Chapter Three

Chapter Three

The Beast

The beast released my wrists, and I shoved my hands against his chest, but he vanished.

I sat up.

Where had he gone?

I tried to stand, but my ankle was swollen and bruised. I rolled onto my hands and knees and struggled to my feet, finding that I was now in what appeared to be the entrance of a castle, my eyes narrowing on a door.

I stumbled toward it and fell, moving too quickly for my injured ankle.

“Perhaps you should stay there,” said the beast, and I looked up from the floor into his dark eyes. He stood guard at the door, looking far larger than he had before. “Your knees seem to like it.”

“Fuck you.”

“You will,” he said. “Far sooner than you think if you leave my castle.”

I felt the color drain from my face, and it seemed to spark joy in the beast’s eyes. Until his gaze lowered. I was covered in mud, and now that I was inside and warm, it was drying on my skin.

“Bathe,” he said. “You look and smell like a pig.”

I glared, rising to my feet and crossing my arms over my chest. It seemed ridiculous to hide now, but his sudden cold demeanor reminded me how silly I had been this evening. I should have tried to kill him the moment I met his gaze. Instead, I’d let him touch me and it had done nothing but give him power over me.

My mouth twisted into a disgusted smile.

“Do I repulse you?” I asked, gleeful at the thought.

He arched a brow.

“Clearly not.”

I kept his gaze, unwilling to let my eyes wander, knowing well enough what he meant. I could still feel the hard press of his cock against me.

Perhaps he wasn’t the only one with power here.

I looked around the entryway, which was dark despite several lit candles waning away in corners, noticing that flowering vines covered the walls and draped from the ceiling. Behind me was a staircase covered in moss, the rails tangled in trailing vines, creating a path to a second floor that looked like the dark woods of the Enchanted Forest.

I was no longer surprised that I had found myself outside once I had left the beast’s room. It seemed that his entire castle was a forest.

“Where do you suggest I bathe?” I asked.

“Before me,” he said, and once again, my surroundings changed. Suddenly, I was in a large, cavernous room. Water wept from the rocky walls of a grotto into a dark pool overflowing into a small stream that disappeared into the darkness of the room.

I turned to face the beast, furious.

“I will not bathe in front of you,” I said.

“If you will not bathe in front of me, then you will bathe in front of them,” he said, inclining his head to the darkness of the room, which was lit by several pairs of red eyes. Awful, raspy laughs followed, and the creatures in the shadow came into the light.

The eyes belonged to several short goblins with long, sharp teeth and taloned fingers. Their hair was long and scraggly, more akin to the roots of an old tree. On their heads were pointed caps, red from blood, which they had let mat their hair and drip down their faces.

I swallowed a scream and scowled at him.

“I would rather die,” I said.

“Suit yourself,” said the beast with a lazy shrug of his shoulder, and then he vanished, leaving me to face the bloodied creatures. They scowled, red eyes alight and angry as they melded with the dark once more. For a brief moment, I thought they might leave me alone—until one launched a stone at my head.

I managed to dodge it, only to be hit square in the face by another.

Blood gushed from my nose, and I hid my face as more rocks pummeled my body.

“Fine! Fine, you miserable fuck!” I screamed. “I’ll bathe in front of you!”

The attack stopped, and when I uncovered my head, I found the elven lord had returned. He stood near, a smug expression on his pretty face.

“I suppose I should have mentioned that the red caps throw stones,” he said.

I glared as I rose to my feet and spit blood in his face.

“I hate you.”

He did not wipe his face or approach me. Instead, he smiled, wicked and cruel.

“Oh, vicious thing, you do not know hate. Give me time.”

I had never felt so murderous and wondered what the consequences were of killing two elven lords. My thoughts were interrupted when another rock flew from the dark. This time, the beast snatched it within his clawlike hand, lobbing it back. A loud crack followed, and one of the red caps fell facedown, blood pooling around its head. Seconds after, taloned hands tugged him back into the shadow while they muttered angry curses.

No more rocks were thrown.

The beast looked at me.

“Bathe. They will not bother you so long as I am here.”

“Will they watch?”

“Likely,” he said. “But do not worry. They will lust only for your blood, not your body.”

I pressed my lips thin and then looked at the pool. It was slightly elevated, accessed only by a set of narrow steps. I considered refusing the bath altogether, but one glance down my front only made me want it more. The mud made it hard to tell just how injured I truly was—not just my ankle but my entire body. Not to mention the blood from my nose was drying on my face and chest.

I approached the pool, eyeing the water. Would a sprite surge from its depths and drown me? Did I really care? It had never occurred to me until now that I had little to fight for beyond myself. What freedom lay beyond these walls but loneliness?

I shrugged off what remained of my nightgown and took the steps slowly, and though I led with my uninjured ankle, keeping weight on the other was near unbearable. I started to kneel, thinking that I might be able to crawl over the edge of the pool, when the beast offered his hand, long nails like sharp blades. Tired and not wishing to injure myself further, I took it. He held my fingers and I slipped into the pool.

The water was not as deep as I had hoped, hitting midthigh. I waded until I was at the center and then turned and held the beast’s gaze as I settled into the pool. The water was surprisingly warm, and while it soothed, it also drew attention to how much I ached.

I took a breath, moaning as I exhaled.

“Did my brothers hurt you?” he asked.

He had not taken his eyes off me, and there was a harshness to his face. If I had to guess, he was asking because of the bruises blooming across my body.

“No. Your brothers were not the first unfortunate thing to befall me today…or perhaps that was yesterday.”

I did not know the time and I did not explain further—not the curse of the well or even the toad, because none of it mattered. None of it was going to change my present or my future.

The beast did not ask.

“Is this what it means to be your prisoner?” I asked. “To never have a moment of privacy?”

“Do you wish to be stoned to death?”

“Do red caps lurk in every corner of your castle?”

He smirked but did not answer.

“I will give you a moment’s peace once you are safely in your room.”

“My room?”

“Your cell, your prison,” he said. “Call it what you wish, but I assume you understand the importance of staying inside until daybreak?”

I glared.

Night itself was dangerous, but night in the Enchanted Forest was a death wish. When I was younger, foolish boys would dare each other to spend the night in the woods, never to be heard from again no matter how close they stayed to the border.

Sometimes the bodies were found in the daylight, beaten and broken or stripped to the bone. Others were not found at all, and I often wondered if they had been whisked away to another kingdom only to become slaves or concubines to some great fae ruler.

“And after daybreak?”

“You may go wherever you dare, but only when I have no use for you.”

I ground my teeth. “What use?”

“Whatever I desire,” he said. “You are my prisoner.”

“And if I refuse?”

“You will always have a choice,” he said.

I knew what he meant by choice. It was either allow him to watch me bathe or be stoned to death.

I studied him for a moment and then fell back into the water. I scrubbed my face and my hair, and when I was finished, I remained below the surface, letting the air escape my mouth until my lungs burned and the water felt heavy, like the walls of an iron coffin.

Hands clamped down on my arms, and I opened my eyes, taking a deep, gasping breath as I broke the surface. The beast glared down at me, eyes shining with acute anger.

“You do not get to leave this world of your own accord,” he said, his gaze falling to my lips. “And if you manage it, I will follow you in death and haunt you for all of eternity.”

I was confused by his fierce response but had no time to process his anger when he released me. I reached for him as I fell, but there was nothing to hold on to. He had already vanished. I landed on something soft—a bed, I realized as I sat up, still wet and naked.

I scanned the room. It was small, far narrower than it was wide. There was an uncovered window to the left and a hearth to the right, a fire crackling and popping within, making the room almost too warm. I slipped off the bed, and there was soft carpet at my feet. I paused for a moment and then bent to touch it with my hands. I had never felt anything like it. I had only ever known the feel of compacted dirt and the occasional handwoven rug.

If this was to be my cell, it was luxurious.

A tapping sound drew my attention. For one heart-stopping moment, I thought someone was at the window, but when I looked, it was only the trees rattling in the wind, and I could see nothing beyond the thick foliage and the deep night. There was a part of me that was unnerved by the obstruction. I’d have liked to look upon the beast’s kingdom. At the same time, I was grateful and hopeful that it meant no one could peer in on me.

With that thought, I crossed to the door and tried the knob, ensuring it was locked, and then dragged a large wooden chest in front of it. I was aware of what the elven lord had not said—while I should not leave this room, he’d never said anything about someone coming in.

With the door barricaded, I returned to the bed and slipped beneath the covers and fell into a deep sleep.