He grinned, the pointed teeth reflecting the small fragments of light in the room. They must have a lantern or something lit. “I have a lot of power inside these walls, and I spent the entire week working out the exact logistics of capturing you. Trust me, by the time they find you … well, actually, there will be nothing left to find. This is not the first time we’ve done this, and people disappear inside here all the time. They’re used to it.”
I calmed my voice. “Not the shifter alpha and council leader’s daughter. I’m thinking they might investigate a little further into my disappearance. And the Compasses…” I grinned for the first time since my capture. “Oh, the Compasses are going to have fun with you.”
At least I knew that much. Even if I did die in this shithole today, my revenge would be exacted. It made facing the next few hours of my life almost bearable.
His confidence faltered, so minutely that if I hadn’t been boring holes into his face with my eyes, I would not have noticed it. But he’d let it slip.
“If you let me go, I will forget this happened. We both walk away and never speak of it again.”
Lie. I was going to fucking kill him. But he was a vampire and they couldn’t scent truth in someone’s words as easily as a shifter. I’d always been an excellent liar. I’d steadied my heart rate and controlled my fear.
For a second there I thought I’d gotten through to him. Then he straightened, resolve crossing his features again, and I knew that he’d moved past the fear. He was back in a position of crazy sociopath vampire. No thoughts, no worries.
He reached behind him and grabbed something dark. I struggled, throwing my head side to side when I realized what it was. He gripped my face tightly, holding it in place as he shoved the entirety of the strip of material into my mouth.
“Stop talking, wolf. I’d like to enjoy myself, and this incessant chatter is making me angry. Angry enough to kill you. And I promised I wouldn’t do that. That’s someone else’s joy.”
As he released my face I started struggling again, spitting and swearing behind my gag. I could feel myself morphing into something a little feral, animalistic. My caged wolf howled and screamed with me, and I was still thankful to have her, suppressed bond and all. I fought and bucked more as he leaned into me, and then with no hesitation he sunk his fangs into my throat.
I’d never let any vampire drink from me, not even Maximus. Although he’d healed a few of my cuts and said my blood was delicious. So I had no idea of the sensation of being fed on, and now that I knew, well, I didn’t like it. It hurt. Badly.
Vlad wasn’t trying to make it nice for me. He was rough and mean and did not send even an ounce of calming energy toward me. He wanted my fear and anger; strong emotions made the blood change. See, I’d paid attention in vampire studies.
I knew I was starting to lose a lot of blood. I could feel that crazy, light-headed haze that preluded a black out. I wanted to fight, but my strength was disappearing.
He pulled away from me then. There was a loud crack. It took me a few moments to realize he’d slapped me. The pain was a dull register.
“Don’t pass out on me yet, I want you conscious for this. It’s no fun if you don’t know what’s happening.”
He was going to die a thousand deaths, in this life and every single one after this. The right side of my face was numb, which meant he’d hit me hard enough to do a bit of damage. In fact, my eye was starting to swell and close already.
“Your blood is incredible. I’m tempted to steal you away and keep you as my personal sex and blood slave.” He sighed. “But alas, other important people need some of you, so I’ll just have to enjoy my fill today.”
He started to touch me then, running his finger from my lips down my chin to my breasts. Despite my lethargy, this sent a shot of adrenalin through me and I started to fight and scream around the gag. I would not let this happen, I could not let this happen. I tried to reach my wolf, fighting the bars that caged her. But it was like trying to dig through stone with my fingertips. Useless. We both started to howl together. And then a third voice joined in.
My demon.
The vampire’s fingers were moving lower again, circling around my belly button. The piece-of-shit was prolonging this, driving the fear, the anticipation for himself, so full and flushed with my blood.
I flung free the cage on the demon. After twenty-two years I was damning all consequences and releasing the bonds. An unearthly whistling started to ring through my body, so loud I couldn’t tell if the noise was inside or if the vampire could hear it too. Then power flooded me, strong, thick, and all encompassing. The cage around my wolf was blown away, but in that moment I was too overwhelmed to latch on to her. In fact, she seemed to be cowering away a little, letting the demon power free. It continued to fill me. I could see the tide flowing and I wondered what would happen when it reached the top of my head.