Page 30 of Her Dark Promise

The fight in this one was foolish, but at the same time, invigorating.

“Anything, you say?” I closed my eyes and pretended to think about it and asked, “So, if I win, then you will stay here as my pet?” I narrowed my eyes, studying him. “I will use you. I will hurt you. I will break you.”

A shudder fell over him. He seemed to take a moment to consider the wager, or perhaps contemplate my words and what they meant.

“We have a deal, but no magic. We fight fair.”

“Very well,” I tsked. “I accept the terms of the wager, but first you eat.”

“Stop wasting time and let’s get this over with.”

“You are obviously too weak to fight. I can feel your hand trembling. It’s no fun hunting a wounded animal. Eat.”

He hesitantly let go of my neck and bounced back on his heels, standing up and raising his fists in a fighting stance. “No, we do this now.”

“You need to eat.” Nothing. He didn’t back down. I sighed. “Fine, I did try to warn you.”

I rolled my eyes, got up from the ground, wiped myself off, and stood there waiting for him to make the first move.

He waited a second before he rushed toward me, fist flying through the air. I waited until the last second to move my head just enough to evade his attack and sidestepped him, tripping him in the process.

He landed hard on his stomach and knocked his head against the stone floor. Even I winced from the sound and knew that he was badly injured.

“Foolish egotistical male.”

I went over to him and, to my surprise, he began to get back up. I allowed him to, and he used all of his strength to throw multiple punches at me and missed every time. He was panting, using the wall to hold himself up. He wiped sweat off of his forehead with the back of his hand. He pushed off the wall and approached me, his movements slowing down, growing lethargic.

He must have used the last bit of his energy when he pinned me on the ground.

His body was giving out, the fool. I warned him. Had he been at his full strength this would have been much more enjoyable. I just needed to wait him out. He stumbled forward and just as I was about to catch him, he reached under his shirt and pulled out something shiny. Before I knew it, I felt something sharp slice through my side.

“I told you I would kill you,” he panted.

I looked down and saw blood dripping down my sides, soaking into my dress. I rolled my eyes and looked back up at him.His eyes had brightened as if he knew in his heart that he had succeeded in killing me. I stepped back, pulled the shard of glass out without flinching, and threw it to the ground.

“You’ll have to try harder than that. And you cheated.”

His eyes widened, clearly confused, and just as I was waiting for another attack, his eyes rolled in the back of his head, and he fell forward. I reached out and caught him, and if it hadn’t been for my magic, I would have fallen along with him.

I dragged him over to the wall, placed him down next to the food, and said, “If I were a better person, I wouldn’t say this, but unlucky for you, I’m not human so… I told you so.”

He shouldn’t have fought me when I entered his mind, nor hit his head that hard against the ground. That coupled with no food or drink and being suspended for endless hours could even bring a talented hunter to near collapse.

I took a deep breath, coming to terms with the new addition. “You’ve lost. Now you’ll eat.” He barely opened his eyes and narrowed them at me though I was done with his games. “Or I will force the food down your throat.”

He knew that I meant what I said, and without sitting up, he reached for the cheese and nibbled a small piece. He closed his eyes, savoring the taste. And before I knew it, he was scarfing down the food as if his life depended on it. In his case, it did.

I stared at him and pondered what him being at his full strength looked like. This was a pathetic excuse for a fight. His body was moving out of sheer will and nothing else.

He leaned up on his side just enough to be able to drink the entire goblet of water and guzzled it down sloppily. He dropped the cup with a loud clang and collapsed onto the ground, exhausted from the fight.

“You’re mine now, but you can worry about that tomorrow. For now, rest.”

“No, I can—”

“Sonum,” I said as I blew the powder in his face.

I crouched next to him, sliced the pad of my finger, and pressed it against his lips. Allowing just enough to enter his body to heal any life-threatening injuries, but not enough to replenish all of his strength. He was a hunter, after all. I couldn’t let my guard down even with my powers. He needed uninterrupted rest if he was to fully heal from his injuries.

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