Page 8 of A Bond in Blood (Blood Bound Duet #1)

Chapter 8

G ods, he was going to kill me. I could feel it in my bones as I ran through the dark, somehow not colliding with any walls in the room.

“Brenna!” his voice rang behind me, sending a chill through my body.

I slipped on the stone of his bedroom, stopping for just a moment, trying to determine which door to take. I remembered the hidden door he’d come down, and hoped I had disoriented him enough that he wouldn’t consider something so simple.

I moved through the dark room, trying to find the wall beside the bed and the tapestry the door was hidden behind. My hand wrapped around a circular handle and my pulse picked up. Glancing back in the direction I came, I couldn’t help but wonder what was taking him so long. I pulled the door open, relishing in the candle-lit hallway that greeted me.

“Brenna!” his voice sang behind me. “I suggest you start running.”

My wet nightgown stuck to my body, but I picked up my feet and obeyed him willingly. I threw my body down the hallway, skirting around the corner with no idea where I was going.

I only knew he was approaching by the smell of smoke from candles extinguishing behind me and his overpowering cold at my heels.

My tears fell while I continued to propel down the hallway, cursing the constant twists and turns. Most importantly, cursing the lack of any doors to make my escape.

Maybe he had planned this along. Maybe he’d only allowed me to see this door countless times because only he knew where it led.

“Run little beast,” his voice bellowed—too close for my comfort. “Because I will destroy you when I catch you.”

I rounded another corner, letting out a sob of relief when my eyes spotted a door at the end of the long hallway. My logic tried to warn me I was running right into a trap, but I didn’t care. The door was a light at the end of the darkness encroaching around me and I needed an escape.

My legs moved faster while my back grew slick, with either my sweat or blood from my lashes, I wasn’t sure.

My hands connected with the door, and I shoved as hard as my body physically could. I stumbled through the threshold where screams and grunts of surprise welcomed me.

I glanced back, watching the darkness grow closer before turning my attention to the occupants of the room I’d barged through.

“What the fuck, princess?” Olen’s voice yelled out.

I blinked, focusing on a fully naked Olen with a woman beside him. Not any woman I realized, it was the woman Ulrich had sent away days before. And she was staring at me with pure hate in her eyes.

“I—” I began, then paused when the hairs on my body rose. Ulrich was approaching, just beyond the door.

Olen’s eyes snapped to the threshold then the woman beside him.

“Leave,” he ordered.

She let out an offended scoff but didn’t protest. With the blanket still wrapped around her, she ran out the doors on the other side of the room.

“Come here,” Olen said briskly, pointing beside him.

My eyes widened, landing on his muscled naked body.

“I’m alright.”

His white teeth shone through the candle-lit room. “Come here, princess. My king is about to enter this room, and you will be completely defenseless in the dark. Unless this is a game you’re playing, being chased until you’re alone with two men.”

I couldn’t argue when the door shook behind me. I clambered to my feet, running to Olen and landing on the bed next to him, curling around myself.

The lights in the room went out the moment my chin touched my knees. The mattress shifted with Olen’s weight and his voice echoed in the dark.

“Your grace.”

Ulrich’s power permeated the space with a frigid, burning cold. Searching for life.

Searching for me.

The king didn’t speak while his presence took over. I could hear it though—the rage in his breaths. The determination to punish me.

“She attacked me—again,” Ulrich spoke, addressing Olen.

Olen laughed. “Gods, I bury myself in one woman and you two can’t stop your fighting long enough for me to finish.”

My mouth opened to counter, but I slammed my lips shut. It wasn’t the time to provide the beast-man with a quip. It was the time to pay attention and save my own foolish hide.

“Based on the way your heart is beating and the stench of her bleeding wounds, I’m going to assume something happened, more than her attacking you,” Olen continued.

Both Ulrich and I were silent. My hand rose, touching the wet nightgown and I brought my slick finger back to my nose.

Blood—definitely blood.

“He’s mad I didn’t ride him in the tub.” The words left my lips, and my eyes widened in the dark.

Olen’s laugh boomed throughout the room. “Fuck the Gods. Really, Ulrich?”

“Brenna, get off the bed,” Ulrich replied, not answering his right hand.

“I’d rather not,” I muttered.

“Wrong choice,” Ulrich sneered.

Cold wrapped around my ankles, pulling me across the mattress. Smearing my blood on the sheets while I was dragged. My body hit the floor in a crash, as I fought the invisible hold on me. Enraged, I cursed the darkness around me and the unexpected attack.

My body rose suddenly, and the brush of Ulrich’s beard scratched my cheek. My hands moved but then they were slammed to my side.

“We’re in a predicament,” he seethed. “I’m stuck with you in my palace. I’m forced by my duties and responsibilities to uphold every single deal I make, landing you in my lap. A defenseless, wild creature, determined to kill me.”

My head reared back while I swirled the liquid in my mouth but the same cold holding the lower half of my body, gripped my cheeks. Stopping my plan.

“If you spit on me,” Ulrich’s voice dropped, “I will pry your mouth open and spit back.”

He released his hold on me, and I turned my head, spitting at his feet.

“You disgust me.”

“And you disgust me. Are we even?” he replied.

Olen’s chuckle reminded me he was still in the room. Likely still very much naked as well. The sound appeared to have distracted Ulrich, who dropped me to the ground. My knees hit the stone, and I cried out.

Tears sprang from my eyes, and I laid on the cold stone, wincing at the shock against my back. My eyes stared up at the dark ceiling, unsure if either monster stood above me.

“Please,” I said quietly. “Please.”

My heart cracked with my sobs, fracturing the resolve I’d been holding for weeks. My hand landed on my chest and I flattened my palm against my heart beating beneath my skin. My reminder of my life. One I had once valued.

“Please what?” Olen responded.

“Please stop this.”

Ulrich’s laugh echoed around us, and I jumped when his toes bumped into my legs. “You are the one who will not obey. You are the one who is refusing to accept this deal. I am not making this difficult.”

“Fine,” I replied with tears running down my cheeks.

The heat of his body hovered over mine and his rough hand brushed away my tears. “Fine what, Ursa? ”

“I give up.”

“That was fast,” Olen said off to the side.

Ulrich’s finger continued to wipe away my tears. “I agree with Olen. I was expecting a longer fight. I was enjoying our little games.”

I scoffed, turning my face away from his touch.

“What do you want from me?” I whispered.

“It’s simple.” His heat lifted away. “Obey, Brenna. Do as you're told. Allow this court and island to become your home for the next thirteen months.”

“That wasn’t part of your terms.”

“Always so difficult,” Olen groaned.

Ulrich chuckled. “You will sleep beside me, without fighting. You will not try to escape. And—”

“I will never look upon your face,” I finished his terms for him.

“Get her cleaned up and take her into one of the spare bedrooms,” Ulrich whispered.

“What?” Olen replied

I kept my eyes forward, staring at the darkness above. Uttering a word could have meant Ulrich’s sudden kindness would be revoked and I wouldn’t risk a night of solitude.

“She’s injured, she’s bleeding, and she made a sopping mess of my bedroom and bathing room. Give her a room until those wounds heal and then…” The heat from before appeared above me once more and his hand brushed my cheek. “Then she’ll warm my bed.

In an instant the candlelight in the room returned and Ulrich’s soul-chilling presence was gone. I blinked through the shock of sudden light, turning my head. Following immediately was my surprised scream when I found myself staring right at Olen’s full erection.

“Oh my gods!” I yelled, covering my eyes.

“Like what you see?” he asked with a teasing little lilt to his question.

“How can you still be aroused?” I cried out, shaking my head.

“Well, I wasn’t until Ulrich left and I remembered I have a naked woman in this palace somewhere whose forgiveness I have to beg for.”

“Then go!” I replied, keeping my eyes closed while my hands motioned to the doors I’d seen her run out of.

He groaned and I allowed myself to glance over, finding his bare buttocks while he reached for a towel.

“I would, but my king has given me an order. Get up. Let’s go find you a room.”

My cheeks burned with annoyance that I was alone with a naked man. After I’d just run away from another naked man. What kind of fucked up palace was this where I didn’t have the autonomy to deny being surrounded by uncovered cocks?

“Something on your mind?” Olen asked, turning to me with a smile on his face.

I scoffed then moved to pull myself off the floor. Only my skin stuck to the stone and tears sprang from my eyes again.

“I’m going to be sick!” I cried, falling back against the stone.

Olen rushed to me, his hand wrapping around mine. “Gods,” he whispered. “Stay here.”

As if I could have attempted to move, I nodded my head, staring up at the ceiling. I listened as Olen’s footsteps ran across the room and his door swung open with a bang . Then they retreated down whatever hall his rooms were located in, leaving me in silence with only the iron smell of my blood to keep company.

My eyes rolled as I waited, accepting my new Fate. Unknown to Ulrich, this newest battle between us may have been the one that took me from this game . He’d successfully rid himself of his opponent. Even if he hadn’t meant to.

My head tilted to the side as my hands went lax against my body.

I was losing blood. At least I thought I was. Calloused hands gently lifted me from the ground. I turned my head, expecting to find Ulrich but to my shock, my gaze landed on an older gentleman. His stature was about the same size as Ulrich and Olen but his eyes—they were kind and surrounded by aged wrinkles.

My vision grew black when it dawned on me; Ulrich had a mortal healer.