Page 48

“ W hat is Nocta Dominium?” I asked Mirabelle the moment she arrived. It had been eating at me all day.

She stared at me, her brows furrowed and her mouth agape. “He didn’t explain it to you?”

“All he said was he expects my full participation.”

Mirabelle sighed. “Come sit down,” she said, motioning to the edge of the bed. “Nocta Dominium is an old tradition that hasn’t been enforced for centuries. It gives the ruling king the right to lay with any lady of the court, regardless of her will or marital status.”

I felt the blood drain from my face. “No, no, no. That can’t be what he wants.

This isn’t happening.” I pressed a hand to my chest. My heart was pounding, adrenaline driving through my veins, begging my body to flee.

“I will not have relations with that… that monster.” My stomach lurched, and I swallowed hard to keep its contents down.

Mirabelle reached for my hand. “My Lady, you’re trembling. Breathe,” she spoke in a slow, measured pace. “In and out. There, that’s it.”

Things had gone from bad to worse. I pulled in another deep breath, trying to calm the growing panic. The room around me blurred with tears as I fought back the urge to cry.

“Michaela,” she said, using my given name and breaking etiquette. “I understand your repulsion. But if you fight him on this, he’ll only make it worse for you. It’s merely your body he wishes to use. He cannot take your heart.”

I stared at her, silently crying, tears spilling down my cheeks.

“Rumor has it he’s quick between the sheets. Your beauty will have him spent before he even starts.”

I knew she was trying to help, but her reassurances were useless bandages against a gaping, ever-bleeding wound. Johan would be coming for me in the next hour or so. I could hear the muffled celebrations in Jase’s honor—the court gleefully rejoicing while I awaited the devil himself.

Did Jase know Johan planned to enforce Nocta Dominium on me?

The thought of it had my heart in a vice.

Would the betrayal ever end? I must have been seriously mistaken about what it means to be fated.

He handed me over to be raped. Was this all just a way for him to save Finn?

Or had he been on Johan’s side the whole time, with saving Finn as a mere bonus?

“My Lady, forgive me. The hour is growing long, and I must prepare your body.”

Before being dressed in a sheer gauzy shift, I was perfumed with a putrid oil.

The scent could only be described as sickly sweet decaying flesh.

I suppose it made sense, considering I was being made alluring for a fucking vulture.

My hair was let down and brushed into pretty waves, and my cheeks were rouged with a soft pink glow.

Aside from the disgusting smell, I looked every bit the reluctant virginal bride, frightfully awaiting her groom to steal her virtue.

I allowed Mirabelle to finish out her orders in silence, using the time to forge a plan.

I wouldn’t be able to hide the eidris on my person—the shift was too sheer.

Tucking it away under the mattress would be my only option.

My resources were slim. Whether I chose to fight or disassociate, I had to have something in place against the horrors I was about to endure.

Johan didn’t knock. He burst through the door with such force, I thought it might fly off its hinges. He’d barely closed it behind him before he started peeling off his layers of finery.

“Ugh, this blasted ring!” he said, yanking a thick band from his red and blistered finger and looping it through his heavy gold necklace. A dark crimson stone glowed from within its silver setting. Was this the Bloodstone Sigil?

“Fortunately for you, the mead has me in a wanton mood.” His words were slightly slurred and his movements unsteady. Perhaps I’d get lucky and his apparent inebriation would offer me an advantage. Or better yet, maybe his manhood wouldn’t work.

I moved as far from the bed as I could, putting as much distance between us as possible.

“You can try to avoid me all you want. Believe me when I say I’ll call for guards to hold you down.” A shit-eating grin spread across his greasy face, and he chuckled. “I might do that anyway. Have them spread you... wide. I’ve been imagining what your pussy looks like all day.”

Hearing his vulgar confession made me sick to my stomach.

If I was going to be forced to participate, then it would be worth trying to bargain for a small consolation.

“I’ll cooperate,” the words spilled out too eagerly.

“If you allow me to see Finn and Hunter.” I held my chin high, confident in my offer.

“Ha! You’ll cooperate no matter what.” He stumbled toward me. “How about this,” he paused to hiccup, “you become my little whore... and I’ll think about letting you see them before I stretch their necks.”

“Let me see them first. I have no guarantee you’ll honor your word.”

Johan laughed darkly. “The lady thinks she can bargain. I’m growing tired of this game.

” He grabbed my arm, pulling me in tight.

His breath was hot on my face. “You are mine... and I will do to you whatever I want.” He gripped my chin tightly, digging his fingers into my jawline and slammed his mouth against mine.

I tried to pull away, but he only tightened his grip, deepening the assault on my mouth. It was wet, and his breath reeked of alcohol. His rough tongue forcefully thrust at my sealed lips until he broke through, flailing around clumsily, tasting me, while I fought the urge to gag.

I managed to pull away, backing into a corner, wiping at my mouth with the sleeve of my shift.

I wanted the foul taste of him gone. In my efforts to keep space between us, I had completely trapped myself.

There was no way out. My limbs began to tremble, knees threatening to buckle under the weight of my fear.

Johan ripped off his shirt. His gluttonous belly was covered in black hair and damp with sweat.

Though he was a few feet away, I could smell his filthy body.

His grey, lifeless eyes locked onto my now heaving breasts.

The sheer fabric of the shift offered me no modesty.

I could feel his gaze violating me. “Please, I beg of you, don’t do this. ”

“Like a fawn caught in the jaws of a coyote, your pathetic cries for help only turn me on more. Beg,” he growled.

“Please,” I whimpered as he inched closer, stalking me like helpless prey. I wasn’t going to win this battle. It was hopeless. If my begging pleased him, then I refused to indulge him any longer.

“I’m ready to see what toys my new plaything has to offer.” He reached out and tugged the simple tie holding up the flimsy nightgown, stripping me in one quick tug. I turned my head away, closed my eyes, trying desperately to shift my mind to a better place.

His hands were on me. Groping. Roaming. Touching me like I was his possession. Then I felt it. The assault against my most private place. His fingers forcing their way into my delicate folds, painfully probing at my entrance.

I watched in horror as he lasciviously licked his fingers.“Mmm, I see now why the Bruins wanted to keep you.”

I spit on his vile, disgusting face. And it earned me a slap across the cheek.

“Such a shame, Michaela. I could have made this good for you. But you leave me no choice. You want it rough. That works for me.” He picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. Kicking. Screaming. He slapped my ass with a resounding crack.

The sound of him wrestling with his pants, freeing himself before he threw me down on the bed, had my mind blaring with alarm.

Adrenaline coursed through me like lightning, causing my limbs to tremble uncontrollably while I struggled to get out from beneath him.

His little red cock stood at attention, bobbing with his desperate attempts to align himself.

I fought for what felt like hours before finally succumbing to his weight.

Exhausted and out of breath, he had me pinned down, my legs caught between his belly and my own.

My knees pressed so tightly against my ribs.

I could barely breathe. He had the perfect angle to take what he wanted.

There was nothing I could do to stop him.

“Once my scent is infused with yours, your precious bears will want nothing to do with you.”

I couldn’t hold back anymore. His words hit me with a force unlike anything I had ever experienced. Never in all my years—not even my diagnosis had ever broken me like this. Uncontrollable sobs poured from my body.

His penis was at my entrance. Poised and ready to take what wasn’t given. “Look at me while I defile you,” he demanded. “I want you to remember it was Jase?—”

His eyes suddenly grew wide, and the smile on his face morphed into confusion before a loud gasp escaped his lips. And then—he was pulled off me.

Jase stood over him, a bloodied blade gripped firmly in his hand.

“Mic! Are you—” He turned his gaze to Johan, who had scrambled away, blood oozing from a stab wound in his shoulder blade. “You fucking bastard!”

“You stabbed me?” Johan stared, stunned. “Guards!”

“No point in calling for help. I’ve already disposed of them.” Jase stalked after him, closing in. “You never said anything about invoking Nocta Dominium,” he growled.

“Since when do you care about the human? She’s nothing more than a wet piece of ass.”

Jase’s eyes went dark. His lips pulled back, teeth bared. Rage tore through him, erupting in a deafening roar. He lunged forward in an attempt to make contact.

Johan stumbled back, nearly losing his footing, and Jase took full advantage—advancing on him once again, slashing at his groin. But he slipped sending them both to the floor in a thud. The two wrestled in a chaotic flurry of shadows and flailing limbs.

It was over before I could react.

Johan rose, blood soaking his torn pants from a deep gash along his inner thigh.

Jase lay on the floor gasping for air, clutching his gut.

Blood was everywhere. I couldn’t tell who or what wound it came from.

I remained silently frozen on the bed, clutching the linens to my chest, terrified to move or draw attention to myself in any way.

“You traitorous coward!” Johan hissed, spitting on Jase.

“You’ve been weighed and measured. May you rot in the afterlife knowing your betrayal is the reason Finn will hang tomorrow.

” Then his eyes landed on me. “Lucky for you, I’m in need of a healer.

Mark my words, human—this isn’t over. I’ll have my way with you, and you will pay the price for his insolence. ”

He hobbled towards the door, leaving behind a macabre scene in his wake. “Enjoy the company of his corpse. It’ll be the only courtesy I show you.”

“Jase!” I gasped once Johan was gone. Ripping the sheet from the bed, I rushed to his side. “Jase, what have you done?”

I moved his hands to assess the wound. The moment I lifted pressure, blood gushed. “No, no, no.” I shoved the linen into the laceration, ignoring his pain-laden wail, and pressed his hands back over it in a desperate attempt to staunch the bleeding. It wasn’t good, and we both knew it.

“Mic… we haven’t got much time,” he fought to get the words out.

“No, it’s going to be okay.”

“It’s not.” He gulped, choking back his tears. “I have… to tell you…” He paused between labored breaths. “I’m sorry.”

“Jase—”

“No… let me.” He groaned, trying to lift his head. “I tried to stop him sooner. I didn’t… I was a fool. I’ve made so many…wrong choices. I… I denied… my fate. Denied my beast. And now… I’m paying the ultimate price.” He swallowed hard. “Michaela… I love you.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Tears spilled freely down my cheeks. Consumed with emotion a silent scream erupted from my chest. “Why?” The word broke out in a sob. Why, if he loved me, had he betrayed me so violently?

“I was… afraid.” He coughed, blood seeping from the corners of his mouth. “I’ve never… never felt… such overwhelming desire. Mic…” He reached for my face, brushing away my tears. “It’s too late.” His eyes closed. His brow furrowed and he let out a groan of agony. “Forgive…”

“Jase,” I called, trying to rouse him. He was on death’s doorstep, and fading quickly. “Jase? Don’t leave me. Not yet. I…”

“Forgive… me,” he whispered.

“I forgive you,” I cried. “Please, don’t leave me.”

I was drowning in fear. Lost in a rising tide of heartbreak. I had to tell him before he was gone. He couldn’t die not knowing.

“I love you, Jase.”

He stared back at me blankly. His body limp in my arms.

“Jase? No, no, no.”

He was gone.

“Please,” I sobbed, pulling him into my arms, rocking him back and forth. “I love you. I love you,” I repeated, praying he would somehow be able to hear me in death.