I will find her, tear the Stone King’s face off, and then I’ll never let my mate go again.
EIGHTEEN
Haley
For hours,I ride in the foul-smelling cage, my fingers curled around the bars to help me stay upright. The snake glides first through the forest, then a moonlit desert. I doze on and off, but am exhausted by the time we arrive at our destination: a huge, creepy fortress. Crumbling white stones form a Gothic-style structure with tall, twisted turrets. The snake heads directly for the farthest turret, easily fitting through the gaping, empty hole where a window used to be.
Dust stirs as the snake slithers into a vast, gloomy room. Gray-white mold grows in a film over the stone walls, and flakes from the ceiling. Little beetles scuttle down the walls and disappear into cracks in the floor. The place reeks. I double over, coughing, covering my nose and mouth with my hand.
The snake has come to a stop in the center of the room and is now coiled up, unmoving. Like it’s waiting for something. There’s nothing here but a bunch of ancient, dusty furniture, a cold, cobbled floor, a few of the same glowing orbs Hunter has in his palace—but not nearly enough to provide any decent kind of light—and, to my horror, a tall, hooded figure standing on a dais in front of a filthy throne.
The figure moves, gliding towards me. Shrinking back in my cage, I press against the slimy bars. Icicles of dread creep up my spine as the huge, shadowy figure approaches until it’s standing right in front of me.
“At lassst. My Omega,” he hisses, and I bite my lip. My fears have been confirmed. It’s the Stone King.
“I’m notyours,” I say, lifting my chin and staring directly at where I assume his face would be, hidden as it is beneath the shadow of the hood. “I was claimed by the Hunter King.”
The Stone King issues more of that weird, wheezy laughter he did last time. “Not to worry. If I find the ssscar of his bite too ugly, I can cut it out.” The hood moves back a bit, tilting as if he’s looking up, and then I hear him inhale. “You are currently not in essstrus?”
Ew. Instinctively, I cross my legs. “Let me out of here,” I say, using the same imperious tone I tried back in Arboron.
“Pity,” he continues, “I was looking forward to the rut. No matter. There are potions to induce it.” There’s a grating noise that hurts my ears as he fiddles with the catch to the door on the cage with his long, sharp-tipped fingers, then the door creaks slowly open.
Now that I could get out, I’m not sure I want to.
“Come now,” he says, when he realizes I’m not about to emerge. “You will be treated kindly. You are my new queen.”
“I am not,” I mutter, but I clamber out of the cage nonetheless. At least if I’m out of it, I can run.
“Now go! Make for the Foressst Kingdom and kill any Arborii you find!” The Stone King is addressing the enormous snake. He gives a cough. “Essspecially the king.”
My blood runs cold. “You can’t do that!”
The Slythin turns and slithers to the window. Numb, I watch it until it’s vanished. My gut feels like someone poured concrete into it and an icy fist is squeezing my heart. There’s a roaring in my ears so it takes a moment for me to hear the hissing wheeze that is the wretched king’s laughter.
Please god, I pray as I force myself to face him,please let Hunter and his people be okay. Please.Thank fuck he’s a good fighter. He conquered the Slythin before. He saved me from one just a short while ago. That one was much smaller, though.
The last time he faced this particular snake, the creature survived—albeit losing a fang.
Jesus. Taking a deep breath, I push those thoughts aside. I can’t do anything to help Hunter right now. I have to focus on the stuff I can do.
“Hmmm.” The hood is cocked to one side now, and I just know Creepy McFuckface is taking a good, hard look at me. Ew, ew, ew. “Not as slight as I imagined. Not as tiny as the other one. A little more… stout. But pleasing, nonetheless. Your scent makes my rod hard.”
Bile rises in my throat, and I swallow it back down. I need to keep my wits about me. Both Sian and Mikkan said that Hunter would never let me go willingly. He might already be on his way to rescue me. And even if he isn’t, I have places to go if I get out of here. No, I correct myself firmly, not if, butwhen. On the other hand, if I panic and make Creepy mad, he could hurt me. I need to play along as much as possible until I’ve gotten my bearings and find a way to escape.
So, when Talons McGross reaches out and caresses the bare part of my thigh, which is easily accessible beneath the hem of the tunic I’m wearing, I clench my fists and force myself to accept his touch. He’s assessing me like someone would a horse they had just purchased. A foul scent wafts over me. I want to scream and run away. But right now, all I can do is take it.
It’s so different from Hunter’s touch—like night and day. I want to shrink into myself, but force myself to stay still.
Will I ever see Hunter again? Feel his hands on my body?
McGross speaks again, interrupting my thoughts. “Such soft flesh. Do all Omegas feel this… sssmooth, I wonder? Diala did, but then…”
“Who?” I sense a way out of this: keep him talking.
“The last Omega queen of Arboron.” He gives a little scoff of disdain. “She was a beauty. Until—”
“Until you ruined me,” says a female voice. A raggedy pile of blankets in the corner moves, and a hooded figure rises from the filth. A delicate jasmine scent cuts through the mold. “Diala?” I say.
