Well. Well. Well. This big fucker can’t handle the sunlight.
That was promising and gave me hope I may be able to get myself out of this.
“A little too bright out there for you?” Maybe poking jabs at him wasn’t the best course to take.
He stilled and slowly turned to face me, his wide, barreled chest rising and falling fast and hard.
Okay, I probably should have kept my mouth shut. I pressed my back to the wall, the rock digging into the thin material of my shirt.
“I’d be careful what you say to me, little Fae. I’m not one to be fucked with.”
I didn’t respond, because frankly what the hell was I supposed to say? So I sat there and watched him go back to walking the length of the cave and kicking bones away without stopping.
I was scared—terrified, in fact—but I was also pissed. I had no idea why he’d taken me or what he wanted with me, well, aside from maybe making a meal out of me.
And that was kind of confirmed that it might be my ending as I glanced around the cavern. There were carcasses strewn all over the place, and the stench of them rotting away was enough to make me gag.
I was lost in thought as I stared at the desiccating face—I think it was a face—of one of those tentacle creatures. I could see its dried arms spread out around it, all withered and crinkled at the ends. The body itself was torn apart as if this beast didn’t have the patience to just tear into it with his very sharp teeth.
It was the heavy fall of his footsteps coming closer that had my attention snapping from the carcass to Diablos.
He stilled just five feet from me now, his eerily completely black eyes drilling holes into my skull.
He tipped his head to the side, as much as he could with his enormous horns, and continued to watch me as if trying to figure out what I was.
And then his nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply. He made a disgusted sound as he raked his gaze down to my chest.
My shocked, pissed-off sound was loud as I crossed my arms over my breasts, shielding myself as much as possible.
“You smell like the vampire,” he said and curled his lip as if the scent of me was somehow offensive. Like could he not smell that this whole cave reeked like rotting meat? “He’s marked you hard. He might as well have bathed you in his semen.”
I wrinkled my nose as a shocked gasp left me at how crude his language was. But I pursed my lips and kept anything I would’ve snapped back at him to myself. Last thing I wanted was to further piss him off. It seemed like me just being here was accomplishing that enough.
His huge body was bent forward because he was so massive, and with his arching horns, he wouldn’t have been able to stand up straight anyway.
I narrowed my eyes and bit my tongue.
He was the one to narrow his eyes at me now, glaring, but I glared right back. He probably got off on me being terrified, and I refused to give him the satisfaction.
But then he tipped his head back and started chuckling, which momentarily took me by surprise, but I still glared at him.
“A tiny little thing like you going to go up against me.” He lifted his claw-tipped hand and ran it over his face.
I didn’t say anything as I continued to look at him, taking note that although his face and body were somewhat human-ish, with two arms and legs, and the usual ears, nose, mouth, and two eyes, none of that familiarity took away from how inhuman he was.
He continued laughing and the sound got deeper, more frightening, if I were being honest.
“I could use you as a toothpick, female.”
My throat tightened and my mouth dried at hearing him say those words. “And is that what you plan on doing with me? Eating me?”
Truth be told, I didn’t really want to know if that was his plan.
“Is that what you want me to do with you?” His voice was thickly accented and deeper than anything I’d ever heard before.
And I didn’t like how he was throwing my question right back at me.
“Well, if I got a choice, I’d much prefer you take me back where you found me. We can go our separate ways and no one has to get hurt.”
“No one has to get hurt…” He repeated my words in a monotone voice.
I slowly shook my head. “No. No one has to. You just let me get back to my mate and we can all go on our way.”
He glanced back at the entrance as if he were truly mulling over my words, maybe changing his mind.