The Hybrid [malexmale]

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

The gods continued to sit and chat as desdios dragged out large carts overflowing with expensive, rich foods I'd never seen before, or at least, I don't remember seeing. And with that came long flowing gold drapes from above the columns and a deep red back-drop. Several desdios moved forward with instruments, drums and strings and a tambourine.

I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I'm going to show you your future. Atlan was going to use Arikos to scare me. I wasn't entirely sure how and I wasn't looking forward to it.

I glanced down the table at Atlan, who sat in calm and perfect repose while running his fingertip along the rim of his golden goblet that was still filled with wine. Xanius leaned over to whisper to him and his mouth twitched, making me frown before turning to Drak, who was duplicating his father's stiff and regal posture in silence while eyeing the desdios that walked past. The other Khalian gathered to their places eagerly, laughing and passing me quick glances like they were amused by my position.

Vinion glared at me silently from her spot across the table and it took everything I had not to wave teasingly at her. Instead, I kept my eyes on the red back-drop when I saw something rustle the curtains, and the band in the corner began to play. I watched two desdios come out, pouring a pair of large snakes out onto the floor. They seemed to know better than to approach the tables and slithered to the center of the floor to rise up and eye the audience warily.

A second later, someone shoved a person through the curtain back-drop and my stomach dropped when I recognized Arikos. I frowned at the way he fell onto his knees unceremoniously and didn't look up at the people.

The music rose and fell very slowly, and then Arikos got to his feet. There was something a bit odd about him. His expression was tired, dazed, like he was unsure where he was at. His cheeks were a bit flushed and he looked... weakened. Severely. He stumbled for a second and some of the gods snickered before he looked around, as if trying to see what was going on around him. The black kohl around his eyes only emphasized the silver of his eyes before they locked on me and he stared at me, and his teeth sank into his bottom lip, something hot flashing through his eyes.

He looked like he wanted to come over to me, but when he took a step, the snake on the floor hissed and snapped at his ankle, making him yelp and leap away from it toward the other snake, who snapped at him as well. Arikos shrank back from them, breathing hard at the sight of them.

He's scared of snakes.

Akin adored snakes, and I was accustomed to them, but I was also accustomed to people who were terrified of them. Raven avoided them like the plague and claimed they "wigged" him out and he loathed their beady hungry eyes. It was why he wasn't a huge fan of St. John, Lucifer's pet snake and one of the first demons in existence.

Arikos was definitely terrified of them, especially when they started to snap at him again and one of them managed to sink their fangs down into his ankle, making him cry out and kick it back. The gods laughed and a couple of them choked on their drinks while trying to cover up their laughs. My stomach contracted sharply and it took everything I had not to get up and bash them over the head. If I made one move, I'd get myself in trouble too and that was something I wanted to avoid so I could bide my time to escape.

But it was getting harder and harder to watch Arikos get bit by the snakes that hissed and moved closer. He slid away from them until he was backed up against one of the pillars, and this time, he kicked the snake so hard it went flying across the room and landed into one of the baskets it had come from. Arikos spun around and kicked the second one, sending it flying into the other basket, breathing hard as he stumbled to catch his balance on one of the columns.