That smirk edges with irritation. But his mask doesn’t slip, his control stays perfectly in place.
He must feel something,anything, even if it’s validation in capturing me.
“Believe what you want, Max.” He picks up the fork, touching mylips as I smell the herbal tang of his drug. My stomach growls and he frowns.
I haven’t eaten much since being down here. Nessa taught me how to detect poisonous plants when I lived in the Blackwoods Coven—it’s the one thing she did for my betterment. And it’s helping me now.
As he leans forward, I grasp the broken shard of rusted iron and cut his forearm.
He snarls, eyes bleeding black and finally, I see the monster behind the mask.
“Clever,” he murmurs. “There’s the hellcat I remember.”
“A hellcat who has claws. Stay back,” I command, feet planted, weapon at the ready. “Don’t come any closer.”
Leisurely rolling up his sleeves and I take in the corded muscles. “Did you check your own arm, kitten?”
As if called, my arm starts to ache.
He surges forward, yanking my arm high into the air. I watch as a thin cut forms, edges jagged, ends charred.
My eyes widen and my mouth parts.How?
“It’s a perk to the claiming.” Dropping my arm, he throws me back as the rusted shard falls. “We can’t hurt the other.”
Disbelief furrows my brow. “What?”
He smiles sinfully wide and my stomach dips. I used to pray to the Gods for that smile. Now, it reminds me of deceit and betrayal.
“Dark Fae are notoriously selfish,” he murmurs, kicking the blade away. “When the Gods created us, they gave us the claiming. A soul-bond. They made our bond resistant to our… less honorable tendencies. We have a nasty habit of killing those we love for power.” Those dark eyes scan me, sneering at me. “A claiming ties two souls together, kitten, remember? I cannot kill you and you cannot kill me. And if someone kills one of us? The other dies.”
He smirks. “Where you go, I’ll follow. Always.”
Bile rises hard and fast upmy throat. My plan to fight for my freedom crashes like fallen leaves in the wind. If I hurt him, I hurt myself.
If I kill him, I die. We are completely tied, two lives into one.
Accusing eyes look up at him. “Youknewthis. All along. You knew that I wouldn’t be able to hurt you and yet, you kept it from me.”
He winks. “You thought I would tell you? When it would be so much more fun to see if you’d have the courage to try and kill me?” He glances to his arm and chuckles. “I should have known better. I’ve seen you fight bigger enemies than me without a second thought. My future queen is not just a hellcat, she’s a warrior under that docile façade, just waiting for the moment to strike.”
He takes a step closer and I scramble back. “Don’t.”
“Max—”
“Don’t,” I breathe.I can’t.“Don’t say my name like that.”
His jaw bounces once, as he glances to the tray, annoyed.
Right, because he’s the one trapped.
“You need to eat.”
Using his magic, shadows pin my hands and legs to the cot. The cool touch reminding me of our time in the Phoka village, but I push those memories away, and try to break free.
Kaden steps close, hands shoved into his pockets, looking down at my prone, scrambling form.
“I’m trying to help you.”
