The Sun's Shadow

Chapter Thirty-Three

There they were. Excruciatingly glorious, even without a host.

They mocked her barren back and felt more out of reach than ever before.

"Glass of wine to ease your grief?" Claymore raised the distraction to her face, and she snatched the glass out of his hands without a second thought. She'd never drank before but it felt appropriate, given her imminent demise.

Ele raised it to her lips and let the glass sit there, gathering condensation. The coolness felt soothing. When he poured himself some, he lifted it to make a toast and his words drowned in her ears. Until now, she always deemed herself a good listener. But she just didn't care anymore.

She grimaced when the nearly clear liquid hit her tastebuds. It tasted like how her perfume smelled. And sour, too. The taste didn't please her unsophisticated palate.

"Not to your liking? We have other options."

He turned and placed his glass on a small, round table that had a vase with sunflowers on it. She went up to brush her fingertips over the petals, thinking it a curious flower to have on display. There were much prettier ones in season now.

"Sunflowers are my father's favorite. He's kind of obsessed with faenixes, as you can tell." He gestured to her wings and she tried her best not to follow where he pointed. "If we had more time, I'd fill you in, but I can sense the nearby stench of a vampire and I have a duty to keep you safe. Unfortunately... I can't fulfill my promise of mating you. Although I see you've been marked since last we saw each other."

He downed his glass in a single gulp, then filled it again, this time with a red wine.

"This one is sweeter, I think you'll like it." Instead of pouring her another glass and wasting the wine in her current one, he took it and sipped that one empty as well. This man just wanted to forget what was to come.

It got refilled with the red one and the aroma pleased her senses. Sweet; like candy and honey. It went down easier but that sourness still lingered. When she made a face on the second sip, he winked.

"You get used to it." He ran a finger around the circumference of his glass and questioned, "Was it the Prince who marked you?"

She shook her head. Absentmindedly, she began stroking the mark on her neck and thought about Roman. Would Kaanan kill him now? A part of her heart pained for him.

"Interesting. Quite the busy girl." The more Claymore drank, the more hooded his eyes became.

Ele had seen her mother intoxicated by wine before... Not a pleasant experience.

Soon enough, the satyroid had finished not one, but two bottles of wine. The sight unnerved Ele, who knew what this liquid could do if consumed greedily. Then she thought back on the first night she encountered Claymore and his brothers. They had been drunk then too.

"Beautiful wings..." He mumbled while he stared at them in awe. "Beautiful girl. Mhm."

Now they turned to each other. He explored her body in detail while she just glared.

"We have time." When he strained that sentence out and stumbled her way, she dodged out of his reach. That only aggravated the brute.

"Oh, come on! Don't you wanna know what it feels like before you die?" His words came out harsh and she winced at their meaning.

All her life, she was told that act of mating is all a female had to live for. Her heart throbbed in her chest, her head swirled even though unaffected by the few sips of wine she took, and her muscles tensed to fight this male off. If it would be the last thing she did.