But again, the anger in Zyren's eyes was enough to make Aria feel like she was just a breath away from feeling those shadow-like tendrils he could summon curl around her flesh—ready to snap her neck like a twig.
What made it worse was the slow, widening smile spreading across his face. It didn't bring relief. It only sharpened the danger in the room—like a storm tightening its grip.
Aria wanted to speak—wanted to apologize. Her lips even parted, trembling slightly as she stared into those blood-red eyes of his. But the words wouldn't come. The words that might've spared her life lodged in her throat, strangled by pride and fear.
Instead, the fury she'd buried surged back to the surface like fire licking at dry wood. And before she could stop herself, she said something entirely different—something reckless and defiant.
"I hate you!" she hissed, eyes blazing. "I hate you touching me, and the last thing I would ever do is willingly lie with you!"
