Reia frowned, lowering her own utensils when they both started to rise like they wanted to get moving. She was thankful this uncomfortable meal had ended.
“Then what are you going to do to him?” she asked when they were starting to walk out of the massive, but mostly barren, dining room.
“I’m going to kill him,” Katerina said with glee, almost skipping down the hallway they had entered.
Her face paled as a spike of dread sent a cold rush through her entire body. So cold, in fact, that her skin rose with goosebumps. It froze her on the spot.
“What?” she almost squeaked out, before clearing her throat. “You’re planning to kill him?”
Jabez pushed her back to shove her forward so she’d keep walking.
“Took us a long time to figure out how to kill him,” Jabez said as he led them into the throne room. “Mavka are extremely hard to kill. She’s been lying to you, by the way. The only reason she saved you is because it was only recently that we learned how to kill them. Any human could have been in your shoes.” He tapped behind his ears when they were standing in the middle of the throne room, as if this was where they were planning on committing this villainous crime. “I like to listen in on everything in my castle, even when I’m not present.”
Katerina’s lips thinned in irritation, placing her hands on her hips as she gave him a glare. She didn’t deny it.
“You can’t stab them, that only enrages them,” he continued, coming forward to put his arm around Katerina’s shoulders. His pointed ears flickered in annoyance when a few strands of his hair tickled over them. “Stabbing them in the heart doesn’t work, and it’s near impossible to break through their outer ribcage. Cutting off their head doesn’t work either. You can’t even scoop out their brains. Within a day, no matter how large or small the wound is, even if the skull is without a body, they grow back.”
Katerina shuddered under his arm.
“So unnatural. At least if I cut off your head, you’d die.”
“Got to get to it first,” he chuckled, swiping his entire hand across her face like he was attempting to pet it. “It took me many tries with the ram-horned Mavka I caught recently. No matter what I did, he just wouldn’t die.”
I don’t know the ram-horned Duskwalker. But it didn’t matter, they’d tortured one. A creature with feelings and sentient thoughts. Both Orpheus and the Mavka had already shown Reia they didn’t like pain, and yet they had gone out of their way to hurt one just to discover how to kill them.
“Then, how?” Reia asked, eyeing the room with uncertainty. How were they planning to kill him?
She frowned when she saw her sword still lying on the ground. Yeah, that was not an endeavour she saw working out for her. Like a dog with a stick tied to its neck and piece of meat hanging off the other end, she knew she’d never reach it, no matter how hard she tried.
He leaned up and tapped his knuckles against the top of his head.
“I didn’t get the chance to try because the Witch Owl stole him from me – she’s a pesky little thing, always getting in the way. But, when I mentioned breaking his skull, his eyes turned white for the first time. That’s when I realised that if I cut off anything, it didn’t matter if their skull was still intact.”
I will crack your skull. Orpheus had threatened those words to the Mavka. I will shatter it. He’d threatened to kill him, and he’s eyes had gone white with fear.
What they were saying was true, and now she knew what they were planning to do.
Her gaze turned to Katerina who had a scheming look upon her grinning face, her teeth bared to show how large it was.
She hated Orpheus so much she wanted to kill him, and with the Demon King helping her, Reia didn’t see how he’d survive.
Shit, Orpheus. Turn back.
She had wanted him to come here and bring her home, but now that she knew they were planning to kill him, that they knew how to, dread settled in her gut like a heavy weighted ball. Her heart started racing in her veins, wondering how the hell they were supposed to survive this.
I can’t fight Jabez, he’d kill me within a second.
There would be nothing Reia could do to help if she didn’t want to die as well.
Jabez narrowed his eyes and pulled away from Katerina. His head tilted to the side when he stepped towards her.
“You have not smelt of fear from the moment I brought you here,” he said, twisting his head the other way as he examined Reia, who began backing up. “Why do you suddenly smell of it at the mention of his death?”
Oh, shit. Reia halted and lifted her chin up at him.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You can pretend, human, but you cannot hide it from me.” He started smacking his lips, licking across them with a wet tongue. “The Demons won’t be able to smell it, but I am the conjurer of the aroma spell and even if it isn’t strong, it doesn’t hide the scent of fear wafting from you now.”
She said nothing, staring up at him with her hands slowly clenching.
No matter how hard she tried to push down her emotions, her worry for Orpheus was too strong. She hadn’t feared for herself, but she feared for him.
He doesn’t deserve this.
“Reia?” Katerina asked softly, her dark brows creasing.
Reia turned her gaze to her instead, her teeth clenching so tightly she knew her jaw muscle had knotted. Her chest pumped in and out heavily but steadily.
“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Reia said with a sneer in her voice. “I’m not afraid because of Orpheus dying. Why should I care? You know what he’s done.”
Katerina’s eyes darked as her lips thinned.
“Then why are you suddenly afraid?” Her tone was deep, like a warning to watch how she answered.
She couldn’t say she was suddenly afraid of being here, that would be too obvious.
“I’m worried I’ll get hurt in the process.”
Katerina’s features softened in understanding, but Jabez twisted his head once more.
“She’s lying. Her heart rate is spiking.”
His ears flickered like he was listening intently to Reia and what was happening beneath her skin.
Katerina’s face hardened once more.
“You don’t care for him, do you?”
“No,” Reia quickly answered, staring her in the eyes.
“That would be good,” Katerina laughed, her eyelids crinkling. “If it was true. You care for him. Him, a Duskwalker.” Her lips began to twist horribly, smearing her pretty face into something truly horrendous, her blue eyes turning icy. “You didn’t actually want to have sex with him, did you?”
Welp! Cat’s out of the bag, I guess. There was no point in pretending anymore.
Reia’s lips curled brightly into a mocking smile.
“Sure, I did.” Then she placed her hand against her chin to tap at it with a forefinger. “Actually, I’m almost certain I begged for his cock the first time, tentacles and all.”
Disgust marred her face, and Reia chuckled.
She raised her arms to the side to present herself.
“So, what’s going to happen to me now?”
“You will die,” Jabez said, stepping for her with the claws of his right hand raising.