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Tears spilled down her face as she scooted closer and placed a hand on his sunken cheek. “I know you, Kambyses. I accept you. And if you let him, Dominique will, too. But love…freely given love…that has to grow on its own. That takes time.”
He raised his hand to brush a lock of hair out of her eyes and touch the moisture on her cheeks. “You weep for me. How exquisite.”
One finger traced her jawline to where it joined with her neck. His eyes locked with hers, dark and deep and questioning, but exerting no power over her. It was of her own free will that she bent her head and exposed her vein, accepting him despite all she knew of him. This is why she wanted to meet this being—for this singular connection. So it didn’t happen right away and not in the way she imagined, but it was happening. Her heart flooded with warmth and relief. This would be all right.
A sigh escaped her when his teeth gently found her vein, almost loving. So unlike the last time he fed from her. Or was that the time before? Her eyes snapped open. Just how many times had he taken her blood?
How long had she even been on this boat?
Why couldn’t she remember these things?
Cassidy shoved at him, but his arms tightened around her. “What are you hiding from me?” she demanded, gasping for air. When had she become so weak? What was wrong with her? “What are you…?”
Know me, he thrummed against her mind. The darkness came for her again. Know all of me.
Cassidy jerked upright in her bed. The room tilted crazily, but daylight filtered through the sheer blinds lining both sides of the cabin. She dropped back into the pillows and concentrated on breathing. The circulating air still held a tinge of cedar smoke, bringing events of the night slamming home, unfiltered and undiluted.
At least as far as she knew.
During every other day aboard Apokryphos, she never remembered the nights. Sometimes she didn’t remember her name. The ancient bastard saw to that. And during the nights, he made sure she didn’t remember the previous nights. Not this time. This time, he repaid her compassion with the gift of knowledge. About himself—and about her.
She crept to the side of the bed, but trying to sit up had her reeling with vertigo. Together with the gentle pitching of the ship, the effect was overwhelming. She flopped back and panted, then tried again. Grunting and clutching a chair, she heaved herself upright and willed her legs to straighten and bear her weight. She had to get off this ship today. Even if she leapt over a rail and dog paddled.
Two steps. That was as far as she could stagger before crashing to the floor in a retching heap. Crawl, Chandler, she commanded herself. Go. Now.
On hands and knees, her progress was wobbly. Her arms refused to work in a coordinated fashion and her knees kept tangling in the ridiculous red slip. Her vision contracted into a flickering gray tunnel. None of it mattered. So long as she was conscious, she would move. If she was still here by sundown, her life was over.
“Freaking bastard,” she cursed. Of course, he wouldn’t let her know what he was doing to her while she was still strong enough to fight. “Know me, accept me, love me, my ass!” Her legs tangled in the slip, pitching her over again. She yanked the fabric up around her waist and crawled on, bare-bottomed. “And you wonder why nobody can stand being around you of their so-called free will, you sick, two-faced, murderous viper!”
Her heart knocked against her ribs, and a hazy veil closed over her tunnel vision. Gasping, she dropped to the ground.
Stay conscious, stay conscious, stay conscious, she chanted over the roaring buzz in her skull. If you faint, you’re dead.
She was about to hazard moving again when the door opened.
“Cassie!” Monica cried. The dishes on the breakfast tray rattled as she hurried to put it down. “What happened? Are you all right?”
Cassidy rolled to her back and looked up at the other woman’s face, which was convincingly lined with worry. Monica was Kambyses’s minion. Trusting her would be insane. Yet, there was no one else she could ask for help.
Also, that coffee smelled awfully tempting. She had the whole day to get away. Maybe there was time to regain some strength.
“I don’t feel so great.”
“No, I’m sure you don’t. Come, let me help you up.” She scooped an arm behind her shoulders. Cassidy struggled to her feet but held on to Monica with the little strength she had left. “Let’s get you back to bed and fed. Maybe not so much hot tub time today, huh?”
Cassidy bit her tongue until she was settled back in bed with pillows propping her up into a seated position. “You know what he’s doing to me, don’t you?”
Monica placed the bed tray before her and smiled. “I do.” She poured a cup of coffee from the carafe. “I take it you now do as well?”
“Now that it’s too late for me to do anything about it, yes. Yes, I do.”
A splash of cream went into the cup as well, just the way Cassidy liked it. “It’s a great honor he’s paying you. It’s the first time he’s brought someone over since I’ve known him.” On a wistful note, she added, “I was so hoping it’d be me.”
After several fortifying swallows of coffee, Cassidy picked up a fork and dug into the enormous, fluffy omelet, gourmet hash browns and crackling crisp bacon. “Hungry” didn’t even begin to cover it. Every cell in her body screamed for the calories required to replenish the blood she had lost these past three…nights.
She stopped chewing, searching her memory. No, not three. Not even four. Icy fingers gripped her belly. Dear God. It was five. Five nights in a row that she had felt his canines pierce her vein. She must be pickled in serum. Her immune system likely teetered on the verge of collapse. It wouldn’t take much more before she would need to be turned.
Or die.
