suddenly became aware of how still Kolis had gone, and how hot his body had become.
“That you would even speak his name.” He drew back, and I saw then that his flesh…fuck, it had thinned. There was no golden aura of eather, and I saw the faint gleam of bone beneath his skin. Considering the last time I’d seen something like this, it wasn’t a good sign.
My fight-or-flight response kicked in. I jerked back as far as I could. Our gazes locked. It was just for a heartbeat or two, his eyes pools of golden-flecked eather.
Then he struck like a pit viper, sinking his fangs into my throat.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
A jolt coursed through my entire being. The sudden shock of agony ramped up the screams coming from within. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move as my gaze swung upward.
But I welcomed the pain, held on to it tightly as his mouth moved against my throat. My hands spasmed and then fisted. I stared at the gleaming gold bars, the searing fire coursing through my veins like a thousand knives pricking my flesh. Darkness crept into the edges of my vision—
The embers pulsed wildly, pressing against my skin. The shadows crowding my eyes vanished in a flash of silver. I sucked in a whimper as Kolis’s head shifted. His fangs eased their brutal hold on my throat, and the agony…oh, gods, the pain was fading. No. No. No. My chest rose with a too-short breath as unwelcome warmth crept into my veins.
No. No. No.
This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t. My nails dug into my palms, the little sparks of pain lost in a grotesque, twisting pulse as he sucked on the wound.
I didn’t want this.
The…the screaming had stopped. I felt the presence in my chest go quiet, while the embers pulsed and flared, responding to my disgust, whirling fury, and rising desperation to stop this.
The essence swelled, pressing against my skin, and the near-instinctual drive to tap into it began to take hold. My skin started to hum as the cage and chamber became drenched in silver—
No.
Fighting the instinct to tap into the embers, I willed them to calm. I had to. My heart thudded. If I used them against Kolis, it would anger him, and Ash…he was still imprisoned. I couldn’t risk him. I wouldn’t. He was too important. I could deal with this, just as he had when Veses came to him to feed.
Focusing on my breathing, the essence calmed, though my heart thundered. I desperately tried to pull together the tattered remains of the veil of nothingness that used to be like a second skin to me. I could do this. I could deal with this. I’d spent years preparing for something like this.
But that was before Ash.
Nausea churned in my stomach, even as a disturbing heaviness settled in my chest and lower. Kolis groaned, his arms tightening as he drank from me. This…this was nothing like before. I clamped my jaw shut, my gaze fixed on the grouping of diamonds above me. They seemed to throb, like some light within them moved rapidly. Kolis sucked deeply from my vein, his hips jerking against my backside—
Oh, gods, I was going to vomit. I was going to fucking vomit.
How far would this go?
Not that far.
Fear pierced the undesired haze. Breathe in. I knew—oh, gods, I knew then that I couldn’t do anything to gain Kolis’s trust. Hold. There was no fooling me. If this escalated even further, I didn’t know what I would do, but it would be bad. Breathe out. I could feel that in the violent hum of power within me. Hold.
One of Kolis’s hands skimmed down my side, clasping my hip and leaving a trail of unwanted shivers. This wasn’t happening to me. I wasn’t here. This didn’t matter—
That wasn’t working.
