Part of me wondered if my little brain was fried since I knew I couldn’t have heard him right. “I am fully mortal.”
“You were fully mortal,” he replied. “But that all changed when Caden gave you the Summer Kiss.”
The Summer Kiss? “I—”
“Have no idea what I’m talking about? You don’t remember our conversation? About how he saved your life after we first met? After I was positive that I’d killed both you and your mother?” he explained, and a shudder rolled its way through me. “He placed his lips to yours and, instead of taking your essence, he gave you his. That is the Summer Kiss, and only an Ancient can bestow such a gift.”
“What…what kind of gift?” I asked, wondering if I could return or exchange it.
One side of Aric’s lips tipped. “The kind that will make it extra hard to kill you, and one that will ensure you will have a very odd lifespan by mortal standards.” He took a step toward me. “You’d figure something out as the years went by and you looked the same as the night I tore into your flesh with my teeth and nails. You’d begin then to realize something had been done, as would the Order. They’d either make damn sure you were put down, or they’d study you to figure out what was done. But you, my pet, are no longer simply mortal. You’re not a halfling either. You are something else entirely.”
My mouth opened, but no words came out. He couldn’t be saying what I thought he was.
“It’s rare for a fae to bestow the Kiss upon another. It’s an ancient practice used only in the direst circumstances, but it is unheard of for one to do so with a mortal,” he continued, his eyes gleaming. “A great offense, one punishable by death. If we were in my world, you’d be dragged before the Court and slaughtered while Caden watched—something he witnessed the few times a fae gave the Kiss to a mortal. So, for him to do that with you can only mean one thing.”
Through the fog of memories, Caden’s lack of reasoning for his actions came back to me. I’d believed… “I did something for him,” I said. “I think…I helped him somehow. That’s why.”
Aric approached me, placing his fingertip on my chin and tilting my head back. “That is not why he did it, my pet. He gave you the Kiss because you are what I’ve been searching for. You are his mortuus.”
Chapter 12
Pulling away from Aric, I stepped back. Even if I hadn’t spent the last forty-seven days being tortured, starved, and fed on, I would have had trouble processing the news that I wasn’t quite mortal and that I didn’t have a normal lifespan.
Then again, there was a good chance that Aric was lying just to mess with my head in a rather creative form of torture.
“I can tell by the dumb look on your face you have no idea what a mortuus is or how it plays into what I need,” he said. And, yep, that was as offensive as it sounded. “I’m not all that surprised. You’ve forgotten my plans, and it is doubtful that Caden would ever share with you what mortuus means.”
The cogs and wheels in my brain finally started turning. “I don’t see how I can be his mortuus. I don’t—”
“You don’t know anything, my pet. But your knowledge isn’t what makes you valuable.” Aric turned to the slab with an air of flourish. “Come. You must eat and then bathe.”
I didn’t move. “I want to know why you think I’m his—” My words ended in a shriek.
Aric moved so fast that I couldn’t track him. Suddenly, he was in front of me, his hand clamping around the nape of my neck. “I don’t care what you want to know. I don’t care if you’re confused or even if you believe me.” His grip tightened, forcing my head back as his fingers tangled in my hair. Pain flared along my scalp, but it was nothing compared to what I was used to. “All I care about at this moment in time is for you to not cause me any problems. Do you understand me?”
Fury ripped through me like a tornado, and any plans I had of keeping him happy jumped right out the window. Jaw locked, I met his gaze and said nothing.
“Do not make me ask you again. You will not like what happens if you do, and I am confident that you think you know what I’m capable of, but you have no idea.” The alabaster skin seemed to thin over his bones. “I need you alive, but there are far worse things than a slow death.”
There wasn’t a single part of me that doubted what he promised, and common sense dictated that I answer him. It was just one word. Yes. I had a dagger, and I just needed to get him alone. Fighting him now wasn’t going to help.
It was just one word, but it was about control and stripping away every ounce of free will I had without glamouring me. It was all about submission and humiliation, tiny acts stacked upon each other, and each one carrying the weight of shame and dread until I collapsed under them. Until I was truly bent and broken, and all that was left of me belonged to him.
It was just one word, but he hadn’t broken me yet.
I lifted my chin, met his stare, and said nothing.
Aric’s lips curved up on one side. “I could almost respect you.”
The punch connected before I could even formulate a response, catching me in the stomach and doubling me over. I tried to suck in air, but it was like my entire chest had seized up. Gagging, I struggled to lift my arms as the years of training dictated, but he was too fast, and I was too tired and hungry and weak. The next blow took me to the floor, and then…there was nothing but pain.
I didn’t know how long it lasted or how many blows he delivered. At some point, I thought I might’ve blacked out because when I opened my eyes—no, my one eye—his blurry face had replaced his fists.
He was staring down at his hand. “You’ve dirtied my knuckles with your blood.”
A hoarse laugh parted my lips. It was slightly crazed-sounding to my ears, but then again, there was a strange ringing in them now, so who knew.
His head tilted to the side. “Glad you find that amusing, but I’m sure it won’t be as funny to watch you try and eat with those busted lips.”
Eat? I almost laughed again because the beating had pretty much knocked the hunger right out of me. I wasn’t even sure my jaw would work. I tentatively moved it, wincing as sharp pain darted around my skull. It hurt like holy hell but, impossibly, the bones seemed intact.
No longer simply mortal.
Could Aric be telling the truth? And if so, was that why I was still alive without a multitude of broken bones? The questions did matter.
Aric grabbed my arm, yanking me to my feet. Pain flared along my ribs. “Eat and then bathe. I do not have all day.”
He shoved me toward the slab, and I stumbled, catching myself on the side of the stone near where the dagger was hidden in the shadows.
I focused on what I planned to do with that dagger as I lifted my head, dizzy. Aric strode toward the platter, lifting the lid. It was beef in some kind of stew like before.
“It’s grown cold,” he remarked. “If you hadn’t delayed things, it would’ve been a worthwhile meal. Eat.”
Slowly, I inched my way toward the food and reached out—
The slap nearly toppled me over. Skin stinging, I drew back my hand. Nausea rose as I stared at the food.