Page 22

22

NARANUS

I should have killed them both.

Even now, with the tension in the room thick enough to choke on, my claws twitch with the desire to tear into their throats, to rip through flesh and bone and end the threat standing in front of me.

Because make no mistake, they are a threat.

Not just to me. To her.

Eryss is standing too close to them, her body still angled toward me, but her loyalty tethered somewhere between. I feel it like a blade pressed against my core, like a rope pulling taut, stretching the space between us.

Her silence is the worst part.

Not an argument, not a plea, not even an explanation, just silence.

I glare at the Purna woman closest to her, the one called Catalina. Her hand is still near her weapon, and the challenge in her gaze makes my rage pulse sharper, hotter.

"Say the word, Eryss," Catalina murmurs. "And I'll finish it."

I take a step forward.

Eryss reacts immediately, her palm pressing against my chest.

“Don’t.”

The touch burns more than it should. Not because it’s painful. Because it isn’t.

I don’t want her to pull away.

She doesn’t look at me. Her gaze stays locked on Catalina, silver eyes steady, unwavering. “I already told you, he’s mine to deal with.”

A sharp, slow inhale.

A barely concealed shift in the room.

Catalina's fingers twitch, but she doesn't draw the blade. Instead, she studies Eryss carefully, her eyes narrowing.

"You hesitate."

Eryss doesn’t deny it.

Neither does Amelia. The other Purna woman, the quieter one, the one who has been watching more than speaking, she sees it too.

I hate it.

I loathe that these witches look at her and see something I can’t control. Something I can’t hold in my hands and bend to my will.

Something I can’t predict.

"You don't need to protect him," Catalina presses, her voice low, edged with a different kind of warning. "You came here to kill him. You still can."

Eryss tenses, but she doesn’t step away from me.

Her voice, when it comes, is too even. Too calculated.

"He saved my life," she says again, but softer this time.

Catalina scoffs. "For what? To keep you as his captive?"

I expect Eryss to snap back. To argue.

But she doesn’t.

She just stands there, her breathing too controlled, her fingers still resting against my chest, as if she needs to keep herself steady.

The rage in my gut shifts, turns into something heavier, something dangerously close to possession.

"You think you have a choice in this?" I snarl, turning my full attention on Catalina.

She doesn’t back down. Neither does Amelia.

But Eryss stiffens.

Before I can react, she pulls away and faces me fully.

"You don't get to tell me what choices I have."

The fire in her voice sends something sharp through me, something I should ignore but don’t.

"You gave up your choice the moment you stepped into my stronghold," I growl.

Her eyes burn silver in the dim light.

"And yet, here we are."

The words are a challenge, a battle she wants me to step into.

I do.

In one movement, I close the space between us, my fingers wrapping around her wrist before she moves away completely.

Her pulse hammers beneath my touch.

"Say it, then," I murmur, voice low, dangerous. "Say you don't want me dead."

The room stills.

Even the Purna women are silent now.

Eryss stares up at me, unflinching, her lips parting just slightly.

I feel the war in her bones, the fight between what she was sent to do and what she actually wants.

It should be simple.

It should be instinct.

But it isn’t.

Her hesitation is enough.

More than enough.

I release her, my fingers slow to let go.

I don’t miss the way her breath catches, how her skin flushes in the low light, how her pupils dilate.

She hates this.

Hates that her body betrays her the same way mine does.

"You're wounded," Amelia finally speaks, her voice steady but not unkind. "Let us help you."

I snarl immediately.

"You won't touch me."

Amelia lifts a brow, unimpressed. "You're bleeding."

"So?"

Eryss steps back, breathing out roughly, her expression tense. "Just let them help you."

I glare at her, muscles coiled tight. “I don’t need their magic.”

She tilts her chin up, defiant. “Then bleed out.”

I step closer, forcing her back against the tip of the wooden table behind her, my body towering over hers. "Would that please you, little bride?"

Her chest rises sharply, silver eyes burning.

"Not as much as seeing you humbled."

The words should make me laugh.

Instead, they make my pulse slam harder.

I can’t stop, so I move closer to feel the warmth of her breath, to see the pulse in her throat quicken.

"Careful what you wish for, Eryss," I murmur. "You might get more than you can handle."

Her breath stutters, but she doesn’t push me away.

Doesn’t run.

Neither of us moves.

Neither of us blinks.

The room, the tension, the two Purna witches still watching, none of it matters.

For this moment, it's just us.

I detest how much I don’t want to let go.