Page 75 of Venomous Lust
“Humans.” Fingers dug painfully into her flesh as Knut’s pupils shrank in his purple eyes, becoming fine lines. “Some say I owe my fortune to your species. That without your trade, I would have been nothing.”
There was a hatred, a depth of sickness in Knut’s tone, in his eyes, that chilled Hazel all the way to her soul.
“But I rather think if it wasn’t for me, your worthless, defenseless kind would have been wiped out by savages like our friend, Gerkin.”
“What have you done with Khal?” Her voice was surprisingly steady, and she saw the pupils move in those dark purple eyes. His thin-lipped mouth compressed to a fine line as Hazel kept her gaze steadily locked with Knut’s. “What about my friends?”
He didn’t like being challenged by a human. He wanted to see her cowering and pleading, and she wasn’t going to do any of those things.
“Your bloodmate is more useful to me alive than dead, at least for now.” As Gerkin frowned and opened his mouth to speak, Knut shot him a warning glare and the Eok closed it again, mute, but with resentment in his eyes. “The Duke will pay a handsome ransom for his only son, at least once I start sending him to his mother in pieces. It always amazes me, the lengths some people will go to to protect their offspring. Such a waste of resources, when one can simply produce many more.”
“I guess you just don’t understand the importance of family.”
Knut’s lips lifted as he kept his brutal hold on her chin. Her skin was screaming with pain, and she knew there would be bruises along her jaw in the shape of Knut’s fingers, but Hazel didn’t let it show.
“Family is just another name for weakness.” Knut spoke with disdain. “A primitive imperative. I’ve long since got rid of mine.”
The monster gleamed in those purple eyes and Hazel was brought back to that day when he’d pulled her sister away from her. Knut had looked at her the same way then, with a profound enjoyment for her suffering that had left her aching inside from all the hatred she had to keep bottled up. She was nothing but a pawn in his eternal game of greed and power.
“What about Celaith?”
“Aaah!” Knut’s lips lifted in a smile. “The Arvak is a wonderful distraction, so exotic. It’s a pity there’s not much demand for them on the slave market. She has such spirit, such fire. Much like you, my dear. I might give her back to Gerkin as payment instead of you. He likes his females with bite, or so he told me.”
Gerkin’s mouth lifted in a greedy smirk as Knut spoke, the prospect of owning Celaith clearly pleasing him.
“You won’t get away with this. The Muharee will fight back. They will kill you for what you did to their homeland. You’ve become reckless, you didn’t have to destroy their Mother Forest. You did it just out of spite, and now, it will be your undoing.” Hazel bit the words out, struggling to free her face. She couldn’t stand Knut’s touch anymore. Anger clouded her judgment, making her reckless. All she wanted to do was hurt this male who had destroyed so many lives; make him pay for the suffering he spread like a disease wherever he went.
But as the Ilarian guard held her still, she was reminded once again how powerless she truly was.
“I will destroy the Ring’s Headquarters and all those inside it. I won’t stop until I’m the only power that remains.”
“You can’t use the negative particle bomb on the Ring’s headquarters,” Hazel answered defiantly. “You will destroy an entire solar system. Your home world of Avonie is within range.”
“Yes.” The word was like a promise, like a kiss of death and suffering as Knut’s breath fanned her face. “And then, no one will be left to stop me. My power will be absolute, in the Ring and Beyond.”
The monstrosity was so overwhelming, Hazel wanted to cry, wanted to shrivel up and disappear. “You are nothing.” She spoke low, but she saw the effects of her words on Knut. His features tightened and his eyes blazed. “And you’re going to die. Nobody will even remember your name.”
Knut’s hold became even more bruising, but still Hazel refused to cry out. She knew what Knut was, what made his soulless heart beat faster, what aroused his sickness. He loved to see the pain he inflicted, loved to feel the fear in the hearts of those he tormented. He derived pleasure from it.
A pleasure she wasn’t going to give him.
Anger flashed in those purple eyes, the vertical pupils retracting and expanding in quick succession as he tried his best to hurt her. But Hazel kept her face blank, refusing to show how much it hurt. She knew bruises in the shape of the Avonie’s fingers would mark her face, but still she held on.
Knut let go of her, the anger in his gaze replaced by something even worse.
Joy. Glee. Anticipation.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had such a spirited plaything.” Knut spoke like he could taste the words on his tongue. “My last toy got away from me, but you, my sweet, I will make sure you never slip between my fingers. And who knows, maybe once I’m finished with you, I’ll send you over to Gerkin.”
Hazel kept silent as dread made its home in her heart. She had been holding on to the hope that she could save her friends, but she had been a fool.
She wasn’t going to save anyone, least of all herself.
“Iwillwipe the Muharee and their Medina from the face of this planet until not even the memory of them remains.” Knut kept talking, his eyes missing nothing of her misery, drinking it in like the bloodthirsty monster he was. “No one can stop me now. Not now that thanks to your dear Commander Khal, Prime Councilor Aav is as good as dead.”
Hazel blinked in confusion and Knut chuckled. The sound was gleeful and sinister like nothing she had ever heard before.
“The Eok has always been the key to my plan.” Knut motioned to Gerkin. “No one will suspect the all-powerful Commander Khal when he informs the Mantrilla Matriarch that he’s coming back with both me and the bomb. She will welcome him with open arms. And when she finally understands, it will be too late.”
