Page 9

A gust of chilled air came from inside the darkened room, and I hesitated at the threshold.

Pushing my unease aside, I stepped in, candlelight flaring to life upon my entrance as if I’d beckoned it. The room was a grand hall—enormous in size with an arched and curved ceiling that opened up to the peaceful night sky above. And of course, the same glowing crystals veined the walls and floor.

I stood in awe, shaking my head to clear my thoughts from the beauty of it all. The room was filled with massive, monstrous statues, each seeming larger than life. They stood like sentries, beasts frozen in violent poses, as if ready to attack.

A shiver rippled down my spine and intensified when I realized I wasn’t alone.

“Fearsome, aren’t they?”

I jumped and spun around, heart leaping into my throat. Blaylock stood in the doorway, framed in the glow of the blue torchlight.

In the time it took for me to explore, Blaylock changed into a pair of dark trousers that clung to his thick, powerful legs, his chest still bare of any covering. But nothing could hide the raw, brutal strength of his body.

His horns curled back from his brow, gleaming faintly like onyx in the low light, matching his short dark hair that had this windswept appearance to it.

“Yes,” I answered honestly, my voice small in the vastness of the hall. “I didn’t mean?—”

He moved toward me, slow, controlled, but there was an edge to his stride. His very aura had the rest of my words stuck in my throat.

“I told you that you were free within these walls,” he said, voice low and sounding deep like thunder. “This place can be terrifying, I’m sure, but you’re safer here than anywhere else.”

I swallowed hard and nodded, not sure why I trusted him. Not sure why his words made me feel like this was where I should have been all my life.

His black gaze scanned the room. “This room is frightening for you. I have no doubt. But this is a place of memory. Of battles won.”

I glanced at the nearest statue, at the way the creature’s stone wings loomed behind it—high and intimidating.

“No one will bother you. You’re under my protection. But my subjects will stare?—”

“Because I'm human?”

“Because you’re different,” he said, his gruff voice gentler. He was only a breath away from me now, and the scent of him was so intoxicating that I actually swayed slightly.

“I smell your fear. I smell your confusion.” He reached out and cupped my cheek. “You’re so fragile.” He inhaled deeply. “You’re so beautiful and perfect that I want to destroy anything that even thinks of taking you from me.”

I sucked in a sharp breath at his words… and what they did to me. I felt heat, the kind of warmth that settled between my thighs and made me tingle in places that certainly had never feltthatbefore.

I shook my head, closed my eyes, and gathered my composure. “You keep saying that I’m yours.” I bit my bottom lip and felt a flush cover my cheeks and neck. “Why me?”

Blaylock stared at me, his expression unreadable again. But there was something softer there now, something cracked open behind his onyx eyes.

“Because when I saw you,” he said, his voice low and distant, as if he were replaying that moment when he saved me. And he had. He’d saved me from far more than he’d ever know. “I felt this fire inside of me. One I'd never experienced before. It made me feel alive, my little one.” He stroked his claw over my cheek. “You’ve seen things in your life and experienced pain. You’ve been frightened for far too long, but you didn’t break. I knew then you were destined to be mine and mine alone.”

His words sank into me like the claws he had pressed to my skin, tugging at something I didn't know had been buried deep.

“I’m not strong,” I whispered, not sure why I’d said the words. “I’ve been slowly breaking my entire life.”

“Maybe,” he murmured, his gaze locked on my mouth. “But despite it all, you survived.”

I couldn’t speak. The lump in my throat was too thick. I didn’t know if I wanted to cry, scream, or fall into his arms and tell him I never wanted to go. That this felt… right.

But I stayed where I was. I didn’t move or speak or even breathe. His presence wrapped around me until I was cocooned in everything that was Blaylock.

“You mesmerize me, my perfect, little human… in ways that make no sense to a beast like me. You are mine, Katrina. Not as a prize. Not as a prisoner?—”

“As yours,” I whispered, finishing his sentence.

He leaned down, his voice just above a whisper along my lips. I closed my eyes and shivered. “As my queen.”