A complete lie.

“Understand that many offerings have said those words to me before they tried. I do not like pain, and it is certain to invoke an uncontrollable rage in me – as you have already seen.”

“Okay, yes. I got it,” she muttered sharply as she yanked her hand harder. “Now let me go.”

He released her, and her hand stabbed into the air before she tossed the dagger onto the table. It clanked as it bounced over the surface of it. Reia swiftly turned around and faced him with a glare, but he’d already begun to walk away from her.

He reached up and undid the tie of his cloak from his neck before he pulled it forward to slip his horns through the holes to remove it. He placed it over the backrest of the chair at the dining table, and she sucked her lips into her mouth to bite them closed.

The cloak had done much to hide the bulkiness of his body. Although he was rather slim, she could see that strong muscles were pressing against his clothing, as biceps and thighs could be seen flexing as he moved around the room.

She also finally saw his head completely as a whole.

Although the front of his bony face was wolfish with sharp looking fangs, the back appeared more deer-like as it supported those heavy looking horns that spun and twirled up and back from his skull.

“I will light the rest of the house, then you must take a warm bath to remove your human scent from your skin,” he told her when he picked up the candle he’d used earlier to light the living area. “We must do it before it seeps through the walls and alerts the Demons close by that I have brought another human here. If you are hungry, I will give you food after unless you wish to rest first.”

A relaxing bath, food, and then sleep, sounded exactly what she needed. They’d been travelling for days, and Reia

was exhausted. She could figure out plans and ideas later once she was more familiar with her environment.

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A nice, warm, relaxing bath had not been in Reia’s future.

She’d watched with awe after he led her into the furthest room in the house. He made his way to the wooden tub, then sliced at his wrist with his thumb claw to produce a few drops of blood. With a small incantation, the few drops of purple began to glow before turning clear, filling the tub with steaming water!

The washroom was small, only allowing for the tub and a waste bucket with a lid that didn’t appear to have ever been used by him. The wooden tub was big enough that she thought he’d be able to fit inside it with a generous amount of room to move.

Herbs were burning, creating an inviting air, as candles highlighted not only the many plants that surrounded the walls, but large crystals as well. Some of those purple crystals even came to her hip height.

When she’d asked why the room was styled this way, the Duskwalker informed her that he’d attempted to create a relaxing environment for the humans he brought here.

Well, bang up job, buddy.

It was definitely bewitching and calming.

She hadn’t realized it was done on purpose to elude the horrible truth!

She had thought all would be well when he stepped out after the tub was filled, giving her privacy so she could strip and hop inside it. However, he’d returned shortly after she’d begun to go limp in the heated water carrying something in his large hand.

And that had been the start of her struggles. He poured a few drops of something into the water and then knelt behind her.

He’d told her to relax as he dipped his hand into some kind of oil and started smearing it over her skin.

When she tried to scramble forward and away, completely averse to the idea of him touching her naked body, he wrapped his other arm around her shoulders to keep her in place.

“I can do it myself!” Reia yelled, wriggling in the water as he tried to run a soapy, oiled, gloved hand over her shoulder. Reia thrashed in the water, her face flaring red in anger and embarrassment.

“No. It must be done by me,” he told her sternly, rubbing his hand down her arm all the way down to her elbow.

“Let me go!” she yelled.

She wriggled to get free as best as she could while she covered her breasts with one arm and tried to shield her hips and the apex between her thighs with the other.

Water splashed and sloshed with the strength of her movements as her wet hair slapped against her. The water spilt over the rim of the tub. Thrashing. Fighting.

A curt growl sounded from him before his other arm wrapped around her neck, his hand cupping the back of her head before his fingers came around the other side to rest against the side of her face. The point of his claws dug into the skin right below her eye, next to her nose, and the side of her lip.

“Settle, little human.” He huffed, and she could see from the corner of her eye that the glow of his orbs had turned bright red. “You must understand that only prey squirms. It

squirms when it’s fighting for its last breath, to live, and it entices the predator in me to destroy, to eat.”

Reia stilled. The only thing moving was her heaving chest as she tried to catch the breath she’d lost from trying to flee. Her heart was racing, thumping heavily in her chest, and she noticed his arms tightened on her – almost as if he could hear it or feel it.

“Please calm yourself.” His voice was raspy and tight as though he was straining against himself. “We have made it this far. I have managed to bring you here safely. Let this not be the end.”

“I-I can wash myself,” she told him, almost begging.

Her eyes fell onto the all the crystals and plants, understanding he’d tried to make this room relaxing because he’d be unsettling it.

“I am sure you can.” He started to loosen his hold on her, slowly withdrawing his arms when he knew she wouldn’t move. “However, in order for the soap to hide the human in your scent, I have to administer it by my own hand to allow the magic to work into it.”

Her eyes bowed in understanding, even though it did little to ease her. The Priestess had to wash me by hand too.

She’d said the same thing about the soap she’d washed her in before dressing her in a wedding dress. It had been to hide the smell of fear behind a strong perfume, so she’d be safe to travel.

He brought his hand in front of her face and held it there so she could see it.

“I have worn my gloves as not to touch you directly since I’ve already come to learn that you humans do not like this, but it is something I must do, and it must be done every day.” He lowered his hand, tilting to the side to reach into what she saw was a pot of the oil he was using to coat her with. “Otherwise, Demons will descend upon my home and lie in wait, doing everything in their power to frighten you. If they succeed, you will not be safe from them... nor myself.”

Demons prefer their food to be filled with terror and fear.

Would he be the same? Would it stir hunger in Orpheus like it did them?

“O-okay,” she conceded, her shoulders slumping as she lowered her head.

Why am I even concerned anyway? Just because he was obviously a male, at least she believed so considering the deepness of his voice and the shape of his body, she doubted he had any primal urges like desire.

He once more began to rub the oil soap on her skin, starting from her shoulder and working his way down her arm. He was careful, his touch light, as he worked his finger pads through the gaps of her fingers and even cleaned her nails.

“I will have to do this morning and night since I use gloves. They prevent the strength of my essence from absorbing into your skin. So, in the future, once you are more comfortable, it would be better if you permit me to not use them.”

Reia swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded that she understood. He cleaned her neck, her jaw, face, even the creases in her ears, before he began to work down the other arm. He even washed her hair.

Her hands clenched as she brought her lips into her mouth to bite them shut of any noise of stress, trying her hardest to stay stiff as a board when he started to wash her chest with both hands. Her face heated, even her ears feeling hot, when she felt her nipples budding despite her nervousness.