CAGED (#3, of Crows and Thorns)

Chapter 75

Nelle's black eyes slid slowly to Sage and then back to me.

Arching an eyebrow, I tipped up my chin. "Go on, kick him."

Nelle approached with silent footsteps, drawing nearer to where I rested against the dining table. Behind me the tower walls were cut away to allow the sun and moon to cast their respective rays, and the harsh midday sunlight bleached her hair lighter and sparkled off the beads of sweat coating her honeyed skin.

Nelle came to a halt in front of Sage. Tufts of ghostly fur abruptly hackled into a spiky ridgeline down the wraith-wolf's spine. His silvery eyes were wide and alert and fixed warily on his mistress.

I mentally dug deep and twined my will around the moonlit strands knotting Nelle and I together. The energy radiating down the lines of power was a seductive stroke against my senses. The trust she placed in me was a sweetly hummed lullaby that set my heartbeat thundering. And my mind darkened and narrowed to a singular entitled thought. That this, the tamer's will, was only mine to wield, no one else's. It was my godsdamned birthright. An intoxicating swell of dominance rose, lethal and awe-inspiring, and crashed through my bloodstream like a breaker pounding a shoal.

Use it, use it, use it—whispered that ancient feral part of me.

I cracked my neck and the sharp sound ringing inside my ears severed the toxic desire to keep Nelle tied to me, to use and control under the sway. This was so fucking wrong. Deep down, I knew there was something far more menacing coming up on her 20th birthday, and as of yet, I hadn't figured out a way around it. However this, right now...I didn't want the sway to last longer than needed. I had to test it quickly and set Nelle free.

Leaning against the dark magic, I sent an order rippling down the bindings, mentally pushing back at Nelle to make her sway into what I wanted.

Kick. Your. Dog.

The calf muscles in Nelle's leg tightened as she drew her foot back.

Sage shifted restlessly and gave a soft whimper.

Unease prickled the hair on the back of my neck. I shifted off the table to stand tall, and braced myself, ready to intercede.

Except—

It was an explosion of wrath.

Utter outrage razored through the strands of dark magic, exploding inside my body like a detonated bomb. The ferocious force of it quaked along my bones.

Nelle centered her weight on the drawn leg—

Flung her arm back and whipped it forward—

Displaced air rushed along my cheek just before her palm struck hard. The strength of her slap slung my head sideways. I blinked against the spiny heat scorching my nerve endings.

Hellsgate! Fuuuck!

It was a barrage of slaps. Of incensed snarls.

Crack! Crack! Crack!