Page 36 of Going to Hell
None of his behavior made any sense. But did it need to? A simple smile had stopped his crazy spiral in its tracks.
My smile grew wider as I recognized I didn’t need to keep touching C’adon. I merely needed to curve my lips.
“Blood will rain,” he whispered from nearby.
Deciding to ignore him, I looked over the souls in the room then shut the door and moved to the next. C’adon didn’t hurry to his usual spot. He hung back and paced the hall, quietly muttering to himself while I pressed my ear to the wood.
Maybe a smile wasn’t the answer. If I upset him too much, I risked his anger and the building collapsing, which I didn’t want. No, I needed to keep C’adon interested and on his toes. When he was confused or concerned, he was quiet. And even though my smiles distracted him from his growing obsession for me, I didn’t want to overuse them.
Perhaps, though, if I listened to his mumbling, I might figure out what he thought I’d do next and do the opposite.
It seemed like a reasonable plan. At least until he caught on.
After peering into the current room without spotting my uncle’s familiar face, I hurried to the next room while C’adon was otherwise preoccupied. I managed to finish checking that room as well before he resumed following me. He didn’t say anything; he simply stood back and watched me listen at the next door.
Unfortunately, his silent observation didn’t last. By the third room, he started mumbling about the same things—not being enough and raining blood. However, he didn’t return to his position by the door even though I was keeping up my end of the game.
I felt a surge of pity over how deeply my smile had upset him but quickly smothered the emotion and carried on as if I hadn’t noticed a thing.
It took a few more rooms before he resumed his place beside the door. And when he did, he mumbled incoherent things under his breath until I set my head against his chest.
At the first touch of my forehead against his skin, he went silent and let out a shuddering breath. Poor tortured C’adon. I wondered what he would do if I actually gave him a hug. Probably bring out the knives he kept talking about and eat me alive.
Pushing aside that horrible thought, I reached out for the latch like I’d done for countless other doors. His hand caught mine, stopping me.
Wide-eyed, I stared at his fingers twining with mine.
“Are you toying with me, my fair beauty?”
The calm clarity in that question planted a bolt of fear within me that was almost impossible to quell.
“I feel you tremble but cannot decide how to interpret it. You play at fear, but I know you too well. You fear nothing.” He lifted my hand and placed it on his chest. “No, this trembling is pure revulsion.”
He inhaled deeply and dipped his head to whisper against my ear.
“Be revolted. It matters not. You are mine.”
His lips brushed the skin of my neck, and his free hand skated around my side. The touch of his warm fingers through the thin material of the dress branded me as he pressed against my lower back. My front touched his, and I fought not to shiver in reaction to all the sensations. I couldn’t stop the way my breath quickened, though.
His rumble of satisfaction rang in my ears. His hold tightened, and his lips teased my skin again.
I felt trapped and wanted. So very wanted. And I wasn’t sure at all that I hated it, which terrified me as much as his next words.
“I took you from your home, and you have hated me across the ages. I never again took what you could willingly give, but perhaps that was my mistake.”
I had no idea what he meant by the first part, but the second part was impossible to misinterpret as he kissed my exposed shoulder. The heat of his lips seared me, and despite the danger, I wanted nothing more than to grip his sides and hold still for more of his attention.
I shivered in want, and my heart beat faster in my panicked understanding. He’d gotten to me. He held a thread of my will in his hands. How? I hadn’t looked at him.
No, that couldn’t be what this was. My thoughts still felt like my own. Before I could figure out what was happening, he growled and jerked back from me.
“Be gone, tempting illusion. Torment me no longer.”
I managed to move my hand to the latch without shaking or crying. Barely. However, it didn’t seem fast enough for C’adon.
“Leave me!” he yelled.
Fear spread like wildfire inside me at the violent rage in his tone. Driven by the need to escape, I slipped inside the room. The latch fell into place behind me, leaving C’adon in the hall and me in a well-lit room, facing another chained person.
