“I’m only going to play with her.” Orion smirks. “She bleedspretty.”
“No.” Blackfire’s tone is final. He is their leader, then. Reed is the calm one who is always stuck in the middle, and Orion is the hothead.
I have more proof that Blackfire is in charge when Orion’s eyes stop glowing and he finally looks away from me, listening to Blackfire. “Fine.”
“I’m not a toy thing to be played with,” I snap at his back as he walks away from me.
Orion stops, turning to look back at me. He cocks his head to the side. “But you are a betraying bitch who chose to save my half-sister.”
“For the record, I had no idea who she was.” I shrug. “Your family problems are not mine.”
“Are you deaf, then? I said no one should pick her, and I warned they would be my enemy for life if they did. I promised death.”
I pretend to pick at my nails and yawn like I’m bored. “You’re a male, and you were talking, and I didn’t care to listen.”
Orion goes to snarl at me and step forward, but Blackfire’s in front of him again. They talk low, quiet words that I can’t hear. Eventually, Orion stomps off into the forest.
Blackfire glares down at me. “Don’t wind him up. We have to get along, and it would be really useful if you didn’t make him want to kill you every minute of the day.”
“Nope. Who says I want to live, anyway? Winding him up might just end this quicker for me.” I shrug. It’s as close to the truth as I’m going to give him. “I’m only trying because of Tannith and your uncle’s promise.”
“You are unwell; that much is clear,” he says eventually, like he doesn’t know how to answer me.
“Aren’t you a smart wolf for figuring me out?” I laugh.
He looks like he’s about to burst a blood vessel as he stares down at me before eventually turning away. I hadn’t noticed, but Reed had gotten up, and he is piling logs into the middle for a fire. No. My stomach roils even as I try not to panic. They turn to me. “Isn’t a fire risky? Someone might see it and come for us.”
“I hope so. I’m bored.” Blackfire sits down by a tree opposite me.
Reed looks between us as he finishes the pile of logs. “Blackfire, light it up while I’m gone so she isn’t cold.” He turns to me. “As you can’t hunt for food like we can in our wolf form, I’m going to find you something to cook on the fire.”
“No, I’m fine,” I say, my voice breaking slightly as I say it. “Just leave it.”
They both stare at me, and Reed frowns, but my stomach growls. He sighs and leaves me alone with Blackfire. Blackfiresmirks and clicks his fingers. Fire as black as the night burns in the logs before it fades into a normal red flame. My body feels like it is held in a locked box as fear takes over.It’s just a flame. I’m not with Eli. I’m not backthere. I’m not burning.
I close my eyes and try to sing the song Tannith taught me to get me through the worst nights, where the nightmares haunt me. “Fire, water, earth and air. Oh, how the elements all fall to the heir. Night rolls in, so sweet it sings, all shall bow to the kings.”It doesn’t work, not this time. I flinch, backing away as far as I can from the fire to the trees, curling myself around one of the huge roots. I don’t look at the fire, jumping every time it makes a sound and hating the way the heat presses against my skin. I can be near fires at the pub. I forced myself to be in the same room but never this close. Tannith would always light the fireplace at the pub, and we paid high rates for the water heating in our apartment. I’d work extra hours just to make sure we never had to light the fire. Tannith would too.
Eventually, I hear Orion laugh. I didn’t even notice he’d come back. “She’s scared of fire?” Orion stomps over, standing over me. “Finally, she shuts up.” He leans down. “What’s wrong, mouthy girl? Scared it’s going to burn you?” He laughs harder, and I wince, wrapping my arms around my stomach. He shakes his head, leaving me alone.
I turn my back to them as they laugh and joke about how I’m scared of the fire, but all I can see are the burns on my body. Tannith climbs out of the bag, curling in my arms. “Ignore them. We will find their weaknesses and make sure it hurts as we kill them all.”
I hold in a sob, while their laughter is loud in the silent forest. “It’s silly. I know it is.”
“After what he did, it’s not,” she murmurs, and I cuddle her like a teddy bear. All I can hear is their laughter as I eventually fade away into sleep.
Instead of the usual darkness, dreams of a life I can never have, and nightmares that I’m scared of, I’m left in grey silence. I blink my eyes open to a world of grey. Grey, floating and very fluffy clouds spread in every direction. The sky is open and bright white, and I’m not alone. Sitting on one of the clouds is the creature that bit me. My hand goes to my wrist where he bit me, almost on instinct, and I look down, seeing a glowing grey mark. The mark looks like a snake, its eyes watching me.
Within seconds, the creature is in front of me, and I jump back. I’m in a grey gown, tight fitting and showing off my breasts. Wait, when did I change? “The mark’s set. Good. I knew you were strong enough and you wouldn’t die from the inside out.”
“What?” I stumble over my words. “Your bite could have killed me?”
“Yes.” His lips tilt up, almost a smile. “Only the strong can withstand my bite. We’re bonded now, my light. You can contact me anytime you need help or you just wish to see me,” he purrs, stepping around me and breathing in deep. “You smell as delicious as you taste. I want to sink more than my teeth into you.”
My heart pounds in my chest. “What are you?”
“My race are called gargoyles in the older tongue. There’s other words for what we are, other names much worse and titles for us that make us out to be nothing but monsters. We are bound here to the island until the goddesses see fit to let us go or until we find our mates.” He brushes a finger down my arm. He feels warm and my skin burns with heat where he touched me. “Ask me anything, and I will answer with the truth. There will be no lies between us.”
Fine. “Why did you bite me? Why not kill me?”
