She glances up, sighing as if to concede the point. “I guess you’re right. One cannot make a coherent system if the rule-makers fight for dominance.”
“How would you make it better?” I ask with a smile, at which Jaga throws her spoon into the bowl and pushes it away, uninterested in dessert. I grab it and eat it myself, feeling a pathetic little thrill at having her food.
“It’s a moot point, isn’t it? Since Perun will conquer us in the end, and we will all perish. I suppose I’ll sleep until then. Goodnight.”
She stands up, but my shadows curl around her wrists and ankles before she takes a step. Jaga throws me an angry look, and I let go, standing, too.
“Wait. You don’t mean that. Jaga, the way you fought Perun was magnificent.Igave up at that point. You didn’t. You pushedthrough, and you won. That’s who you are, always defiant, always fighting. Come back to me.”
Her lip curls in disdain. “To you? Please. And fight? I’ll never make that mistake again. It was stupid and I learned my lesson. Deal with Perun on your own.”
“But we won’t perish if he wins,” I say bitterly. “Like I told you long ago, we’ll be chained side by side, probably getting raped and tortured whenever they get bored. Mokosz told me as much, and Perun threatened to give you to his dragons. Are you truly fine with it?”
She sneers with such obvious hate, I recoil. “I suppose you trained me well. I’m sure I’ll manage.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“Only that you always took what you wanted. Making doors disappear. Tying me to your bed and raping my ears with cruel, horrible lies. I took it, didn’t I? I’m sure I can take a few dragon dicks. They will be pleasant in comparison.”
I reel back as if slapped, and Jaga turns away, her body shaking with tension until she throws her head back and screams. I wait for the familiar whirlpool of magic she always releases when she’s overwhelmed, but it doesn’t come.
“They weren’t lies,” I growl, rounding the table to get closer. “I lied when I said Ididn’tlove you. But that night you speak of? Nothing I told you was a lie. Nothing!”
She turns, her hands contorted, her nails growing into long, thick talons. Her hair whips around her shoulders, and she’s taller, her body transforming under the strain of fury.
“You can’t even keep track, can you?’It’s just this once’, ‘This will be the last one’!” she screams, throwing my words from long ago in my face.
I snort. “But you knew those were lies! It was a game you enjoyed, for fuck’s sake. It’s different. I only told you the truth when it mattered!”
“You’re lying even now!” she roars, throwing herself at me, hands aimed at my face. “You don’t even care to remember! Always lying!”
She scratches down my cheek, my throat, and I don’t stop her. Jaga screams with fury and hacks at me with long claws, her teeth sharpening as she goes. My clothes tear under her assault, and I raise my arms to the sides, offering myself to her. Pain flows free, and I don’t stop it. I take it all.
“You. Fucking. Liar!” she grits out, scratching deep gouges into my sides, pummeling her fists into my chest. “Never! Never again!”
She opens her mouth wide, her teeth grotesquely sharpened. It’s like a strzyga’s maw, and I flinch in dread but don’t move away. She sinks those fangs into my bicep, and I grunt from pain. Jaga bites down to the bone and sucks my blood out of the wound.
I can’t help it. Despite the pain, despite her hatred, I get hard.
She sees how my trousers tent and pulls away, staring at me with infinite contempt.
“You’re a pig,” she snarls at last. “I should bite it off.”
My cock twitches as if in encouragement, and I close my eyes, ashamed for once.
“I can’t help it,” I whisper, defeated. “If it’s you doing it, I want it. Whatever it is. Bite me if you want. I’ll probably love it more than hate it.”
“You can’t even let me have my revenge,” she scoffs, pulling away as she licks my blood off her lips.
Her nails and teeth return to their normal shape, her body shrinking back to its natural size. I keep my wounds from healing, all the scratches and the bite pounding with pain that goes straight to my cock. I wish she’d do more. I crave it like I never craved pain before.
But Jaga hangs her head with despondence, trudging away toward my throne. She sits heavily, breathing hard, her eyes closed.
“You can do it again when you want,” I say softly. “I’ll try better not to enjoy it.”
She shakes her head. “Get out of my sight.”
I obey instantly. Finally, it feels like atonement is possible. I’ll take Jaga’s fury over her apathy and kiss her feet in gratitude.
