11. Chapter 11- Nyx

Three days.

Three fucking days of coming down the ridiculous amount of stairs to this stuffy office.

Three whole days of him giving me lessons on letters and sounds.

I feel like an idiot. I knew these letters once, which makes this process a little easier. But it is still excruciatingly embarrassing. If it weren't for HIM ruining my life, I would have finished my lessons. My parents would be alive. I wouldn't be this half-monster on the brink of madness and corruption.

"Pay attention." Felix hits the top of my head with a stack of papers for the hundredth time.

I can't seem to stay on task. I am restless. My body is screaming out for the need to do something, but I can't figure out what that is! It's irritating, and I am ready to pull all of my hair out.

"I am!" I nearly shout.

He stares at me for a moment too long and I clench my jaw against the sensation to attack. My eyes zero in on his neck. The thick artery pulses wildly, calling to me. I could slice right through it with an ease that would have me moaning out with the pleasure of it. His warm blood would spray around the room, bathing me in his rich scent.

I could make it quick. Watch as he chokes and writhes around, unable to make a sound through the new hole in his throat.

Or?

I could make it slow. Slice by slice across his massive body, detaching muscle and sinew from the bone so his limbs are useless against me. I'd force him to lie there while I took my time taking him apart piece by piece: his immortality, my aide, and his undoing.

His tan skin would glisten with sweat from the stress. And that massive chest would rise and fall rapidly from the struggle to draw a breath in. Each muscle would strain and flex in an attempt to get free from my ropes.

"Nyx!"

I swallow thickly and slowly meet his copper eyes. I bet they roll back in his head when he—

"Nyx!" he calls again. "Where did you go?"

"Nowhere." I stare at his frustrated face, and then it all clicks into place.

Fuck! It's the kill. That is what has me so anxious. I need to sink my dagger into some asshole. While I have been trapped in this stupid castle learning to fucking read, people have been suffering out there! How many women and men have been drained dry because I am trapped here? How many are suffering simply because it is winter, and I have a warm fire at my back and plenty of food to eat?

"I'll be right back," the stupid Prince, the cause of all this, says, slowly placing the book beside me.

"Where are you going?" I stand to follow him to the door, desperate for him to take me out of here, but the asshole doesn't answer me. He shuts the fucking monstrosity in my face.

I twirl away from the door and begin looking for something that I can lodge into the lock and wiggle around until the piece of shit clicks. But there is nothing. The asshole has removed everything that could be a weapon. The only thing left behind is a quill.

Grabbing the damn thing tightly in my fist, I'm ready to make it work the best way I can. But I don't even get the chance. He didn't lock it! I crack the door and look down both sides of the mercifully empty hall. Now is my chance.

I slip through and quietly close it behind me. It would be faster to head for the castle's front door, but that is where the majority of the foot traffic is. The smart option would be to head for the courtyard he showed me the other day.

The giddiness from that day, when I got a moment to play, threatens to come back and I hesitate. But I refuse to return to the prince who threatens me with kisses and cuddles instead of the dungeons. I have been chained up, starved, beaten, and fed from. I know how to dissociate during those events, so they don't bother me. But the affection…no. It confuses me. I don't know how I am supposed to feel or handle it, especially when my mortal enemy is initiating it!

Muffled voices echo down the hall and I duck into the shadows of an alcove. A massive male with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes drags a much smaller woman with long, tangled black hair toward the doors directly across from me. His large hand covers most of her face as she tries to scream out.

Every unsettling emotion and the chaos of thoughts slip behind the mask of calm I have used throughout the years. My muscles become languid, and my focus settles solely on the target.

I watch as she scratches at his arms, holding her in place. He doesn't notice any of it. He is more worried about keeping her quiet, which incites anger to peek through the calm at the sight of her bruises and bite marks that mar her exposed skin. I won't allow him to get away with it.

He wrestles the door open and pulls her into the darkness beyond it. Pushing away from the wall, I run straight for them and slide silently through the door behind his back while he struggles to get her under control. I pull the shadows around me and slink against the wall away from them, blending in so that I can observe before attacking.

He gives up trying to calm her and he slams the door shut, clicking the lock.

"You will behave!" he bellows at the withering figure.

Patience, Nyx.

I allow the anticipation to flow through every limb and fuel the pent-up energy needed to take down this beast of a male. He is easily two heads taller than me. I must be strategic about how I take him on, so he doesn't get his massive hands on me.

As he stalks toward her, I track his movements in the weak moonslight from the window, and a plan takes form. I can finish this in a few swift movements. If I make them quick enough, he won't have the opportunity to stop me.

Waiting until he looms over her, I run up behind him and kick the back of his knee hard enough that he falls forward. I quickly wrap my left arm around his thick throat and grasp onto my right bicep as I twist my free hand around the back of his head and push forward. He has no choice but to lean into the chokehold.

He tries to struggle, but the more he flails about, the tighter I hold on. Fortunately for me, his bulky frame keeps him from being able to rip me away before my job is done. I wrap my legs around his waist and hold on for dear life as he stands and spins in circles, trying to dislodge me. Even when he slams against a wall repeatedly, I hold firm.

It feels like hours before he slumps to the floor due to oxygen restriction. But the small glimpses of elation I catch on the woman's face make it all worth it. It helps me remain strong even as my muscles scream for relief.

His knees hit the ground first with a bone-jarring thud. If I let up before he stops moving, all my hard work will be for nothing.

It isn't until he falls forward that I finally let go. I stand over his prone form, staring, struggling to breathe, and waiting for the rest of my plan to come to me. What do I do now? I am in the fucking castle! His dead body will be found faster than all the others. And Felix would know that it was me.

Can't have that. There is a window in here. This is precisely what I wanted. To kill. I mean…I didn't plan for the body…or the witness to see what I am truly capable of. No matter. Things are done. And now I must decide what to do with him. My mind says to pound on him until he explodes, to be messy with it and bathe in his blood. I just need something heavy and big enough to help achieve that kind of destruction.

"What…is he dead?" the female asks carefully, shaking me from my blood-thirsty thoughts.

"Not yet." Inspiration hits me fast and hard. Maybe this one isn't mine. This is the first time that one of the victims has been around.

I turn to face her to gauge how she would handle such violence. She shows no signs of fear from me or the unconscious body. It is almost like there is a glimmer of a spark right below the surface where her heart should reside.

Promising.

"What is your name?" I demand.

"Franny."

"How long have you served that monster?" The anger hikes up another notch, leaving me feeling restless once more.

"Ten years." She hangs her head and fidgets with her fingers. I step up to her, rest one hand on her thin shoulders, and use the other to force her chin up so that I can look into her eyes.

"Do you want revenge?" Her eyes widen, and I know deep down in my heart that this is the right decision.

"I… I have never hurt someone before."

"There is a first time for everything. But if you are uncomfortable doing this, I will take care of everything."

"Take care…of it?" she squeaks. For a second, she seems confused. But then a light of hope has them transforming them into globes of passion. "You will let ME… kill him?"

"It rightfully belongs to you."

She pulls away from me and begins searching the room with an urgency that matches the one in my soul. It doesn't take her long to find something she is satisfied with. It is some sort of statue of a lady holding a vase.

Franny stands over the male, her shoulders heaving with the breaths growing increasingly uneven.

"Ten fucking years," she whispers so low that I almost miss it. But then, faster than I can blink, she has the statue above her head and aims at the male beneath her.

It lands with a sickening thud against his skull. His muscles jump, but he doesn't get up or move.

"You fed from me!"

Thump.

"You hurt me!"

Thump.

"You took away my freedom!"

Thump.

Warm droplets rain against my face, but I don't disrupt them. Franny is beautiful in her vengeance, and wiping away the blood seems disrespectful.

I watch as the puddle of dark liquid grows under the male's body, loving the way the moonslight shines in it, almost making it appear blacker than the night sky. The smell should be distracting, but other than how it looks, it holds no interest to me. So far, the only blood that has ever tempted me was—

"Here you are, Little Thief." The deep rumble beside my ear has my back straightening and my fist clenching. Fuck! It is almost like my thoughts have summoned him. I should have left when I had the chance. I should have left Franny to her business and taken care of mine. "Let's get you upstairs," he whispers.

I follow without a word. Tia gives me a bright smile and a wink when we pass her entering the room. Strange. But what is even stranger is that Felix isn't taking me to the dungeons. He is doing exactly what he said he would, and we make our way up the massive stairs to his room.

The silence is killing me. I need him to say something. Anything. Technically, I wasn't the one who made the kill, but I was still a part of it. And for some insane, messed up reason, I want to know what he is thinking!

"Spit it out!" I finally yell.

He turns ever so slowly; his copper eyes are intense as they rake over my body and land on my face. I know I must look insane with my hair a mess from the struggle and slightly sweaty. But there is no anger in his steps as he moves to stand toe to toe with me. Or, in his large hand, he cups my cheek and uses a calloused thumb to wipe away some of the blood.

"There is nothing to say. Go bathe. Kaelin will bring a meal for you while you are in there. After you are done, climb into bed and rest. You have had a busy day." He steps back, gives me one more look, and then leaves the room, the lock clicking in place, echoing behind him.

"What the fuck? That didn't help at all!" I shout at the door. Asshole!

I stomp off to the bathingroom and look at myself in the mirror. I was right about what I look like. I have been worse, but for some reason, the spot where Felix smeared the blood bothers me the most.

I flip over idea after idea of why that would bug me so badly. And the only two things that stick out the most are one: I am bothered because he saw me like this. Or two: because he got that asshole's blood on him. Neither is logical, but at the same time, both feel right.

"Ahhh!" I scream, pushing away from the sink. "Fuck this shit!"

But I am stuck with no escape other than death. Which means I need to find HIM before I leave this plane. I will not leave it without dragging HIM down with me.