The Game, Pt. 2

“What are we doing, Kael?"

"I... I am not understanding."

“How long are we going to keep up this act?”

Kael looked even more confused, which made Elisa fume even further. “What possible game could I be playing here?”

“Back there, after you’d finished patching up Pauline. Why do you have to always act like the situation is under control? You didn’t even ask for any more details afterwards, you just carried on even when we sat together for breakfast. Boasting about this, about that. Like I don't royally piss you off when I speak of a better way to do things. When I get what I want.”

Kael tilted his head, considering her. "If you start acting like things are falling apart, that’s when they actually do."

"Oh?"

"I’m saying there’s a strategy to this. You can’t just—"

Elisa stepped closer. "Not pretend everything is fine? Gods, Kael, it was clear to me during the banquet—they don’t respect you. They tolerate you."

That got him.

“You’ve seen them, the way they look at me. Pity—as if the idea of a union such as ours is sacrilegious. The way they undermine my judgement. My family... The way they treat you—"

“Stop."

Kael stared inquisitively. “What…? What now?”

"Look at yourself."

Elisa cut straight through whatever weak protest Kael was about to make.

"You’re doing it again. The same thing. Over and over." She took a step closer, gaze blazing. "You think you’re protecting me. You think you’re defending my honor. You think you’re standing up for me against the nobles like some great romantic fool, and you don’t even realize you’re proving them right."

Kael’s jaw tightened.

She wasn't finished.

"You don’t have to defend me like I’m some fragile piece of ceramic waiting to shatter. You don’t notice the patterns because you’re busy, and I get that, but Kael—"

Her voice lowered, but didn’t soften.

"You’re always on the backfoot with these people."

Kael’s brows furrowed.

"The way they treat me is my concern, not yours."

She felt his energy shift, felt the way he wanted to argue, but she didn’t let him.

"I am not an extension of you, and you don’t seem to understand that."

Kael’s mouth opened—"But—"

"Please don’t ‘but’ me."

That shut him up.

Then, she exhaled, shaking her head. "I know this comes from a good place. I understand that. But have you considered what I feel?"

A pause. A breath.

"I’ll tell you now, if I didn’t tell you before." Her voice wasn’t angry anymore. "I feel angry, yes—and I make that clear well enough. But more than that, I feel useless."

She clenched her fists.

"I already feel powerless being the wife of a being far more powerful than me." Her voice was getting hotter, sharper, the words spilling faster now. "And I know it's unfair; you are doing everything right... But I just can't help it; it's like instinct. And you know what? After all this time, I finally understand why my past self was so obsessed with you."

Kael blinked.

Elisa stepped into his space.

"It is endearing how you treasure me. It is endearing how the vampire chooses the human wife and defends her like she’s his equal. It is endearing how cute you look flaunting to me like you do."

Kael’s breath hitched.

Her voice dropped, simmering. "I adore the way you act like you’d burn the world for me. I adore the way you think I’m untouchable because you say I am."

Kael’s fingers twitched, his breath uneven.

She could see it—the way he wanted to reach for her, to hold her, to tell her she was wrong, that she wasn’t useless, that she was everything.

But she didn’t let him.

Because this wasn’t some poetic romance. This was reality. And in reality—romanticism alone wasn’t enough.

"But I only have power because you say I do," she said.

She took a breath, steadying herself. "Those qualities—your unwavering devotion, your blind belief in me—they work in impossible, fictional worlds for a reason. But this isn’t a story."

Her eyes locked onto his. "Your wife isn’t the woman you built up in your head. And you’ll do anything—at any cost—to avoid facing that reality."

Her gaze bore into his.

"It’s not sustainable. Not for us, and more importantly, not for our people."

A silence thicker than blood.

Kael finally spoke, voice low, hesitant. "You don’t know how I act when you’re not around. It's nothing like what you think..."

A pause. When her eyes glazed over, Kael genuinely believed for a precious few seconds she became possessed. Well, she was. In a way.

“Tell me your true feelings, beyond love.”

Kael’s fingers twitched, just barely. "What...?"

Elisa took a step closer, voice steady, unwavering.

She breathed harder now. "Tell me what you want to do to me."

Kael inhaled slowly.

He could brush her off, make some flippant remark, deflect with another half-smirk.

But he didn’t.

Because he knew—she wouldn’t let him.

His hands curled into fists at his sides.

"E-Elisa..."

Her name left his lips like a warning.

But she refused to waver.

"No more pretending, Kael."

His breath hitched.

The war room felt too small, too charged.

And then—he moved.

Slow, deliberate, closing the distance between them in measured steps.

When he finally spoke, his voice was lower, rougher, laced with something raw.

"You really want to know?"

She nodded, heart pounding.

Then, his voice a mere breath—

"I want to ruin you."

Elisa’s throat went dry.

Kael’s eyes dragged over her, slow, deliberate—like he was memorizing her reaction, her crevices in her skin.

"I want to know what you look like when you stop fighting me."

He took another step, close enough that she could feel the cold radiating from him.

"I want to hear the way you say my name when it’s not an argument."

Elisa sucked in a breath.

“The past week felt like the longest week of my life.”

Her fingers itched to shove him away, to break the moment, to remind him that this was about more than them.

But she didn’t move.

Didn’t blink.

Didn’t dare.

This was absolute sexist nonsense—but damn it, it was hot. Because the truth was—

She wanted to hear those things too.

Kael was breathing too hard.

Elisa could see it—the way his shoulders tensed, the way his lips parted slightly, the way his eyes darkened with something both ravenous and restrained.

They were done pretending.

"Kael...” She tilted her chin up, exposing the pale curve of her neck.

That was all it took. The moment she gave him permission, he was on her.

His breath hit the shell of her ear, sharp, ragged.

Then—his lips brushed her pulse, featherlight.

He indulged in it, in the way their breath hitched, in the burning heat simmering beneath her skin, in the unspoken surrender. He made himself inescapable, all-consuming, until there was nothing left in their world but him.

Then—the fangs.

Oh, by the Lords, she moaned.

A shudder ran through her as he drank, slow at first, like savoring the first drop of fine wine.

Soon enough, deeper. Hungrier.

Love me. Love me! LOVE ME!!

His hands gripped her waist, steadying himself, steadying her.

A groan rumbled in his throat, muffled against her skin.

Her fingers curled into his shirt, pulling him closer, pressing herself against the heat of his body, against the cold hunger of his mouth.

This was what he had needed.

What she had needed. Tears streamed down her face.

It was control—but not just his anymore.

She had him exactly where she wanted him.

And she let him.

When he finally pulled back, his breath was hot against her neck, his lips slick with her blood.

His voice was low, ruined.

"Elisa… ha... ha..."

Kae soon let out a ragged chuckle. Flirted on the borders of insanity.

Then—he pressed his forehead to hers, exhaling like he had just lost a battle he never wanted to win. He was a dog, but so was she. Finally honest, as husband and wife should be.

She was human, he was demon. And demons claimed. 

ACT I END