* * *
Panos’s castle was nothing like anything I’d seen in Inishfall. Or anywhere else, for that matter. The sun seemed to vanish as soon as we stepped across the boundary line. In its place sat a bulbous moon pockmarked with red and black craters, somehow visible even from so far away. The land itself had transformed. No longer did the dense, humid forest loom around us with its tall trees and vines that weaved through the underbrush.
Instead, the ground was a carpet of ash.
A grand castle rose from the ground like a wraith of the night. Chiseled from black stone, two wings spread out on either side, sweeping across the ashen landscape. Each edge curved upward before sweeping back toward the center. The shape of it reminded me of a bat...which wasn’t atallominous.
“Why is it so quiet?” I whispered. Even that small sound seemed to echo across the field of ash.
“Panos is a lover of death, which means he revels in anything that resembles the lack of life. That means silence and darkness. Nothingness.”
I shivered. Why had I gone along with this crazy plan again? Oh yeah, because Yuto had blinded me with his cock.
Eryx edged in beside me and placed a steadying hand on my shoulder. Yuto shot him a vicious look, but it rolled off Eryx’s back. “Anyone who has to demonstrate his terror to this extent is not as terrible as he seems.”
“Okay, but he did bite me,” I muttered.
“We won’t let him bite you again,” Eryx said firmly. “Yuto will tear the teeth from Panos’s mouth if he has to.”
“Wouldn’t they just grow back?”
Eryx merely answered by patting me on the shoulder. “You can do this, Aradia. All of us have utter faith in you.”
That was certainly far more faith than I had in myself. The dagger hid beneath the folds of my shirt, tucked into the waistband of my trousers. The sleek cold steel dug into my skin. It comforted me, just knowing it was there. But if Panos came after me with his sharp teeth flashing in rage, what would a measly dagger do against him? It wouldn’t kill him. Yuto had made that much clear. The most I could hope for was to ward him off long enough so that I could flee.
Not exactly badass.
“Aradia,” Yuto said, lingering far after the others had vanished into the shadows of the forest. “If you want out of this...”
“I’m fine,” I snapped. “Now go hide, or we’ll ruin everything.”
His lips flatlined, but he did as I asked. With a face chiseled from pure stone, Yuto walked away from me. I kept my gaze lasered in on the castle ahead instead of the male behind me. This was for the best. He was a dragon, and I was a mortal girl, and he’dcapturedme to begin with.
He was the enemy!
Well, kind of. Okay, not really. Did enemies scream each other’s names in pleasure? Maybe some enemies did.
The way he’d looked at me the night before certainly wasn’t very enemy-ish.
I needed to get a grip.
A dark figure loomed from the shadows. My heartbeat skittered, and the scent of iron and death flooded my nostrils. It was Panos. Just as before, he wore a tattered cloak that looked as though it had been spun from the shadows themselves. It fluttered around his lean body like broken wings.
I kept my feet rooted in the ground. The others were nearby. If he made a move against me, they’d be out of the bushes before I could scream.
“Hello again, Aradia.” Panos slithered closer, his pinprick eyes flicking across my body. There was a hungry look in his eye, one not too unlike the look I sometimes saw when Yuto gazed my way. But they were hungry for entirely different things. This creature wanted my blood and my bones.
I took a step back toward the tree-line, hoping that Yuto and the others had a close eye on me. He’d asked me to trust him. I hoped it wasn’t the last mistake I’d ever make. “Panos. Fancy seeing you here.”
He smiled. “I see Yuto has been discussing me with his newest toy.”
“I’m not his toy.”
“Of course not,” he said, chuckling. “He must care deeply for you if he’s willing to drop you right at my feet so hastily.”
“You didn’t give him much of a choice, now did you?” I shot back. I needed to keep him talking for as long as possible. “Where’s Callista?”
“Odd that you should care,” he replied easily. “It’s your life for hers. If I were you, I’d want to see her dead.”
