Page 95 of The Hunted

It seemed better to repeat that sentiment, seeing as how she couldn’t exactly lie. Not that it mattered because the darkness was back in his face, and his jaw clenched with his next breath. All at once, she knew exactly what bothered him, when moments ago, he’d been perfectly calm.

Eryx was jealous.

“Say it,” he murmured, “that he is your mate.”

She still couldn’t lie. Not like this. Not with him.

“No, he can’t be my mate,” she whispered.

Their locked gazes didn’t budge. She wasn’t sure how long the two of them stayed like that. Did it even matter?

“I only wanted to kill you,” he said, voice thick with pain and frustration and something else entirely. “So why are you still alive with me like this?”

She didn’t think he really wanted an answer. He proved her right when he stood, turned, and left without a look backward. The urge to follow him was almost too much. It nearly dragged her out of the hot water.

Arelle sank beneath it, instead.

If he wanted her, he would tell her.

Wouldn’t he?

• • •

He was punishing her.

Of that, Arelle was most sure.

What other reason would Eryx have after their encounter that night in the bath chambers to do what he’d done? What he was still doing?

They’d moved—in the middle of the night, during a break between storms when the sky was still dark, and she’d had no real understanding of what was happening. From the house he’d brought her to, all the way to a new estate the guards called the House of Miller. She thought the new estate was worse, if only because they were so close to the sea here that she could smell it, taste it, hear it and even see it.

Outside the windows of the bedchambers where she was being kept, without any freedom this time around, she could watch the sea lap at the stairs leading down from the back of the house. She was so close to it that the itchiness became worse. And she was so alone in her confinement that had, so far, lasted five days that she was sure she would soon go insane.

Eryx wouldn’t see her.

No one did.

Arelle stayed locked in her rooms with only the windows to keep her company, and the occasional guards that came to remove what they needed or bring her what she asked for. They didn’t speak more than they had to. A servant never once graced her presence. She ate, slept, and lived alone.

At least before, she could leave her rooms. There were people around.

Now, it was just … nothing.

It had to be a punishment.

Didn’t it?

Pacing the length of the chambers, Arelle did her very best to ignore the sounds of the sea. It sounded like the most haunting song—calling her closer but warning her to stay away. She had never wanted anything more than the water and her home, and yet she knew the punishment and pain that waited for her should she return.

There was no winning here.

She would only lose.

But it was how she lost that scared her the most. Would she pay with her freedom, her life, or both? As it were, Eryx had already taken one.

What was another?

The fragility of her mind wasn’t lost on Arelle. Nor was the fact that she felt as though she were crawling out of her skin because of the bonds that tied her to one other person in the large house. She had no idea where he was within the estate, and yet in her mind and heart, she heard him all the time.