Cyrus grabbed my chin, jerking my face up suddenly. His eyes held a challenge in them, and I knew I wouldn’t like what was about to happen. When his mouth came down on mine, it took everything in me to resist fighting, knowing I had to act submissive. For now.
I didn’t know what had happened after Cyrus grabbed me. Harpina had been chained up, and the last I saw of Calix was him fighting his way towards me. I didn’t know if the rest had been caught, and I couldn’t imagine Calix letting me go easily. I remembered vividly how he screamed when Cyrus grabbed me. What had happened? How in the Otherworld had they overpoweredCalix?
The only way to get answers was Cyrus. I would give in to his kiss if it meant a way to find out about my friends. If it meant being out of chains so I could find a way to escape.
Fuck his threats—he didn’t know how much of a threatIcould be.
Liviana said the gods told her I was needed, that I was a lynchpin in freeing humans from slavery and bringing balance back to Celesterra. Which meant I had more worth than Cyrus would ever have. The thought made me smile.
Cyrus made a pleased rumble, and then I remembered what my mouth was occupied with in reality, far from where I’ddisappeared inside my mind. He’d thought the smile was for him? Ugh.Men. As if I would ever. But I supposed it helped sell my submission.
I thought back to my last kiss before this, to Calix. Nox, he must be beside himself now. But that night—by the Otherworld, it had beenperfect. I’d never experienced sex like that before. He made me feel like I was fucking goddess, and I’d barely been able to walk the next day after spending the night with him between my thighs. My cuntachedafterwards, stretched and used in the best way possible.
What I wouldn’t give to be back there now. To have him be the one kissing me. In this moment, I couldn’t care less about the complications, about his mate and my weak heart that wanted him anyway—I just wanted him here. I wanted to experience that all-consuming feeling that overtook me when we kissed, like the world was somehow turned upside down the whole time, and when he kissed me, it was finally right side up.
I was brought back to the present as Cyrus bit my lip. He pulled back with a nasty smile that made me think he somehow knew my thoughts, but he just stood up and walked away. I watched him, confused, and he looked back at me with a smirk.
“Did you honestly think I would give you the satisfaction of getting fucked after what you pulled?” Cyrus chuckled as he turned and leaned on the doorframe. I almost laughed myself, the mere idea that he could delude himself into thinking I wanted that was hilarious. “You’re going to have to earn it, my dear.”
I would rather stab my eyes out.
Chapter 37
Dayspassed in a blur. Confined to Cyrus’s rooms, I was slowly going insane. When he’d left the first time after chaining me up, I went to sneak out the door, only to find myself hitting an invisible wall. Cyrus had returned later, smirk firmly in place.
“Let me guess, you tried to leave?” He tsked, slowly prowling closer as I tried to back up. But before I could, he grabbed me by the shoulders in a painful grip that had me wincing. “You know the wonderful thing about blood magic, Asteria?”
I felt my blood freeze in my veins. Oh fuck.
“It allows us to do so many things. Things they tell us are impossible. Butnothingis impossible.” Cyrus grabbed my hair, yanking it back and forcing me to look up at him. “I’ll tell you a little secret. All it takes, issacrifice.”
I looked back at the doorway, where strange magic had stopped me from leaving, horror filling my soul as my eyesclosed in pain. I knew his plans, but this was confirmation he’d already begun. “You sacrificed humans.”
“You knew I would, didn’t you?” Cyrus laughed, reaching up to caress my cheek. I tried to turn my face away, but he forced me to keep looking at him as he touched me. “It turns out you were a better spy than even I knew. We’ll have to address that, we can’t have you going through my things again.”
His voice hardened, and I cursed Emmie—she’d told himeverythingthen. Our advantage, gone. All for what? Her to be spoiled by the king? Only to get here and find she didn’t have a place with him anymore. It would be tragic if I wasn’t so furious with her.
“In the meantime, I’ve placed a ward around the room tied specifically to you. You can’t leave until I allow it.” Cyrus gloated, and it dawned on me exactly what he’d done. Even if someone came for me, I wouldn’t be able to get out of the room.
I wanted to fall to the floor and cry in frustration, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing it.
That had been the first day, and things hadn’t improved since then. I’d only seen a few people, including Emmie, who didn’t talk to me, and I didn’t talk to her—a mutual cold shoulder. Cyrus let a few slaves in to tend to things in the room for him, but no one else. I wondered if Kian knew I was here. If he’d reached out to Calix to get me out once more, or if he considered my usefulness at an end now that Cyrus knew about my spying and information gathering.
Boredom was killing me. After spending my days training, going to meetings, and going out dancing and drinking, this sudden stop of everything was horrible. I hated it. I hated this room. I hated this kingdom. I hatedhimmost of all.
But it was better to be alone than having him here. It was my unfortunate luck that Cyrus entered once more. I was reading abook on the sofa, trying to lose myself in fantasy, and he came in to intrude on even that.
“What are you reading?” Cyrus asked, sounding almost amused. I stiffened, his moods ever unpredictable.
“A book.” I answered shortly. He snorted and came over, ripping the book from my hands and flipping it to the cover.
“Forbidden Love and Other Tales.” Cyrus read aloud. His eyes shot to me as he threw the book on the table. “Ah, a smutty romance. So, you do feel lust—you just refused to give in to me specifically, is that it?”
“You know why.” I murmured, swallowing hard. “I told you over and over. A man who owns me is not a choice, it’s forced no matter which way you look at it. You can’t consent to a person whoownsyou. Women have been taken advantage of in every level of this society, from slaves to queens. I refuse to allow myself to be degraded in such a way.”
I knew the words were dangerous as they left my lips, and I was proven right as those lips were then split open. Cyrus backhanded me,hard. His ring splitting my lip and causing blood to hit the velvet sofa I was slammed back against. I looked up at him with wide eyes, my hand going to my mouth in shock. I’d known he was capable of horrible violence, but he’d never unleashed it on me before.
Cyrus smiled cruelly, pulling me up until I was standing in front of him. He leaned in and licked the blood off my lips. I tried to flinch back, but he held fast. When Calix had done the same, I’d found it sexy, but the same action from Cyrus left me wanting to bathe.
