Serpent in Shackles

Chapter Twenty Seven

"Was it truly wise to bring a human here?"

Corvina stared daggers at the Shadow Knight from her place on the crimson couch across from us. A crystal table sat between our couches holding glasses and bottles filled to the brim with, given her reputation, what I could only presume was the finest wine.

In her monster form, Corvina looked half deer, half human. While her face had all of the regular human features - eyes, nose, mouth - her nose was pointed along her face and rounded at the edge. Like a deer's nose on a human face. Two white antlers poked out from the top of her head. Beside the antlers were two tall, pointed edged ears.

The Shadow Knight leaned into the worn fabric, arm stretched out behind me across the back of the couch. "Wise? Unlikely. But fun? Most definitely."

Corvina bent forward, grabbing her long-stemmed glass from the low table. "You're just lucky that the other visitors are well aware of your reputation. Otherwise, she'd be no more than monster-bait by now." The left ear twitched in sync with the music. "You know that humans aren't allowed in my club. What could be so important that you were willing to risk both her life and yours by bringing her here?"

Caeden asked me once again not to talk during our meeting. But this time, he explained why. Ezra was a test, one where he could judge how well I would follow orders and how well I could handle myself under stress. But unlike Ezra, Corvina despised humans as much as anyone possibly could. The fact that she didn't have me killed the second I stepped into the club was a miracle in itself. And after my encounter with the lion chimera, I was more than happy to let him take the lead.

"We're looking for an escort," the Shadow Knight said.

Her eyes scanned over me, assessing the body of a human in the flesh. "Why would you need an escort when you have her?"

"We're looking for someone to join in on our fun."

"What are you looking for?"

"Rumour has it that some of your more reputable entertainers visit the palace often. We want one of them." There was an outright command in Caeden's voice. One that I had never heard from him, not even with his team.

Corvina narrowed her brows at him. Her growing suspicion had knots twisting in my stomach. One wrong move, one wrong word, and our entire mission was blown. The last thing we, I, needed was for monsters to find out the real reason we were there and warn the Queen.

Corvina said, "Why one of them?"

"Well if they visit the Queen, they must be excellent at their job," Caeden said, smoothly. "Only the best for my princess."

My princess. If my heart wasn't already racing enough, he turned to me seductively, playing his role perfectly. Before she had a chance to respond, he leaned in, letting his nose graze against my cheek.

"Alright," Corvina muttered, sheer disgust lingering in her voice. She slid her glass onto the table. "I have one who may be of service to you. But it will be costly."

"I anticipated such."

She crooked her finger to her assistant sitting at the far side of the room, rifling through stacks of paper. "I'll have one of my people contact you with the date and time. You can see yourselves out now. Pleasure doing business with you, your eternal grace."

The Shadow Knight nodded politely and rose from the couch. He waited for me to stand beside him before escorting me back to the main floor where the team was waiting for us near the door.

The area was flooded with even more monsters than before. The heat of the sweaty bodies pressed so tightly together was enough to make your stomach turn.

"Leaving so soon, human?" a monster said, throwing his green fingers around my forearm.

I pulled back, stumbling into the Shadow Knight. The monster lunged at me again, but stopped abruptly. The familiar presence intensified, filling the room. Power and wrath, the presence changed to one that visibly affected the monsters around us, one that the monsters could feel.

Gasps were soon followed by screams as the bones shattered like glass in the same hand that grabbed me. It went limp. The monster groaned, his gaze shot to me.

I turned to Caeden, his eyes burned red, but his face was blank, calm, not an emotion brewing, except for that radiated by his powers. His body was there beside me, but his mind was somewhere else. His chest barely rose as if he wasn't even breathing. And I wasn't breathing either.

I tugged at his arm and the anger immediately faded away as he whipped his head to me. The monster toppled to the ground, cursing. But Caeden looked at me, eyes riddled with guilt- guilt, not for breaking the monster's hand, but for making me watch as he did it.

Then he hurried me out of the club.

#

Caeden stormed down the street, trying to cool himself off in the evening breeze. I don't know why he was so upset, so angry about what he did, about what I saw. I agreed to attend the club knowing the risks. I had seen much worse in my life. When I grabbed his arm, I never made a face nor said anything to warrant him storming away from me.

The team slowly followed his path, but I hurried along to catch up, shouting after him.

The chill of the air was almost as unbearable as the silence.

"Caedan, stop!" I barked.

So he did.

He stopped dead in the middle of the street and turned on his heels to face me. monsters watched us as they strolled past.

His eyes turned blue, guilt still glinted within them.

My fingers tapped against my thigh where a dagger would have been strapped. A nervous tick, a habit I couldn't break. But I lifted my shoulders and finally said, "who are you?"

His hands slipped into the pockets of his pants. "You already know who I am."

I couldn't help but shake my head. "No. Who are you really?" My gaze darkneed as I spat out the words: "Your eternal grace."

"I'm the one who's going to help you rescue the soldier. I'm the one who's going to make sure you make it home safely to your family." He clenched his teeth. "So like I said, you already know who I am."

"Stop lying to me."

Caeden froze. Everyone froze.

The pain on his face was enough to know that my words cut too deep.

"Don't be mistaken," he snarled. "I am not Prince Roan. I have never lied to you."

I pursed my lips, holding my tongue before I said something else I'd soon regret. Caeden had not told me all of the details, but he had been more honest with me than anyone had ever been in my entire life.

"Maybe we should continue this conversation at home," Danver said, attempting to be a buffer, but failing miserably as we both glared at him. "Or here. Yeah, I think this is a good place."

"Idiot," Naia said, slapping his arm.

"Fine. Then answer this," I said, taking a step closer to the monster biting his tongue. "Why do they hate me so much? Why do they hate humans?"

He let out a deep breath, relaxing a bit, also regretting what he had said. His voice softened when he finally answered my question. "During the war, humans abducted the monsters and experimented on them. Attempted to brainwash them, to put them under their control, and then have them fight each other."

Oh- No wonder they hated humans. Humans were the real monsters.