6: AROUSED? MAYBE
ELIJAH
She didn’t flinch. She didn’t look embarrassed or surprised. If anything, she looked amused. Her lips curved into a slow, deliberate smirk.
“You reek of doom,” she said, her voice calm but sharp. “The eternal kind.”
Her words dug under my skin, but I forced myself to smirk back. “I wear it beautifully,” I replied smoothly. “But I’m ready to take the garment off now that you’re here.”
Her smirk didn’t waver as she wrapped the towel around herself and stepped out of the shower. Her movements were graceful, confident and unbothered by my presence in a way that only made her more dangerous.
“I don’t undress men,” she said lightly, tilting her head. “Especially not men who deprive me of my freedom without cause.”
Her boldness caught me off guard. Most women trembled in my presence, their fear thinly masked by desire. But not her.
Unlike others, she stared at me like I was just another obstacle in her way, one she had no intention of letting stop her. The fire in her eyes was mesmerizing.
She felt less like a prisoner to me now and more like a challenge, a puzzle I wanted to solve, a flame I wanted to test my hands against.
Her hair had been pinned up yesterday. Today, it was down, wet from the shower, clinging to her skin like it belonged there.
Either way, she still looked like trouble. That pout, those wide, innocent eyes, they could fool anyone. But not me.
“Celeste, is it?” I asked, tilting my head.
She raised a brow at me in question but doesn’t say a word. She’s a stubborn one like I’d predicted, my favorite type. Breaking her would barely be a challenge, and I would enjoy every second of it.
Bold. Headstrong. Exactly what I’d expected.
Her expression didn’t shift, but I didn’t miss the way her fingers tightened slightly on the edge of the towel.
“Celeste Mond, the sea-star we’ve been waiting on for over a century,” I carried on, being ignored by her didn’t faze me in the slightest and I’d show her that.
“They hid you pretty well, the fates,” I chuckled, if I ever came face to face with the powers that control fate, I’d snap all three of their necks just to watch the world blow up in chaos.
“Get to the damn point,” Celeste spat, “What do you need from me? A genie to grant you three wishes? A djinn to torment your enemies?” her long wispy lashes sharpened her angry gaze as she demanded.
“Don’t hold back, big boy,” she urged, calmly now when I didn’t respond, “I have a friend to mourn and you’re wasting my precious time by mauling over your request.”
This hothead could make friends? Talk about the seventh wonder of the world.
“You’re wrong about what I need,” I folded up the crisp white edges of my long-sleeve shirt, revealing my completely tatted-up left arm.
Her eyes followed every movement of my fingers until I smoothed the folded sleeve a little above my biceps. Curious? Maybe. Aroused? Possibly. Or maybe both.
I didn’t have the time to care about which it was, I just needed an answer to an important question.
“I don’t have time for games, so make your demand,” she said, her tone sharp. “I’m in chains, so I’m at your service, whether I like it or not.”
How had they managed her temper back wherever she came from? No wonder she’d run.
“Are you a practicing Sea-Star?” I asked, my tone steady now.
“Were you crowned the reigning Sea-Star by the Fates before you fled? Did they give you the mark of the moon?” I asked every question while holding her eyes to scrutinize every emotion that flashed through them.
Anyone who has lived as long as me would know that the eyes told what the lips concealed. I refused to give her a chance to lie to me and get away with it.
“Celeste was the name given to me at the ceremony, I was officially blessed by the moon goddess on my 18th birthday as the raining sea star, my former name was Lilith.”
“Lilith?” That name explained so much about her. The unique lilac hair for their matching colorful spirits. Rebellious and unmoving in nature. Fierce yet vulnerable.
“I’ll call you Lilith.”
Her eyes narrowed, but she didn’t respond.
“You have the mark don't you? Show it to me,” I demanded, taking a slow step closer.
Her thin brows furrowed at my commanding tone, “I’m only doing this because the faster we get to the point, the sooner I can bury my friend so she finds peace in the afterlife. That’s all that matters to me.”
“Show me the mark and I’ll let you bury your friend,” I offered her the one incentive that seemed to appeal to her.
“I’m a man of my words, you’ll see.”
A skeptical look overtook her features and I could tell that she wasn’t the type to trust people lightly and I almost thought she’d deny me my request on that account, but after a pause, she sighed.
Then, slowly, she pulled the towel aside, revealing the moon symbol etched into her shoulder.
The sight of it sent a wave of energy crashing through me, lighting every nerve in my body on fire.
It was her. The one I’d been searching for, and she had the moon goddess’s mark.
For the first time in over a century, I felt something other than the torment that had ruled my life….
Hope, one that meant I’d soon be free of a curse that had plagued me for what felt like all of eternity. And the key was right there on the shoulders of the fiercest woman I’d ever crossed paths with.
CELESTE
I crossed my arms over my chest, clutching the edges of the towel tighter as Elijah stared at me like he had all the time in the world.
“Well?” I broke the silence. “You said I’d get Asa back after I answered your questions. I did my part. Now do yours.”
Something flickered in his eyes. Amusement? No. Something meaner, sharper.
He snapped his fingers. “Phillip.”
“Yes sir,” I heard some respond from behind the door.
The door opened, and a tall man walked in, carrying Asa’s lifeless body carefully in his arms. His sharp features and slicked-back hair screamed second-in-command, and his scent, a strange mix of cedar wood and something sharper, darker, clung to the air as he approached.
My feet moved before I could think. I reached out—
But Elijah’s second-in-command didn’t hand her over.
“This isn’t funny.” My voice wavered, but I didn’t care. “Give her back.”
Elijah exhaled slowly, like this was tedious. “No.”
The word landed like a slap.
I blinked, willing myself to have misheard. “What?”
“Please,” I tried, softer this time. “She has nothing to do with whatever it is you have with me. Let me bury her.”
His jaw clenched, just for a second. A flicker of something, guilt or regret flashed across his face. But then it was gone.
“She stays with me.” His voice was steady, unshaken. “Until I decide you’ve earned her back.”
I felt something crack inside me.
“Please.” I didn’t even care that I was begging now.
He turned away, ignoring me like I wasn’t standing there, half-dressed and desperate.
My pulse roared in my ears. I clenched my fists so hard my nails bit into my palms. “You’re a bastard.”
“Oh well” he shot back, his voice like ice.
Phillip shifted, a silent command passing between them, and then he turned, taking Asa with him.
I lunged and the door slammed shut before I could reach it.
Then—
The lock clicked.
I stood there, my breath shaking, my body trembling.
He locked me in.
I pressed my forehead to the door, swallowing the lump in my throat. I should’ve known. He didn't look like someone you could reason with.
Locking me in was one thing, but taking Asa away? That meant war.