by Alice Wilde
He’s dead. The thought cycles through my mind.
“I’m not dead,” he says, still unmoving, as though he had read my mind.
I let out a small sigh of relief and hurry to his side.
“But I wish I was.”
The words stop me in my tracks and I take a good look at him. He has sweat through his heavy quilts, his face slick with moisture. He takes a breath, but struggles as the air catches in his throat, causing him to cough up blood onto his chest. He doesn’t move to clean it, and for the first time I realize we’re complete and utterly alone. No one has rushed to his side, and my betrothed is nowhere in sight.
This is my chance. I take a deep breath.
“I won’t marry Lord Godfrey,” I say. “He is a vile, cruel beast of a man and I will not be coerced into giving my life to him.”
Father opens his eyes and looks at me for the first time since I entered the room.
“Father, please, listen to me. He hit my chambermaid,” I say my face growing hot. “And I’m afraid he will take me before I am wed.”
“Baseless accusations. You must put aside your childish ideas of love and understand your duty,” the king says, coughing more blood. “You’ve been blinded by your own feelings. Besides, you should feel lucky that he wants you at all; you’ve grown up far too temperamental and headstrong. You will marry him and that is final.”
I can feel rage boiling my blood. How can this man call himself my father? He has completely disregarded everything I’ve said, believing Damien over his own heir. How can he not see the evil right before his eyes?
“I’ll die before I marry him,” I say through gritted teeth.
“You will do no such thing,” my father says sharply, closing his eyes once again. “I only called you here to…No. Sit. We will await Lord Godfrey.”
The silence in the room is unbearable. I am at the edge of my patience when the doors are opened behind me and in steps Damien.
“Ah, Damien, just the man I wanted to speak to,” the king says weakly.
“Your Majesty,” Damien says, bowing low, his eyes shifting toward me. “I certainly hope my betrothed has been bothering you in this state.”
“She is concerned,” my father says, startling me.
I hadn’t expected him to repeat anything I’d said to Damien, but here he is, revealing my secret thoughts! Is there no one I can trust?
“It seems there was a mishap with one of the chambermaids and she claims you struck the woman. I have assured her it was out of good reason, but you must understand she is a delicate creature and small things upset her,” the king continues.
This last statement forces me to bite my tongue to keep from lashing out. If only he knew how strong I was mentally, if not physically.
“I did nothing of the sort,” Damien says, his voice a low growl. “Ask the maid if that would ease your mind. In any case, I’ll be sure she doesn’t bother you any further with emotional nonsense.”
“No need,” Father says, feebly waving a hand. “The real reason I called you both here is perhaps obvious. No matter the concoction, it seems fate would have me leave this world. I know this goes against what I said before, but I would like to see the wedding take place a fortnight from now. The physician sees no reason why I shan’t make it another month, but I would rather not risk it.”
Damien’s face brightens, his perfect mouth turning into a smile that sends fear shivering through me.
“As you wish, Your Majesty,” he says.
“No! Papa!” I say simultaneously.
“Keep your betrothed in check, Damien,” my father says, wounding me to my core.
“Of course,” Damien says as he grabs my upper arm and drags me from the room.
I try to scream out once more, but he yanks me from the floor, pinning my arms against my sides as he tucks me into the crook of one arm, his other hand clamping down over my mouth as we step through the doors.
“Oh, Damien,” my father calls from the room weakly, looking after us. “Would you please make me some more of the potion? I seem to be running out.”
Damien bows himself in recognition of the request, tipping me forward in the process, and the king shuts his eyes once more. I see a small slip of paper slip from my bosom and float to the floor. Realizing what it is, I pray to high heavens that Damien doesn’t notice it, but I have no such luck. He snatches it from the floor and turns, storming from the room.
Anger burns on his face as the guards close the doors behind us.
Damien throws me on my bed, his face bent in fury. In just a few quick steps, he’s shoved the guards out of my room, slamming and locking the door even as they protest. Even the guards can’t protect me now. He doesn’t turn back to face me. Not right away.
I watch, rage mixing with terror as I realize the danger of the present situation and my own lack of physical strength. The leopards must sense it too, as they’ve begun pacing against the far wall, their collars digging into them as they strain against their leashes.
Damien runs a hand through his hair, then slowly turns to face me.
“Remove your dress,” he says icily.
“What?” I breathe, unsure I’ve heard him correctly.
He takes a lumbering step toward me that sends my hands searching for the dress’s laces.
“Never make me repeat myself,” he growls at me, watching as my fingers try and fail to find a way out of the dress.
“Useless,” he says closing the distance between us. He grabs my ankle and yanks me to the edge of the bed as if I were a child’s play thing. The next moment he’s on top of me, straddling my hips, my arms once again pinned to my side, this time by his massive legs.
The leopards are growling, but Damien’s enormous body is blocking my view of them now. His fingers force themselves into the neckline of my dress before he pauses, contemplating his next move. His breath calms as he seems to realize what he’s about to do.
“Who gave you that note?” he asks, looking me in the eye.
“I…I…” I can’t get the words out. I won’t betray my only friend in the world, but I am at a loss for what to say next.
“Now, tell me this instant,” Damien says, his voice chilling me to my soul, his black eyes boring into me.
Without telling my mouth to move, I blurt out the first name that comes to mind, “Luca.”
I’m thankful it isn’t Rosa’s, but I am instantly filled with fear for my other childhood friend.
“Luca,” Damien says, the name leaving his mouth as if it were poison. “A man, I presume.”
“Y…yes,” I stammer, although I fight hard against the words pressing against my lips, once again unsure why I’m responding to his questions.
His face hardens and he looks me directly in the eye as he begins slowly tearing my dress down the middle from top to bottom. The ease with which he rips the fabric apart makes it seem as though I had been wearing nothing but parchment paper. Removing himself from the bed, he wrenches the rest of the dress from beneath me, tossing it to the floor. I instinctively curl into a ball, my shift all that separates me from the man towering over me.
His devilish face twists into a smile as he sees me start to shake, but I’m not shaking out of fear but an intensifying rage.
“You bastard,” I scream at him, surprising us both.
Instead of becoming angry, Damien’s excitement seems to grow. His hand shifts the awkward crotch of his pants. I swear he is wearing an even bigger codpiece—such an odd word—every day. The thought makes me laugh.
I’m mortified inside, but I can’t stop laughing. The more I look, and the more I think about it, the more I have to wonder how much Damien uses codpieces to make up for what he most likely lacks in endowment between the legs. My laughter grows more intense, and I am nearly unable to breathe as I finally look up into Damien’s face.
His smile is gone. His face is completely devoid of emotion, and I can see my reaction has taken him completely by surprise. His jaw ti
ghtens, and I see the veins in his temple begin to protrude, but I cannot stop myself from laughing.
Lass, stop.
Tíng.
Hætta!
A series of thoughts race quietly though my head, the voices masculine and heart-wrenchingly beautiful.
I’m taken aback.
I’ve gone crazy. I’ve finally snapped, I can’t help but think to myself as my laughter dies away.
I’m snatched from my bed by a bear-like hand, the material of my shift gathered tightly around my neck as I’m lifted into the air. Damien is a giant, but I hadn’t realized just how much of a giant until now, as my legs dangle in the air. He holds me in the air by the strength of a single arm, our faces but a hair-width away.
“Never,” Damien finally says in a voice so low and quiet, it's as if death himself were in front of me. “Never insult me like that again. Do so, and I will tear you asunder in ways your innocent mind cannot even imagine.”
I’m quiet, but not out of the fear I’d imagined. Instead, I feel an incredible sense of power coursing through my veins. With a single laugh, I’ve managed to hurt the monster’s pride mayhap more than anyone ever has.
He seems to take my silence as acceptance, instead of my depleting lack of air as his grip tightens the material around my neck, and tosses me back onto the bed. A long moment of silence passes as I sit up, gasping for air, the neckline of my shift stretched out past the point of usefulness as it dangles precariously to one side. My shoulder completely bare to the world, the material now barely covering my breast.
Damien leans down, placing his arms on either side of me as his raven-like eyes penetrate my soul. A sharp pain shoots through me.
Without removing his gaze, his left hand moves to touch me. His fingers lightly trace my clavicle, my shoulder, and then move slowly down my chest stopping just short of the material of my shift.
He lets out a breath of cool air, far colder than any human should be able to produce. The iciness peaks my breasts, giving shape to the flesh beneath my shift. Only then does Damien lower his eyes from mine, and I wrap my arms around myself, unwilling to satiate his wicked behavior any further.
“No matter,” he says removing himself from my bed, “I shall have you soon enough.”
He returns to the door and unlocks it. Several guards peer inside but make no move to check on me. It dawns on me that the guards are not there to protect me after all, but to keep me prisoner…at least until I am wed.
Snapping his fingers, one of the guards stands to attention. Damien turns to look at me as the next words leave his mouth.
“Bring Luca to my chambers. I have a matter of utmost importance to deal with.”
“No,” I gasp, the word silent to all but me.
“Oh,” he continues, “and once I am finished with him, bring the red-headed wench to me from the night before. My betrothed has whetted my appetite for something a bit more…alive tonight.”
“No, please, no,” I yell, struggling to leap from my bed.
The way he says betrothed makes my stomach twist in agony, as though he wants me to know whatever happens tonight is my doing.
“See that dinner is brought to her,” he says with a dismissing wave of his hand toward me as he sweeps from the room, closing and locking the door just as I slam myself against it, beating at the door with my fists.
“No…please…gods…no…” I say as I sink to the floor, hot tears spilling down over my cheeks.
Thirteen
Li
I can’t bear to see Annalise like this, it was hard enough not being able to tear the throat out of Damien earlier. She hasn’t moved from the door, and I’m growing anxious with my inability to comfort her. I let out a low rumble, hoping the noise will draw her attention, but it doesn’t.
There’s a shout from outside, and Annalise leaps up and over to a window faster than a deer in flight. I watch her for a moment before I feel links forming in my mind. It’s Ero and Roan.
“We need to be more careful,” Roan says, his voice nothing like his usual cheery self. “We can’t link our minds with hers. I’m sure you all felt the same drain.”
“Yes, and I'm starting to worry that none of us will be able to control the bond,” Ero says in annoyance. “You most of all Li. You’re our strongest defense. As long as you and Annalise don’t bond, we should be able to keep her safe.”
I growl, knowing full well they’re right. As the leader, and having spent the longest time cursed, I bear the brunt of the spell’s weight, which means any bond I create will be many times more powerful than the others. But, it also means resisting a bond is that much harder. The closer we allow ourselves to get to her, the more threatening Damien seems to grow in his abilities. I’m starting to worry she really is the final piece he has needed to complete the spell.
“I know,” I finally answer, my heart cracking as I realize what I must do. “I need to make her despise me…even more than she does Damien.”
Fourteen
Annalise
I lean out the window to see what’s happening down in one of the garden courtyards below. It’s Damien, followed closely by a number of his own guards. He’s pulling something that’s just out of my line of sight. I gasp. It’s Luca, or at least I think it’s him.
Rosa was right, he’s tall, nearly as tall as Damien. His golden-brown locks are soft and wavy. I can’t quite make out his face, but he’s certainly no longer the child I’d known so many years ago. I’d even go so far as to say he’s downright handsome, in a rough sort of way.
His hands are bound and he’s struggling to stay upright as Damien keeps enough distance between them to yank at the rope, forcing Luca to stumble and fall. I only now see how bloodied his hands and knees are. Damien stops as they reach the midpoint of my windowed view, yanks Luca to his knees, and then looks up at me, his eyes ripping into me, and I realize that he means for me to watch him punish Luca.
I try to pull myself from the window, but something holds me in place. My arms and legs are frozen as if I’d suddenly been paralyzed. Damien continues to watch me for a moment as I struggle against the feeling and then turns his focus on Luca. I can’t hear what he’s saying from here, but I see him pull out the note and point at me.
I’m dumbfounded by what happens next. I watch as Luca turns to look up at me. He gives me a small smile and then nods his head. The next moment, he’s lying sprawled across the gravel. Damien pulls him to his knees with a single hand, then hits him again. The process continues, the time between blows growing shorter and shorter until Luca is no longer able to hold himself up on his knees.
Damien stands and straightens his vest, prodding Luca with his boot.
There’s blood everywhere. And Luca’s face! I can’t recognize it as human anymore. If I hadn’t seen him dragged over, I’d never have known it was him. His hair is a dark, wet mess and his body is convulsing on the ground. Not once did he make a sound. The guards take Luca’s arms and carry him off. Damien looks up at me once again, then turns and strides out of the garden.
My arms and legs loosen and I collapse to the floor. I crawl over to a basin and retch before curling up on the floor. I’m in too much shock to cry.
I don’t even know if Luca survived. The scene is burned into my mind. I am afraid, but not for myself. For Rosa.
I can’t be alone right now. I pull myself shakily to my feet and make my way over to the leopards, but I have no intention of sleeping on the floor again. Without a second thought, I release them from their leashes before crossing the room to my bed and flopping onto it. A second later, one, then two of the leopards are circling over me, trying to find a space to lie down without crushing me underneath.
I pull myself up and let them find their spots, but soon realize they’re far too monstrous for the bed as their limbs fall over the edges.
“Come,” I say, and to my surprise they are off the bed and by my side in an instant. I grab as many quilts and pillows from my bed as I can carr
y and drag them into a large, rounded alcove in my room. I spread the quilts out over the floor tossing the pillows on top and turn to retrieve some more, but I don’t have to. The two leopards are standing before me, mouths full of pillows and bedding. I laugh, taking the various pieces from them and flinging them into the alcove.
“There,” I say, satisfied, “I think we’ve got a pretty comfortable place to rest now.” I step into the middle of the makeshift bed and the leopards follow. It is only once we are settled that I realize one of the leopards has not moved to be with us. Instead, he’s remained on the far side of the room, watching.
“You don’t have to be afraid, I won’t hurt you,” I say, wondering if the tethers were as much of a comfort as a they were a prison for him. He snorts and looks away. Perhaps now that he has a choice whether or not he’s near me, he actually prefers to be left alone. My heart aches for him, but I turn back to the two next to me and lie down. They shift their weight toward me so each is touching the full length of me, muzzles breathing soft, sweet breath over my face. As much as I want to melt into them and cry my body dry, I am comforted by their proximity.
I want to be closer. Besides Rosa, they are the only living creatures that seem to care for me anymore. Luca’s bloodied face flashes in my mind and I roll to my side, burying my face deep into the fur of one of the leopards. The scent of his body like a stormy ocean. I press myself further into him, letting my mind go calm.
The second leopard moves, closing the gap between us, and for a moment I’m afraid I’ll suffocate. That or sweat to death. I prop myself up on one elbow and pull my shift off and toss it to the side, exposing my skin to the cool evening air before promptly nestling myself back into their fur.
Their vibrating purrs send me off into a dreamless sleep.
A sharp poke in my side forces my eyes open. Miriam is standing over me frowning, her face still painful to look at. She’s holding a plate of food and drink and I am instantly ravenous. I haven’t eaten all day.