5
~Rowan's POV
Kael let out a low growl and stepped forward, his gaze sharp as a blade, aimed directly at Lisa. "Why did you provoke him?" he asked, his voice dangerous with quiet anger. "Do you think you're in a position to question us? To defend yourself?"
I sighed and shook my head, arms still crossed. "You shouldn't have done that," I said plainly, eyes hard on her. "You were given a second chance after that water. Don't waste it by running your mouth."
Lisa didn't respond. She was too busy fighting the tears threatening to fall, too busy trying to hold on to what little pride she had left.
Kael crouched down in front of her, his voice now cold, steady, and bone-deep cruel. "Where was I? Ah, yes… the third rule."
He tilted his head, eyes gleaming with disdain. "You will be available to us at all times. You are not our Luna. You are not our queen. You're not even our equal. You're ours. To command. To summon. To use."
Lisa closed her eyes, a single tear slipping down her bruised cheek.
"If we call you to our bed," Kael continued, voice cutting like ice, "you come. No hesitation. No attitude. You don't ask why, and you certainly don't say no."
Damon leaned against the wall now, calmer but no less venomous. "And if you think this is something you can run from, think again. You're bound to us. This bond? It's a curse. But it still ties you to us, and trust me, human, we know how to make curses bleed."
I watched her sit there, quiet, bruised, shivering.
Something about her silence pulled at a thread inside me I didn't even know existed. Not sympathy. Not pity. Just... irritation. She was supposed to scream. She was supposed to fight. Instead, she sat like a doll with her strings cut.
And somehow, that made me angry.
I took slow steps toward her. Each one deliberate, heavy. She flinched before I even got close….good. She was learning. I crouched low, our faces nearly level now. She wouldn't meet my eyes, but I didn't need her to.
I tilted my head, studying her. Her lips were dry. Her eyes were red.
I hated it. Her face.
I chuckled. A low, mocking sound. "You know," I said, brushing a thumb across her cheek, not gently, "it's not all bad, being ours. You're here now. You'll be fed. Bathed. Given shelter. And if you're obedient... You may even find we're generous in bed."
Her breath caught. I saw it, the panic. The disgust.
I leaned in closer, my lips just inches from hers, and whispered, "You'll come to crave us, human."
I started to move in, just to see if she'd dare stop me.
And she did.
Her hand shot up, pressing against my chest, small and trembling, but still defiant. She pushed me back….not hard, but enough to make a point.
"Don't," she whispered, her voice barely holding steady. "Please don't."
The word please echoed in the air between us, soft and desperate.
And it did something to me, but not what she hoped.
It didn't make me stop. It didn't make me pity her. It made my blood run colder.
Because that one word reminded me of how fragile she was.
My jaw clenched. I stood back, my eyes narrowing as I stared at her.
"You think you can say no to me?" I asked, my voice low, dangerous. "To us?"
She didn't answer, but the way her lips trembled, the way her body pulled tighter into itself, gave me everything I needed to know.
I raised my hand, calmly, slowly, like I wasn't angry, just resolved, and cracked.
The sound echoed like thunder in the stillness of the room.
Her head snapped to the side, and her body toppled with it, collapsing to the cold stone floor like something discarded. A soft cry escaped her lips…not loud, not theatrical. Just broken. Honest.
She didn't fight back.
She didn't beg.
She just curled in on herself, arms wrapped around her stomach, as though trying to protect what little of herself she still had left.
I stared at her. I could hear her breath shaking in her throat.
"You don't get to refuse me," I said, my tone flat as steel. "Not me. Not any of us. You're here because the Goddess chose you, but that doesn't mean you're special. You're here to obey. That's your only role."
Kael said nothing. Damon, still by the window, didn't even look in our direction. His jaw was tight, his fists clenched at his sides. I straightened, letting my gaze fall on her like a hammer. She looked small. Weak. Like something that didn't belong in this palace, in this world. Like a weed growing through a crack in marble.
"Consider that your last warning," I said, my voice sharp enough to cut.
She didn't answer. Didn't move. Her breathing came in short, ragged gasps…like every breath was a struggle. Not a scream and not a sob. Just... survival.
I turned on my heel, jaw tight, eyes forward.
Let her lie there on the cold marble floor.
Let her learn what it means to be ours the hard way.
Because she would learn.
"Enough of this," Damon snapped, brushing his hands together as though ridding herself of her presence. He turned to the doorway. "Maids!"
The door creaked open. Two of them stood there, nervous as newborn pups, eyes darting between us and the girl on the floor.
"She stays here," he ordered sharply. "Lock the door. No food. No water."
Without another word, they stepped in, carefully avoiding Lisa's figure like she carried disease, and began locking the heavy door from the inside, sealing her in like a prisoner.
I was already halfway down the corridor.
Kael cast one last look over his shoulder.
"She'll learn," I said to no one in particular as I walked out.
"She better," Kael muttered beside me. "Or she'll die."