The Opelux and Other Monsters || Book One

CHAPTER 3 (PART 2) - UNKNOWN

I looked down as a thread on the cloak snagged the end of my fingernail. I hadn't realized I'd still been running my fingers all over it. My fingernails, every one of them, were broken or shredded and a bit of black soil remained beneath each. But that wasn't the only thing under them. A thin, black, hardened cut on the tip of each finger below the nail separated slightly to make a slit of a hole when I stretched the skin. They didn't hurt, and I couldn't tell how deep each cut went.

The uncomfortable buzzing sensation I had felt earlier started up again. It stopped when I shook my head. "Are you doing that?" I asked.

Tritteon blinked and settled back. Was that surprise? "I am doing nothing," he said, resting his hands on the chair's armrests.

I rubbed the back of my head. "Well, something keeps trying to give me a headache."

"Perhaps you need rest. I will not bother you if you need to sleep."

"No, thank you. I'll sleep when you leave." I felt reassured he wouldn't hurt me, but the image of his black eyes kept popping up in my mind and that side of him terrified me.

"You have an interesting temperament," Tritteon said, curiously.

I rubbed my thumb over the cut on my pointer finger. The tugging sensation was strange when I stretched it apart. It seemed to radiate down through my arm, all the way to my elbow. "You make me sound like some kind of animal."

"I apologize if that offended you," he said. But the amusement in his eyes made it clear he wasn't sorry in the least.

"No. I just find it interesting how you throw that word around like it's an everyday way to describe someone."

"Now, see, I find it very interesting how, despite your situation and the fear you reek of, you are unafraid to speak with such straightforwardness. You seem impressively collected and very quick to acclimate yourself despite everything. Is your fear of me wearing off?"

I rolled my eyes, refusing to be bated.

He grinned. "It was a sincere question."

"It was an asinine question intended only to annoy me."

"Perhaps." He canted his head. "But I would like you to answer regardless."

I scowled. "I'll let you know when my fear of you overwhelms me into silence."

His smile was feral. He rubbed his lip, something flashing behind his gaze.

And then that horrifying blackness enveloped his eyes and he lunged.

I only had time to gasp and throw my hands up in defense before he had me pinned against the headboard, dark claws buried into the wood on either side of my wrists, his beautiful face mere inches from my own, glorious heat and that something else my other sense found utterly terrifying, radiating off of him. This close, I could see the inky blackness in his eyes swirling around like smoke turned liquid, not solid like I'd first thought, and the scent of him—leather and salt and cedar.

It was that heat, the burning warmth of his hands around my wrists, the dark, intoxicating power surging beneath his skin, and the closeness of his body, his knees straddling my legs, like he truly believed I'd be too terrified to defend myself. Idiot, I wanted to say. All of it together slowed my heartrate, made me hyper-fixate on that heat my body was still so desperate for, the way it seemed to banish the iciness from my arms. I found myself pressing my skin tighter against his palms, leaning toward his face, the tip of my nose warming a breath from his.

The black drained from his eyes, leaving that deep, honey gold, narrowing them as he drew back a bit at my nearness.

My nearness. Like he hadn't just jumped on top of me to scare me.