Taming the Beast World with a Frying Pan-Chapter 23: Goth Dungeon of Doom

The Onyx Gates groaned open, revealing a cavernous tunnel lit by strange, bioluminescent green moss.

Ren looked up from Syris’ chest. "Wow. You really committed to the ’Evil Villain Lair’ aesthetic, didn’t you? Do you have a skull throne too?" 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Syris looked down at her, confused. "My throne is made of obsidian. Skulls are brittle. They make poor furniture."

"It was a joke, Syris."

"I do not know jokes." He tightened his grip on her waist as the boat docked against a polished black stone pier. "I need to get you to the Nest before the heat from the duck wears off."

He stood up, carrying her effortlessly.

"I can walk," Ren protested, wiggling her legs. "My legs work fine."

"The stone is freezing," Syris countered, stepping onto the pier. "If you walk, your feet will get cold. If your feet get cold, your blood cools. If your blood cools, I get cold. Therefore, you do not walk."

Ren rolled her eyes. "Logic 100. Fine."

[System Notification: New Location Discovered – ’The Onyx Palace’.] [Environment Effect: ’Chill of the Grave’. Stamina drains 2x faster here unless near a heat source.] [Note: You are the heat source.]

Syris glided through the hallways. The palace was stunning, in a creepy way. The walls were carved with intricate scales. Water flowed in narrow channels along the floor. It was silent, except for the soft slither-hiss of movement in the shadows.

As they entered the Great Hall, Ren realized they weren’t alone.

Dozens of Snake Beastmen—and women—stopped to watch.

The women were strikingly beautiful. Tall, pale, with eyes that slanted upward and dresses made of shed skin that clung to their bodies like liquid. They were draped over stone benches, looking bored and frozen.

When they saw their King carrying a small, warm-skinned female wrapped in dirty cargo pants, the boredom vanished.

"Who is that?" a female voice hissed. It came from a woman with emerald-green scales around her neck.

"Is that... dinner?" another asked hopefully.

"It smells like... mud and spice," a third sniffed.

Syris ignored them all. He walked straight through the center of the hall, his chin held high.

"My King!" The woman with emerald scales slithered forward, blocking his path. She was stunning, with a hood of green hair. "You returned early. Did you find the... cure?"

She looked at Ren with eyes that were cold, calculating, and hungry.

"Move, Lyssa," Syris commanded without stopping.

"But King," Lyssa persisted, eyeing Ren’s bare midriff. "Why do you carry this... mammal? Is she a pet? Shall I have the servants prepare a cage?"

Syris stopped. The air temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.

He looked at Lyssa. Then he looked at Ren.

"She is not a pet," Syris announced, his voice echoing off the stone walls. "She is the Fire-Bringer. She warms the blood."

He pulled Ren closer, burying his nose in her hair right in front of everyone.

"And she sleeps in my Nest."

Gasps echoed through the hall.

"The Alpha Nest?" Lyssa choked, her face turning a sickly shade of gray. "But... no female has ever entered the Alpha Nest! It is forbidden! It is for the Queen!"

"Then perhaps," Syris said softly, "I have found one worthy of the stone."

He stepped around her and continued gliding toward the massive double doors at the end of the hall.

Ren whispered frantically, "Did you just imply we’re married? Because I did not sign a prenup! And that green lady looks like she wants to poison my oatmeal!"

"Lyssa is ambitious," Syris dismissed. "But she is cold. You are warm. Competition over."

He kicked the doors open.

Ren gasped.

The "Nest" wasn’t a bedroom. It was a cavern.

The floor was covered in layers of thick, black furs. In the center was a massive, circular depression lined with silk and what looked like velvet cushions. The walls were lined with shelves containing strange jars, crystals, and gold.

But the most shocking thing was the temperature.

It was freezing.

"Okay," Ren shivered as the cold air hit her. "Why is your bedroom a refrigerator?"

"We preserve better in the cold," Syris explained. He walked to the center of the nest and dropped Ren onto the pile of furs.

She bounced. It was surprisingly soft.

"Stay," Syris ordered.

He turned around and began to undo his robes.

Ren scrambled backward, clutching a fur pillow. "Whoa! Whoa! Pause! What are we doing? It’s not even the third date!"

Syris let the shimmering black robe slide off his shoulders. It pooled on the floor with a soft hiss.

He was wearing nothing underneath.

Ren’s chef brain short-circuited. Oh. My. God.

He was... smooth. Unlike Kael, who was rippling muscle and hair, Syris was like a sculpture of polished marble. Long, lean, terrifyingly defined muscles. And absolutely zero body hair.

"Stop staring," Syris said, though he looked pleased. "Or start staring. I do not care. I need skin."

He stepped into the nest.

"I need to raise my body temperature," Syris stated clinically. "The duck meat started the fire. Now I need to... incubate."

He crawled toward her on his hands and knees. The movement was predatory, sinuous.

"Syris," Ren warned, holding up the pillow like a shield. "I have a boyfriend. A very large, very angry tiger boyfriend."

"He is not here," Syris whispered, grabbing the pillow and tossing it across the room.

He lunged.

He didn’t attack her. He wrapped himself around her.

Literally.

He pulled her down onto the furs and curled his long body around hers, locking his arms around her chest and tangling his legs with hers until she was completely encased in a cocoon of pale, cold skin.

"Freezing!" Ren yelped. "You are freezing!"

"Warm me," Syris commanded, burying his face in her neck. He shivered violently. "Transfer the heat. Don’t stop."

Ren lay there, trapped by the naked Python King. It wasn’t sexual—yet. It was desperate. He was clinging to her like a dying man clinging to a life raft.

"If you bite me," Ren threatened through chattering teeth, "I will garnish you with parsley."

"Mmm," Syris hummed, his breathing slowing down as he siphoned her body heat. "Parsley..."

He drifted off, his heavy weight pinning her to the bed.

Ren stared up at the black stone ceiling.

"System," she whispered. "Status report."

[System Notification: Host is currently functioning as a ’Human Heater’.] [Relationship Status with Syris: ’Dependence’.] [Relationship Status with Kael: ’Homicidal Rage’.]

"Great," Ren sighed.

Somewhere in the distance, she heard a faint, high-pitched scream. It sounded like Lyssa throwing a tantrum.

"Enemies on the inside. A tiger on the outside. And a snake on top of me."

Ren closed her eyes.

"I really should have charged more for that duck."