Page 772 of Hell Hath No Fury
“Should I be?” she breathed as I moved even closer behind her, brushing a lock of hair away from her neck as I leaned down to speak just to her.
“I have slaughtered countless Fae with a cold, vicious brutality in war. I have watched entire cities burn beneath the power of my Hydra’s fire, and seen the light fade from the eyes of my enemies like candles snuffed in the wind. They say I am soulless, that my heart is made of jet black stone. So you tell me, Merissa, should you be afraid?”
Her eyed widened as she looked back at me, my fingers tiptoeing across the base of her spine, perhaps the softest of touches I had offered anyone in what seemed like a lifetime. These hands had been soaked in blood, they had driven blades into the chests of warriors and cut them clean in two. This poor, beautiful girl must have been cursed by the stars to have been sent to me. But there wasn’t enough good in me to let her go. Now she had arrived at my threshold, I was going to do everything I could to draw her into my lair.
She didn’t answer my question, turning her gaze from me and looking into the well.
“I wish to know you,” I commanded of her.
“You will,” she said with a ring of power in her words. “We are inevitable.”
Before I could get my mind around that, Hamish returned with a carriage and I placed my hand more firmly against Merissa’s back, guiding her towards it.
The carriage was hewn of moonwood, the surface of it silver, gleaming with the light of the sacred celestial being of the moon,which held such influence upon our souls. The Voldrakian royals preferred to travel in more humble, archaic ways than the modern world of Solaria, and the proud white Pegasus shackled in place to pull the carriage was in a position of status far beyond what it might have seemed for such subservient work. It was an honour to serve the royals, and there was fierce competition for all positions working within the Castle of Cassiopeia for the emperor.
While in Solaria we imported and exploited mortal technology, here in Voldrakia, they preferred to keep to the traditional way of things and though I enjoyed the modern comforts of my homeland, I couldn’t say I hated the way of it here.
The Pegasus whinnied politely in greeting, her horn glinting with a hint of magic before she bowed her head to us. A porter ran forward to open the door for us, but Hamish slammed into him before he made it, his huge chest knocking the man to the ground before he’d even realised what had happened.
Hamish whipped open the door, bowing so low his nose nearly touched the cobblestones, his fine, blood red jacket straining against the size of him. He was a muscular man, but his fondness for baked goods had seen him soften a little this last year. He may have appeared to be the friendliest Fae on earth, but anyone who underestimated him was a fool. I had seen his wrath in play, his loyalty to the Vega bloodline unfaltering, and with that came a certain defensive fury in him which I rather enjoyed witnessing.
“Thank you,” Merissa said, pausing as I encouraged her to enter before me.
My hand was held out in offering to steady her as she climbed up into the carriage, my other held against my back and my gaze riveted on the beauty of her face. She was…unreal. As captivating in her movements as she was her features. Ihad known beauty before, I’d had it thrown at me, offered by boundless Fae, but never had I looked at someone and felt their beauty right down to the darkest corners of my soul.
There was something different about her, and though I was half aware the visions she had fed me could be some trick, I had spent so many days in darkness recently that I was willing to place my head on the chopping block to discover whether she was a con-artist or not. I was the Savage King after all, the last of the Hydra Order and a man who struck terror into the hearts of children and adults alike. I could handle one Fae if I had to.
“What is your name?” Merissa asked kindly of Hamish and his eyes whipped up to her, his jaw falling slack, his brow breaking out in a sweat.
“H-H-H-H-Hamish Grus, my lady. Oh good gravy nuts, forgive my bumbling and stumbling. It is just—oh! I cannot say. I must not, or my tongue will wrap itself in a bindy knot and then where shall we be? In the ravines of Rabbaganoot, that’s where!”
Merissa smiled widely at him like she was charmed by his oddness instead of being unsettled by it. It usually went one way or the other with him.
“Do tell me,” Merissa encouraged. “Or you’ll leave me forever curious, and as a Seer, that is quite the curse, Hamish.”
He stared at her then boomed a laugh, before shooting a look at me and trying to choke it out of existence, literally wrapping a hand around his throat to stop it.
“Come now, Hamish. Do not leave the lady in suspense,” I said, my tone sharp as always and he straightened like I’d shoved a rod of iron into his spine.
“Of course, sire. Absotive-alutely. Where are my manners? Lost in the sand like a crab in a cranny, it seems. How dare I jibber and jabber this way in front of you and your elegant companion. You must have me whipped upon our return to thecastle. In fact, I shall do it myself with a flogger, your highness. I shall flip and flap and whip my windycoat until I have repented-”
“Hamish,” I growled and he turned beetroot red, falling into a stream of apologies that made little sense to me. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him this flustered, and that was saying something for a man who had sobbed like a new-born babe when I’d awarded him a medal of honour for his service to me. I’d had to have two men carry him away because he could not find a way to stop bawling.
“I just meant to say,” he composed himself, snatching a handkerchief from his breast pocket and dabbing at his brow, his eyes darting between me and Merissa before settling on her. She was being surprisingly patient with him, and her smile never dropped, giving me time to memorise the shape of it. Her mouth was a playground of sin that I had tasted in the visions she’d shared, and Hamish was taking up far too much of the time I could have been making those visions into a reality.
“I simply meant to say, my lady, that I have not seen his highness stare at a woman this long. He has blinked but seven times in the past minute alone—I have counted every one, and I am yet to count an eighth.”
My teeth snapped together as Merissa turned to me as if to confirm Hamish’s damn words and I blinked firmly to prove a point, my gaze swivelling onto my servant instead of her and making him double over in an apologetic bow. I had commanded him to speak his thoughts, so I could only blame myself for this, but the sensation of heat climbing my neck left me feeling exposed, and I did not like that one bit.
“Is that true, Hail?” Merissa asked, speaking my name as if I was no king, just a man she could address and demand anything of. It occurred to me that there wasn’t much I could think to deny her. “Have you been staring at me?”
My hand was still outstretched, waiting for her to take it so that I might help her into the carriage, whilst also anticipating the enjoyment of feeling how smooth and warm her skin was against mine once more.
“I would not use that word. Studying, maybe. Assessing the threat,” I said, using the tone of a powerful man who knew never to show weakness to an enemy. And as I was yet to decide if she was that, I would be sure to assert my position of dominance before she got any ideas of finding my vulnerabilities.
“Threat?” she laughed, and fuck, I felt that laugh everywhere. Cock included.
“What’s your Order?” I demanded suddenly, needing to figure out exactly what skills she might possess in an attack.
