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Sneering, I let him see hatred in my expression. “You’re a pig.”
There are many, many other words I could use to describe him, but this fits him the best. He disgusts me, and his attitude towards others, especially females, is archaic and outdated.
This is the first thing I’ve said to him since he took me, and my words seem to hit him hard. His expression morphs, and I think I might have pushed him over the edge.
“And you’re a half-blooded whore who is about to finally get what she deserves,” he hisses, spittle hitting me in the face with the force of his words.
Recoiling, I turn my face, feeling unclean as his saliva marks me. Having any part of him on me is sickening, and I attempt to rub my cheek on my shoulder to get it off.
Suddenly, I recognise what feels so different about this situation. I’m terrified and angry, yet neither Star nor the presence inside me has surfaced to protect me. They have both tested my control for smaller emotions, so why isn’t anything happening now? As I reach for Star, all I feel is a void, her comforting presence gone, and with it, the power that flows in my blood. I’m exhausted from the trial, and I used a lot of power, but I should still be able to feel Star. She’s an extension of my soul. Panic tightens my throat as I scrabble for any scrap of power or connection that I possess. Nothing, not even the ever-present bonds in my chest. Grasping for my connection to Joel, I tug and plead and pray, but I can’t feel him. Trying the same with my semi-formed bond with Syn and my other unclaimed connections, I desperately try to reach someone, but it’s the same empty nothingness.
Does that mean something’s happened to them? No, I can’t think like that. Something must be blocking my senses. I can’t believe I didn’t notice before, but in my fear, I didn’t feel anything missing. What’s going on?
Bates has been watching me closely while I’ve been having my internal breakdown. My expression must have given away my thoughts because he chuckles, causing my attention to snap back to him.
“You’ve figured it out then?” he muses and uses his hand to gesture around the room. “There’s a ward on this room which blocks magic, so your tricks won’t work here. Neither will your bonds.”
Shit. I just have to hope that Joel felt my panic before I was brought to this room, and he comes looking for me. If not, they’ll soon work it out when they finally get to the healers’ complex and learn I’ve not turned up, and neither has the healer. It could take them hours to track me down though, which means I’m on my own with no wolf, no mysterious magic, and no vengeful presence who lives inside me. Just Laelia.
“You disgust me,” Bates continues, hatred in his gaze. “You shouldn’t even exist. Half wolf, half witch. You are an abomination that shouldn’t have survived infancy, let alone get as far as you have.” It’s clear that he’s confounded that anyone would want to keep me alive and not slaughter me like he would. “The council wants me to kill you and make it look like you tried to escape, but I figured we could have a little fun first.”
Bile burns the back of my throat as I realise what he means. I’ve read human newspapers, so I know what happens to females who are abducted and how they are violated. A tremble takes over, my limbs shaking as my singular goal becomes getting out of my restraints. Whatever’s about to happen next, I refuse to go down quietly.
“Not like that,” he sneers, looking offended that I’d even think he would want to debase himself in that way. “I have no interest in fucking you.”
I know he brought me here to kill me, on orders by the council if what he says is true, but for some reason, knowing he’s not going to force himself on me fills me with such relief that it helps to clear my mind. My life has been under threat ever since I got here. I’ve stared death in the face during each trial, and somehow, I survived despite the odds. Fear still has my heart pounding and my mind spinning, but I’m more focused now and I know what I need to do—get out of my restraints, get out of the room, and get to the guys. I repeat those three steps in my mind like a mantra, twisting my hands behind me as I subtly try to slip them out of their bindings.
Bates has been watching me silently, contemplating something, and as he stands and stalks towards me, I still my movements.
“I could just kill you,” he muses, saying it so casually that he could be discussing the weather. “It’d be so easy, but that would be such a waste of an opportunity.”
He wants to drag this out and make me pay for the crime of my existence. I always thought he seemed tyrannical, but I believed Grove was the most dangerous of the two. However, I’ve seen very little of the slender alpha, and it’s been Bates whose gaze has followed me around.
An idea comes to me, and I pray to the goddess that it works. Bates can’t resist the chase, so that’s what I’m going to give him. He wants this to be violent and dragged out, and if he thinks I’m going to put up a fight, it’ll be more of a challenge for him.
Summoning a strength I don’t feel, I suck in a long, slow breath and flick my gaze up to meet his, holding eye contact. “Untie me.”
He snorts, and I know I have to convince him quickly before he rejects the idea and kills me just to shut me up.
“You know I can’t use my magic, and you’ve seen the extent of my fighting skills. If you’re so strong and powerful, you shouldn’t need to tie me up to subdue me.” Sneering, I jerk up my chin. “Untie me and give me a fair chance. Unless, that is, you think you can’t take me on.” I raise my brows at my question, mocking him with my suggestion.
His responding growl is so vicious that I’m glad my hands are tied behind me so he can’t see them tremble. Have I pushed him too far? Maybe instead of playing on his sense of pride, I’ve just angered him and signed my death warrant in the process? However, after a few moments, the growl quietens and he seems to ponder my words, and I see the gleam of excitement in his eyes at the proposal I’ve just offered him. Bates has one of the biggest egos I know, so I’m hoping that by insulting him and implying he’s not a strong alpha will help me. Males like him enjoy the chase, and with me tied up, it’s too easy for him.
He chuckles sardonically, and I know he’s made his decision. “You’re going to regret saying that.”
He partially shifts until his long wolf claws extend from his right hand, the rest of him fully human. I’m surprised that he’s able to shift when I couldn’t call Star, but I remember what he said about the room blocking magic. I always assumed the sensation rolling over me when someone shifts was our own form of magic, but perhaps I was wrong.
As he steps up to me and raises his claws, I realise that he’s not actually told me his decision, and this could be the moment that I die. He could stab me through the heart or slice my neck and I’d be dead in seconds. He must pick up on my fear because he grins.
Then, in a move too fast for me to track, he leans over me. There’s a sharp pain in my wrist, his claw nicking my skin as he slices through my restraints, before I feel the warm trickle of blood pooling in my palm. As soon as he steps back, I cradle my aching hands to my chest, examining the injury. It’s small and will heal quickly. In fact, it’s already stopped bleeding.
Remembering the threat in the room, I drop my hands to my sides and return my gaze to Bates, only to cringe in revulsion. He’s currently examining his claw and the drop of blood on the end of it. He lifts it to his mouth, his tongue flicking out as he tastes it.
Now that my hands are free, I slowly stand, his eyes tracking my every move. He’s going to attack me any second now, but I need to stall to give the guys more time to find me. My mind scrambles for something to distract him with, but I come up blank. Surprisingly, I’m saved from coming up with something to say by Bates himself.
“Your friend should be dead by now.”
I am slowly sidestepping towards the door, inch by inch, when his words hit me like a bucket of ice water. My body freezes, all thoughts narrowing down to that one comment.
