Page 48

Chapter 14

Heading upstairs, I’m hesitant to step in the room. One of the cooks has brought a platter of food, cheeses, crackers, and fresh fruits as well as some weird round pieces of meat and what looks like little colored onions. Dragus plucks a grape off the tray. I go inside the closet; my clothes are a little damp from walking in the snow. I slip on some comfy pajamas and walk back out to find them only in shorts having removed their shirts. My eyes roam over each one of them, and my stomach tightens at the sight of them. Silas holds out his hand to me, beckoning me over.

“Don’t go back on your word, Elora, or I will, too,” he says.

Placing my hand in his, I let him pull me toward the bed and sit on the edge. I reach over, taking a cube of cheese and a cracker as they were literally the only thing other than the fruit I recognize and start eating with them.

“Try these,” Matitus says, pointing to the round thing that looked like meat and the little onions. He puts them on the cracker with the cheese, popping it in his mouth.

The little green onions feel slimy. I sniff one, but it doesn’t smell like an onion. I pop it in my mouth and nearly spit it out from its weird, tangy taste. It wasn’t horrid but not what I was expecting. Matitus chuckles, doing the same to another cracker and handing it to me.

“You’re supposed to put cheese and cabanossi with it,” he says, handing it to me. “Try it now,” he says as I place the cracker with its strange assortment in my mouth, chewing it slowly and swallowing.

“Taste better?” Silas asks beside me as he lays on his side.

“Yes, better,” I tell him, making another one, copying what Matitus did.

When we finish eating, I become nervous. Will it hurt being marked by them? In the Dragon heat, nothing hurt worse than the burning, so I didn’t even notice Matitus’s initial bite.

“It will only hurt for a second, then it will feel good,” Matitus answers my racing thoughts.

“Can you not do that; I should be allowed the privacy of my own mind,” I tell him, annoyed.

“Fine, I will try not to, okay?” he says, reaching for me as Dragus removes the tray and places it outside the door on the trolley.

“How do I know you will turn the power back on?” I ask, staring at Silas.

“You may not trust me, Elora, but I am not a liar. If you want, though, you can let one of us mark you then the other after the power is back on.”

“Will you allow that?” I ask incredulously, that one of them will wait. It honestly surprised me when he didn’t mark me as soon as I said it.

“Yes, so who first? You can decide,” Silas says.

Looking between both Dragus and Silas, how do I choose without angering the other?

“They won’t be angry,” Matitus says next to my ear, making me look at him.

“Stay out of my head, Matitus,” I tell him.

“Oh, right, forgot.”

“Anyone got a coin, flip for it?” I suggest not wanting to choose between them. Silas stands, digging through his pocket and pulling out a gold coin. He tosses it to me, and I catch it.

“Fine, heads or tails” I ask looking at them.

“Heads” Silas says. Flipping the coin in the air, I catch it, placing it on my arm and lifting my hand.

“Tails, that means you Dragus,” I tell him, looking at him. Dragus smiles devilishly, and his eyes flicker black. He bites his lip as he turns to Silas. Silas doesn’t seem fazed as he sits back down on the bed.

“It won’t hurt for long,” Matitus tells me, invading my thoughts again.

“Oh, my fucking god, are you incapable of listening? Stay out of my fucking head, Matitus,” I tell him slapping his arm.

“I find your thoughts entertaining, little one. Especially your thoughts when I catch you, perve.”

Turning around quickly, I place my hand over his lips so he can’t finish what he is about to say. I can feel him still trying to talk as I press my hand to his mouth, muffling his voice. Matitus snorts and my face goes bright red with embarrassment.

Matitus grips me, lifting me on his chest as he lays back on the bed, pulling me with him. My hands clamped tightly over his full lips.