by K Loraine
“And if we refuse?” Killian McGregor called out, his thick Scots accent coming out as more of a growl than anything.
“Then you burn at sunrise,” she said with the sweetest smile on her lips.
Hushed murmurings filled the room, but one by one, the clan leaders dropped to a knee. She stepped forward and brought Olivia with her. My little bird was trembling ,and I could hear her heart thrumming on the verge of a panic attack.
“Did Cashel give you his blood? Is that what I smell on you?” Anne asked, licking a line up Olivia’s throat. “It won’t keep me out of your head, you know.”
Everything stopped when I heard those words. “Why do you insist on toying with her?” I asked.
“Because she’s not one of us. She’s a human. Humans are pets, not mates. The only thing she can give us is her blood. We could give her eternal life if we so chose.” Anne’s attention turned to Logan, held in place by a guard, hungry gaze locked on Olivia. “For example, see what a pathetic creature we have here. A hunter, brought low by the very creatures he would kill. Now, you’ll become a lesser vampire, beholden to me if you want to survive. Are you hungry, young one?”
Logan whimpered and struggled, sweat beading on his forehead, eyes red with the strain the turn took on his body. “Yes.”
“Come, sate your desire. She’ll be like nothing you’ve ever tasted.”
“No!” I shouted, but the word was choked off as Thea used her power on me once again. I couldn’t move. I had to watch as Anne held Olivia in place while Logan struggled to walk to her. He was on the brink of his human body rejecting the change. Hope lit in my chest. He might die before he fed. It would be a blessing.
Anne laughed. “Oh, Cashel, I’m only toying with him. I’m not going to feed our special pet to him. But I am going to make her watch as he loses every ounce of humanity he had left.”
A guard came in from a doorway to the left of the throne, pulling the hunter Olivia had called Knight behind him. Knight struggled, stumbling over his own feet twice before the guard tugged him hard enough to bring him to his knees.
A feral growl rumbled from Logan’s throat, and he pounced, grabbing Knight and holding him against his chest as he mauled the man right in front of us. He fed deeply, Knight’s body going lax in his arms too quickly. Olivia shuddered, tears running down her cheeks.
“That’s enough, Logan.” Anne’s command didn’t stop him, but Thea did. She released me from my restraints and, with a few murmured words, blasted him off Knight, whose body was limp and pale.
Anne pouted and released Olivia from her hold as she glided across the floor toward the two men. She crouched and tore open her wrist, placing the slowly bleeding wound to Knight’s mouth. More hunters for her army.
A blur in the corner of my eye had me turning too late to stop the female vampire who ran for us. She tackled Olivia, tearing into her throat before any of us could defend her. Olivia screamed and fought as I rushed to pull the vampire from her. The woman wouldn’t budge, but with my hands on either side of her head and a hard twist, I managed to snap her neck. Then I shoved my hand inside her chest and ripped out her heart, crumbling it to dust before the eyes of the entire court. I’d pay for that, but they needed to know that messing with Olivia meant death.
My little bird crumpled to the floor, panting, eyes closed, blood trickling down her chest from the raw wound on her throat. I was there in an instant, pulling her into my lap and pricking my finger with my fang to heal her. The wound closed quickly, but she didn’t open her eyes. Her pulse was steady though. She’d be all right.
Slow claps echoed off the walls, the only sound in a tomb-quiet space. “Well, well, that was certainly unexpected. And, Logan. I didn’t realize you had it in you to keep him alive your first time out.” Amusement colored Anne’s tone.
It shouldn’t have happened. I’d taken steps to protect Olivia from the influence of others.
I see your displeasure as clear as if you’d painted a picture, Cashel. School your expression. Anne’s voice echoed in my head. It doesn’t look good. And if you want her to continue living in your chambers rather than the dungeon, you’ll pull yourself together.
I stood with Olivia cradled in my hold, staring at Logan with a mixture of hatred and pity. He lay on the floor, writhing slowly, moaning. His transition was going to be a hard one. He was kept from feeding for far too long.
“Her head was filled with a multitude of thoughts, Cashel. Care to know what she was thinking of as she watched Logan feed?”
“I do not.” I stared hard at Anne, wishing with everything in me I had a stake handy.
“Hm, that’s too bad. I’d want to know if my paramour was harboring deep feelings for another. It seems she’s in love with two men. How ever will she choose?”
Olivia
“Liv?” Logan’s voice was unexpected. Calm and cool, no trace of the warmth I was used to coming from him. “Are you awake?”
My neck throbbed, pulses of pain with each of my heartbeats. I blinked a few times and narrowed my eyes in the dark room. Terror gripped me, running through my veins in cold tendrils. Logan had killed Knight right in front of me. He tore out his friend’s throat without a second thought. What would he do to me?
“S—stay away from me,” I stammered, sitting up and working to control the rising panic.
“Let me have you. You want me. I know you do.” The bed dipped, but I couldn’t see him. His hand gripped my shoulder, and I screamed.
“Olivia, it’s okay.”
I screamed again, kicking out and connecting with his nose. There was a satisfying crunch and a pained groan from the man on the bed. I scrambled away, turning on a light as soon as I reached the switch. Instead of a feral vampire, I found Cashel, holding a bloody nose and scowling.
“What the fuck was that about?” he asked, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiping away the blood.
“Oh, God, I’m so sorry. I thought you were…him.”
Jealousy flashed in his eyes. He crumpled up the cloth and tossed it into the garbage bin near the door. “Him? You thought Logan would be in your bed when you woke?”
“No. I…it was a nightmare. I thought he’d come to kill me.”
Cashel was at my side, hands gripping my shoulders before I could blink. I watched as the dark bruises under his eyes from his broken nose faded within a few moments. He was back to his chiseled perfection, and my heart raced at what I’d just witnessed. It was amazing and terrifying.
He slid his palms up my neck and cradled my face. “He won’t touch you. No one will touch you.”
“What happened to the woman who attacked me?”
“She’s dead. A lesson to all of them.”
“You killed her?”
He clenched his teeth and pressed his forehead to mine, closing his eyes and taking a long breath. “I ripped her heart out and crushed it while she watched. I don’t regret it. I’d do it all over again.”
Those striking eyes opened, and the intensity in his gaze stole my breath. “Thank you,” I said. “For stopping her. She was going to kill me.”
“I know. And Anne was going to do nothing about it. Which leads me to believe it was set up. A trap for both of us. She knows now. There’s not a doubt in my mind that she’s aware of how deep my feelings run for you. She’ll use you as a bargaining chip as long as she can.”
I stepped back and put my hands on my hips. “We have to stop her. She’s more of a tyrant than Elias was. I heard what she said about forcing those who didn’t kneel at her feet. It was a ‘join me or die’ moment.”
He nodded. “It was. My father never had to do that. But he wouldn’t hesitate to kill anyone who was disloyal to the crown either.”
“But she needs my blood. Why would it be a good thing to let someone drain me?”
“I have a sinking feeling she doesn’t want to cure sun sickness. She wants to sell your blood like the drug it can be. Your body too. But I don’t think she feels like
she truly needs you anymore.”
My stomach churned, a cold pit building in the center. “She wants me to be a blood slave?”
“More than that. She wants to let them breed you with their human pets and make more of your bloodline.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat and held back a shudder. “How is that different from what your father wanted?”
“My father wanted me to breed you. He wanted to find a cure and make our bloodline more powerful.”
“And you? What do you want?”
“I want you to be mine more than anything, but I also want you to choose me.”
Frustration rolled through me. “You’ve kidnapped me twice, but I still let you inside my body. I think it’s safe to say I’ve chosen you.”
“You still want him.”
The emotion in his voice caught me off guard. “What makes you think that?”
“Anne is strong. She broke through the barriers in your mind and read your thoughts while…you were being attacked.” He stared into my eyes, looking deep into my soul. “She said you loved us both. I know she wasn’t lying.”
“I…” I couldn’t finish. I didn’t know what to say.
“I can’t share your heart. I won’t. If you don’t want me, I’ll step aside and give you what you need to be happy. But first, I need you to come see Callie and help her find the cure.”
“How do you know what I need to be happy?”
He took a lock of my hair between his fingertips and twisted it back and forth. “You need freedom. You need me to bond with you and ruin your blood. Those are the things I can give you.”
“If you bond with me, won’t it be hard to be apart?”
“For me, it will be torture. For you…I’m not sure.”
Deep inside, I knew the answer. Being apart from him was terrible the first time. I didn’t think I could stand it if I knew I’d never see him again. “I don’t want that.”
“You don’t want to bond with me?”
“I don’t want to be free of you.”
Dark brows pulled together. “Are you…choosing?”
Was I? After everything Logan had revealed, after the time I’d spent away from Cashel and all the doubts I had…could I trust him again? But the simple truth was this man held a part of me no one ever had before. I couldn’t imagine a life without him.
“I want you.”
His fingers trailed across my shoulder, sending electricity racing across my arm. “I want you. All of you. But I can’t abandon my home, my family’s legacy. I have to take back my crown.”
“And I know how to fight. I just need the right weapons.”
“No. I’ve put you at risk too many times already.”
“Cash—”
“I just want to help.”
“You will. You are. Knowing you’re safe is the most important thing to me. I can’t focus on anything else when you’re in danger.”
“I learned how to fight off vampires while I was with the hunters.”
“And it did you no good earlier.” There was pure warning in his tone.
“I was wearing a fucking collar and leash. Not to mention, I was unarmed.”
“Exactly my point. If you have to be armed to fight, you’re in danger.”
He was right. In a world filled with monsters who had preternatural strength, my humanness made me vulnerable. “Fine. But don’t expect me to sit locked in a tower and wait for you. I’ll be arming myself and preparing for confrontation. They won’t catch me unaware again.”
“I think my little bird has grown into a beautiful phoenix. Fierce and fiery.”
“Isn’t fire deadly to vampires?”
He smirked. “It’s deadly to humans as well.”
“True.” I rolled my neck, sighing.
“Get changed. Callie needs us.”
With that command, I knew he wanted our conversation to be over. There was no arguing with him. He turned me in his arms and unclasped the diamond collar from around my neck, his lips pressing a gentle kiss to my nape.
I shivered and leaned back into him, needing the feel of his strong chest against my back. “I didn’t say this when I should have before. Cashel, I love you. I tried not to, but denying it is the same as lying. I was never able to get you out of my heart.”
“I hate that they made you doubt me. And that they were able to get between us.”
“Me too. On both sides. The hunters and your father.” His lips trailed kisses along my shoulder. “I didn’t know him before the day I escaped,” I admitted. “I swear.”
Cashel released me and straightened. “What?”
“You thought I’d been in love with Logan all this time. I wasn’t. Your father told me he’d kill you if I didn’t break your heart and release my hold on you. So I lied.”
He backed away and shook his head. “I should have known. Should have seen it. He did the same thing with Eliana. The man couldn’t stand the idea of me being in love with a human.”
“Eliana?” Jealousy bloomed in my chest.
“He made it seem she’d been with him willingly. He raped her. He took her from me and made me think it was her choice.”
I swallowed back the bile threatening to rise in my throat. I remembered all too clearly Elias invading my mind, taking my blood without my consent. I couldn’t imagine the damage that would have been done to my psyche if he’d raped me as well. “No wonder she’s so angry.”
“She’s been dealt far too much trauma in her life. And I had a hand in that.”
“Is there a way to help her?”
“I’m not sure.”
I took his hand and brought it to my lips, kissing the knuckles. “Let’s go see Callie.”
16
Olivia
Cashel’s hand never left the small of my back as we walked quietly down the hall, but my heart must’ve been audible to every vampire in the estate, it was beating so hard. He murmured soft words of comfort in a vain attempt to calm me. I did my best, but being back here, on the path to the King’s rooms, brought back too many bad memories.
“Be as still as you can, little bird. If they hear you, we’re all caught,” he whispered.
I took slow breaths, bringing my body to a meditative state as he drew a drop of his blood and pressed it to the door. The magic infused in the wood never ceased to amaze me as the panel opened and the two of us stepped through into the King’s rooms. It looked the same as it had when Cashel had laid me out on the floor and pleasured me to within an inch of my life. The bite mark on my breast tingled as a phantom memory hit me.
“I know,” he said. “It’s a strange feeling, being here. So many bad things, but also the beginning of something destined.”
A crash in the distance had both of us tensing, the longing for connection pushed aside in favor of seeing to Callie. “Fuck,” Cashel muttered. “Stay here. It’s not safe for you until I’m sure she’s still restrained.”
“No argument from me.” But as soon as he began walking toward the origin of the sound, I reached out and grabbed his forearm. He stopped and turned to face me, a question in his eyes. “Be careful.”
He smiled, genuine and filled with love. So soft I was taken by surprise. “I’ll be fine.”
I wandered the room, touching the rows of books along the walls, the marble desk, the fine gold pens I was sure Elias had used. How could such evil have lived in a place so beautiful? Sitting at the desk, I opened drawer after drawer, examining this capsule of Elias’ life. What did he use this for? What were the duties of a vampire king?
My chest seized at the sight of colorful plastic beads strung together by a clumsy child’s hands. My clumsy child’s hands. Skin crawling, I pulled the bracelet out of the drawer and stared at the block letters that spelled my name. My birth name. Rosella. Unique and distinctive. I remembered making it with my mother when I was five years old. She’d promised me she’d always keep it. Why did Elias Blackthorne have it?
“Everything all rig
ht?” Cashel asked, standing with one arm draped over the mantle, shirtsleeves rolled up, hair tousled as though he’d been struggling.
“This is mine,” I said, voice shaking as I held out the bracelet. “I made it for my mom when I was five.”
“Rosella?”
“My real name. I haven’t been her since I was six. We moved and…” I brought my fingers to my lips. “Oh, God. She lost the bracelet. We moved because he found us.”
“He never mentioned it. Why would we have spent so many years searching if he knew where you were all along?”
“I don’t think he did. I’m pretty sure we got away.”
“It makes sense. He knew you existed when no one else did. He was biding his time until he could get to you.”
“Did he kill her?”
He shook his head. “He wouldn’t. It makes no sense to kill the one we need.”
“Lucas thinks it was the hunters, or witches.”
“Or both.”
He linked our fingers and pulled me to standing. “He said there was magic.”
“Yes. Too much for it to have been a simple protection spell.”
I pocketed the bracelet, unwilling to let it go again. “How’s Callie?”
“Worse. She needs a donation from you. The regular supply of human blood isn’t helping anymore. The only thing that seems to sustain her for any amount of time is yours.”
Nodding, I rolled up the sleeve of my soft gray shirt. “Go ahead.”
He frowned, looking around for something. “None of my supplies are here.”
“Do you have to use a needle? Can’t you just…bite me?” A thrill ran through me at the suggestion.
“It will hurt.”
“You can make it feel good.”
Eyes flaring wide, he stared at me. “If I manipulate your mind.”
