Page 256 of Split or Swallow

She opened her mouth to tell him. But at that exact moment, they passed the fountain, and Rowe’s entire body came into view. Tem’s warning died on her tongue.

Rowe’s cock was gone.

It was not a clean cut. A warped mound of scar tissue protruded between his legs as if it had been ripped off instead of severed. Tem wondered suddenly if that was exactly what Caspen had done. The sheer force it would take to do such a thing made her feel sick. Surely, Rowe had used his power to heal himself. But the nature of the injury was so violent that Tem couldn’t imagine the pain he’d endured before his skin knit itself back together again. The amount of blood he’d lost would have been nearly fatal. His balls were gone too—there was nothing left where everything had once been. Tem tried not to stare. But she couldn’t look away.

Tem knew Caspen was angry with Rowe for trying to crest her. But it took seeing Rowe’s mangled body to truly understand the scope of his fury. Rowe had tried to take what was his. In return, Caspen had taken the part of Rowe that basilisks valued the most—the part of him that directly contributed to his status in society. A basilisk without a cock was incomprehensible. It meant he couldn’t participate in sex—the only thing that mattered to his people—in the same way everyone else could.

It meant he had nothing left to lose.

Caspen’s words ran through her mind: To crest someone else’s mate is unspeakably cruel. Tem wondered if this wasn’t somehow crueler. Caspen had done the one thing Rowe would never recover from—something just as permanent and painful as losing your mate. It would be better to be dead. Surely, this was also an unforgivable act of war.

Tem was having trouble breathing.

“How could you—?” she started, but couldn’t get the rest out. Caspen simply kept walking, his head pointed straight forward.

“I did what was necessary, Tem.”

Tem looked up at him and saw nothing but rage. Not for the first time, she was struck by his power. It radiated off of him in waves.

“You made him angry,” she whispered. It was the same thing she’d said to him after he’d forced Rowe to finish during the council meeting. Except now, Rowe would never finish again. And it was all because of Tem.

“I know.”

Caspen said it in a way that made it clear he was well aware of the severity of his actions.

They didn’t speak the rest of the way back to his chambers. When they climbed into his bed, Tem was so exhausted from the night’s events that she fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

When she woke, she felt the full effects of what they’d done at the lake.

Her human form was aching—it felt as if she had been stretched too thin, like her skin was no longer the right size. There was a sporadic pain between her legs that wouldn’t go away, and her limbs were suddenly heavy. Even her balance was off—it was as if she were a stranger in her own body. Just when she felt the urge to panic, warm, steady hands touched her.

Good morning my love.

Caspen was awake.

Good morning.

Tem turned to him, running her fingers through his hair and studying his face. It was fascinating to see the similarities between Caspen’s human form and his true form. His hair was the exact same deep black as his scales; the angle of his eyebrows perfectly mimicked the triangular shape of his basilisk face. It was like she was finally able to see every part of him—to understand him on his most authentic level.

She gazed at him for a long time.

Caspen didn’t try to kiss her. He merely let her look, exercising his seemingly endless patience as she traced her fingertips gently along his temple, then his cheek, then his jaw.

“Beautiful,” Tem said.

Caspen smiled.

“That is what I say about you.”

“Well. It goes both ways.”

He smiled wider.

“How do you feel?”

Tem shifted, letting out a groan.

“Sore.”