The Black Serpent quarters were not a home; they were a gilded cage of shadows and cold marble. As Elina stepped into the grand hall, the air felt heavy, smelling of expensive tobacco and old secrets. Her heart hammered against her ribs when she saw the man seated at the head of the long obsidian table: Lucifer.
He was poised, a gentleman of the highest order, the kind of man her father would have toasted with pride. But there was a sharpness in his eyes today, a predatory stillness that made her skin prickle.
"You look puzzled, Elina," Ares said, his voice smooth as silk as he stepped beside her. He leaned in, his tone dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "Don't be wary of Lucifer. He's one of the few people Orion actually trusted... before Orion betrayed him. Orion is a man of chaos, Elina. He abandons his own allies when the war turns hot. He's a monster who leaves a trail of broken promises behind him."
Elina looked at Lucifer, searching for a sign of the 'monster' Ares described, but the man simply offered a polite, elegant nod. "Go, little princess," Ares urged gently. "Take a bath. Freshen up. You've had a long journey."
Elina nodded, her mind swirling with confusion. But as she ascended the grand staircase, the heavy silence of the mansion was punctured by voices drifting from the study below.
"...she is breathtaking, Ares," Lucifer's voice drifted up, stripped of its usual poise, sounding hungry. "A jewel in the middle of a wasteland."
"That is exactly why Father wanted her to marry you," Ares replied, his tone chillingly casual. "She belongs in the Serpent's nest."
Elina froze, her hand gripping the banister so hard her knuckles turned white. Marry him? The gentlemanly Lucifer and the 'savior' Ares were discussing her like a piece of conquered territory. A cold dread settled in her stomach.
She retreated to her room, her breath coming in shallow gasps. Seeking solace in the warmth of the bath, she sank into the water, closing her eyes to drown out the voices. She let the steam wrap around her, trying to lose herself in the memory of the sun, of the life she once had.
Then, the world went dark.
A silken ribbon was tied firmly around her eyes, plunging her into a sensory void. Before she could gasp, a large, calloused hand caught hers, pinning it against the marble edge of the tub. A sudden, overwhelming heat pressed against her a body, hard and muscular, looming over her. Then, a pair of lips, searing and possessive, crashed against hers. It wasn't a gentle kiss; it was a claim. It tasted of rain, expensive bourbon, and a desperate, starving hunger.
Panic flared. She shoved the intruder with all her strength, tearing the ribbon from her eyes. Her breath hitched.
Standing there, drenched and devastating, was Orion Falco. His black shirt was unbuttoned halfway down his chest, revealing the hard, tattooed planes of his torso, his dark hair damp and clinging to his forehead. His eyes were wild, burning with a dark, unhinged passion.
"How dare you!" Elina screamed, her voice trembling with a mix of fury and a terrifying, unwanted arousal. "How could you walk in here like a thief? Like a god?"
Orion didn't flinch. He stepped closer, the water dripping from his skin, his gaze raking over her with a terrifying intensity. "Why couldn't I?" he countered, his voice a low, jagged rasp. "You belong to the shadows, Elina. And the shadows are mine."
"You are a beast!" she spat, grabbing her robe and scrambling out of the tub, her eyes flashing with a power he hadn't expected. "A beautiful, arrogant beast!"
"Then let me be one," he muttered, watching her with a look of profound, aching confusion. As she slammed the door, Orion stood in the steam, his hand trembling slightly. Was he a monster? He had come to save her, to reclaim her, but he felt like he was only succeeding in breaking her.
Elina didn't wait. She dressed in a feverish haze and bolted from the room, her heart screaming for escape. She ran toward the main hall, intending to find Ares, but she stopped dead.
The hallway was splattered with crimson. Lucifer, the poised gentleman, lay slumped against the base of a statue, a single, clean gunshot wound blooming like a dark rose in the center of his forehead.
"He was too loud," a voice whispered, hot and terrifyingly close to her ear.
Elina whirled around. Orion was standing right behind her, his expression cold, his eyes devoid of the passion from the bath. He looked like a man who had just finished a chore.
"He was looking at you like you were a prize to be won," Orion murmured, his gaze dropping to her trembling lips. "So, I took the prize away. How is it, Elina? How is it that I killed him just to clear the air for you?"
"You... you murderer!" Elina screamed, her eyes brimming with tears of rage. She stepped into his space, poking a finger hard against his chest. "You think you can just kill your way into a woman's heart? You're not a lover, Orion. You're a plague! You destroy everything you touch just so you can be the only thing left standing!"
Orion's eyes flashed, a savage, mocking smirk curling his lips. "Then let me be your plague," he snapped. "At least a plague is honest. At least a plague doesn't pretend to be a brother while it's stealing your soul."
He leaned down, his face inches from hers, his voice dropping to a lethal, quiet edge. "Now, tell me... where is your 'savior'? Where is your brother?"
Elina opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She looked at the blood, then at the empty hallway. The silence was her only answer.
Orion let out a loud, booming, and utterly terrifying laugh that echoed through the hollow halls of the mansion. "Of course!" he shouted to the empty air, his eyes glinting with cruel triumph. "He ran! He ran again! He used the chaos to slip away, leaving you in the hands of the very monster you hate!"