326- The Caged Prey
POV Viktor Averwyn:
“Why?”
“Ask him. We fought, he fled. I healed the woman and brought her with me. Soon after, he called me, wanting her back.” I finished the drink in one go, controlling the rage that surged. “He threatened me and kept his promise. According to him, no one would believe me. Today, he sent wolves to attack my village. It's all part of the same plan. To prove that I am the aggressive one.”
“You've never made things easy. And he said they went to talk.”
“The saint, the good shepherd. Suffering over his kidnapped girlfriend! Another body for my women's cemetery,” I scoffed.
“Damn! And isn't that a reason for you to go to the meeting tomorrow? Clarify this, confront him. The Elders raised us like sons, they'll know how to identify who is lying and...”
“And they'll throw me into their perpetual prison, using magic, or whatever the hell they have!” I stood up, dragging my chair back. “It's a trap. Lucian will take advantage of this to want my head, because of my refusal to give him my daughter. Konrad will do what he always does: lie. You and Edric, even if you have doubts, won't go against them or the old men. So my answer is: fuck the meeting!”
“Viktor...”
“No. If the Elders want to hear my answer, it will be the same.”
“Think! This will end badly!”
“It's already started badly.”
Before I hung up, he called out to me.
“Wait! Listen, I'll tell all of this tomorrow. Then we'll talk.”
“It won't do any good. But I'll tell you one thing: observe, Aldren. You and Edric. Try to be fair, pay attention to the details, to what will be said and demanded. For a long time now, I've known that nothing there is what it seems. There's much more hidden. And I will find out.”
He sighed.
“I'll call you tomorrow.”
I hung up and looked at the four present, ending the meeting.
They stood up, solemn, understanding everything.
I would not return my daughter nor Seraphine. If a war were to begin, we would go through to the very last consequences.
(...)
POV Seraphine Valerian:
I tested the doorknob again. I couldn't believe Adelina had locked me in there.
When night fell and Daciana left, my dread grew, and I begged her to let me sleep in her room. The girl said that wasn't her father's order and that she had to go out with a certain Lana.
Nothing convinced her to take me along or help me. The result was this: me inside that beast's prison, completely at his mercy.
I whimpered, looking at the enormous bed with changed sheets, black silk. What would happen there? Would he force me? Kill me?
I ran to the window, too high to jump from. Time passed, and I saw no escape. I curled up in the armchair, receiving the cold night air, huddled and nervous. I rubbed my bare arms, wearing the rose-colored, short-sleeved pajama pants and top that Adelina had lent me after my bath. Not knowing what to do.
Everything played like a movie in my head, from the moment I saw him appear among the trees near the village until now. If someone told me this story, I would say the person had taken some hallucinogen and was delirious. I still couldn't believe it.
I cried softly over my situation, over the fear that terrorized me, over the longing for my father and my aunt. Gretel must be desperate, thinking I was dead. Which could happen at any moment.
I remained curled up, and time stretched on, until I started to doze off from pure emotional exhaustion. I woke abruptly with the door opening and Viktor entering. My heart leaped into my throat, the dread returning in full force.
He closed the door behind him, his dark eyes fixing on me attentively. I could barely breathe before his somber, enormous figure, that potency that devastated me in an inexplicable way. He was elegant in his black clothes, but I hadn't forgotten his bestial form from that afternoon, bloody with burning eyes.
I didn't move, and Viktor walked to the other leather armchair near the bed, beginning to take off his jacket. Calm, just observing me.
Terror mingled with something else, an energy came from him that vibrated all the way to me and hypnotized. My head seemed to spin before his masculinity and beauty, even as my mind despaired over the threat he represented. It was confusing, visceral, maddening.
“I thought you'd already be asleep. Today was eventful.”
His deep, calm voice followed his movements. He left his coat over the armchair, slowly unbuttoning his black long-sleeved shirt.
I swallowed hard. I wanted to look away, pretend he wasn't there, but I couldn't. My heart raced even more when he also took off his shirt, revealing an impressive physique. He was all muscle and hardness, an animal at his peak of strength and virility.
How could he be so beautiful and so dangerous? I couldn't think, trapped by fear and enchantment, my strength leaving me, weakening. Despite everything I knew about him, he continued to pull me like an invisible force.
“How is your head?” He sat down, taking off his boots.
“Is this what you do?” I managed to find my voice, which came out trembling and weak.
“Do what?” He tilted his head slightly.
“Pretend concern for your victims, distract them before you attack?”
He smiled, slow, diabolical. His teeth were white, his lips full. He became even more attractive and tempestuous.
“I see you've recovered well. Especially your tongue.”
When he stood up, I shrank back, losing my breath. That amused him slightly. He didn't come toward me; he went to the bathroom. He said over his shoulder:
“Your system is good for a human. Just a few dry scratches and a bruise on your forehead.”
“I'm stronger than you think.”
“Great. I hate whiny people.”
He disappeared into the bathroom, and I ran to the door. It was idiotic; there was possibly no place in that castle for me to hide, but I tried the doorknob anyway. Locked.
I pushed my voluminous hair away from my face, anguished. I felt like prey being circled, provoked, until finally serving as food. He was enjoying my suffering.
When Viktor returned, his black pants had been replaced by gray knit ones, for sleeping. Barefoot, bare-chested, dark hair disheveled. Long, muscular legs, a large bulge in his intimate area that startled me. It was loose, to the side. Obviously without underwear.
I turned my attention elsewhere, flustered, impressed. I shook my head to push away the urge to look. I had to be crazy! He was a monster!
“Go lie down, Seraphine.”