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“We do not use that word,” she spits. “There is no such thing as a whore… only a man who cannot handle a woman’s dominance or her right to express her sexuality.”

“Crazy fucking bitch,” the vamp mutters.

Zephyra’s eyes widen.

And I seize the opportunity.

Grabbing the sword from her, I haul him to his feet and slam him against the far wall. “She is your queen and you will respect her, you fucking weasel.” I thrust the sword into his stomach. He’s not dead, just impaled, dripping blood, whimpering like the pathetic morsel he is.

Zephyra’s eyes flutter with gratitude and pleasure. She stalks over to me and runs her hand up my spine, then kisses my cheek. “And am I your queen?” she whispers.

I turn to face her, looking her up and down. I let my gaze linger on her breasts, even though they do nothing for me. When I meet her eyes again, I suck in my cheeks and make a deliberate show of glancing at the blood being pumped from the now-trembling but silent humans.

“Perhaps,” I mutter. “I have not decided yet.”

Zephyra nods calmly. That is enough. It has soothed her. She believes I am in the process of being swayed because she believes I still crave FHB. She has no idea that Nova’s blood does more for me than FHB ever did. She has no idea that it is Nova who makes my heart beat and my lungs burn. It is Nova I would die for.

But it needs to stay that way.

So, I ask her to show me more. And I do my best to look like a junkie who’s on the verge of relapse while she does.

When we reach the sixth contraption — the one at the back — I stop.

“Felix?” I mutter.

The guy strapped into the machine is familiar. Too familiar.

He was the first human I fed from when I came to England — strung out because of my undercover work with the bureau and desperate for human blood. He was also the one who helped me escape Zephyra and leave the city when I was deep in her clutches.

Zephyra strokes his hair and blows softly on his eyelids until they flutter open. He sees me, starts to strain against the leather straps, then passes out.

“Poor boy,” she says. “He quite lost his mind when I tortured him for helping you.” She shrugs. “He was no use as a dealer anymore. But at least he is a useful donor.”

I want to close my eyes so I don’t have to see the look in her eyes. The glimmer of red that appears in her irises when she is at her most evil.

But if I do that, she’ll know how disgusted I am.

So, instead, I look Felix up and down, shrug, and say, “I’d have done the same. I knew what I was risking when I involved him.”

Zephyra stares at me for a moment, then smiles. A big, broad, joyful smile. “Quite,” she says, slipping her hand into mine. “Quite.”

13

NICO

She left me here hours ago. The restraints are gentle but firm, and yet my arms still ache from being in one position for too long. My cock is still hard.

Even the cold air is doing nothing to make it go down.

It’s the anticipation… it’s killing me.

The last time she did this, it was only an hour.

Today, it’s been three.

I have no idea when she’s returning.

It’s dark outside. I know that because there’s now not even a sliver of light making it in beneath the blindfold.