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“Touch her and I’ll scream for Julian. You won’t make it out of here alive,” I promise, not knowing if my threat is even valid. He stops, face turning red. He doesn’t come closer, which leads me to believe my words do in fact have merit. Without another word, he lifts the lids to the covered dishes and pulls two bottled waters from his cargo pockets.
“Eat. You leave in ten minutes.”
When the door is shut behind us and I no longer fear he’s near, I take a look at what sits before us and my mouth begins to water. Steak, a baked potato, and bread sit atop the silver dishes. Stacey and I don’t waste time. We’re starving and the food calls to us. There is no silverware, but I don’t care. I shovel pieces of bread and potato into my mouth as if this is my last meal.It may be.
I don’t linger on that thought, instead continuing to stuff my mouth full of food. Not even five minutes later, my plate is clean. I open the water bottle and gulp greedily. That’s when it all goes south. Something is off. The room is swaying and my vision is getting fuzzy. My eyelids grow heavy.
“Stacey, are you feeling strange?”
“Yes. You too?”
“I...” My words trail off.
The room goes in and out of focus. Before long, the fight bleeds out of me and I succumb to the dark.
Chapter Seven
Julian
I pace the floor of this hellhole, wearing the treads thin. The room I’m in is a prison cell, meant to hold the innocent girls who’ve been stolen away from their families. From their lives. The whole fucking thing makes me sick, but what the hell can I do? I’d need an army to change things, and with half the vampire population at odds with my rule, my best chance of effecting change is to gain more alliances and earn the allegiance of more of my subjects. As it stands now, the vampire army’s allegiance rests with the Council, and half the Council would do anything to see me overthrown.
It’ll take time, and time is something these donors don’t have. The truth is, almost every single one of them that stood on that stage today will be dead within the month. The vampires who bought them are some of the worst in our society. They’re the true evil that lurks in the shadows and feeds off the fear they cause.
They don’t need these girls. They own clubs and houses filled to the brim with willing donors. Yet this is their choice. They want the fight... the fear. They want the chase. They have the money to pay the going rate, just for the sport of it. To have slaves at their beck and call. They’ll abuse these girls in horrific ways just for fun.
My stomach turns at the thought and the knowledge that all of that blood money goes to my family. It’s my legacy.
A legacy I never wanted.
“What’s going through that head of yours?” my brother Law asks, sounding weary.
“Don’t ask,” I growl, trying hard not to lose my cool on him. He doesn’t like this any more than I do. But he’s even more powerless than I am.
“There’s nothing you can do, Jude. You’ve saved one. Can’t that be enough?”
“It’llneverbe enough,” I bark, turning on him. His hands fly up in surrender. “Why the fuck did you bring me here, Law?”
He sighs. “I didn’t want to, but the Council is getting agitated. Every month that goes by and you’re missing from the auction and the meetings, the whispers about overthrowing the monarchy grow.”
“And you know this how?” I grit through my teeth, angry that this is the first I’m hearing of such talk.
“I have my sources, Jude. And they’re not happy about the traitors.” He sighs again. “But you and I both know that your absence only looks like weakness in their eyes. It won’t be long before there’s a full mutiny, with the Council leading the charge.”
I run my hands through my hair roughly, pulling at the roots. I know what he says is true. They think I’m weak. They believe I’ll be the fall of the vampire race.
They can all fuck off.
“So... Marina...”
I give my brother the side-eye, not wanting to discuss Marina Drake. That was an unexpected turn of events. I had absolutely no intention of participating in that fucking auction, but there was something about her. I couldn’t—no, wouldn’t—allow them to have her. Then when I drank her blood...
“Earth to Julian... what the hell, man?”
“We’re not talking about this,” I say, starting to pace yet again, but Law gets in my face, grabs me by my shoulders, and forces me to stop. “Don’t,” I warn, but he only smirks.
“Her blood wasthatgood, huh?” he chuckles. “I saw the way your eyes practically rolled back into your head. There’s something about her, isn’t there?”
I watch my brother closely. There’s something he isn’t saying. There’s something he’s hiding. He’s never tried to get me to these auctions before, and despite his words, his insistence today was completely unlike him. He’s never given a shit about anything, especially when it comes to family affairs. Even if we are overthrown, money will never be an issue for us. We have compulsion. We can take what we want, even if it’s not our preference. Law has made it clear that he’d prefer that to mutilating humans. We both would.
