Page 7

The castle walls seemed like the throat of a monster , swallowing me deeper into a chasm where I’d face digestion and my ultimate demise.

This castle, this sentinel of declining splendor, hunkered down in a realm of decadent shadow.

Icy wind whistled through the meandering corridors; a bleak sky stretched beyond the frosted pane glass windows.

A monster of stone and gloom intent on gobbling bones and flesh—a crypt.

“You know,” Domovoy began, weaving back and forth as we ambled along, “the master is most delighted you’ll be joining him.”

My face scrunched up. “I doubt your sincerity.”

The beast had seemed unnerved by my arrival and more than slightly displeased.

Though he had offered lodgings instead of a dungeon, that had to stand for something.

A guest compared to a prisoner, despite taking the fruit.

If he’d been so insulted, he might have passed judgement for the worse.

Something had swayed him, though I couldn’t say what .

“No, no, really.” The cat’s glowing eyes mimicked the flickers of candles.

“It’s been so long since we’ve had a proper guest. And his highness could use the company.

” He turned his head forward, leading me down a set of spiraling stairs.

“So much to do, so little time, and never any worthy visitors.”

“You don’t say,” I deadpanned. “I can hardly believe an old, dusty, musty castle holds little appeal. Especially when you suggest dungeons upon arrival.”

Domovoy snickered. “That is not for each guest. Only interesting little thieves.”

“Such as myself, I suppose.”

“See, you do understand.” His impish chuckle made me pinch my lips. “Besides, I think the entertainment will be good for us.”

I doubted I was included in the us .

“Ah, here we are.” Domovoy stood on his hind legs and shoved at a set of double doors with his front paws. The doors groaned open, screaming on rusted hinges. Amber light from within spilled into the hall. “In you go.” After dipping his head, the cat melted into the shadows and vanished.

A tightness in my chest held me back. Already so weary and the spectacle hadn’t even begun. Still, I followed the cat’s instructions and shuffled within. The doors slammed shut behind me and my breath caught in my chest.

“Please, come inside.” That growling baritone voice hooked on the erratic beat in my chest and tugged.

My head snapped across the spacious, cavernous room to the prince sitting at the head of an egregiously long table that could fit dozens upon dozens of guests.

The way he said please didn’t feel like a courtesy. It felt like a trap.

Scanning the room, I found glittering lights hanging from the ceiling, long faded tapestries clung to the walls, and bunches of flowers spanning the table’s length.

And at the end, with the beast, a veritable feast boasting more food than two could dare to consume.

I focused on the warmth of the golden light, the intriguing smells of the food, and finally the creature rising from his seat.

He rose slowly, claws curling over the edge of the table.

Flickering light reflected in the glowing embers of his eyes and highlighted the ridged texture of his horns.

His eyes burned my skin as they roamed over my figure and took in the dress.

My heart skipped, fluttering against the cage of my ribs.

The way he looked at me… like a wild animal drooling over raw flesh on the bone.

Like he would chew me down to the marrow and lick my blood from his lips.

Like a wolf panting over a fresh kill, hungering in some primal, feral way.

A shiver juddered through me.

The beast cleared his throat, and it sounded like a brief growl. “You look… divine.”

I didn’t bow or simper like a mortal girl flattered by a beast’s approval. I stood in silence, spine straight, heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. His eyes narrowed. I swallowed the lump in my throat before nodding.

Prince Mavros said nothing for a while, content to observe my reactions to the display.

Lingering exhaustion and uncertainty held me in place alongside the prickle of anxiety at my nape.

Already feeling drained from my rush of emotions earlier and the questions plaguing my mind, I didn’t know how to proceed.

And the longer I stood there, the more his features narrowed and tensed into frustration.

The palpable tension cracked.

“Are you going to just stand there?” His tone was more bark than genuine curiosity.

“I haven’t decided,” I replied, chin high. My knees wobbled. “I wasn’t sure if I was invited to eat dinner or be it.”

His tail twitched behind his chair and his jaw ticked. “If I wanted to eat you, I wouldn’t have extended an invitation.”

“How delightful,” I mumbled.

The beast gestured to the seat beside him with a flick of a clawed hand. The wood scraped the floor as he pushed it out. “Sit.”

The order scraped against an inherent sense of pride within me. “You might try asking.”

His eyes flashed like sparking flames. “I don’t ask.”

“And I don’t obey.”

The tension cracked in the air between us like lightning on the cusp of a storm .

“You will sit.” Prince Mavros gestured at the table setting beside him with one massive hand.

My gaze followed the tips of his claws until he sat once more, and they were splayed on the table’s edge.

His claws dug into the red tablecloth, tearing fibers as his agitation at my immobility rose. “SIT!”

I wouldn’t let a damned creature command me on a whim.

Human body or not, I had the spirit of a sylph.

For centuries, I had protected the creatures of my forest, and I wouldn’t let this predator hold control over me.

Raising my head high, straightening my spine, I stared down my nose in his direction.

“Perhaps if you displayed some decorum, I might.”

“Fine!” He slammed his palms on the table, and his chair legs scraped gratingly as he shoved away from the table.

The beast marched down the length of the table and seized my upper arm—not painfully, but firmly enough to make my heart stumble while he manhandled me into my appointed seat.

He pushed my chair closer to the table before stomping back to his.

“How’s that for decorum, my lady?” he sneered, tusks and sharp canines on full display.

“Well, how should I know, you abominable beast?” My tone rose to match his.

He jerked back as if he’d been slapped. His head tipped, confusion swirling in his fiery eyes as he watched me. “I warn you, my patience runs thin.”

“I bet you’re reconsidering the dungeon about now, then,” I retorted .

Ignoring him, I turned my attention to the food on the table.

My body was still achy and sore, starving from running for so long without nourishment.

Without acknowledging the beast, I began grabbing steaming vegetables from gilded platters and loading them onto the porcelain in front of me.

Though I avoided the large roast smothered in gravy as the sight and smell of it turned my stomach.

“Are you feral? That’s not how you—” the beast prince spluttered. “What are you doing? Use a fork!”

“Was I not invited for dinner?” I paused with a handful of carrots halfway to the plate.

“Your hands.” He spread his fingers, showing off the long digits, silver rings, and claws. “You’re using your hands. Don’t speak to me of decorum when your table manners are akin to that of an animal!”

Face flushing at the misstep, I dropped the carrots. We both watched them roll around the tablecloth and bump into a crystal glass. I snatched my hand into my lap and sat rigid as the beast moved. “Forgive me, Your Highness. I wasn’t raised in a castle. Or do you forget that you kidnapped me?”

“You weren’t kidnapped,” he growled. I swore he rolled his eyes. “You trespassed. You stole.”

“I only needed some fruit. I was starving. That’s hardly reason enough—”

He leaned forward, claws tapping the table in a slow, ominous rhythm. “It’s my land. Under my protection. Mine . That’s more than reason enough.”

“And now I’m under your roof. That doesn’t make me your possession to command as you see fit.”

He said nothing. But his tail lashed violently behind him, a warning sign if I’d ever seen one.

He growled low in the base of his chest, lip curling even as he reached forward and grabbed some sort of utensil, which he used to heap more food onto my plate. He dropped several slices of roast before I could stop him.

“Eat.” He dropped into his seat with a huff. Seeming to think better of the one-worded demand, he tacked on, “Please” as an afterthought. It didn’t entice me into obeying, but my rioting stomach did.

Endless social blunders laid before me. There were so many little utensils on both sides of the porcelain, and more than one crystal glass at each setting.

Sylphs didn’t need such devices and held no sense of human deportment.

I had no choice but to watch the beast and conform to his style of etiquette.

I reached for something shiny.

“That’s for soup,” he snapped.

I dropped it.

The silence stretched thin.

He watched, smirking, as he enjoyed my confusion .

Once again, his appearance astounded me.

As he ate, I had more freedom to examine him.

His fur stood as dark as a starless night, and his horns rose before curving back.

He had longer ears, almost covered by a mane of long black hair that fell over his shoulders.

In my periphery, I spotted his long tail swishing inches above the floor; the only outward sign of his mood, but one I wasn’t familiar with reading.