Slamming my eyes shut, I refused to let myself fall for the ‘nice guy’ act he put on. He was a wonderful actor—the concern in his voice actually sounded authentic. But I knew it was just part of his elaborate facade.
The scars from the blood that had been forcefully taken from me were proof enough of that.Proof that I saw every single day.
Rolling so I was staring at the ceiling, I cradled my wrist to my chest as heat thrummed through the joint, accenting the intense pain.
Malakai was by my side a second later, making me jolt at the speed in which he moved. I would never get used to it. His putrid scent enveloped me as he crouched down and grabbed my chin roughly, forcing me to look into his dark brown eyes.
“Are you hurt?”
I refused to answer that, but the way I cradled my wrist was answer enough. Before I could blink, he had pricked the pad of his thumb with a fang and pressed it to my lips. “Drink,” he commanded, forcing it into my mouth so his blood could drip onto my tongue.
His wound healed seconds later, but it had remained open long enough that when he removed his thumb and I swallowed, the healing effects were almost immediate. A coolness spread through my forearm and down to my wrist, and as I gingerly rolled my wrist around, I found the pain was gone.
This wasn’t the first time he had forced a drop of his blood into my mouth, and by now I would’ve thought my body wouldn’t have such a reaction. But once again I felt the twisting pain in my stomach, gurgling and making my throat tighten.
His dark curls hung down to his shoulders and shifted around him as he stood back up and pinned Gabriel with a glare. “You know what happens when anyone tries to lay a finger on her.”
To my utter shock, Gabriel didn’t flinch. He folded his arms across his chest and lifted his chin up, confidence pouring from him. “Your Majesty, my intention was not to hurt her. I had to apprehend her—she was attempting to escape.”
He really thought he was going to get out of this without any issues. Maybe he was a bigger fool than I gave him credit for. Or maybe he gave Malakai too much credit for being mentally stable when he, in fact, was quite unhinged.
For a few seconds, Malakai didn’t move, his fury palpable. I held my breath in anticipation and tried to scoot away a few inches.
His voice was cold as he clucked his tongue before asking, “How did she even get this far, Gabriel?”
My lips drew up into a smug smirk as I quirked a brow at my stalker. He thought I would be the only one to pay for this attempted escape? No, I wouldn’t have gotten this far if he hadn’t been so easy to fool.
For that, he would be punished.
His arrogant facade crumbled as he blinked rapidly under the weight of Malakai’s gaze. “I… Your Majesty, I…” he stammered before looking at me and narrowing his eyes in fury. “She was asleep, and I left for only a moment to feed. I know you want anyone around her to be full to resist the urge she presents.”
Malakai pulled his black sword from under his golden robe, and a second later Gabriel’s head rolled on the ground towards me. My skin crawled at the sight of his wide eyes and open mouth.
A very small sliver of my soul felt guilty for his death, but a much larger part didn’t care. He wasn’t a good person. None of the vampyres in this empire were.
They thought only of themselves and their needs. Everyone else existed only to serve those needs, in their eyes.
Dread filled my gut as I came to the realization that Malakai’s wrath would now be turned on me. I always knew that this was a possible result of my attempt to escape, but it had been worth it. Whatever the punishment was, I would never regret it, because it showed that I still had a fire within me that he couldn’t put out.
I was done playing these games, whether I got out of this miserable fucking prison or not.
The second I had made the decision to escape, I knew I wouldn’t be able to shove this rebellious inferno back down again. I had opened the lid, and hope had unfurled within my chest, a reminder that my life was my own. That I wasn’t going to just sit in my cell like a good little pet for the rest of my life.
Morewaited for me out there. I knew, deep within my being, that life wouldn’t always be like this. I just needed to be brave enough to take the steps to get to the other side, whatever that may be.
My hope was the only shining light in this castle of darkness, and I would guard the small ember left within me with everything I had.
Turning on his heel to face me, Malakai tipped his head to the side, cracking his neck. “You tried to escape your only home?”
Once again, he infused his voice with an air of hurt, like I had truly wounded him. But I was well aware of this little game he loved to play. He was never the problem in a situation. He’d always find a way to turn it around so that you felt guilty and apologized. When I first came here, when he told me that he would look after me as my own father would have, I was so quick to apologize in any situation. He’d made sure that I’d wanted his twisted sense of love and protection, his approval.
I wasn’t that naive girl anymore, though. I hadn’t been for a couple years, but it didn’t stop him from attempting to shove me back into that box of Stockholm syndrome with his narcissistic ways.
I should’ve bit my tongue. I should’ve swallowed the words that bubbled to the surface.
But I couldn’t.
“This isn’t my fucking home! This is my prison!” I snarled, pushing myself to my feet. I rolled my shoulders back in defiance as I glared at him, fury growing in me dangerously quick. “You took the only home I ever had away from me!” Took away the only two people that had ever loved me.
