Page 55 of Artemysia

“I dared the universe to prove me right or wrong by holding out on sex.” - Riev

H ow will I get out of this one? I’m already dizzy from whatever poison is in the scotch. I need Delphine. She’ll know what to do.

The twins giggle as I sway. My vision blurs. They each clasp an arm and guide me onto the armchair blocking the passageway.

“You were right,” Sylvi says. “He has to be Syf. He looks exactly like the one they brought in last month. His eyes, his nose, and jaw… They could be brothers.”

“I’m not Syf.” My tongue is heavy, and my words come out thickly. I struggle to drag away the leather chair blocking the passageway.

Sylvi pushes me into the chair with a flick of her wrist on my sternum. My knees give way like twigs as I’m backed into the edge of the seat. That’s all it takes to thwart my escape in my current state. I drop back, no longer able to stand.

I’m screwed. They have complete control of me .

“I’m not Syf,” I repeat, scrambling to keep my thoughts from splintering even as my head spins. Sylvi is an almond-haired, periwinkle blur leaning over me.

“We’ve been waiting for one who isn’t rabid.” Sylvi plops down on the arm of the chair and presses her lips to my ear. “I want to be with a Syf. They’re supposed to be amazing in bed…”

The nerve on this one.

“If they rule the world, then we want a Syf mate.” It’s Kye, curving over me. He strokes my hair and neck.

What? Who rules the world?

“I’m not—” I stammer.

“The scars on your back. Your wings were cut off,” Sylvi insists.

“I felt them. They’re like other spies the king has caught.

” She’s fucking unbuttoning my shirt. Her hands rake my chest. I tense, but it’s hard to tense when my body feels like mint jelly.

My heart pounds uncontrollably, a galloping elk thundering against my ribs.

I didn’t see this coming. I don’t want this. I’m Delphine’s.

“Stop. I’m human. My ears…” I cock my head and show my teeth. “No fangs.”

“Fangs and claws only appear on the rabid ones.” Kye grips the knot holding my hair back and pulls out the band. He rakes his fingers into my scalp. “Syf hair is so much softer than human hair. I’ve only touched dead ones, though. Sylvi, feel this.”

They know so much more about Syf.

Sylvi is kissing my neck, but she pauses.

“Kye, he’s right. His ears aren’t pointed.” Sylvi drags her nail along the curve of my ear, her expression predatory.

Kye leans in, his cold, slender hand gripping my throat and jaw to turn my head. “He must have snipped them to blend in with humans.”

“But there’s no scarring.”

“That’s not right. Syf never have rounded ears.”

I take the opportunity to save myself. “The scars aren’t from wings. They’re from a riding accident. Thrown off an elk, and its untrimmed antlers gored me, tore up my back.”

Sylvi is skeptical.

Kye crosses his arms and lets loose a frustrated sigh. “Pfft. He turned out to be a waste of effort. ”

I struggle against the drowsiness. I can fucking fight this. Don’t close your eyes. Don’t close …maybe just for one second. It would feel so good to close my eyes. Shit. No! For Delphine. Stay awake .

“Well, let’s kiss him anyway. Just in case,” Sylvi says.

“I don’t want to kiss a normal man. We can have anyone we want downstairs.”

“This is elkshit. I’m not going back to the boring ball.”

Sylvi’s complaints are the last words I hear, her hands still roving over my body, down to my belt buckle. Her fingers work to unhook it, and it’s loosened around my waist.

I’m blindsided.

Every inch of my body wants to fight, but I feel as if I have no bones.

My blood boils over, but I can’t punch, stab, or choke anything. I can’t remember the last time I felt this unnerved.

Panic invades my every thought. I would never admit this aloud, not even to Delphine, but the other reason I never had sex before was because sex was something I wanted to share with someone I could fall in love with, someone who would care for me in return.

It always surprised me that I held on to this belief all these years.

Why did I? Marije, the woman who took me in—I called her “Ma” for short because her name was difficult to pronounce when I was a small boy—told me that the ravens nesting in the trees by our river cottage mated for life .

I always wondered how the birds could tell each other apart, since they all looked exactly alike. The musings of a child…

But the idea that they mated for life clung to my soul like melted honey.

Ever since, it’s as if I dared the universe to prove me right or wrong by holding out on sex.

To test whether or not someone like me deserved love. A self-destructive killer.

And I received an answer in Delphine.

So now, I struggle with all the strength and willpower I can summon to save myself from the twins’ intentions.

I don’t want anyone else touching me.

Fucking hell if they do. Come on, stand up, body . Fight. You love to fight. Fight for Elphie .

But it doesn’t work, and all I can manage is a weak growl as I succumb to the drowsiness.

My head lolls sideways as I slump deeper into the chair, my vision graying until I spiral into darkness.