I was my enemy.
My body was a traitor.
My heart the worst sinner of all.
And I had to make peace with that too if I stood any chance of surviving.
Closing the distance between Sully and me, I hoarded the final moments of aloneness. Soon, other goddesses would vie for his attention, guests would arrive, and business would summon, but for now, I had him all to myself, and I smiled.
I smiled at my jailor and spoke from the heart. “You’re a good person, Sully.”
He froze. His mouth parted as his eyes widened. His stunning complexion highlighted with shock. “What?” His voice thickened with a bark.
I stood taller, knowing how grandiose and how silly I would seem. A shipwrecked girl in her master’s shirt, totally at his mercy for food, shelter, and care. And I had the audacity to tell him he wasn’t the monster he portrayed—at least not all of him.
“You treat your own kind with a merciless disgust that is frankly terrifying. You have no patience or empathy, which makes you cruel and unforgiving—”
“Eleanor—” His brows set heavy, shadowing eyes that turned dark cerulean.
“No, let me finish.” I sucked in a breath, forcing myself to say, “You might not have tolerance for your own species, but you do for others. You are endlessly kind and achingly emphatic toward animals, and that…that I can respect.” I shrugged. “If you treat me half as good as you do your creatures, then I will trust that you will look after me and let me go in four years.”
Tears clutched my throat, exhausted tears, unhappy tears, tears misguided and misled by my stupid, idiotic heart. “All I ask is…that you stop looking at me as a goddess…but as one of your animals. I have no hidden agenda; I plot no war against you. I am merely a creature existing at your mercy, just like Skittles, just like Pika, just like those poor beasts we saw today. I would rather be an animal to you than human—”
“Stop.” He stepped into me, both his hands capturing my cheeks, sliding into my hair, dragging me to him. His height folded around me, acting as a shield. His forehead pressed against mine, our noses brushed, our eyes locked. “You are not an animal.”
I struggled to breathe, inhaling him, consuming him. “If it means you’ll like me, then I want to be.”
“Why do you think I’ll like you if you’re an animal?” His thumbs traced my cheekbones, dipping to the crease of my lips. He pressed gently, teasing with his touch, dipping into the corners of my mouth.
“Because you like all animals.” I tasted his skin, unable to stop my tongue flicking over the tip of his thumb. “And maybe…you could learn to like me.”
He shuddered. “I could never like you.” With a groan, he pulled away, still trapping my head in his hands.
My insides folded in on themselves, my heart into my stomach, my stomach into my core. Acid and passion and hope all mingling in a painful concoction.
“Why?” My question feathered with breathlessness. I’d hoped I could strike a bargain before we went our separate ways. I’d wished to form some sort of contract that would ensure I wouldn’t have to fight against him anymore.
That we could be…friends.
He dropped his hands from my cheeks to my throat, his thumbs pressing on my windpipe, his fingers clutching my nape, buried under my hair. It was a position of power and threats. He could crush my ability to breathe with one squeeze. He could snap my neck with one twist. But he held me tenderly, all while black desire filled his gaze. “I could never like you, Eleanor Grace, because you could never be an animal.” He pulled me close, running his nose along my neck, nuzzling at my ear. “Animals don’t fill me with rage like you do. They don’t make me lust like you do. Animals are weak. Even the ones with fang and poison are ultimately at our mercy.” He pressed a kiss against my temple, all the while holding me trapped. “I grant creatures my fortune and protection because I owe them a debt. Meanwhile, I owe you nothing.” Pulling away, he looked deep into my eyes. “To call yourself an animal is the biggest lie of all. To try to gain my affection through pity and obligation will never happen.” His thumbs pressed harder against my windpipe.
I swallowed, fighting to dislodge his control. “Why?” I shifted, unintentionally rubbing my body against his.
His eyes snapped closed, a growl rumbled in his throat as he pulled me to him. His voice continued to echo with something primitive as he murmured, “Because you are not weak. You are not defenceless. If you were an animal, then you’d be the most dangerous of them all. You would have the power to shred me limb from limb. Your claws would kill me. Your teeth devour me. If you were an animal, Goddess Jinx, then I would have to fucking bow to you.”