Page 36 of Artemysia
His pupils expand, eclipsing his pale irises. He jolts back, a stunned expression marring his face. “Oh, fuck. I’m sorr—”
From the corner of my teary eyes, I watch Throg’s massive form launch through the air. As he tackles Riev off me, they roll onto the ground in a heap. When Throg rises to his feet, he yanks Riev up with him, grabbing him by the front of his collar, towering over him. Throg has no need for words. His first punch lands on Riev’s jaw.
Riev staggers back, his pained gaze swiveling back to me. “Are you okay?”
Throg hammers Riev in the face again with his other fist, and as his head is thrown back, blood pours from his nose.
Those stormy eyes never leave me. He doesn’t fight back.
“Throg, stop! He was asleep.” My throat scrapes as I choke out a cough.
“What the fuck was that, asshole?” He lunges forward again, but Riev makes no move to dodge or lift his arms in defense. He allows Throg to pummel him once more before I stagger between them.
“Get on your elk, both of you. Let’s go. Riev, clean up your face in the stream.” It’s hard to swallow, and the skin around my neck burns. Bruised, probably.
“Captain,” they say simultaneously, Throg in protest, and Riev I can’t read. He lurches toward the stream to wash the blood off his face, but Throg moves to follow him.
My hand shoots out to grasp his forearm. It’s as if I grip a log. “Throg, stop. He was asleep, having a nightmare.”
He whirls to me, his eyes flashing the color of the stream beside us. “I should have been watching. By the time I saw, your eyes were rolling back like you were about to pass out. You know how to release yourself from a chokehold! It looked like…you let him? What the hell?”
“I wanted to see if he’d come out of it if I let go. I didn’t want to have to hurt him.”
“So you risked yourself.”
“It was my decision. It worked.”
“Don’t take risks like that, Delphine,” Throg says, giving me his back. Rarely does he use my full name. It’s Elphie or my rank.
He only uses “Delphine” when he’s absolutely furious with me. How long he’ll be mad depends on how hungry he is.
It’s Throg; he won’t stay angry for long.
“I didn’t want to hurt him, but I also wanted to test if he cared about hurting the people around him. I wanted a look into his subconscious. What I saw was unhinged brutality, but also a response to submission and surrender,” I say. “Maybe even a response to kindness.”
How I use it to my advantage will determine how we work together for the rest of the mission.
“That’s elkshit. What he responded to was you.You. But if he hadn’t recognized you, you’d be dead, Delphine.” Throg walks away from me to collect his elk from Ivy.
Taken aback, I have no reply. There’s no way I have that kind of power over him.
I’m still reeling as I swing my leg over my saddle, the need to figure out how to handle Riev consuming my thoughts. Will he fall in line, or will he rebel against my commands?
What controls his impulses? Can he control them?
Either way, all I know is that it’s imperative to unite this complicated team before our first Syf encounter.
I’m nothing if not up for the challenge.
Our success depends on it.
Mostly because, if I cannot, we are all as good as dead.
“Get lost.” - Throg
Iwant to cut off my own fucking hand for what I did to Delphine.
Instead of putting a dagger in me or snapping my arm in two, which she should have done, she let me fucking choke her. Even helped me. Just for the sake of knocking me out of my dream state without hurting me. It worked, but monstrosity from hell that I am, I could have killed her. It’s rare, but it’s not the first time I couldn’t wake from a violent dream. It’s never happened during a nap, though. The aggression has been taking over ever since my last mission.
