Page 40 of Song of the Abyss

That bright red color burned through her cheeks, and he second guessed that the shade had anything to do with mating readiness. “Yes, me. Why? Do I not look like I’m capable of that?”

“But you’re so... so...” He looked her up and down before blurting, “Small.”

“What does size have to do with anything?”

Suddenly, he was angry with her. She thought size had nothing to do with keeping herself safe? She was so tiny and here she was, thinking she could take on a city as powerful as Alpha. One that he and his people had been fighting for ages. She thought she could do what his people could not?

With a flick of his tail, he lifted himself out of the water. His lunge brought him all the way to her side, where he braced himself against the strange contraption she sat in. Together, they wheeled back until her chair hit the glowing boxes against the glass. There they stayed, with him looming over her while his arm held him away from her.

Trembling with rage, he already knew the lights on his body danced with his emotion. The red illumination caught on the edges of her face, lighting her up from every angle.

“You think size has nothing to do with it?” he snarled, his teeth snapping in her direction. “How could you keep yourself safe? I see no claws, no teeth, no natural way to protect yourself. Tell me again how you, of all creatures, are able to protect yourself?”

He’d expected her to cower. Most people he tried to intimidate trembled beneath him, shaking as the fear spread throughout their form until they could think of nothing and no one but him. A monster was before her, covering her body with his and threatening her very life. He bared his teeth, slowly moving closer and closer to her face until he could feel the quick puffs of her breath against his lips.

This was what he wanted. Wasn’t it? He wanted her fear. He wanted to know what that tasted like as it ran through his gills, because he was certain it would taste like all the other achromos he’d hunted.

But she was... Anya.

Not an achromo he’d been ordered to kill. She was the woman who had shown him kindness, who had no fear of touching him, and the one who had looked him in the eyes and not flinched when he’d done everything in his power to terrify her.

She watched him, her eyes maybe a little wider than they were before. But then her hand lifted, and she placed it where his neck met his shoulder. Just above the wound that had taken so much from him.

“Bitsy,” she said, and the name made him realize she was talking to her little droid. “Shock him.”

Shock him? What were they about to do? Change their skin into a different color so he was surprised?

But then he felt a zing of pain jolting through his body from where her hand touched him. He winced, even though it was only enough to contract his neck muscles. He moved toward her touch, his teeth bared with anger as he endured her torture.

The pain stopped as soon as it started. He remained where he was, his head turned into her hand as he got himself under control.

“I’m not without my own tricks,” she said. “But I do agree that you’re more powerful than I am. But you’re more powerful than any of my kind, aren’t you?”

He winced. “This strength is a curse.”

“Is it?” She’d left her hand on his shoulder, and this time her fingers dug into the muscles there. “I wish I was as strong as you. I wouldn’t be afraid of anything.”

Daios wanted to turn to her and say that he would keep her safe. If she wished to send him out into the world as her weapon of destruction, he would massacre anything in her way.

But those thoughts were madness. They were the sickness that toyed at the edges of his thoughts.

Instead, he leaned down and nipped at the delicate flesh of her wrist. He didn’t break through her skin, although he could feel how easy that would be. Instead, he left tiny red marks that dotted all along her arm as she drew it away from him.

Her catch of breath filled him with purpose. Gently, still holding onto her wrist with his teeth, he licked the sensitive skin there. His gaze caught hers as the rough bumps of his tongue toyed over her rapid pulse.

He might not know what the red coloring of her skin was, but she couldn’t hide how her pupils blew the moment he made contact. And gods, the way she tasted.

He had to stop before he did something they both would regret.

“You thought to destroy your own father?” he asked, trying his best to get control over his emotions. He could taste her on his tongue. A soft pop of flavor that was earthy and real. “How long was that going to take?”

“Years of my life,” she whispered, her wide eyes meeting his. “Many, many years. We planned for a very long time, and you ruined that plan by showing up when you did.”

“And stealing you away?”

“No, we had someone sneaking into the city.” Again, her breath puffed across his lips. “He was caught because my father made sure there was no one coming in or out of the city while you were somehow sneaking in. But I think this might be even better.”

“Why’s that?”

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