Chapter 3

ZEKE

Pain. Again. It greeted me like an old friend, but this time, it’s wasn’t just my head that hurt. No, it had been everywhere he’d touched me and the pain of whatever he had done to me when he tasted my blood.

I forced myself to my feet but when I did, I realized something—my hands weren’t bound.

A grin formed on my lips, That was their first mistake.

The dungeon was as dark and damp as before, the stench of rot clinging to the air, but beyond the iron bars, I could hear them.

“…rotation changes in a quarter hour,” one muttered.

“I still say we should’ve taken his hands,” another grumbled.

“Not our call. Besides, he won’t last long.” A sigh. “Would’ve been easier if the king had just killed him.”

I barely breathed as I listened, mapping their movements, counting the time between each shift in position. My fingers found the hidden slit in my shirt, the small, sharpened blade tucked away.

I waited. The footsteps faded. My heart pounded as I worked the lock, my hands steady despite the blood crusting my knuckles. The iron door gave way with barely a sound, and I slipped out, sticking to the shadows.

But I had barely taken five steps before the bells rang.

A sharp, deafening sound that broke the silence.

No. No, no, no—

Heavy footsteps thundered down the halls. I tried to move faster, but they were already there.

The first hit sent me reeling. The second drove the air from my lungs. Hands grabbed me, slamming me against the wall, the rough stone biting into my skin.

“Stupid little rat,” one spat, breath hot against my ear.

A fist slammed into my stomach, and I gasped, choking on my own breath.

“Should’ve killed you when we had the chance. Now you’re going to get us in trouble.”

I barely managed to lift my head, my vision swimming. “Still could,” I rasped, forcing a grin even as pain burned deep in my ribs. “Or are you scared?”

The next strike split my lip.

The pain barely registered before they wrenched me forward again, shoving me to my knees.

And then they stopped.

The hands on me went stiff. The air in the corridor thickened, heavy with something far worse than anger.

I felt him before I saw him.

King Darius.

The guards moved back so fast it was like they feared being too close when he spoke. I sucked in a breath, my pulse hammering as his footsteps echoed against the stone. Slow. Soft. Each step precise in a way that made my skin crawl.

Then his hand gripped my chin, forcing my head up.

And I saw him.

No veil. No scales that that would make a man run.

Just him.

And fuck.

The heavens had to be laughing, because Darius was the kind of monster that made beautiful things look dull. He had the sharp, cut-throat features of a man carved from power itself, his golden eyes burning into mine with a heat that sent a shudder down my spine.

My breath hitched before I could stop it.

His claws dug in just enough to draw blood.

“What,” he said, voice dangerously soft, “did you think you were doing?”

I swallowed hard, my throat dry. “Taking a midnight stroll, Your Majesty.”

His grip tightened, tilting my head to the side. “Do you think this is a game?”

I should’ve shut up. I knew I should’ve shut up. But fear made my mouth reckless.

“I mean, I was winning until your goons cheated.”

A muscle in his jaw ticked. His gaze didn’t waver, didn’t soften. If anything, it sharpened, like the claw pressing against my throat.

The silence stretched.

Then—

“Leave.”

The guards hesitated. One of them opened his mouth as if to protest, then thought better of it.

And then we were alone.

The air in the corridor was stifling. My pulse thudded, uneven, too fast.

Darius didn’t look away.

He exhaled slowly. “You’re afraid.”

It wasn’t a question.

I clenched my jaw. “I’m not—”

His thumb dragged over my throat, cutting off the words. My stomach twisted.

“Lying to me won’t save you.”

I swallowed, the movement pressing my skin against his claw. “Then why am I still alive?”

Darius was silent for a moment, his fingers shifting just enough to trace my pulse. His eyes burned into me, studying, considering.

Then he said, “You took something from me.”

The words sent a jolt through my body, and I wasn’t sure why.

My throat tightened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

A lie. We both knew it.

It didn’t take a genius to figure it out—well not after what he had did to me but now, I knew he spoke of the gem. The gem that had landed me into this mess.

Darius leaned in, his breath warm against my skin, but his presence was ice, chilling me to the bone. “I should remind you what happens when people take what’s mine.”

His grip shifted, claws skimming my throat, dragging lower.

“If you want to leave so badly,” he murmured, his voice dark, “let’s make it hurt.”

My body locked up. Fear clawed at my ribs, a desperate urge to run, but there was nowhere to go, nothing I could do, and Darius knew it.

He wanted me to break.

He wanted to tear me apart, piece by piece, until there was nothing left but submission.

I refused.

I refused.

The fear was still there, my heart slamming hard against my ribs and I clenched my fist tightly. I forced a grin anyway, forced myself to move, to do something.

I slid my hands onto his lap, tilting my head just so, and did the one best thing I was good at. Run my mouth.

In a soft voice low and mocking, I said, “What should I use, Your Majesty? My mouth or my ass?”

An expression flickered in his gaze. Not surprise. Not hesitation.

Something worse.

Something that had my heart racing hard.

And then it hit me.

The words he had said before, the ones that i hadn’t bothered to think of while I tried to escape.

Fate be damned for what it has given to me.

Only—

That wasn’t all he’d said, was it?

I swallowed hard, my hands shaking lightly where they sat on his lap.

I knew what I’d really heard.

Mate.

I was King Darius mate.