The emphasis on how he said my name was damning. He knew more than he was letting on.
After I didn’t immediately respond, he continued speaking in that same way that sent goosebumps down my arms. “Because you sell false promises. I’ve heard tales of your pairings from others. It’s quite the reputation you’ve built for yourself, selling desire wrapped in pretty packages. But tell me, what happens when those packages unravel?”
I shook my head. Double-tap matches didn’t fail.Floundered from time to time, sure, but never broke down fully.
“They don’t. Ever. Each match bears a purpose for something more permanent.” I said, voice coming out as a hoarse whisper as if I were afraid to speak too loudly in his presence.
“Poor, sweet Charlee. So wrapped up in the innocence of it all that you don’t realize you’re dealing death to hearts. Did you ever think about the poor fuckers who get left behind when you rip one half of their heart away to match with another? Or is collateral damage of no concern to you?”
His finger traced across my forehead with a delicate sweep as he pushed a few rogue strands of my hair away from my face.
Collateral damage? Ripping one heart away from another to give it to another?
I hadn’t been doing that, had I?
Doubt crept into my eyes before I forced it back with a flare of stubbornness.
“It’s not like that.” I projected certainty into my words even if there wasn’t any to be had.
He released a breath with controlled exasperation like he was trying to explain a foreign concept to a simple-minded child.
Placing a hand against his chest, it was not only a way to brace myself from him leaning in further, but a way to get a read on whatever damage his heart had suffered.
Every muscle beneath my palm stiffened. Electricitysparked through my fingers at the turmoil that lay beneath the surface. Erratic rhythms. Sharp edges. Pain. Heartbreak.
All the sensations fed into selfish behaviors, distribution of discordance, and bitterness. Not even the good type of bitterness that you found in dark chocolate. Pure spite for what he thought had failed him—his heart. It made that nickname he had called me—Heartspite—ironic.
Without flinching, I met his gaze. “I know who you are,” I declared with a steady voice.
“Who am I,Heartspite? Go on, tell me what you think you know.”
“You’re the god of discord, son of the goddess Nyx. Responsible for turning worlds upside down, disrupting natural orders. Inflicting dissonance where you see fit.”
“Mmm, such a smart girl.” The scruff of his stubble scraped over the side of my cheek as he dipped his headto speak against the curve of my jaw. “You can callme Eryx. Though fuck knowsI’dsettle fortheos.”
God.How modest of him.
He pulled away from me, retreating to the center of the cage as a primal darkness filled his eyes. His hand came up in front of him, thumb and middle finger pressed together, poised.
“Let’s see which side of me you beg for first, the man or the god.”
Snap.
CHAPTER SIX
All light vanishedfrom the room, and acloak of darkness descended over me. There wasn’t even a faint glow from where the windows should have been. If we were even still in the room, it was too difficult to tell. The shadows consumed all vestiges of natural and artificial illumination.
In this state of blindness, all my senses became heightened. Tilting my chin up, my nostrils flared slightly as I inhaled deeply. The air carried a heavy note of how the night sky smells when it’s split by thunder.It wassweetened by the scent of citron,a day away from peak ripeness.
I strained to hear beyond my own pulse. Yet there was a stillness around me that screamed volumes. If one listened carefully enough, silence could whisper its most guarded secrets. In this case, it spoke in riddles. Danger at odds with enthrallment. Captivity without chains. Heavinessof a storm that touched your skin like winter’s first snowflakes.
Hesitation tugged at my movements as I raised both my hands out before me, fingers spread wide in search of anything real. Spreading my arms, it was like swimming through a dream.
One step forward, solid ground. Another step, solid but with a soft buffer.
Blanket, perhaps?
Something slid across the skin of my forearm. A cool, silk serpent. Instinct took over as I jerked my arm away from the sensation, and a small noise of protest escaped me.
