Page 60 of Magic Claimed
My mates knew how to say the sweetest things. My eyes clouded as I clutched the dagger. They’d given me a way to protect myself.
My fingers rubbed my tightening collar. “I have to go.”
“We will remain hidden. We have your back, Little Mate,” Alerick said.
I looked between their tense faces, then at the wolves I saw partially hidden further away in the trees. Alerick was right. They had my back. Esoti would probably torture me, but I wouldn’t be alone in my suffering. They would come and put me back together with care and tenderness. My heart tumbled and the bloom in my chest trembled, wanting to open but not knowing how.
I nodded and walked toward the castle, my feet heavy. I reached past my nerves and to the determination I would need. I left the wolves at the edge of the clearing and when I turned before I walked through the door, all I saw was the greenery of the trees. I knew they were there though, hating what I had to do and yet giving me strength to do it.
I tilted my chin and trudged up to Esoti’s room. Servants scattered when I entered the hall. I scoffed at them, seeing them flee like mice. The cowards.
I strode down the hall, despite the constriction about my throat.
Ben came out of Esoti’s room, startled when he saw me before narrowing his eyes. He smirked and knocked me into the wall as he passed. My fingers firmed about the dagger, itching to bury it in his back. I cursed under my breath, hating that I couldn’t stop my hand from shaking as I knocked on Esoti’s door.
“Come.”
My heart thundered in my chest when I stepped inside the room and closed the door behind me. Esoti was busy at his desk. Maybe he wasn’t and pretended he was to make me wait and build the terror working through my bones.
As much as I hated to admit it, his tactic worked. When he speared me with a penetrating gaze I shook uncontrollably, grateful when triumph lit the depraved pits of his eyes because it saved me from early torture.
“Come. I will bathe.”
I swayed on my feet when he released the collar, allowing me to breathe. Esoti walked into his bathing room, leaving me to follow. I took a steeling breath and trailed after him.
He waited as I filled the tub and readied the soaps he liked. He undressed and I was careful to keep my eyes averted. I wished he had a flat, flabby body with pimples and moles, but he didn’t. Magic kept his body in peak condition. I imagined he looked much the same as a thousand years ago. Maybe better. His skin was smooth, showcasing muscle definition I knew he never worked at. Not like the wolves. Their magnificent bodies were carved perfection through hard work, defined by running miles and miles through a forest.
Pain exploded through my jaw and I blinked the black edges of my vision away as I looked up at Esoti from the floor. My jaw throbbed as Esoti rubbed his knuckles. “Keep your mind on the job.”
From this angle, his flaccid penis filled my vision. Bile rose up my throat. Now I knew the difference with three virile, healthy males, the contrast was striking. I’d never thought about it before, thankful that his torture had not turned to rape, but perhaps it was only because he couldn’t. That his lack of sex drive was payment for the magic that sustained him.
He climbed into the tub, his penis hanging limp and useless, and sat in the water as though he hadn’t struck me senseless. I rose onto shaking legs and turned the faucet off. I gathered the soap and washcloth and moved to his back.
I worked the soap across his skin, the way I knew he liked, while trying to keep my lunch in my stomach. I dabbed the blood from my cracked lip, feeling the side of my face swell and bruise. The large ring on his finger always left particularly bad bruises.
I cleaned his back and shoulders until my fingers found the key that hung around his neck. My heart pounded, knowing I was so close to what we needed. He hadn’t taken it off after Drisella had given it to him. How on earth would I ever steal it?
“You may bring my dinner,” Esoti said.
Thank the Gods he hadn’t asked me to stroke his cock, not that he ever did. I frowned, not noticing his idiosyncrasies now I knew better. I left the washcloth on the edge of the tub, grateful for small mercies. I scrambled out of the room and down to the kitchen, aware if I took too long, it would anger him.
“Esoti wants his dinner,” I said to cook.
She took a step away from me before shouting orders at the staff. A stack of muffins was cooling on a tray on the bench, and my stomach rumbled. I was starving from the Change and hadn’t eaten enough like my Mates had asked me to. I reached for a muffin and took a bite.
The kitchen screeched to a surprised silence. Cook stormed across to me. “How dare you!”
Anger, sharp and whiplash fast, made me growl from deep within my chest. Cook sucked in a quick breath and staggered backwards against the bench. I finished the muffin while she stared at me. She was someone who made my existence a living misery. One muffin wouldn’t make a castle full of people starve.
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” I said. Her flabby jowls shook as she worked her mouth open and closed like a fish. The kitchen hands gasped. “Shut up, all of you. Get the tray ready or else I’ll find you in your sleep and make you pay. I’m the one he’ll torture if you’re not fast enough, not you.”
Cook burst into action, and I reached for another muffin and ate it while the tray was assembled. I showed all my teeth when I grinned at Cook as I picked up the tray and headed back to Esoti’s quarters.
Esoti gestured to his desk and then remained at the window, looking out, his hands behind his back. I was thankful he’d finished his bath and dressed himself. As I slid the tray across his desk, the key gleamed from beneath a loose sheaf of papers. The key!
I glanced between the key and Esoti’s back. Heart racing, I slid the tray further and slipped the key under my fingers and up my sleeve as I stepped away.
Energy zinged through my veins and I willed my feet to remain rooted to the floor. I kept my eyes downcast, hoping he didn’t notice my cheeks heating or my mind spinning.
