“Part of me was,” he admits. In a blink, he is gone, and I whirl around to find him behind me. “But part of me also knew your intentions the moment your mouth found mine.”
“What do you want from me?” I demand. Serun breaks away into shadows, a low chuckle of amusement stirring in the air as he appears behind me yet again. “Am I a game to you?”
An icy chill burns the bite mark on my neck. As I rest my hand against it and turn, my heart stirs at the sight of him standing before me, his pointed ears pulled back and his softened eyes on mine. “All I want is for you to accept who you are. All parts light and dark. The moon and the night.”
My eyes narrow, and my lip curls in disdain. “Then I hope you’re ready for disappointment, becauseIdecide who I am. How can my brother ever accept me without my glamour? All he will see is amonster.”
Serun raises his hand, and instead of pulling away, I stand my ground as he touches my cheek and his thumb brushes along the dirt streaking my face. “You are perfect,consort.”
My eyes narrow further. “What does that mean?” I say as I push his hand away from my cheek. “Is it Daryun?”
Serun’s eyes widen a fraction, and he breathes a laugh as he steps away. “It means wife, Saya. You are mywife.”
I shake my head violently. “No. I’m not.”
He gestures towards me. “You tasted my blood, and I tasted yours.”
With a touch at my neck, I say, “That was days ago. It should have…”
The memory of my finger in his mouth surfaces, and I hiss out a shallow breath. “You tricked me!”
Serun’s crimson eyes glimmer as he smirks. “Nightwalkers have a liar’s tongue. I said that at the very beginning, no?”
With a deep breath in and out to expel my anger, I storm towards him, but iron bars materialise in front of me, wisps of shadows rising from the metal. I step back and spin around, only to find myself trapped like a bird.
I’m in a fucking bird cage.
The cage moves, and my legs buckle, so I grip onto the bars. It’s rising.
“Serun!” I shout, looking down at him as he makes his way to a lone door that has suddenly appeared from the ground. “Serun, let me out!”
He stops and turns as the door slides open, and fierce red eyes shimmer when they connect with mine. “This is my world, and until you accept that I am not your enemy, you will merely be living in it.”
I grip the cold bars tighter and scream, “Serun!”
Shadows break away from his body, and as he steps through the door and it closes behind him, darknesssmothers me. The higher I go, all that is left are harsh breaths as I try in vain to find a way to escape this damn cage.
Shit.Shit, shit, shit.
Slipping my arm through the bars, I feel around for some kind of latch—there must besomethingI can do. With my vegodian powers untapped, I need to?—
“I smell a human…”
I freeze. Looking up, a vibrant set of red eyes meets mine in the dark. As more glowing eyes come into view, I see they are in cages just like me—dozens of them.
Waiting.
Watching.
Hungry.
EPILOGUE
TRANSLATED FROM DARYUN
Serun,Lord of the Undercity, leans forward in his leather-stitched chair, his knuckles propping up his cheek. His other hand rests on the table, and his finger taps the base of the chalice before him. Words take shape, pricking up his pointed ears.
Across the table, Maeve sits with her back straight, and her dusted leather coat rests on her shoulders. Spiders crawl across her dark hair, and the light from nearby candles catches against her golden-brown skin.
