Page 48 of Rise of the Siren Queen
It wasirrational.
I knew that, but the resentment burned too hot, too deep, and I had never been the type to smother my instincts. Iwantedher, wanted her to look atmethe way she had looked at him in that dream. But more than that, I wanted toundohim. Erase his name, his memory, hisexistencefrom her mind, until there was nothing left of him but a ghost she could barely recall.
Were this clothes his?
I hated I cared. Hated that this emotion, this possessive, all-consumingneed,had dug its claws into me so fast, so deep, I could barely remember what it felt like to not want her. The bastard was already dead in my head. She just didn’t know it yet.
I exhaled sharply, dragging a hand down my face. I needed to get control of this, or at least learn how to use it. Because whether she liked it, whether shefoughtit, she was going to be mine.
And in these training sessions, she wouldn’t be able to run.
She wouldn’t be able to hide.
She’d have toface me.
Just as my thoughts rambled, I felt a prickling on my neck.
The woman that has been flooding my mind these past few days appeared without a sound, materializing like a specter from the dark. I hadn’t heard her approach, hadn’t caught even a flicker of movement. One second, I was alone. The next, she wasthere, watching me with those piercing green eyes. I might have not seen or heard her, but I sure as hell sensed her.
I exhaled slowly, masking the way my pulse raced for her.Damnyou and that ghostly presence.
“Why do you always appear like that?” My voice was low, laced with something close to curiosity, though I wasn’t sure if it was fascination or irritation. “Like you walk through shadows. And always in human form.”
Her lips parted slightly, but she hesitated, like she was weighing how much to say. “Because my true form can be… discomforting.” Her voice was softer than usual, touched by something almost hesitant. Almostvulnerable.
I went still. Shit.
A shiver ghosted down my spine, digging up the memory I had buried deep. The first time I saw her tail. A razor-sharp beauty. The inhuman terror. The raw power that made my instincts screampredator.
And the way Ireacted.
Revulsion. Fear. I hadn’t hidden well.
A sharp pang of guilt flooded me, unexpected and unwelcome. I shoved it down, locking it behind steel. What did I have to feel guilty for? She was the one keepingmeprisoner. The one who had ripped me from my life and shackled me in this world. She should be the one feeling guilty.
And yetIfelt guilty.
I should apologize. The words curled at the back of my throat, bitter and foreign. But if I did, she’d know. She’dseethe effect she had on me, the way she had crawled under my skin and refused to leave. And I wasn’t about to give her that kind of power, not yet at least.
Instead, I forced a smirk, let my tone dip into something edged with mockery.
“You don’t have to worry about that. I have a tail too, remember?” The words tasted sour, the admission grating.
Her expression didn’t shift. Not even a flicker.
I studied her, my gaze dragging over every minute detail, the slight tension in her shoulders, the way her hands remained perfectly still at her sides, as if any movement might betray something.
How much did she hold back? How much of her power was she keeping from me?
Irritation curled in my chest. If I had to endure this, if I had to be here, trapped under her watch, I might as well make use of it. Learn her.Understandher.
“It must be difficult for you, appearing like that out of nowhere all the time.”
The words left my mouth before I could think better of it, an idle observation meant to fill the space between us. But as my gaze swept over her, that space tightened, became suffocating.
Draped in a top of aquamarine fabric, so close to scale that it looked like she had simply grown it from her own skin. Delicate golden threads wove through the material, catching the light in a way that made it look almost alive. Seashells and pearls adorned the straps, fine chains, intricate and deliberate, glistening with every movement.
That golden mesh around her waist, cinched tight, only made me wonder how it would feel under my hands. How easily it would come undone.
