I nodded as he stepped back, and I looked up into Elijah’s face, his expression one of true worry. “It’s only two floors away,” I said in what I hoped was a reassuring tone. “I’ll be totally fine.”
“Stay up there until we come and get you, okay? Tell Tristan that all of you need to stay in the suite, and don’t let anyone in until then. I don’t like that we didn’t see them coming,” Elijah murmured.
“I promise I’ll stay put.”
He pressed a kiss to my lips as well and then stepped away, leaving me to look at Kolvar. He didn’t hesitate to sweep me up and press a kiss to my forehead, whispering to be safe before putting me down.
I gave all of them a positive smile before turning and going up the stairs. I knew they were worried, but I also knew they were needed to help plan. I quickened my pace up the stairs, only slowing when I was out of sight, hoping it would encourage them to go to their meeting.
As I walked past a window with a view of the Cursed Divide, my jaw clenched in frustration. I would be damned if Malakai ruined everything now that my life was finally becoming beautiful, with a level of peace I never expected. With men that were loving and cared about me; who weren’t interested only in what I could give to them, the value I brought by being a dhampyr.
I had never truly believed I would be anything but a Thrall. I hadn’t given up hope, but I still had never imagined…this.
I wouldn’t let Malakai take another good thing from me.
As I came to the landing of the third floor, I looked around, realizing that this part of the castle was unusually quiet. Or maybe it was quiet in comparison to the chaos I’d experienced following the warning horns. Still, an uncomfortable sense of apprehension hit me, so I quickly made my way towards the third door.
Out of nowhere, I was yanked backhard, giving me whiplash. I cried out, but a cloth came over my mouth before the sound could carry, and a hand tightened around my throat, causing me to feel dizzy and off-balance. It didn’t stop me from fighting though. My instincts kicked in, and I yanked as hard as I could against the assailant’s grasp, stumbling forward as I managed to gain some level of mobility, the cloth falling from my lips.
A hand grabbed my ankle and tugged, my chin smacking against the floor. My brain rattled in my skull from the harsh impact as I cried out in pain.
The blood drained from my face at the sound of a door opening.No!I couldn’t let them be taken too.
I tried to call out a warning, not wanting them to come out here, but as I turned my head, Tristan appeared in the doorway, looking furious and shocked. He shouted, but that wasn’t the noise that stood out to me. It was the sound of a ‘whoosh’ through the air as a silver dagger flew towards the vampyre within seconds of him appearing.
My vision blurred, a foot coming down on the back of my neck as I heard the thud of the dagger hitting its target. My surroundings went dark to the distant sounds of Rina’s crying and Bailey’s screams.
This was my worst nightmare come to life—the people I cared about being hurt because of me.I’dled this assailant here. If Tristan fell, his death would be on me.
***
I wasn’t sure how long I was unconscious, but the thing that pulled me into wakefulness was a rocking motion—back and forth.
Back and forth.
I didn’t fully understand what was happening until all my senses kicked back into gear, the scent of brine feeling like a slap to the face.
My heavy eyelids slowly blinked open as water dripped onto my face from above. I swallowed, trying to get my bearings as I looked around the dark room. Not only a dark room, but adampone made of moldy wooden beams, creatures scuttling along the floorboards. There was one beam of light that shone through a warped board above, hopefully keeping most of the creatures away.
I swallowed, my head thudding in pain, the back of my neck aching as I tried to move. Only then did I realize I had ropes around my wrists, securing them behind me.
They’d kidnapped me from the castle and taken me to their fucking boat. How they’d managed to reach the castle so quickly when the ship had only just been spotted, and how they’d gotten in without alerting the hundreds of guards, was beyond me.
It seemed impossible when I thought of it. It didn’t add up.
I was fuckingpissed. I wouldnotbe held captive again, and I wouldnotlet Tristan and his family get hurt.
I refused.
In such a short amount of time in the Tridian Empire, Tristan and his family, Myrin, and the three men I was quickly falling for had come to mean so much to me.
Suddenly a door slammed open, and light filled the room as several pairs of heavy boots pounded down the creaky staircase. Despite being tied up, I kept my chin held high, straightening my spine as I stood—nearly stumbling from the rocking of the ocean—while staring at the shadowy figures of my captors. I couldn’t afford to be weak.
“If it isn’t our little runaway,” a masculine voice filled with malice goaded. The sound caused the hair on my arms to stand on end.
I tried to not react, but I was damn positive I recognized the individual. I stayed quiet, knowing from my years of imprisonment that it was sometimes better to not talk; you couldn’t imagine the things people would say when they forgot you were there. Unfortunately, I didn’t think I was in a position for them to forget about me. But I also wouldn’t give them what they wanted—my fear.
“Nothing to say?” The center man stepped forward into the beam of light. There were many people I disliked from Malakai’s empire, but openly hated? Despised? This man was on that list.
