6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

I didn’t know what to say to him. I had tortured him for days, not caring about his needs. I was so sure he was guilty that I couldn’t see past the rage that blinded me from possibly discerning the truth earlier. I felt my breathing grow ragged and my heart thundered in my chest. I was getting sloppy, reckless.

Now I had to decide what to do with him. I could kill him and be done with it, but that was against the rules. His purpose here was to hunt the beast, stop the sacrifices, and save his sister. None of that warranted death. But if I let him live, he could return with other hunters. I knew he would, even if he promised that he wouldn’t. Humans weren’t to be trusted and I had given him every reason to hate me.

I took a deep breath before pushing the door open and heading into the room as a thought passed through my mind.

Or I could keep him…

Take my time in deciding how to take care of his father.

I narrowed my eyes and made my way over to him. Since he was no longer a threat, I allowed myself a moment to look at him—really look at him. His black hair was shorter than the men’s from my youth, but the way it looked on him was nothing short of remarkable. My gaze lingered on the chiseled edge of his jaw, strikingly sharp as if it were sculpted from stone. His muscles bulged beneath his ripped shirt, and sweat beaded on his skin.

I thought back to a few days ago, about my hand wrapped around his neck and how he towered over me. To anyone else, his demeanor could make anyone fearful of the damage that he could inflict, but not me. No, nothing scared me anymore.

I sighed and lifted a brow when I saw one of his muscles tense. “You can stop pretending to be asleep now.”

He opened his eyes but didn’t move. His muscles must have been atrophied. “Are you happy now?”

I raised my eyes until we were staring at each other. I tilted my head, hair falling in front of my face, and asked, “Why would I be happy?”

“You got what you wanted, didn’t you? Found out I was telling you the truth? If not, then I wouldn’t be breathing right now.”

I scoffed, set down the plate full of food I had taken from Emilia, and brought it up here for him. “You’re right about one thing. If I had found out that you were a part of their group then you would be dead…eventually. No, I would have drawn out your suffering for years until your body finally gave out and killed you out of mercy.”

He widened his eyes and snapped his mouth shut, seemingly shocked by my admission. And I swear I saw a shudder of fear pass over his body, one that I knew he tried to hold back but couldn’t.

“But that is not why I am up here.” I looked away, lost in thought. “I have yet to decide what to do with you.”

“What do you mean? You found out the truth! Now, you do the right thing and let me go.”

“The right thing?” I pondered, finger tapping my chin.

“Yes!” He exclaimed. He was getting more and more agitated by the second.

And the more agitated he got, the more the vein on his forehead became apparent. I wanted nothing more than to poke it and see exactly how angry he could get. I had never had someone defy me as much as this male, and it was profoundly entertaining.

“Well, answer me!”

I guess I was taking too long to reply to him.

I focused my attention back on him and completely ignored his plea. “I saw what was in your mind. I know why you came in search of the beast and, unfortunately, you will not be able to accomplish your task. You are well-known in your community and there is the possibility that others might come for you. But…if you were to stay, as your father said, no one would come for you. He would make sure of it.”

I continued when it was apparent that he couldn’t form a coherent thought. “I know of the rumors. No one returns when they venture out into the forest in search of slaying the beast. And to keep up appearances, it doesn’t matter what I decide; you can’t go back.”

Finally finding his voice, he asked, “And why would you care about the rumors? Unless… Unless you… Oh god. You?”

The pieces were finally fitting together in his mind.

“You aren’t the brightest in your family, are you?”

His mouth dried as his question turned into more of a statement. “You’re the beast.”

“Thank goodness that face of yours is so handsome,” I said, smirking.

“You—you can’t do that.” His throat sounded scratchy, he was parched. “You can’t keep me here. I have a family, I have—”

“In a hurry to get back to your betrothed? Or take over your family’s business of tossing children to the forest?” I scoffed at the idea. “Yes, it sounds like you have so much going for you.”

“My memories, what you saw, that doesn’t decide who I am. I still have a choice and you’re taking it from me.” He looked shattered and horrified.

I shuddered at his words, begging Circe to not choose this moment to haunt my thoughts and force me to feel my own memories all over again. I didn’t want to break into hysteria here.

A choice. I was never given a choice. But, I never asked to be a magic born. Never wished to be cursed. Never wanted to be immortal. I stopped cursing a worthless god and realized that life was unfair. We all do what we must to survive.

I looked down, ignoring his words. There was still a full plate of bread and cheese sitting right next to him. “You haven’t eaten.”

“Tampered with, no doubt.”

Understandably, he didn’t trust me, and I didn’t trust him, but this was exasperating. “If I wanted to kill you, I could have done that numerous times already. You can trust that my servant did nothing to your food.”

He eyed it hungrily, but warily. He didn’t move.

I sighed and walked closer to him, causing him to tense. I raised the hem of my black satin dress and slowly pulled it up, exposing my thighs, and knelt down, straddling him. He sucked in a breath as I sat my bare pussy on his lap—utterly sinful.

He gave me a sly smile but grunted when he tried to move his arms to attack me, thinking it the perfect opportunity since I had gotten so close to him. I smirked as he narrowed his eyes at me when his arms wouldn’t move. My shadows, once again, invaded his mind.

I smiled to myself as I leaned to the side, took the bread, and sniffed it. It was full of the flavor of the herbs from the garden, light and fluffy with a crunchy exterior. I brought the bread to my lips, flicked my tongue against it, and slowly took a bite, moaning in delight. I could feel his length move at the noise, stiffening. His breathing grew deep—heavy.

I gasped at the sensation, chills running through my body. Salacious intent danced in my eyes as shame washed over his features.

I waited a moment before responding: “See… No poison.” I brought the food to his lips, waiting for them to part, but he refused. Closing his mouth even tighter. Stubborn male.

I grabbed his hair, yanked his head back, and shoved it into his mouth until he had no choice but to bite down.

I threw the bread down onto the plate and grabbed his chin making sure that he didn’t spit it out. “Chew.”

After a few moments, he slowly began to chew, then swallowed. Looking over my face, a thousand thoughts were clear for me to see. He wasn’t sure what his next move would be. Would he try to kill himself? Or play my games?

I rolled my eyes and shifted on his lap as he continued to grow beneath me. He closed his eyes, concentrating on anything but me sitting on him. “You will eat. You chose not to do it yourself so now I will do it for you.”

I went to pick the cheese up when he said, “I do want to eat, but I need my hands to do so.”

“Then why didn’t you eat earlier?” I raised a brow.

“There was a possibility of it being poisoned.” I just kept my brow raised as he continued to stare at me. “How do you expect me to eat if I can’t use my hands?”

“I suppose you do have a point. And, if I unchain you, then you will eat?”

“Yes,” he rushed out too energetically.

I knew what he was trying to do. I had been around long enough to know that when a wounded animal was backed into a corner, they would do all they could to fight their way out. Though, I never gave anyone a chance, growing bored with the others, but this one… This one felt different, a feeling that I couldn’t place quite yet. No matter, he had piqued my interest.

“I suppose you do have a point.”

He smirked, feeling triumphant that his plan was working.

I flicked my wrists, and his chains unlocked and the moment it did he moved quickly, lifting my body up and pinned me down to the ground, straddling my stomach. One hand wrapped around my throat and the other had both of my wrists pinned above me. I couldn’t help but feel shocked that he had moved so fast as it looked like he didn’t have an ounce of fight left in him.

This human was full of surprises.

“Wrong move, witch.”

I smiled up at him. “Harder.” A look of surprise crossed his features that made me want to laugh uncontrollably if I wasn’t pinned down. “You think this can hurt me? Think again.”

“Shut up! After I kill you, I am—”

That struck a nerve. The laughter died in my throat.

“You wouldn’t be the first to try and guess what happened to them? I killed them all.” I clenched my teeth together, then got a funny idea. “ Si hoc incidas, tunc valde stultus es. ”

I laughed at my own joke, he growled, “What did you just say?”

Loosely it could be translated to our language to mean, If you fall for this, then you are dull-witted.

I replied, “You will never leave this castle. I have placed a spell on you binding you to these lands. You can’t leave.”

He squeezed my throat tighter. “You’re lying!”

I continued to smile at him as a chill ran through me. Everything about this was exhilarating. I knew I shouldn’t be enjoying it, but I was.

“No, I’m not.” My voice was so low that I wasn’t sure if he could hear it.

He was desperate, so desperate that I could feel it, as thick as the fog outside.

“If I kill you—”

“I can smell the desperation on you.” I laughed in his face, as much as the restricted movement would allow. “I can’t die. You think I haven’t tried over the years?”

I squirmed a bit under him to test exactly how strong he was and he didn’t disappoint, but I could tell that he was still weak. He wasn’t strong enough to fight me in his current condition.

My words changed his features and softened them for a moment, but he quickly shook it off. “I could beat you with one hand tied behind my back,” he seethed.

“I think you are too weak to fight.” It was slightly difficult to talk around my throat being constricted like a snake.

I could see that he was determined and wasn’t likely to take no for an answer. I was curious to see what his next move would be.

“I want to fight,” he growled.

“I have magic.” I was surprised that he would propose such an asinine idea.

“I am not afraid of your powers.”

“No, it seems like you aren’t.” I saw something in him I liked, perhaps a bit too much. “Even if you kill me, I have placed a spell on you so that you can’t leave.” I could see that he was fighting with himself, his grip loosening, wondering if I was telling the truth. “Sure, I could be lying, but is that something you are willing to risk?”

He took a moment to think about what his next move was. His thighs gripped my stomach tightly, his large form hunched over mine.

I stared into his moss-green eyes and waited when he finally asked, “Care to make a wager?”

This male had officially piqued my interest. This was the most fun I’d had in a long time.

“A wager?”

“If I win, you’re dead and I am free to go back to my village.”

“And if I win?”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “That won’t happen, so there’s no use in worrying about that outcome.”

“It’s only fair that we talk about the slim chance I have at beating you.”

“Coin.”

I looked at him pointedly. Was he slow-witted? He seemed to realize that would not be something I could want and sat silently on top of me, his hand still firmly on my throat.

“The wager is off. You have nothing to offer.” I didn’t move from under him, too curious about what he would say next.

He closed his eyes out of frustration, tired of wasting more time, and gritted out, “You win, you can do whatever you want with me.”

The fight in this one was foolish, but at the same time, invigorating.

“Anything, you say?” I closed my eyes and pretended to think about it and asked, “So, if I win, then you will stay here as my pet?” I narrowed my eyes, studying him. “I will use you. I will hurt you. I will break you.”

A shudder fell over him. He seemed to take a moment to consider the wager, or perhaps contemplate my words and what they meant.

“We have a deal, but no magic. We fight fair.”

“Very well,” I tsked. “I accept the terms of the wager, but first you eat.”

“Stop wasting time and let’s get this over with.”

“You are obviously too weak to fight. I can feel your hand trembling. It’s no fun hunting a wounded animal. Eat.”

He hesitantly let go of my neck and bounced back on his heels, standing up and raising his fists in a fighting stance. “No, we do this now.”

“You need to eat.” Nothing. He didn’t back down. I sighed. “Fine, I did try to warn you.”

I rolled my eyes, got up from the ground, wiped myself off, and stood there waiting for him to make the first move.

He waited a second before he rushed toward me, fist flying through the air. I waited until the last second to move my head just enough to evade his attack and sidestepped him, tripping him in the process.

He landed hard on his stomach and knocked his head against the stone floor. Even I winced from the sound and knew that he was badly injured.

“Foolish egotistical male.”

I went over to him and, to my surprise, he began to get back up. I allowed him to, and he used all of his strength to throw multiple punches at me and missed every time. He was panting, using the wall to hold himself up. He wiped sweat off of his forehead with the back of his hand. He pushed off the wall and approached me, his movements slowing down, growing lethargic.

He must have used the last bit of his energy when he pinned me on the ground.

His body was giving out, the fool. I warned him. Had he been at his full strength this would have been much more enjoyable. I just needed to wait him out. He stumbled forward and just as I was about to catch him, he reached under his shirt and pulled out something shiny. Before I knew it, I felt something sharp slice through my side.

“I told you I would kill you,” he panted.

I looked down and saw blood dripping down my sides, soaking into my dress. I rolled my eyes and looked back up at him. His eyes had brightened as if he knew in his heart that he had succeeded in killing me. I stepped back, pulled the shard of glass out without flinching, and threw it to the ground.

“You’ll have to try harder than that. And you cheated.”

His eyes widened, clearly confused, and just as I was waiting for another attack, his eyes rolled in the back of his head, and he fell forward. I reached out and caught him, and if it hadn’t been for my magic, I would have fallen along with him.

I dragged him over to the wall, placed him down next to the food, and said, “If I were a better person, I wouldn’t say this, but unlucky for you, I’m not human so… I told you so.”

He shouldn’t have fought me when I entered his mind, nor hit his head that hard against the ground. That coupled with no food or drink and being suspended for endless hours could even bring a talented hunter to near collapse.

I took a deep breath, coming to terms with the new addition. “You’ve lost. Now you’ll eat.” He barely opened his eyes and narrowed them at me though I was done with his games. “Or I will force the food down your throat.”

He knew that I meant what I said, and without sitting up, he reached for the cheese and nibbled a small piece. He closed his eyes, savoring the taste. And before I knew it, he was scarfing down the food as if his life depended on it. In his case, it did.

I stared at him and pondered what him being at his full strength looked like. This was a pathetic excuse for a fight. His body was moving out of sheer will and nothing else.

He leaned up on his side just enough to be able to drink the entire goblet of water and guzzled it down sloppily. He dropped the cup with a loud clang and collapsed onto the ground, exhausted from the fight.

“You’re mine now, but you can worry about that tomorrow. For now, rest.”

“No, I can—”

“ Sonum, ” I said as I blew the powder in his face.

I crouched next to him, sliced the pad of my finger, and pressed it against his lips. Allowing just enough to enter his body to heal any life-threatening injuries, but not enough to replenish all of his strength. He was a hunter, after all. I couldn’t let my guard down even with my powers. He needed uninterrupted rest if he was to fully heal from his injuries.

You mean the injuries that you caused.

“That’s beside the point.”

He has a lot of fight in him, doesn’t he? Remind you of anyone?

“Leave it to you to find a way to talk about yourself, again.”

If I don’t, then who will?

I ignored the pest and walked out of the tower, placing a locking spell over the door and windows, ensuring he couldn’t escape.

“Sleep tight for tomorrow the real fun begins.”