Chapter 143 Her Blood, Or Your Body
Adrian’s POV
The Oden…Emma, or whatever shell she was wearing now…leaned forward again, the silver cuffs biting into her wrists without her seeming to notice.
That eerie smile stayed plastered on her face like it had been carved there. Her eyes weren’t blinking anymore. Not once. Just wide, unblinking pools of black that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
But I didn't let go. My hand stayed on her neck. I needed a way out of this that would not involve my mate bleeding for it.
“Are you willing to take that path?” she repeated, voice dripping with mock sweetness. “Or are you going to keep pretending you have the luxury of morals?”
I felt the growl rumble low in my chest before I could stop it. “Just say it. Stop beating around the bush like a coward.”
She tilted her head, studying me like I was a particularly interesting insect pinned to a board.
Then she laughed again…soft this time, almost intimate, the sound crawling under my skin.
“This is even better,” she murmured, almost to herself. “Much, much better. It will awaken me faster than blood ever could. I’ll come screaming back to the surface in time…ready to tell my story. And oh, the things I’ll do when I finally taste freedom again. Well, after healing you…or trying to,” she added, the dark giggle slipping out of her throat.
My claws were fully out now, digging crescents into my palms. Blood trickled warm between my fingers. I didn’t care.
“What is it?” I snarled. “Tell me.”
The smile stretched wider…too wide for a human mouth. “Oh, it’s simple, Your Majesty. Just one night.”
I waited. Every muscle locked.
“With the king,” she finished, voice dropping to a silky whisper. “One night. You and me. Bodies tangled, no barriers, no mercy, your fluid flowing inside me…awakening me. That’s the only other way.”
The cabin went dead silent except for the low hum of the engines.
I stared at her. She stared back. That smile never wavered.
My mind blanked for one dangerous second…pure, animal rage flooding every vein.
The image flashed uninvited…her under me, wrists still bound, that ancient thing inside her laughing while I—
No.
I forced the thought down so hard it hurt. Fucking delusional ancient hag.
“You’re disgusting,” I said quietly.
“Am I?” She cocked her head. “Or are you just scared of what you’ll become when you give in? Because we both know you’ve thought about it. The power. The release. The way it would feel to release the antidote to what’s been taunting you for centuries. One night, King Adrian. One night and your entire nightmare will be over. No more blackouts. No more ugly restraints. No more waking up screaming because something inside you is trying to claw its way out.”
How did she know that part?
She leaned closer, the cuffs rattling softly. “Or you can keep playing the noble king. Keep holding your head up high while you break a little more each day. She would watch your eyes go vacant with each passing day. Watch you beg her to end it because you can’t take another second of feeling like two people are fighting to the death inside your skull. Your choice.”
James shifted behind me…subtle, but I felt it. Ready to shut her up for good. But I can't afford to be violent.
I need her. So I didn’t move.
The girl’s smile turned almost tender. “Tick-tock, Your Majesty. You're getting weaker every hour you hesitate. And when you finally shatter…” She shrugged, delicate. “Well. There won’t be anything left to save.”
I felt the shift inside me…the beast rising, claws scraping bone, fur rippling under skin. The air in the cabin thickened with the scent of my own fury, sharp and metallic.
One night.
With an oden.
To save myself from the impending doom.
The thought made bile rise in my throat.
But underneath it…buried deep where I refused to look…was the other truth.
I’d do anything.
Anything.
To keep myself breathing for her. To keep her whole. To keep her mine. I can't protect her if I'm weak and defenseless.
Odens are manipulators. That much is certain. They are like the fates…they always go for deals that will profit them greatly.
It's rare to see an Oden who is selfless. So for her to propose this as another means…there's something else she wants.
I stepped closer. Close enough that she had to tilt her head back to meet my eyes, my hands were still behind her neck.
“Tell me exactly what you aim to get by saying this?” I said, voice flat. Deadly calm. “Every detail. No games. No riddles. If I do this…if I give you what you want…what else you get out of it? What will happen to me? And what happens when it’s over?”
Her tongue darted out, wetting her lips like she could already taste the answer.
Then she smiled again…slow, victorious, utterly malicious.
“Everything,” she whispered. “And nothing. You’ll see.”
I stared down at her.
And for the first time in centuries, I felt something colder than rage.
Fear.
Not for me.
For the woman sleeping thirty feet away who had no idea what I was about to trade to keep her blood…even if it's a drop from being spilled.
The girl’s words landed like a blade between my ribs again…sharp, twisting, impossible to pull out without bleeding more.
“Either way,” she said again, softer this time, almost coaxing, “The choice is yours to make. Her blood… or you sleep with me, Your Majesty.”
She let the silence stretch after that. Let it press against my chest until breathing felt like work.
Her head tilted, studying the way my jaw clenched, the way my free hand shook even though I’d locked it behind my back. She saw everything.
The thing inside her saw everything.