Page 33

Another trick. A bond that should not exist.

“Surviving what?” I asked, trying to push the tendrils of sunlight out of my soul.

“You, Sunshine,” he said, shrugging one shoulder as he leaned back against the sheets. “You can feel it though, can’t you? That pull. You just don’t want it to be with me.”

I scoffed, clenching my fists at my side. As much as I wanted to slap the smug expression off his face, getting close to him was not worth the risk.

“Would you prefer me like this?” His body shifted, contorting before me.

I blinked rapidly. Tears burned in my eyes as Rythos sat on the bed where Helion had been.

He lifted the waist band of his pants, peering down with raised eyebrows. Cursing under his breath, he let go. Allowing the waistband to snap against the muscular V of his lower waist. He mumbled absently to himself before stalking towards me.

I retreated backwards until the wall pressed into my back. He leant against it, hands splayed next to my head as he bent down to hold my gaze.

Rythos stared back at me. But it wasn’t him.

“Stop this,” I hissed through gritted teeth. I couldn’t look at him without my heart contorting. I wanted to run my fingers through his hair. To curl against his chest. To feel safe in his arms.

But it wasn’t real.

He sighed, and Rythos’ face began to come apart. The hard line of his jaw shifted, bone sliding beneath the skin as the shape softened and sharpened in all the wrong places. His shoulders rolled with a wet crack, narrowing before settling into Helion’s body. Rythos’ features seemed to melt away piece by piece, like a mask dissolving against flesh until Helion stood before me again.

The resemblance between them was gone completely. Where Rythos was all brutal angles and towering strength, Helion was leaner. Beautiful in a way that felt dangerous. His features were finer, his body still powerful but built with the effortless grace of a god.

His hand lifted, pausing just before touching my cheek. The ghost of his touch sent a shiver through me.

“I could take you anyway. Without consent,” he said quietly. “You would like it, too. Your body knows it wants my touch.”

I held my breath as he dropped his hand and stepped away from me. Cool air rushed over me as his body heat retreated.

“But I won’t, Princess, and I will still try to protect you.” The golden flecks in his eyes danced as he watched me.

“I am not a princess anymore. And I do not want your protection if it means having to fuck you.”

He tilted his head back and laughed, an amused chuckle that made me squirm.

“No, you’re right. How about I call you something that reflects your…” He smirked down at me. “Happy nature.”

“Go to Hell,” I said, venom pooling in my voice. Happy? I had my first glimpse of happiness in my entire life, and he took it from me.

“Haven’t you realised, Sunshine?” he said softly, but his gaze darkened. “We’re already in Hell.” His eyes held mine as he lay down onto the bed, arms crossed behind his head. “And now you’re its prisoner as much as I am.”

A coolness spread through me. Once again, I had made a deal without fully understanding the consequences.

“Get some rest before the trials begins,” he muttered as he closed his eyes. “You’re going to need it.”

“What trials?” I demanded, unease spreading through me.

But his breathing had already evened. Too quickly. Too easily. A part of me was certain he was faking.

I huffed in frustration and slid down the wall. I lay on the cold marble, curling in on myself as if I could stop the broken pieces from falling apart.

A single tear traced down my cheek and I took a deep, painful breath. My chest ached, pulling me in two directions.

One was shadowed and familiar. The other was warm… and wrong.

I wasn’t just bonded to the monster created to hunt me. I was bonded to the very god who made him.