Serpent in Shackles

Chapter Twenty Six

I scanned the room, noticing all the monsters staring back at me.

On the side of the club we strode through, a number of tables, gambling tables and dining tables, were spread throughout. Tucked away near the corner of the room were an abundance of worn couches.

On the opposite side of the club, monsters packed into the area, dancing to the loud music blaring against the walls.

I flinched as a cold glass grazed my arm. The bartender nodded to Caeden, sliding the glass to him. The fancy, square-shape glass was filled halfway with an unusual blue substance. A thin wood sticked rested against the side holding a perfectly round and juicy cherry on top.

On our way to the bar and during my visual investigation of the place, I noticed that a number of monsters slipped through a doorway at the back of the club. An insignificant observation but my subtle way of trying to keep distracted from the fact that every pair of eyes in the room was focused on me.

I lifted my chin to the doorway in question. "What's back there?"

"Bedrooms."

Oh.

Across the club, a blue eye watched me, pupil flickering in time with the bop of its head. Dark horns protruded from the sides of the head bouncing around.

I jerked my head back to Caeden.

Deep breaths.

In and out.

The hammering in my chest slowly faded as I concentrated my focus away from the monsters sizing me up for dinner and on to the monster beside me. I focused on the way his muscles bulged against his shirt, flexing as he reached for the glass in front of him. On the way his fingers wrapped around the glass, lifting it to his lips. On the way his throat bobbed as the cool liquid slid down.

The glass clinked against the barside and his eyes locked on mine. "Do you want to try it?"

"I thought you said I couldn't drink anything."

The glass scraped across the bartop as he pushed it toward me. "I said not to take drinks from strangers."

My brow raised. "And you're not a stranger?"

"No. Tonight I'm your lover," he replied with a wink.

Drinking was not part of the plan for me. I needed to stay alert and focus on the task at hand. But, I plucked the toothpick from the glass and ate the cherry anyway.

The chair beside was angled toward me. Caeden's arm stretched across the bar top, the other resting on top of his thigh. He wore his normal attire; black, button up shirt tucked into perfectly tailored dress pants, and a silver belt to hold it all in place. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows and the top two buttons were undone, but not far enough down that anyone could get a good look at the bare muscles beneath it. And a small part of me was glad about that.

Yet even wearing something so simple, he still looked like the most powerful monster in the room. The most powerful monster in the room who thoroughly enjoyed getting on my last nerve.

I let out a deep sigh from my chest and turned to him. "When I first moved here, you ordered me around. But now you let me make decisions for myself. Why?"

Caeden leaned back into the chair, gently shaking his head. "I wasn't ordering you around like a puppet. I was trying to keep you safe by telling you what you can do and what you should be careful of, based on my experience here. But you always had a choice," he paused, considering his next words carefully. "And because I wanted to push you far enough that you'd fight back. I wanted you to be strong and fight for yourself. You're not a puppet princess, you're a strong-willed, opinionated person." His gaze softened. "And when you're here with me, you don't have to pretend to be someone you're not."