Page 45 of Bitten Vampire (The Bitten Chronicles #2)

Chapter Forty-Four

The ward separating the seated vampires does not fail this time; it strengthens.

“You will all obey!” The Grand Master’s words drop like a magical bomb. The air shifts. Power knifes through the hall; glass trembles, balconies shudder, lights gutter and dim. The command rolls through the room, and I can almost see it spreading—first hitting the council, then rippling outward.

It bounces off the Herald but continues like a wave from a stone thrown into a pond. It hits the guards, then smashes through the ward, sweeping over every single vampire.

He’s compelled them all, taken over their minds.

The Herald steps forward to intervene, but the same aide who collected the paperwork slashes at him with a knife. He clutches his throat as blood spurts between his fingers, then collapses, choking.

The Grand Master’s eyes burn as they lock on me. “You will do as I say.”

The command slams into my head; my body almost nods on instinct. Valdarr’s grip tightens on my hand, anchoring me.

He’s growling.

“Bring her to me,” his father orders.

I have no time to flinch before a hand clamps around my arm and yanks me forward away from Valdarr.

“Tony? What are you?—”

His eyes are glazed, empty. Horror chills me: he’s been compelled, too.

“Stop him,” the Grand Master demands. As Valdarr lunges, my name on his lips, Ralph bear-hugs him from behind. Harrison piles on, then James. Even together they barely hold him. He roars, muscles straining, teeth bared.

Tony’s iron grip drags me across the floor towards the platform. I am strong, but I’m still only a baby vampire and no match for him. “Tony, let go! You are hurting me!”

The Grand Master smiles, smug and cruel. He drifts closer, a ripple of compulsion sweeping the air like heat lightning.

“You are mine now,” he says. His power slams into my mind like a wave. “You love me. I am your mate.”

“You love me. I am your mate,” I echo.

I love him.

He is my mate.

I glance at my mate on the platform. Why does despair and fear coil inside me ?

Why… why won’t my body move of its own accord?

Why am I being dragged across the room, a vampire’s grip bruising my arm?

Why does my hand stretch behind me, clawing at the air, reaching for something?

Reaching for…

I look back and see him —beautiful, fierce—a handsome vampire. He’s fighting two, no, three opponents, his movements a blur of strength and precision. He lifts his head, and his violet-grey eyes lock on mine.

And I remember.

Flash—the yellow door.

Flash—the hoodie.

Flash—the rescue at the border station.

Flash—the kiss.

Flash. Flash. Flash. The memories slam into me. His voice echoes in my mind: “You, Winifred Crowsdale, are perfection. My sunshine in the dark.”

Our bond blazes to life. His blood, singing in my veins, ignites, not with pain but with power. My head pounds as Valdarr’s strength floods through me, wrapping me in steel, shielding my mind.

I bare my fangs at the Grand Master. “No. Not happening.”

“Oh, it will,” he says, licking his lips. The burgundy has swallowed his dark grey irises; his eyes are entirely red. “I still remember how you tasted. You are mine. Your mate—my useless son—will be dead in moments.”

“No,” I growl. “I will stop you.”

“You? You can’t stop me. You can’t do anything. You are nothing, just a freak of magic, an abomination dressed in borrowed gifts. Day-walking, foresight—all of it… mine . With your visions, my plans will unfold perfectly. The world will burn under my command, and I will rebuild it in my image.”

His smile twists.

“I will start with the humans. They will be locked up where they belong: entertainment, food, nothing more. I will sweep through every country, enslaving them, breeding them like livestock, plucking the finest from the herd until they are broken husks.”

He lifts his gaze to the audience, his tone swelling with dark triumph.

“I will do whatever I please, because I can. Nobody can stop me.”

The vampires around us continue to stand silent, frozen in his web of power. I hadn’t realised how powerful he truly is until now. How do you fight someone like this?

“I will make us strong again,” he says, his voice rising like a war cry. “I will destroy the shifters and shatter the magic-users until they crawl like pets at our feet. I will reshape this world in blood and fire. And you…”

His gaze locks on me, his smile dark and consuming.

“You will be my weapon.”

He steps closer, each movement deliberate—a predator stalking prey.

“And you will watch as I kill your mate.”

Another vampire seizes my other arm. Pinned between two vampires, I can barely move at all.

My dead heart plummets.

Valdarr screams my name, thrashing against his clan, while the rest of the hall watches, enthralled by the Grand Master’s power.

Through the crowd another familiar figure advances, eyes as glazed as the rest: the executioner, ready to take Valdarr’s head.

We are losing.

No. We have already lost.