Page 34 of The Sacrifice

Merikh balls his hands into fists, his neck muscles tensing worse than they were before. No, he wasn’t expecting her to be so shrewd, or to bait him in such a way. Thankfully, Mayce steps toward her with his common sense and rationality.

“In the Waste, certain forces exist that do not in your world, Quintessa. We cannot take the risk of such danger entering our domain.”

“First, it was Qora. Now, it’s Jinx. How long before you decide to throw me out?” she challenges, her eyes snapping to the woods.

Damn it all to hell, she’s already named the mangy thing. Muscles hardening from that challenge and how her eyes shift back to the forest, I advance toward her and seize her arm, pouring as much menace and intimidation into my eyes as possible. It’s laughable how she struggles, how she wriggles, craning her neck to the woods while she nearly squeezes the life out of the feral creature with her other arm.

“I’ll run again,” she warns, pressing her lips tight, though her watery eyes show her fear. “I’d rather take my chances in the woods with them.” She nods to the fox and Qora.

“You should let her keep the fox,” interjects the smoky, rich voice. I and all my brothers snap our gazes at Qora. She drifts from side to side, aimless, seeming dismissive of the situation. Tessie, on the other hand, looks hopeful. And nods frantically in agreement.

“We will not be commanded by a mere gray slip of a whore,” counters Merikh, locking his jaw, eyes hardened and lethal upon Quintessa.

She stabs out her chin at him and tries to tug out of my grip, getting nowhere. “Call me a whore all you like. Call me anything, but let me keep the fox. He saved me. And he needs me.”

“No.” I solidify and jerk my head to Kyan and Mayce. “Mayce, take her other arm. Kyan, grab the fox. Best to give it a quick and painless death now.”

“Nooooo!” she protests, those wild tears unleashed and rippling down her cheeks. I’ll look forward to those when I fuck her later, and she’ll forgive me while screaming my name on my dragon cocks.

As soon as Kyan wrangles the fox out of her arms, Tessie freezes. While I haven’t relinquished my grip, holding her steady as Mayce does, I do cock my head to the side, curious at her expression. She’s like an animal cornered by a predator. Her eyes wide, limbs shuddering but not in fear. No, she’s expressionless. By now, her struggles have caused the tunic to fall lower, clumping at her tiny waist. Those little tits heave, but no breath escapes her throat. Is she actually holding her fucking breath? Redness, raw and hot and mad, rushes into her cheeks.

Qora sighs next to us. “Don’t say I tried to warn you.”

“What the devil?” I bellow and twist her arm, but Tessie doesn’t react whatsoever.

“Pretty close,” Qora adds and begins to drift back toward the gardens.

“Tessie!” I try to summon her, but there’s nothing. Same hollow, unstaring eyes. She doesn’t even respond when I brush my knuckles across both of her tits. And still, no fucking breath! Her cheeks burn as red as flames.

“If she truly wants to suffocate, I’ll give her something she can choke on,” snarls Merikh, marching toward her, but I shove him back.

In that split second with my gaze turned, the blood-curdling scream Tessie unleashes is shrill and ear-splitting enough to echo through the entire damned forest. Blaring enough to reach the Ash Village even from this distance. And it doesn’t fucking stop. Her screams chill the blood in my veins. And every time I try to dissuade her, her screams grow worse. That’s when I notice countless larger predators emerging from the woods, twisted, animalistic faces leering, tongues whetted in hunger, their ears pricked, summoned by Tessie’s ongoing scream.

“Make it stop!” Mayce demands, gnashing his teeth and covering his sensitive Fae ears.

“She’ll summon every monster in the Waste at this rate!” Kyan adds, rushing backward as more monsters close in. Fox still in his hands, shuddering even more from the clamor and his patches of fur sticking up from the greater predators encroaching.

“She won’t stop,” Qora raises her voice over the sound of Tessie’s screams before gesturing to the animal. “Is it really worth it?”

Dumbfounded, I stare at Tessie, whose lungs never seem to tire, whose face grows more flushed from her stubborn wrath. By far, the worst tantrum and case of whining I have ever encountered!

“Give her the fox, Drago! Give her the mother-fucking fox!” screeches Mayce, falling to his knees as scores of creatures rush out of the woods, growling, eager tongues salivating at the thought of fresh meat.

“Fine!” I roar. Anything to shut her up! I snap my fingers at Kyan, grip the little devil by the scruff, and shove it into her arms.

Immediately, she stops. She smiles. Fucking grins at me. Then cuddles her cheek onto its head. Mayce rises. Without wasting another moment, I grip Tessie by the waist, haul her and the damn fox into my arms, and return to the castle with my brothers trailing us.

Her eyes and smile are sweeter than ever when she pats the fox and then rubs my arm. “Good dragon, such a nice dragon, isn’t he, Jinxy?”

Her eyes hold such tenderness, such affection for the mongrel, it’s difficult to resist her sweet spirit. Not to mention her fortitude at having survived a brush with the Hag. More than a brush, considering the state of her wounds from the Hag’s claws. Regardless, I bristle and steel my spine, locking my jaw in resolve. My brothers and I watch her fill the clawfoot tub in the bedroom I’ve set aside for her with a generous amount of bubbles and warm water to scrub the fox. Utterly careless over her lack of dress, the blood and mud caking her body. It doesn’t matter how adorable she looks with laughing as the fox struggles and splashes her, her little tits jiggling from those giggles. She still ran from us. Put herself in danger. Not to mention that savage tantrum.

I chuckle internally as I linger to watch her slip on the wet floor with the fox scrambling out of the tub, looking far more like a drowned rat. She laughs as it whirls, then pounces on her front. She holds it to her bare chest, cuddling it. Fuck...She was born of fire and ice, blooms and thorns, silver and blood. Perhaps she is more monstrous than all of us.

No, I won’t force her to give up the beast, as ill-advised as it is to keep it. But we will not allow her behavior to go unanswered. More than ever, she must understand she belongs to us. We own her. Every fucking part. She cannot run. She cannot escape. Moreover, she must accept us as we are. Tonight, we will punish her.

And she will meet the monsters all fear.

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