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Christopher scoffs. “That’s all she gets for trying to kill the little bitch?”
Lilliana smirks. Poor Christopher. Always playing runner-up to Edward’s firstborn. His favorite. His Venus fly trap. When Lilliana was fourteen, Edward made her strip in front of a full-length mirror and proceeded to map every spot on her body that needed improvement. She repeated the process herself every night from that point forward, vowing to eradicate every imperfection in an effort to become Daddy’s perfect weapon.
“As for you,” Edward says, turning to his son. “Pissing all over Mariah’s bed is in direct violation of the orders I gave you.”
“Disgusting,” Lilliana murmurs.
Christopher seethes. “I was sending her a message.”
“And what message was that?” Edward snaps. “That she should leave as quickly as possible? How does that serve us?”
The boy purses his lips. Edward moves closer, getting in his son’s face.
“You are a spoiled, envious child who would rather throw a tantrum than consider the bigger picture.”
Edward unlocks the door to my cage.
“Get in,” he says to Christopher.
Lilliana’s gaze widens. Christopher’s throat contracts as he swallows. He’s tall enough and likely strong enough to give his father a run for his money. But what keeps him from shoving the older man into my cage and closing the door is the impact of seventeen years of abuse and manipulation.
This is hardly the first time Edward has brought the two of them down here, though it’s the first time he’s forcing one of them to get close to me. Normally, he makes them stand outside the cage and watch in horror as I sink my teeth into a disposable member of their staff.
Christopher shuffles through the doorway, his heartbeat hammering in in his chest. I can smell his fear, as well as his blood, and it makes my stomach muscles tighten.
“If I loosen those chains,” Edward says, “what do you think will happen?”
“He’ll kill me,” Christopher says quietly.
“Kill is a pretty word for what that creature will do to you.” Edward presses a button on the control panel, loosening my chains. I don’t want to help him prove his point to his son, but my hunger is like a force unto itself that can be neither controlled nor contained.
My fangs extend, nicking my lower gums. He smells like everything I want for supper.
I hurl myself toward Christopher. The boy screams. The chains aren’t fully loosened, so I can’t quite reach him.
“Do you trust that I have our family’s best interest at heart?” Edward asks.
“Yes, sir,” Christopher shouts, trembling.
“That’s a lie,” Edward says. “Because if you did, you wouldn’t be questioning my choices or trying to speed up my process.”
My chains groan as I throw my full weight into them. Christopher’s knuckles shine white as he grips the bars.
A familiar scent hits my nostrils as urine pools on the floor at his feet.
“If Mariah possesses even a fraction of her mother’s abilities,” Edward says, “her blood could be a gamechanger. Imagine how much money we’d stand to make if we were able to see into the future. If we could predict the market before investing.”
“You want us to drink human blood?” Christopher asks.
Lilliana rolls her eyes. “Obviously, we’d have this one turn her first, idiot.”
Edward smiles proudly at his daughter. There it is, I realize. Edward’s petty, human reason for reconnecting with Mariah. Money. Power. The chance to acquire more wealth than he and his wretched family know what to do with.
The assumption that I could simply turn Mariah is ludicrous, considering my current state. It would require me to only drink a portion of her blood. The enzymes in my saliva would do the rest as her organ systems start to fail. However, even if I possessed the wherewithal to partially drain her, the process only works a fraction of the time.
Edward pushes a button on the panel, and I’m snapped back against the stone wall. Christopher slides down the bars of the cage into his own piss puddle. His father unlocks the door and eases it open, blocking the way out.
“Disobey me again,” he says, “and I’ll leave you in here overnight.”
