Page 13 of Beneath the Flames
Jerk.
“I don’t particularly feel like dying today,” I replied through chattering teeth.My feet were throbbing, utterly frozen from standing in the snow with hole-filled boots.
His lips twitched into a cruel smirk, as though he wished I would.
“Who are you?”I asked, hoping that he’d tell mesomething.
His eyes roved over every inch of me.
Assessing.Calculating.
I didn’t know what to make of that look, and I squirmed beneath his gaze.“W-w-well?”I said through a violent shiver, my breath clouding the air in front of me.
A muscle in his jaw twitched, a tiny little reaction that instantly set my nerves on edge.I had seen my father do the same many times before losing his temper.I needed to remember that this kidnapper was a killer and that he could easily do the same to me.It would be wise not to push him too far.
“My name is Maren,” I tried instead.“Now you know mine.I’d like to know yours.It’s only fair.”
“Fair?”He chuckled, closing the distance between us.His body vibrated with tension as he stopped inches away and glared down at me.Heart racing, it took everything in me not to take a step backward, to cower away from his tall, menacing frame.
“No, Maren.What isn’t fair is that you were caught by that man, forcing me to dispose of him, which made you see things you weren’t supposed to see.Now you’re here.Annoying me.That’snot fair.”
I scowled.“Such a nuisance that you had to stop a man from killing me.”The words slipped between my lips before I could stop them, and I instantly braced myself, ready for him to retaliate.
But he only arched a brow.“He wasn’t going to kill you.”
For a moment, I was lost for words.“How do you know what he wanted?”
“That’s not the point.”
Against all my survival instincts, and despite knowing that he could hurt me with a flick of his hands, I dared a tiny step closer.
“You brought me here to die, taking me away from myhome where—” The words got stuck in my throat, and I had to swallow several times to get rid of the lump that had risen.“You owe me an explanation at the very least.”
He suddenly turned on his heel and started pacing back and forth.The cave beyond him was pitch black, and dread filled my stomach like acid at the thought of going in there.
“I saved your life.I owe you nothing.”He stopped, our gazes locking, the gold rings around his eyes flickering like his magic.
Every instinct within me begged me to stand down, to lower my eyes and step away from this very dangerous man.I should have been on my knees begging for my life, not antagonizing him further.
But getting back to my family was worth the risk.They needed me too much for me to cower in fear.
His brows lowered as he glared at me.I forced myself to not look away—to not even blink, trying to infuse nonexistent courage into my bones.
“Rhydian,” he said with a sigh after several tense seconds of eye contact.He turned, retreating back to the wall and leaning against it.
“What?”
“You asked for my name.”
“What kind of a name is Rhydian?”
He narrowed his eyes.“A normal one in my world.”
“And what world is that?”
“I already told you.This is Eroth.”
“And where is Eroth?”
