Page 26 of A Bond in Blood (Blood Bound Duet #1)

Chapter 26

S even months.

Two weeks since the Rite.

Two weeks of constant torment for my soul with the whispers following me wherever I now went. The fingers, pointing, calling me a coward.

The demands for justice and death.

So. Much. Death.

I leaned back against the sand of Ulrich’s private beach, allowing the sun to warm my skin. My fingers dug into the surface, wriggling under the grains. Reminding me of home.

My eyes went out across the water and the peace of the lapping against the shore.

Gods, how I missed home.

Winter was beginning to end with the snow across the island melting. And while the earth grew warmer, the melting ice meant my water was colder.

Just how I liked it.

I stood from the sand, jumping into the water like a child. Letting out a scream, hoping to release some of the angst in my heart.

My back floated upward, and my hands splayed up while I closed my eyes.

I’d been waking earlier since the Rite. Opening my eyes to find the bed empty and Ulrich gone but the sun high in the sky. The afternoon sun acted like my morning now.

But the few hours of sleep wasn’t troublesome. Not with disappearing to the water each day. Turning my one hour of freedom to two.

Without Ulrich’s approval.

Yet, he hadn’t mentioned it during our meals or wandering through his palace.

No, we’d barely spoken beyond my lessons on his fortress. Followed by silent meals. Well, silent unless Olen joined us. Those meals were usually louder with the man indulging in his liquors and meats.

My hands wove through the water, turning me to a weightless being on its surface when my head bumped something wet and large.

I jolted up, finding dark, soaked fur before me.

Olen’s head lifted from the water, his black eyes filled with glee.

“Princess,” his voice rumbled.

“Oh my Gods,” I exclaimed. “How will you ever become dry?”

His paw came out, splashing me. I shrieked, swimming backward but was unable to miss his attack and the water collided with my face.

“The water is freezing,” he growled. “What is wrong with you?”

My covered arms continued to move. “I would think thick fur like yours would keep you warm.”

His teeth dragged over his thin, black lips. “Observant.”

I shrugged and returned to my back. “We have white bears wandering our hills. Their physiques reminds me of yours. Your face is more beastly though.”

His paws pressed on my stomach, pulling me up and almost under the water.

“Hey!” I shouted.

“What do white bears have to do with anything?” he growled. The noise should have scared me, but I picked up on the amusement hidden within it.

“They swim in water colder than this. Their fur keeps them warm. Gods, they even prefer the cold.”

Olen pulled his paw away. “I agree with the bears.”

I laughed then turned back to the shore, heading toward the beach.

“Are you done?” he asked.

I nodded. “I’m not sure how long I’ve been out here. Ulrich will be waiting for me.”

“How many hallways have you explored?”

Standing on the beach, I wrapped my cloak around me. “Every single one. Some more than others. We’ve started on the bedroom floors now with the passages I ran down that night.”

Olen growled. “And you are not yet closer to a decision.”

The sentence was a question as much as it was a statement.

“I will not send someone to their grave,” I replied.

The beast jumped before me, splattering wet sand across my cloak. “You already have. That sniveling prince is dead by your hands and Bjorn will die anyway if you do not make your decision.”

“I do not believe Ulrich wouldn’t kill him if I choose banishment.”

Olen’s eyes held my gaze, and his shoulders moved with his breaths. “Why?”

I skirted past him, holding my cloak closer to my body. “He is not someone I trust.”

“I don’t believe you,” Olen countered behind me.

I twisted back to meet his eyes. “There was a brief , insane moment when I thought perhaps he wasn’t a monster. But it also happened to cross my mind when I was intoxicated with faerie wine. The substance likely made the insane thought pass through me.”

“Why do you think people come to him for deals?”

I groaned. “You told me it was because the Gods stopped listening.”

Olen nodded his large head. “Yes, but it’s because they trust he will do his end.”

“Please enlighten me, Olen. Explain how he holds up his end of the bargain.”

“Did your ancestor not live a long life with his wife and receive the chance to settle a new kingdom?”

“Yes but—”

“Was that not centuries ago?” Olen interrupted me. “Ulrich gained no upper hand at that moment. Yet he held up his end of the bargain.”

I blinked. “He offered an insane deal.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t to be trusted.”

My mouth hung open while I considered his words. “Alright, well what about Sigrun?”

Olen snarled.

“What was her bargain? She had her life ripped from her.”

“Sigrun was a changeling. He was well aware she’d never hold up her end.”

“But that’s my point!” I replied. “He makes these deals with those he knows cannot complete them.”

“Princess,” Olen said blankly. “Follow me.”

Shocked, I trailed behind Olen while he led me through hallway twelve then down hallway eight; the one I’d learned led right out to the city docks.

The walk was quiet and long. A hidden tunnel under the city of Muspell. When he pushed the hidden door open that led to the docks, the afternoon sun was shifting slowly in the sky.

Olen pointed his snout and I gasped when I found Adalie in the arms of a young man.

“That child,” Olen breathed out. “She was not supposed to come here. Nature should have left her in the rubble of fire and death, but I made a deal.”

My head snapped to the beast beside me. “Ulrich allowed me to keep her with me. To raise her in honor of my sister and her wife as long as I fulfilled my deal.”

“What was the deal?” I asked while tears filled my eyes.

Olen only shook his head. “I am duty bound to keep that to myself. But he is not the monster you think he is.”

“He’s the monster he wants me to believe he is,” I countered.

“Precisely,” Olen replied, closing the hidden door once again while he turned back toward the palace.

The conversation with Olen ran through my mind throughout the entirety of the day. Words I could not ignore while Ulrich opened hidden passageway after another, pointing me to the veins of his palace. Showing me every possible escape route I should have never been told of.

My hands dragged my koal over the easel while he spoke, but I barely heard his words. Instead, I studied him . The light in his eyes when he opened a door leading to the looking glass hallway. The laugh he let out when he unintentionally startled a troll cleaning the library.

How his hands ran across the newly dusted books when we entered the library and how he admired it all, stepping back with his hands over his broad chest.

The rumble of his voice, addictive and smooth.

The kindness in his eyes when we returned to the room and Adie was there waiting. The smile, subtle and barely cracking across his lips, when I asked Adie about her love interest.

Gods, was Olen right?

Ulrich left me with Adie, tilting his head with respect before telling me he’d see me at dinner.

I turned to my attendant.

“Adie, can I dress alone this evening?”

Adie shook her head with confusion. “What, your highness?”

“I’m suddenly feeling unwell. I would just like a quiet bath before I head to dinner. I promise you have done nothing wrong.”

Adie eyed me. “Your highness?”

“I promise, Adie. I just need a bath.”

She tucked her head down. “Yes, your highness.”

She ran the bath for me before leaving and closing the bedroom doors behind her.

I stared at the water, my hands twisting together.

I couldn’t see it—the good in the monster.

Gods, no I could not see it. I would not allow myself.

After shutting off the tap, I left the bathing room, turning to the doors Olen had guided me through my first day of captivity.

Because that’s what this was. I was his prisoner. I was a pawn in the game he played.

I was his opponent in our battle.

And he was the monster.

I returned to the bathing room, pulling my gown off. My tears lined my eyes, and I stood before the mirror, twisting my body slowly.

I hadn’t taken a look, not once in these months. Even after Frode had confirmed I was healed.

I turned my head, staring at the scars on my back.

My tears poured from my eyes, hitting the floor. Falling until no tears were left. Until I was sure my body had run dry.

I pulled my gown back over my body before I cleared my throat and returned to the bedroom. My eyes went to the doors leading out to the main hall. Knowing the king waited for his dinner companion.

His irritation likely growing the longer I took.

Then they went to the hidden door and the hallway that led to the room of the mysteriously frustrating right hand.

The other monster in my life.

Finally, my gaze went to the last door out of the room.

I stepped forward and my feet landed on something firm.

My gaze snapped down and my eyes widened.

A key—a key was at my feet.

I picked up it, holding it to my chest as I crossed the room. I shoved the metal into the lock and threw open the door that had led me to my prison.

The cold air from the stairwell wrapped around my lungs.

I glanced back at the bedroom, regret heavy in my heart, then I stepped over the threshold. A strong part of me wanted to run, like so many times before. But another part of me was in a trance; my own despair numbing me from any logical thoughts.

The staircase spiraled downward, and the smell of the sea called for me. My hands trembled against the stone walls while I descended and prayed Ulrich would not return anytime soon.

That I would somehow find a boat to take me off this island long before he came ripping the door of the hinges.

It was a foolish thought, I knew.

I arrived at another door and threw it open, finding the docks below.

“Thank the Gods,” I sobbed, rushing toward the water.

When my foot hit the wood, I was sure I’d made my escape. Until the light of the moon was replaced with shadows. Followed by a cold so frigid my tears froze on my face.

I stopped my steps, pulling my gaze up.

“Where are you going?” the Unseelie King asked with a wicked grin.

I stepped to the side, eyeing the docks behind him.

“I’m leaving.”

“You’re going nowhere,” he replied.

I fell to my knees. “Please, Ulrich. Please let me go.”

“I thought we had gotten past this battle,” he groaned. “Get up.”

I shook my head. “Please.”

“Brenna, get on your feet now.”

“I can’t!” My shoulders rose with my sobs. “I cannot do this. I cannot live this madness.”

“You’ve been living it, Ursa . For months now.”

My eyes met his and I glared. “I hate when you call me that.”

To my surprise, his eyes widened with shock. “I don’t understand.”

“Stop calling me a bear . Like I’m a beast you’re determined to keep caged. Stop using a pet name that claims me as an object you own.”

One nod. That’s all I received in response.

His hand reached toward me, but I flinched, turning my body away.

“I will not harm you.” His voice was soft.

“You’re a liar, Ulrich. You’re a monster. You’ve done nothing but harm me.”

“I will not harm you,” he repeated.

My tears blurred my vision, and I shook my head. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

“Do not run.”

“Lay in your bed and never look upon your face,” I muttered my rules. My spell, entrapping me in this Hel.

“Look at me, Brenna.”

My name left his lips, and I wiped away my tears.

“You have taken over, Ulrich. You have infected my mind with a dangerous poison. One I cannot rid my body of.”

He was silent but his hands trembled at his sides.

“I want to be rid of this poison,” I sobbed. “I want to be free .”

“Six months,” he replied.

Two words, hitting me in the heart.

His hands reached for me again, but I stood on my own, brushing off my skirts. Heading back toward my comfortable cell. Obeying my new master.

Betraying myself and my desire to have a sliver of control.