Bullshit.
Her pulse thundered, and her muscles grew taught with the anticipation. Her mind swept to her mother's words; memories whispered in her ears on a sharpened tongue. A bastard like an angel, glowing white. He declared her to be his queen, his lover. And he had a wicked tongue, for he was the devil.
Lies.
Rue's gaze lifted to the man before her. The monster was just as she had described, just as ghostly, just as deadly. Her eyes narrowed. That bastard had impregnated her mother, soothed her with his words and then left her to fend for herself with a child. That bastard had fucked up her mother's life. Irritation darkened her gaze, a scowl on her brow.
Liar.
An insect.
A monster.
Her father's kin.
Perhaps even…
"Are you…My father?" she tested, and he laughed, tossing his head back to bark out an insidious cackle. Thank fuck. Her exhale was quiet in her throat, shaky with her relief. The things he said seemed like something from a fucked up incestuous royal family. And the possibility of her own father using her as a broodmare was just fucking terrifying.
"No," his lips pulled into a thin line. "I was chosen amongst the drones to be the king for my pure blood and vitality, I am the best for our future. We could not risk genetic disabilities tainting our hopes and dreams." There was a terrible light in his eyes, touched thickly with a sickness that seemed to weigh upon him. "But if you're good, I'll let you see him." His offer was teased. A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. Rue could almost taste the bait on his tongue, dangled before her in jest. "And if you listen, you'll get to meet him."
"You're lying," she spat. Her hand was still clamped to the ground, held down by a chain that had formed from the ink. The darkness had turned her into a prisoner. She jerked at her restraints which refused to budge. "And I don't give a fuck about him. He was just a sperm donor, nothing more, nothing less."
"Hmm," he hummed. In the dark ink, a chalice was formed, frothing from the arm of his inky throne. She watched as it filled with blood red liquid, pumped from the spiralling veins all around them. He raised the glass to his lips, the crimson staining his teeth. Blood. She was almost certain of it. "He did not leave you because he wanted to." The fucker cleared his throat. "We were weak and limited; if he had stayed, your death would have been ensured the moment you were born. The imperial army would have murdered you and your mother."
"You just told me your people were going around fucking women just for spawn," she spat. "Do not speak as if your men cared."
"Your suspicions are understandable," he smiled. "You've never heard of your kind. You know that we're monsters that need to be killed, that we poison the planets we land on. You came to our hives to end us, and you've seen what we've done. I understand." He placed a hand to his chest, head lightly dipped into a bow as if he gave a damn. "Our methods are grotesque and barbaric to you. But war is always brutal, and is it wrong to take back what is ours? Is it wrong to fight back against our colonisers?" His nails strummed upon his throne. "Tell me," he murmured, "do those Alphas treat you well?"
Her lips pursed tightly into a thin line. "You think that's good enough to convince me?"
He smiled simply. "No, but do they listen to your words? Cherish you as their queen?" He leaned back into his seat, legs crossed with a sneer on his eerily beautiful face. "I'll applaud you for choosing the strongest as your temporary pack. By controlling them, you are safe for now. But surely they fight your hold, threaten your existence, and treat you without respect." His fingers swayed, lazily gesturing into the air with elegant theatrics. "They think you are a mere Omega destined for a cage while they sit on their thrones with your children. They only want you now, but what will they do once you've served your purpose?"
Rue sneered. "What makes you think you're any different?"
"We're family, Rue," he responded. "To me, you're my most precious treasure. To them? You're just a feisty little pet from a backwater planet, a runt they picked up on the streets." He paused; his eyes were locked upon hers. "They must have done it once." His smirk grew. "They took you to the shadows, and that is why you fear the dark. Oh, darling, my darkness will not hurt you. It runs with our blood; I will only protect you."
"Stop looking into my head," she snarled, fingers clenched into fists. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
"They only want your body, acting so licentiously when you're around, begging for you like dogs," he drawled. "You are a mere toy that they fondle with, and once they've had their fill, they'll throw you away like all the others they've had. They might need you now, but eventually they won't. Eventually, you'll be thrown out into the streets. You're merely an Omega to those little princes." He drawled, voice dropping into a purr. "They don't see you."
"What makes you so fucking different?" she snapped. But his words had struck a nerve, struck something within her that throbbed. "I have my own shit to deal with, I know. But you kidnapped me and now you want a fucking woman to birth your army. You want me to present myself and become your little incubator. You contradict yourself, motherfucker."
"Rue," he clucked his tongue. His tone was soft, like a parent to a child, and it had her glaring at his face. "Perhaps you are right. As the last female child of our blood, that discomfort is how you serve our blood. But did you not promise the same for those men?" His coo only worsened, and despite his generally attractive features, something within her found him revolting. "Here, you would have absolute power, here you will be protected and worshiped with only the highest regard. Here, you are above all else. They never see females as worthy of a throne, merely collared at their heels. It is different for us Titans. Our Omegas are treasured beings. They deserve to be waited upon and served. They are gently held and pampered. They are our leaders, our queen. I may be king, but you stand above me and you are above me." His pale eyes were fucking creepy blinking gently as if he thought himself righteous. But Rue could only see a goddamn insect and a chronic liar.
"You say that, and I'm chained to this fucking ground," Rue said.
"Is the ground not soft?" he murmured, sympathy etched into his voice, almost eerily alluring. And she hated that he was right, that the ink was a jellied warm substance that moulded to her gently. "Those chains will never hurt you." A snap of his fingers and the encirclement of rock around her wrist crumbled into dust. "And they are merely illusions of our space. You're never captured here, only gently held. Those chains weren't even there." He blinked. "You just believed them to be there." Liar.
"Then if I'm your queen," she said, "will you let me go?"
His smile transformed into a disgusting purse of his lips. A flash of darkness rising across his features was all she needed to see to know that he was just like all the other men in her life. "As archaic as you think I am, we are your blood, and your blood is dying to an enemy that you side with. An enemy that treats you like nothing." He waved his hand, flourished out. "But I know the longer I hold you, the more you will come to hate me."
"Then you know you should leave me alone."
"Have I even taken you away?" he murmured gently, the smile now touching his eyes. She inhaled sharply, and he laughed, spinning on his heels. He waved his hand in the air. "This is our past, and your birthright. My queen." His voice rang, echoing in a distorted tune, ringing in her ears.
Sweat beaded on her flesh, a chill tingling up her spine. He drew closer as the weight of the air seemed to sag upon her shoulders, a heady rush of blood roaring in her ears. He was doing something, something she didn't fucking like. And it was like waves, like tides, like the pressure of the darkness; claustrophobia consumed her, trembled through her veins. She opened her mouth to speak as nausea swelled from within her.
"Drop," his fingers snapped.