“You can’t do that—I won’t allow it,” I say, as sternly as I can. I show him the ring again. “While I wear this and you wear your collar you must obey me. Besides, the wearer of the collar cannot kill the wearer of the ring.”
I still don’t know why he can’t kill me—that was on the lost part of the manuscript. But I trust that it’s true and the little surge I feel from the ring seems to back me up.
“So you think you can control me, do you?”
Suddenly, the beast lunges forward, as far as his chains will allow. This motion brings his face within inches of mine.
I gasp and stumble backwards as he bares his teeth, showing long, sharp fangs that gleam in the half-light. I swear they’re as long as my finger!
“You know you’ll have to feed me on your blood if you unlock me, don’t you?” he rumbles. “You understand it’s the price you must pay to bend me to your will?”
I take a deep, shaky breath, trying to calm my racing heart. Part of me wants to turn tail and run, but I can’t do that—my mother’s life is on the line. I’ll do anything to save her—brave any danger.
“I know I must give you my blood,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. “I am prepared to do that.”
“Ahh, but it’s been so fucking long since I drank from a female,” he growls. “And I’m so fucking thirsty. I might just drain you dry, my pretty little Princess.”
“That’s enough!” I snap. I can only get so frightened before my fear turns to anger. I step up to him and put my finger in his face. “I know the rules—I read the manuscript,” I tell him. “You can’t kill me and you must obey me. I’m prepared to do anything I have to in order to save my mother’s life, so I will unlock you and then you will take me to get her cure. Is that understood?”
He looks at me for a long moment.
“On one condition,” he says at last.
I want to shout that he can’t make conditions—I am the one wearing the ring and he has on the collar. Supposedly, I have all the power in this situation. But here he is, bargaining with me.
However, maybe if we make a bargain, he’ll be less trouble. I have to admit, after the battle of wills we’ve been having, I’m feeling light-headed and weak. I wonder if the pulling/draining sensation I had earlier was the feeling of my strength being siphoned away to feed the magic of the ring and collar and make him do my bidding?
“All right—I’m listening,” I say, just as he did earlier. “What’s your condition?”
“I’ll take you to the stronghold of the Sorceress and I’ll bring you back again. But once I leave you here on your lands, you must remove this collar and let me go free,” he tells me.
I nibble my lower lip. Kellis won’t like it that I let the beast go—especially after he went to so much trouble to fight him and capture him. Then again, I am sure he would agree that healing our mother is worth any price. He might be angry for a time, but he’ll forgive me once mother is well again.
Also, now that I know he’s not actually a mindless animal, it seems wrong to keep him chained up—even if he is incredibly annoying. I have to admit, my mind would rest easier if I could promise to let him go free when the quest is done.
“All right,” I say at last. “But you must obey my orders. No more fighting—I want you to do what I say when I say it.”
He lifts his eyebrows.
“Bossy little thing, aren’t you?”
“I wear the ring of control,” I remind him. “I can be as bossy as I want.”
“Fine.” He blows out a breath. “If you abide by the laws of the ring and collar, so will I. Unlock me and let’s get the fuck out of here.”
“Another thing—stop swearing so much,” I say, producing the silver key. “It’s coarse and I don’t like it.”
“I don’t much give a fuck what you like or not, pretty little Princess,” he growls. “I’ve been chained up in your basement dungeon for almost a fucking year—I’ll swear if I fucking well want to.”
I think about giving him an order not to swear…and then remember the draining sensation and how I still feel a little dizzy. So instead of ordering, I simply purse my lips and go to fit the key into the lock of his left wrist manacle so I can free his hand.
Following that, I free his right hand, watching him carefully as I do so. I’m waiting to see if he’ll lash out, but instead he just rubs his wrists, where there are angry red marks from the magic manacles.
I kneel at his feet, (which are absolutely huge) to unlock the manacles around his ankles, trying hard not to notice the long shaft dangling between his thighs. But I can’t help it—my eyes flick up to catch sight of it once or twice.
I’ve never seen a man’s equipment before but I have seen a bull’s once when Father went to judge the livestock at a nearby town. What I see between the beast’s legs reminds me of the bull—shockingly long and thick. I wonder how in the world he can use it on anyone. Perhaps the women of the Drake people have more accommodating anatomy.
Being this close to him, I cannot help but notice his smell—but it’s not what I would have expected. I thought that after being chained for so long, he would smell rank and disgusting because in fact he does look rather sweaty and dirty.
