Page 100 of Blood Curse

The Crown had split its attention between them, and the pressure on my little finger changed. It still held me, but the grip wasn’t complete.

I moved the tip of my finger.

Stellan saw.

“She’s signalling.”

“Can she revoke it?” someone asked.

“She’s trying.” He held out his palm beside my right hand. “Use me.”

Fuck. I forced my finger down against his skin.

Once.

The Crown dragged it up.

I pressed again.

Stellan’s expression hardened. “Two taps. She’s conscious, and none of this is hers.”

The room heard him.

Fear remained, but it stopped turning towards me. Vampires pulled the fallen furniture away from the struggle. Two people moved to either side of Elias, ready to help without attacking the compelled pair.

Stellan kept his hand under mine.

He didn’t treat my body like a threat he had to pin down. He gave me somewhere to speak.

The Crown used my mouth again.

“Mara, bare your throat to Stellan.”

Mara’s face went blank.

Her body stopped resisting the hands behind her. She lifted her chin and turned her head. One side of her neck opened towards Stellan.

He didn’t look at the pulse the Crown offered him.

He looked at me.

“Three commands,” he said. “That means three places for it to hold.”

He understood what I had felt.

The Crown tightened my throat before I could make a sound, but it couldn’t stop my little finger. I tapped twice against his palm again.

“Good,” he said. “Keep doing that.”

Mara’s throat stayed exposed. Her eyes moved, furious and aware.

“Can you speak?” Stellan asked her.

“Apparently.”

“Can you lower your head?”

She strained. A muscle jumped in her jaw. “Not even slightly.”