Slowly, I lowered myself to my knees. Extending a finger, he pointed at the puddle of moisture I’d left behind on the floor of his study. “Lick it.”
My heart hammered in my throat as I stared down at the puddle. “But…”
“Don’t leave me waiting.” He crouched to one knee and reached for my hair, gathering the long strands and wrapping them around his hand like a leash. I’d expected his grip to be rough, like before. Instead, he gently nudged my face toward the puddle in encouragement.
“Be a good girl for me, you can do it.”
This gentler side of him dazed me. I didn’t trust it for a fucking second. But the praise fueled me.
Crouching down, I put my face to the floor. His eyes burnt into the back of my head as he watched my tongue slide over the stone, lapping up the liquid.
He laughed darkly, the sound making my head swirl. “How does it taste? Your desire for me?”
It didn’t taste good, but my pussy didn’t care. Licking up my own juices from the floor had the heat stirring in my core. And that terrified me. Because there was no denying my intense attraction to this monster—this ancient, evil demon of death and bone.
“Look up, little thief.”
My gaze lifted to see the Lord of Bones, the hollows of his eyes hot and full of fire. My heart clenched as my attention dropped to the object he now held in his hand.
It was a crown made of bone—specifically, spinal column.
“Fail to escape my palace grounds in three days, and this will be the first of many gifts. Recognize him?”
I stared at the crown in confusion, trying to make sense of his words. What did he mean by ‘recognize him’? Then it clicked.
Horror turned my stomach, bile burning in the back of my throat.
“That’s not…”
“Your dead mate? Oh yes, little thief. I make use of all the bones that are no longer needed by the souls they once hosted. Sitting atop my queen’s head will be the greatest accomplishment a worthless mortal like him could have ever hoped to achieve.”
“Y-you’re a-a f-fucking monster…” I stammered, barely able to get the words out as I crumpled to the ground.
Belial chuckled. “Yes, and when the three days are up, I’ll beyourmonster.”
His words were the last thing I registered as I fainted, darkness rushing in to claim me.
Chapter14
RAYVEN
The ticklingof something soft against my skin was the first thing I registered as I regained consciousness. I knew before I opened my eyes that I wasn’t in the castle anymore. The air filtering into my lungs wasn’t laced with the castle’s heavy aroma of woe and dust.
It smelled like rain and mud.
I pried my eyes open and found myself staring up at the sky, blanketed in a layer of heavy, sagging rain clouds. The softness against my skin turned out to be a dense bed of heather—at least I think it was heather, but these flowers were gray instead of pink. My head swam a little as I dragged myself up into a sitting position and looked around nervously, taking in my surroundings.
How the hell had I gotten here?
Had the Lord of Bones carried me here? Why would he have done that when I was now steps closer to escape? I wasn’t naive enough to think it was for me to have a head start. I didn’t think he had a kind bone in his body, not after what he did to Mark’s bones.
Had Belial showed up to help me? When he’d let me off my leash he hadn’t seemed concerned about pissing off his Lord. Was he so cocky that he didn’t care, or was he that high up the food chain that he wasn’t worried? Maybe he could be an ally. But if he helped me again, he’d probably want something else from me…
I didn’t have time to sit around and fantasize.
As much as I wanted to sit around and daydream about it, I could barely think through my splitting headache. Had I hit my head on the floor when I passed out? I closed my eyes and flinched, immediately prying them back open. The image of the Lord of Bones looming over me with the crown made of Mark’s remains was seared onto the back of my eyelids.
I forced the memory to the back of my mind and dragged myself to my feet, retying the sash around my waist as my eyes drifted over my surroundings.
