Chapter 9

Alex's heart was somehow both in the pit of her stomach and also lodged in her throat at the same time. How it managed that, she had no idea. She staggered away from Izael, whirling to face him. Fear sent her heart pounding, the tempo in the world around her rising to match.

Izael swept his teal hair back with one hand, the grin that split his features looked like what would happen if a starving wolf decided that causing pain was immense fun. He was watching her with a deranged, hungry expression—but one that was also lit up in exhilaration. "Not happy to see me, my songbird?" He took a step toward her, and she took a step back. Tutting, he folded one hand behind his back. "I suppose you wouldn't be. You did leave in such a rush."

"Izael, wait." Was he going to hurt her? Puck made it sound like that wasn't the plan anymore—but a psychotic, angry fae was stalking toward her, and she really didn't want to take that chance. "Just wait a second."

"I have been waiting for seven days!" His words were almost a hiss through gritted and bared teeth. "Or have you forgotten?"

Flinching away at his anger, she was stunned. She hadn't expected him to be angry—she'd never seen him like this. And she really didn't like it, least of all because it was pointed at her. "Look, you have to understand. You were threatening to torture me!"

The laugh that left him was quiet. For a moment, he smiled, his anger fleeing as quickly as it had arrived. He placed his hand on his chest, fingers splayed. His words were barely more than a whisper. "I gave you my heart. Was that not enough to buy your trust?"

That felt like a punch to the face. She turned her back on him to cross the living room. It wasn't smart, turning her back on a rabid wild animal, but she needed to not see his face for a second. "I'm sorry if I hurt you, but I?—"

The impact of the wall in front of her was so sudden it stunned her for a second. He held her cheek to the wall with a hand fisted in her hair, his fiendish expression only inches away. He must have softened the impact.

"Hurt me? Hurt me?" He laughed, leaning in to scrape his teeth along the skin of her jaw. "Oh, my dear, sweet, delicious songbird. You haven't the foggiest idea what you're talking about."

A shiver ran down her spine at the touch of his teeth. Her head was reeling from his nearness.

Letting out a quiet moan, he pressed his hips tighter to her body. "Can you guess how you're going to make it up to me? Hmmm? I'll give you three chances…"

When his hips relented only to dig into her again, she couldn't help the noise that left her. It wasn't one of protest. Damn it! "Slow down. We need to talk."

"Talk? Let me think about it. Hmmmmm…" He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "No."

The world dropped out from under her. She screamed as everything went end-over-end. He'd opened a portal underneath her. When she landed on solid ground, she couldn't tell which end was up for two seconds.

Two precious seconds she didn't have.

Izael grabbed her by her shoulders and rolled her onto her back against the floor of his home. The tree branches overhead were silhouettes against the moon that was always just a little too large.

Izael straddled her waist, easily pinning her down. When she went to punch him, he snatched her wrists and pinned them to the ground beside her head. Those glowing, sea-green, snake-slitted eyes were almost glinting in excitement. "Welcome home, songbird."

"Get off me." She glared up at him.

"No."

"I'll make you." She took hold of the music around her, which had been a frantic concerto for the entirety of their tiff so far.

"No. You won't." He held up a hand, and with a flick of his wrist, a loop of what looked like metal appeared with a shimmer in his grasp. He thrust it down toward her neck as if he was going to punch her in the throat with it.

A cry left her as she turned her head away, reacting instinctually to the pain that didn't come. When she looked back up at him, he was sitting back on his heels, smiling like the Cheshire cat. And waiting. Waiting for what?

And then she heard it.

Nothing.

Blinking in confusion, she strained to listen. Maybe it—no. It was gone.

The music of the world around her was silent.

"What did you—" she started to scream at him. But his hand clamped over her mouth, muffling her shout.

"Sssshh…do you hear that?" He leaned closer. "You can't, can you?" Chuckling, he sat back again and flicked her throat. But instead of hitting her, there was a metallic plink. Before she could react, he climbed off her, walking away. "What a shame!"

In her panic she hadn't felt it at first. But there was something cold and hard around her neck. Sitting up, she put her hands to her throat. It was that loop of metal that he'd summoned. It was?—

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Standing, she wavered on her feet for a second, glad there was a column nearby. "Get this thing off of me, you assclown!"

Izael was standing some ten paces away, laughing at her again. "You did this to yourself, songbird. If you hadn't run away, you wouldn't be bound in an iron collar."

A collar with a fucking loop in the front of it, no less. It felt decorative—but of course it was. If she was going to be his pet, he'd want her to look nice doing it. "You were going to torture me. And use me."

Amusement snapping into anger like the flick of a switch, Izael stormed up to her. "I was going to keep you safe!" His fangs flashed in the light of the candles and lanterns he used to decorate his space.

She stared into his eyes, meeting his anger with equal portions her own. "You have a fucked-up definition of safe."

Hand darting upward, he snatched the loop of her collar and yanked it closer to his face. It sent her up to her tiptoes, and she had to grab hold of him to keep her balance. His lips crashed into hers, fury and rage mixing with a wild and shattered desire.

One of her hands tightened in the fabric of his shirt while she punched him in the chest with the other. All thought had left her head. Only the same anger and desperate need that she felt reflected back at her.

Gods, she wanted to surrender. Wanted to let the animal consume her. Wanted to feel his wrath. But she couldn't go down without a fight. She bit his lip hard, tasting something copper.

Snarling, Izael dropped her, pressing his hand to his lip. She hit the ground, grunting in pain. She was going to be sore in the morning. And something tells me I haven't finished collecting bruises.

Izael checked his finger for blood, before licking it with his forked tongue. "I was going to make your penance an easy one, songbird. I was going to make you gag a few times on my one cock and be done with it." Humming, he wiped his finger on his pocket square. "But if that is how you want to be…"

Alex shuffled away from him across his checkered white and black marble floor. She needed to put distance between them. Turning, she scrambled to her feet to run away. "Izael, wait?—"

Something wrapped around her ankle. A thick cord of scaled muscle. It immediately yanked her off her feet. Unable to stop herself, she braced for impact. But instead, she was once more upended as he lifted her from the ground upside-down.

"Oh, silly songbird…don't you understand?" He grinned at her as he lifted her so she was eye-to-eye with him, wrong-way-up regardless. "There's no escaping me now. Not again—never again."

"If Abigial finds out?—"

"There is the best part of all of this!" He cut her off with a sharp laugh. "Are you ready for this? It was her idea!" He cackled. "Can you believe that?"

Her world spun again as he set her down, if only for a moment. His hand was at the loop of her collar again, yanking her to her feet. When she tried to pull away from him, a wrap of his tail went around her waist and cinched. Not much. But enough.

She froze. "Izael, please…" Before, she had believed Izael wasn't going to hurt her. Not seriously. Not anything she wouldn't enjoy. But now? Now she really didn't know. Would he crush the life out of her? Or just break her spine so she couldn't crawl away?

Bayodan's line about necromancy went through her head.

"Are you ready to be a good little songbird?" He dropped the ring of her collar to run his nails slowly along her collarbone, pushing the strap of her shirt aside. "Are you ready to apologize to me for running away?"

Alex was shivering. She should be crying. Screaming. Telling him no, telling him to stop—but none of that happened. Namely, because it was the last thing she really wanted him to do. Her mind went wild with what was about to happen to her. And she knew she wasn't doing any of the options justice. However, she was still fucking pissed. She narrowed her eyes at him. "Fuck you."

"That's my girl." He took her face between his hands and kissed her again, this time biting her lower lip hard enough that it stung.

Shuddering, she held back the moan that threatened to leave her.

When he released her, her feet finally touched the floor again as he set her down and uncoiled his tail from around her waist. She wondered what he was doing for a moment before she had her answer.

Moving away from her, he lifted his hand, grasping it like he was holding the end of a string. He pulled.

And she felt herself get tugged forward by the collar. A thin chain—no bigger than what she'd use for her jewelry—ran between it and him. It was silver, the delicate loops too small to be seen.

"I simply want to make the reality of your situation known, songbird, before I make you pay your dues. Just in case that changes your opinion of the situation." He smirked.

"Take this thing off me, Iz—" She yelped as he pulled her forward again.

"Hm…no. For two reasons. One, I do not believe I have ever been so turned on in my life—" He gave the chain another pull, sending her staggering into him. When she hit his bare chest, she felt his tail behind her, pressing her to him. It ran in a wave up her body until it stopped at her lower back. She might as well have been trapped between two brick walls.

"Izael—"

"And two?" He cut her off. "It will remain until either you are removed of your powers, or…I can be certain that you are fully loyal to me in all things. That you are willing to fight the Seelie, standing at my side." He leaned toward her, grazing his lips over her cheek, before snatching her face in his hand and forcing her to turn to look at him. "As my songbird. My pet. And the woman who wanted to love me so very badly…she wished for it."

Stunned, she didn't know what to say. He watched her lips, his eyes lidded and heavy, clearly waiting for her to respond.

That was his new game.

Give up her magic or use her wish to make herself love him.

"Now, keep in mind, your soul will be mine either way. Why not make sure your centuries at my side are spent as joyful ones?" His smile was pure sin. "Not that it would have been…without its pleasures, otherwise."

She was shivering. Her anger was gone, replaced with an overwhelming need mixed with fear. Why did this feel so much worse than wishing away the treaty?

It was dizzying. The muscle at her back shifted, curling around her. She gasped as the end of his tail slid up the back of her shirt, curling over her skin.

"Tell me to stop." He combed a hand through her hair, watching the purple strands slide through his fingers. His other hand slid down under the back of her pants, digging his nails into her skin as he grabbed her ass. "Or pay me what I'm owed."

Alex let out a breath.

And said nothing at all.