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He groaned, leaning back onto the ground and cracking open one storm-coloured eye towards me, the amber flecks in his eyes glowed like freshly extinguished coals.

It felt like he could see straight into me. No matter how hard I tried to block my feelings from him, I knew he could see the agony, the guilt, the anger, and the sadness swirling through me. The golden bond in my chest flared before slamming down, as if blocking me from feeling him. But not before I felt his concern.

Relief crashed through me as the pain finally ebbed, dragged away like a receding tide. The cold remained, sharp and relentless, but the agony had dulled to something bearable.

“That was your pain?” I asked, watching his body jerk with another shiver, every muscle tightening beneath his damp tunic until the white fabric clung to him like a second skin.

“I can’t shield it from you when I’m unconscious,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry you had to feel that.” His dimples flashed faintly despite the exhaustion pulling at his features.

“You pinned me against a tree and—” I snarled in frustration, cutting off my words. He winced at the noise before throwing his head back with an exasperated sigh. I tried to focus on him to fuel the anger boiling with in me, but not even that could warm me.

“If you would just stop lying to yourself, this would be so much easier,” he said as his gaze dragged back to mine and softened. “I want to escape too. But you must be mine for it to work.”

“I guess we’ll stay here forever then,” I shot back. My soul belonged to one male only, and it was not Helion.

“Then your monster will die.” He cocked a brow, his smile deepening when my shoulders sagged despite myself.

“I already married you,” I said quietly, the fight bleeding from my voice. “Is that not enough?”

His expression shifted, something darker slipping beneath the surface at my suffering.

“We need to consummate the marriage, Lyra,” he said quietly. “You took something from me when you died as Maraveth. That’s why I needed you to find the soul relics—to make yourself whole again so I could take my power back.” His gaze burned into mine as understanding settled like ice in my veins.

Consummate.

He needed me to open my thighs for him. To take him inside me. To kiss him as though it meant something, as though my heart had not already been given to someone else.

That would never fucking happen.

“Drinking your blood gave me a fraction of it back.” He leant closer to where I shivered violently on the ground, voice lowering to a husky whisper. “But I need it all. And letting me make love to you would bring you to full strength.” A faint smirk tugged at his mouth, as he dragged his tongue over his bottom lip. “Escaping would be a lot easier.”

I pressed my palms against the hot sting of tears pricking against my eyes. I would not let them fall. I heard Helion shift but I didn’t uncover my eyes.

“Just think about it, okay? Because it’s either that or we win the games, and that isn’t going well so far now, is it?”

Hands as cool as my skin slid under me, one under my legs and one around my back, lifting me into the air. I gasped, squirming against the grip with what little fight my body could muster.

“Shh,” Helion soothed. “I’ve got you, sunshine. I’m not going to hurt you.” I glared up at him, venom pooling in my gaze and his dimples flashed. “Or make love to you,” he added. “Let me look after you. I know how hard the first few times can feel.”

My mind spun. I had felt his pain through the bond. He was in more agony than me, yet he wanted to look after me?

I went limp in his arms, willing myself to believe that he wouldn’t violate me.

“That’s it,” he praised as he opened a door next to a sitting chair on the right side of his room.

We walked into a smaller, tiled room as pristine and white as the last. It was a plain washroom, containing a basin with oils in glass vials and a shaver’s knife with a round mirror above it, but the large bathtub sitting in the centre of the room with water curling invitingly from the surface made me whimper with need.

I had not bathed since I was preparing to marry Rythos, and the bath that had rendered my magic useless. Where Riven had snuck in and pretended to care about my wellbeing.

Suddenly, the need to soak into that tub vanished and a sickening feeling of dread replaced it.

“I think you’ve ruined baths for me,” I said, voice wavering as another shiver wracked through my body.

“Nonsense,” he murmured, setting me down on my feet. I swayed, almost toppling to the side until his hands gripped my shoulders to steady me.

“I’m going to help you get undressed, okay?” I searched his eyes, the amber flecks flickering like the sun behind grey clouds, only to find kindness reflecting back at me.

I nodded softly, giving him permission to undress me despite every instinct screaming that I shouldn’t. We had showered beside each other countless times at the barracks, and he had seen my body many times. But could I trust him not to take what he so desperately needed from me without my consent?