Page 60 of Drenched

Chapter Twenty Two

Rynar’s claws locked around my wrists, pinning them above my head. Pain shot through my arms as his grip forced me down onto the rough, damp stone. I bit down hard on my lip, the tang of blood sharp in my mouth, refusing to let a sound escape. My pulse pounded in my ears, drowning out the faint lapping of water in the cavern.

The glow of his skin flickered, uneven and tense, throwing fractured shadows across the walls. His face was inches from mine, his dark eyes swallowing all light. Fury twisted his features, stripping away the strange beauty I’d once noticed. What was left was raw and unrelenting, a predator with nothing holding him back. His breath hit my face, carrying the staleness of salt and something bitter.

“You thought you could kill me?” The words lashed through my thoughts, each one striking harder than the last. His voice wasn’t loud—it didn’t need to be. It coiled through the air, sharp and relentless. “You, a mortal, dared to defy me?”

I twisted against him, my body fighting instinctively, though I knew it was useless. His weight kept me pinned. The stonebeneath me bit into my back, its cold seeping into my skin. My wrists burned where his claws dug in, a wet warmth spreading from the shallow cuts.

“You’re a monster,” I forced out, my voice trembling but steady enough. “You destroyed everything I cared about. You ruined my life.”

The glow around him pulsed, a sudden burst of light that burned my eyes before plunging the cavern into shadow again. His claws pressed harder, making me gasp, but I bit back the scream. The taste of blood lingered on my tongue, coppery and bitter.

“You betrayed me,” he said. His tone shifted, quieter now but no less dangerous. His body tensed, his claws trembling where they held me. He leaned in closer, his lips brushing my ear, his breath seeping into my skin like poison.

“You want to see a monster?” His voice sank lower, heavier, curling around me like a trap. “I’ll show you one.”

Then he bit into my shoulder. Pain tore through me, hot and searing, exploding behind my eyes. A scream ripped from my throat before I could stop it. My back arched, my body trying to escape the agony as blood seeped from the wound, sticky and warm.

“Stop!” I screamed, my voice cracking. “Please, stop!” My legs kicked uselessly, my wrists twisting in his grip, but he didn’t let go. His claws dragged down to my jaw, sharp enough to leave trails of fire in their wake.

“I won’t kill you,” he growled, his teeth still bared. “But you’ll wish I had. You’ll remember this, Pearl. You’ll remember what happens when you betray me.”

The cavern shifted around me, the edges blurring until it wasn’t the same cold stone beneath me anymore. The air thickened, the scent of salt fading into something fouler. My chest seized as the memories came crashing in, dragging me under.

I was fourteen. The mattress sagged beneath me. The smell of sweat and alcohol burned in my nose. My uncle’s shadow loomed above, his breath hot and sour against my face.

“Shh... it’s our little secret, Pearl.”

His voice slithered through my thoughts, sick and suffocating. My body froze beneath his weight, the tears that welled in my eyes useless against the terror clawing through me.

Not again. Not again.

But this time, my fingers found the cold steel hidden beneath the pillow. The knife. My one chance. My only way out.

I gripped the blade tight and struck upward. His scream filled the room, high and jagged, as the knife sank into his eye. Blood sprayed, hot and slick, blinding him. He reeled back, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. The knife rose and fell, each strike releasing the rage and fear that had built for years.

Blood spattered my hands, my nightgown, the walls. His screams turned to gurgles, then silence. Still, I didn’t stop until the stillness consumed everything.

The memory shattered, and the cavern rushed back. The cold stone beneath me. The sting of my wounds. My body shaking as I struggled to breathe.

Then his weight was gone.

I blinked, disoriented, as I saw Rynar crouched across the cavern. His claws covered his face, his shoulders heaving. The glow around him had dimmed, leaving him a pale, trembling shadow. He wouldn’t look at me.

I lay there, my chest heaving, every breath a struggle. Pain pulsed through my body, but it was muted now, drowned out by the fury rising in me. The echoes of my past burned in my mind, raw and unrelenting, bleeding into the present until I couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.

“You saw it, didn’t you?” My voice rasped, rough and shaking.

He didn’t answer. His claws twitched, digging into the stone floor, but he didn’t lift his head. The weight of my words seemed to press down on him, his glow flickering weakly.

“You saw what I did,” I said again, louder this time. My voice wavered, cracking under the strain. “You saw what I became.”

Still, he didn’t speak. His claws slipped from his face, but his head remained bowed. His silence clawed at me, made my fury burn hotter.

“I didn’t know,” he whispered, his voice barely audible. It was hollow, broken, like he didn’t even believe the words himself. “I didn’t know how much it would cost you.”

My laugh came sharp and bitter. “You didn’t know?” The rage poured out of me, each word sharp as a blade. “You didn’t care.You never cared about the cost. You only cared about what you could take.”

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