The captain drew in a breath, as if about to jump off a cliff, then took a step toward his king. I stared in disbelief, shocked by the man’s loyalty. The rest of his crew didn’t run away either. On the contrary, they shuffled a little closer too.
Then I realized with a start that I had moved toward Kye too. I didn’t remember making those steps, lured by the gentle tune vibrating in his throat as he kept humming softly.
Everyone in Lyrei was always terrified of Kye’s company, and now I understood exactly why. As much as they feared his touch, they feared even more that he would make themwantit.
“Oh, my loyal subjects,” Kye drawled approvingly, watching his people moving toward him like fish following a lure. “On second thought, I’m afraid we can’t really spare anyone from the crew, can we? How about you instead, my dear?” He turned to one of the nuns.
The poor woman paled. As he approached her, however, humming a gentle melody under his breath, she leaned toward him.
“What’s your name, sweet thing?” he murmured seductively.
She blinked for a moment, as if having forgotten her name.
“I-Ilona?” she replied hesitantly, licking her lips.
He stood butt naked in front of her, but her eyes stayed firmly on his, no longer straying anywhere else.
“What a lovely name,” he murmured, raising his silk-covered hand to her face.
I held my breath in horror.
What if it didn’t work?
I had to stop it. I couldn’t let him kill an innocent woman right in front of my eyes. Yet I couldn’t move a muscle, staring at him mesmerized, just like everyone else around us. Even Odine seemed to be captivated, watching the proceedings with rapt attention.
What kind of magic was this? I’d spent almost a week with the siren king now, and I had no idea he could enthrall people like that.
But maybe I had been enthralled too all this time?
When it came to Kye, I’d experienced the pull of his attraction firsthand. But it had never been quite like this, like I had no choice and no agency over my own body and actions. Even the effects of glacier saffron had been less absolute. The saffron made my body move on its own accord, but it didn’t affect my mind or my emotions.
I thought I knew Kye. But I obviously hadn’t witnessed his magic in its full power before. It was beautiful, terrifying, and potentially deadly.
“Look at you,” he crooned, bringing his hand closer to the nun’s face. “I bet you’re one of the wildest females in Sarnala on a full moon. Do you love those nights? When you sprint through the forest, covered with nothing but fur, wild and free? With primal lust coursing through your beastly body? Tell me, sweetie, when the males inevitably catch you, do you submit? Or do you stalk them yourself, then force their knots into your hot, willing body?”
I couldn’t comprehend the full meaning of what he was saying to her. Yet my body burst aflame with desire.
How many times had I nearly jumped into his arms with no care for my safety, only for him to stop me?
Well, he wasn’t stopping anything this time. He was inviting it, luring the poor woman and all of us into his touch.
“Wild and free-spirited you may be,” he continued, weaving a sweet snare with his voice, “but you will be a good, obedient girl for me now, won’t you, Ilona?”
She nodded, with a hard swallow in her throat.
“Good. You’re doing so good, my dear. Just like that, sweet thing,” he half-whispered, as if guiding a lover through an orgasm. “Just a little bit closer now.”
With that, he cupped the nun’s cheek with his silk-covered hand.
A body-shuddering moan escaped her parted lips, as if she had indeed just orgasmed for him. Her eyelids closed. Afraid to breathe, I waited for the telltale shimmer, for the color leaching from her body as she transformed from a living woman to a glass sculpture.
One heartbeat.
Another.
Nothing happened. Ilona’s chest rose and fell with her shallow panting. She was still breathing, still living.
Thank fucking God. I finally allowed myself to draw some air into my lungs too.
