Thaan played us like dolls on a string, inanimate objects to toss and thrash against each other, and the thought of his watching as I shed my clothes with Kye made me want to shed my skin as well. It suddenly felt too tight, too constrictive, too hard. But I was trapped inside.Iwas the parasite, raking my walls with sharp nails while the shame I'd always pretended to ignore wielded my body under Thaan's command.
Kye set me down, grasping the button of his own pants. My hands reached to help yank them down, working them over his thick thighs until he stood back to kick them off his ankles.
A giggle escaped my mouth.
I reeled inside my mind, horrified.Stop, I raged.You’ve made yourself clear.
Kye climbed on top of me, mouth deviously curved at the sound of my laughter. His eyes flickered, pupils growing and shrinking, and I knew he was fighting Thaan as hard as I was.
What have I made clear?Thaan asked inside my head.
I realized I was panting, either from the weight of Kye’s excited body over mine or from the desperation to not cry in the heat of my fury. My fists had slowed, dragging down the walls as I watched my real, solid hands loop into the band of my delicate underthings, sliding them down.
Kye moved in to help me, pupils as wide and black as I’d ever seen them. A tear flashed down his cheek, cutting a wet line to his jaw.
You expect me tocordaewith him.
And will you?
Yes.
Kye pulled the thin fabric off me, the last thing covering my body, his hands stroking the backs of my knees as he cascaded down my legs. He let the linen drop to the floor.
When?
Pushing upright, Kye reached for his own briefs.
As soon as I can,I seethed, though my voice was shrill and high in my head.The first chance I have, as long as you’re not here to watch.
“Stop,” Thaan said.
We both froze. I realized my own cheeks were wet. Anger fractured inside me, wave after wave, pummeling the edges of my mind like the wrathful ocean against the cliffs. Anger and shame andMihauna-damned fear, breaking over and over against unyielding stone, beating senselessly on rocks that would never give into submission.
And suddenly, I realized why the sea holds so much rage. Why the sky screams with white fire. Why the earth cracks wide to spew molten rock.
Why stars explode.
I knew why the world broke into storms, suffering under a fight that seemed hopeless. Because sometimes, the only way to seek refuge was to destroy yourself. Staring at Kye, bound and chained by his human blood, a storm of fire caught within me, winds chasing the flames high.
And I became a torch, dripping and raw. No longer afraid to set the world aflame just to listen to the sound it made as it burned.
Hands behind his back, Thaan approached the bed.
He studied us like he might a carving in the palace gallery. Two figures etched in marble, locked forever in a sensual embrace. Then he cocked his head toward Kye.
“Slit your throat.”
Shock—cold, pulsing, slicing—cleaved through me in an instant.
Kye reached for the dagger I’d fallen asleep next to, forgotten on the mattress.No, I shouted, grabbing hold of my walls and shaking them. The world around me trembled with my own fear, the scent of it thick enough to wade through, an insidious fog poisoning the air.
Kye brought the blade to his opposite hand, unsheathing it with a quick click.
I swear it,I cried.I swear it on my blood.
“Oh, Maren. You know better than to make irrational promises on your blood,” Thaan said.
The edge of the knife flat, Kye angled it at his throat. I screamed. My body didn’t make a sound, but my heart thrashed inside my chest.
