Page 75 of Sworn to Revenge
I can’t keep my balance; my heart pounds so fast it feels like it might burst. “We are one,” I repeat, as if saying it aloud will make it any less insane. “Nothing can break this bond.”
“Exactly my little huntress, you are catching fast,” his low growl is teasing me,and my gills open wide, trying to maintain as calm as possible. There’s no escape from him, but I can still save my family.
“I’ll ask again; in contain you mean that we need to bond?” I ask,swallowing hard, “as in I’m going to become your sex partner?”
The second the words leave my mouth, horror rushes through every cell in my body, and I tense, waiting for his response as if it’s the only thing keeping me alive.
His massive head swims above me; it’s so huge that when I look up, all I can see are the tips of his sharp teeth, threatening to wipe out my existence.
“I don’t know what your foolish kind teaches you, but I have no such desire or intention,” he reassures me, and my gills close in relief.
“Then what do you want from me?” I dare to push him.
“I’ll say it again—we are one. Once our bonding is complete, we willbe one. One mind, one heart, one whole. You will contain me within you.”
“No way. Not going to happen, not now. NOT EVER!” I shout, my voice breaking as panic grips me. The dragon’s eye gleams, amused, and I feel small—a pawn caught in a game I never agreed to play. But I can’t give in. Not like this. Not when everything and everyone I care about is on the line.
“You can deny it all you want, but it is inevitable,” he growls, and I know I’ve tested his patience. I bite my lip hard. What the hell can I do?
My heart aches at the reality in front of me. The dragon’s head swims slowly closer, and his giant purple eye stares directly into mine. “It’s time.”
‘It’s time’? It’s time for what?My heart pounds so fast I’m about to faint as bright purple and blue lights shoots everywhere, making it hard to see anything beyond his eye.
“Close your eyes, my huntress,” he whispers, but it’s so loud it feels like he’s shouting.
I fight to keep my eyes open, but it’s like he has full control. Darkness swallows my vision. My senses sharpen, and my body grows warmer as soft currents of water caress my skin. I feel safe. I feel home. He’s taken all my pain away, and I’m so light, so free, that a genuine smile spreads across my face.
“Do you feel it?” I can hear his soft voice, for the first time not as an echoed roar, but as a manly soft almost human-like voice.
“Yes,” I answer as if I am under a spell, “It feels like I’m home.”
“You are home. Together,weare home,” his soft voice making it even harder to refuse any of it. “Now, I need you to take a deep breath.”
I do as he says, addicted to the lightness, and in an instant, a sharp pain tears through my chest with my scream. It feels like a giant hook digs into my skin and sets me on fire from the inside out.
“Hold on to the pain—it’s almost over,” his voice becomes rougher, like he’s suffering too. I claw at my neck as the burn spreads up my throat, praying it won’t be my last day. And then, suddenly, it stops.
“You can open your eyes now,” he says, and when my vision clears, the dragon is gone. My gills flutter with heavy breaths as the pain disappears. I can go home and figure a way out.
“Alin and Aunt Lora will know what to do,” I whisper to myself.
They wouldn’t know what to do because your kind knows nothing about us.
The guardian voice startles me. How the fuck can I hear him while I’m in full control? My mark isn’t reacting… what’s happening?!
Apparently, you are not as sharp as I thought,I hear him sigh inside my mind, but this time it’s different. This time it’s as if he is a part of me, not just invading it.
“Get the fuck out of my head!” I threaten aloud to the empty water, glancing around looking for him. The Coral of Life is the only thing I can see.
“I’minsideyou. We are one. Look at your chest,” he says, and my breath catches as my eyes drop to my skin. A long, white dragon mark curls around my chest, winding up like a living tattoo. I can’t breathe; the mark glowspurple, pulsing with heat—too much heat. My skin burns, and every heartbeat feels like fire, rushing through me. I claw at the mark as if I could rip it off, but the pain just flares hotter, and I know—there’s no way to tear him out.
You are so dramatic.I can practically feel him rolling his gigantic eyes on me.You’ll get used to it, it’s my power flowing through your body; the bond is not finished yet.
Wait. Can you hear all of my thoughts even now!?
I’m inside your body, and you wonder if I could hear your thoughts? You’re not the brightest one, are you?he chuckles.
I can fucking hear his chuckle! God, what have I gotten myself into?I swallow hard.
