SERAPHINA'S POV
"You have got to be kidding me." I fold both arms below my chest, raising a brow at him while he spits utter nonsense.
Clearly, all of this is just a joke to him.
"You can't be serious."
"Do I look like I'm not? I went this far to let you know the severity of it. The best thing you can do is honor this simple request from your new master." He smirks wider.
I scoff at him angrily - the word master irks my soul beyond understanding.
"You're not my master." I correct him.
"Less talking, more kissing. We don't have all day, do we?"
I stare down at his shoes, dark brown leather moccasins that look way too expensive and perfectly polished.
My pride serves as a barrier, and a bitter surge of hatred runs through my veins. Do I have a choice? Can I still fight this? Fighting his cruel whims has only ever put me in bigger shit. Right now, stepping on his toes would do me no good - especially not with the backing of the rule book and the bloody council.
Maybe this once if I give this jerk exactly what he wants, he'd back the hell off.
With a huff, I drop on my knees next just before he chuckles again, barely containing his amusement. A wave of rage washes over me again, but I contain it once more.
I lean forward with my lips and press them against the tip of his feet twice before I pull away quickly as though I've been seared by them.
He breaks into the laughter he'd desperately tried to hold in all this while I furiously wipe at my lips over and over again just to get the feel off them.
Disgust swirls around in my gut.
For a moment, I might have convinced myself to believe that he wasn't so bad when he helped me during the tournament, but now, without a single doubt, I know that Artemis is only capable of three things - being vile, twisted, and clearly sadistic.
"I didn't think you'd actually do it." He finally speaks, wiping the tear off his eye. "Thinking about it now, I didn't really feel much of it. Maybe I should have asked for a kiss on the lips." His eyes spark with mischief.
At this point, I'm done unable to take any more of his bullshit, standing up to my feet quickly.
"Screw you." I swear at him bitterly before turning away and stomping towards the door before he can ask me to do anymore derogatory things for his own amusement.
Sick bastard.
I reach for the door.
"Wait." He suddenly stops me in my tracks with another command.
I grind and gnash on my teeth, stopping myself. I slowly turn to him again, very slowly and with my patience on its edge now.
"What?"
"Of course, you don't expect it to be over just like that."
Of course, I didn't. Knowing him, this is just the beginning, the least of my worries. Probably in a week time, I'd be begging to kiss his feet rather than do other crazy shit he can think of.
"What more do you want from me?"
"Hm, you don't sound too excited - that's crushing." He tilts his head to the side, loving how frustrated I get with every passing moment he holds me here. Preventing me from getting my own escape.
"After school, find me."
"Find you?"
"That's right. When you do, we can run down on the agreements. Plus, I have something for you."
I don't like the sly smile on his lips but I don't say anything more. I huff, turning to leave again and this time, he doesn't stop me as I briskly walk through the door and shut it behind me.
I run into someone before I can get as far away from Artemis as I can. The force of the collision pushes me back onto my ass painfully.
Groaning in pain, I look up at whoever it is, wanting to apologize for not looking at where I'm heading, but the apology gets stuck in my throat the moment I meet his silver eyes looking down at me with worry.
Lucian, Artemis' Beta and another asshole that's as big as he is.
"You okay?" He asks with that fake concerned tone and eyes that stare at me like some wounded puppy while he stretches out a hand to me.
I look at it with disgust and swat it away from my face, getting up on my own without his help.
"Excuse me." I say, ignoring him and trying to walk past.
He suddenly grabs onto my arm, stopping me from leaving.
"Wait, Seraphina, I just want to talk."
Again, I shrug his hands off me, turning back at him with all the anger and rage that's already bottled up inside me.
"Don't touch me!" I scream in his face before I can stop it, huffing for air in the next second.
"What do you want? Here to laugh at my unfortunate predicament? You told me, right? I shouldn't have contested, right? Well, news flash, even if I didn't, nothing would have stopped him from targeting me." I snap in his face.
The more he frowns sadly like he hasn't done anything wrong, the more I want to unleash it on him.
"That's not what I wanted to say." He speaks calmly, albeit the flicker of pain that flashes through his eyes.
"What is it then?"
"I'm worried, okay? I know just how much of an ass Artemis can be, goddess knows what he's planning to do to you. Whatever happens, you can always let me know. I can reach out to a higher body to get you hel-"
I raise my hands to his face, stopping him before he can finish.
"First off, where were you when he brought up the rule and I was looking for someone, anyone, to back me up?"
Lucian winces, and his face drops immediately, now in shame from his own powerlessness.
"It's a rule, there's nothing I could have done back there."
"Right, so why should I believe you can do anything about it now? Why should I confide in you when you don't even trust that I'm not just a dumb human in this school?"
He shuts up now, not coming up with some stupid excuse or reason why, and that alone answers all the questions I have.
"Just what I thought."
I waste no more time talking to him. What's the point anyway?
There's a look of sadness and longing his eyes, like he had so much to say, like he wanted to stop me right there and force me to understand him. But rather than that, he only stares with those silver eyes that, for a brief moment, brings out a feeling of guilt in me.
I wonder why he wastes his time going out of his way to tell me this in the first place. He should have just continued to ignore me like he has been doing for the past week during the tournament.
I move away from him while he stands there in a defeated daze, retuning back to class and school.
***
The rest of the day passes by in a flash, all the while half my mind is focused on other things like my current arrangement with Artemis - the slave contract is what I've renamed it to be.
Because that's what I am now, a slave to the worst possible person. I spend my day just wondering the kind of sick shit I'd be asked to do now. Knowing Artemis, he won't hold back in tormenting me just to satisfy his sick pleasures, and my first task is finding that bastard.
I've already searched the whole school, scanning possible places he would have probably been - except one last place I'm dreading to step into.
His dorm room.
I have been in specific places in the boy's dorm before but nowhere near his room, and I'm a bit skeptical. Then again, if he isn't there, I get to use it as an excuse not to meet with him for the rest of the day.
I climb the impossible stairwell leading to his floor, which just so happens to be the tallest.
My luck.
I knock on the door to his room next.
Just three moderately loud knocks should be enough, and if there's no answer - and god, I hope there isn't - I leave.
I waist for just 5 seconds and there's no answer. I do a little dance in my head, getting ready to skedaddle before the door slowly creaks open to my mortification.
Artemis stands by the door frame, leaning on one side while half his body is bare to my eyes, the lower half in a towel and his dark hair soaking wet and fresh from the shower.
"Congratulations, you've found me." He says with his usual charming smile that reveals a bit of his perfectly white teeth directed at me.
I suddenly get the sense that I should run for the hills and never look back before it's too late.
I turn around, wanting to charge the other way, but he grips my arm just in time, dragging me right into the lion's den against my will.