Page 7

7

GAIDA

Clutching the towel around my body, my eyes are drawn to the enigmatic dark sorcerer as he stands by the window as stiff as a board. His dark magick still crackles faintly around his fingertips. I felt his magick touch me before, and it heightened my arousal to the point where I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to keep my hands off him. He fascinates me. He is confident but restrained, powerful but vulnerable. I’ve never met anyone quite like him.

The sword lies exactly where I left it on the pillow, golden runes pulsing softly like a sleeping beast. It hasn’t reacted at all to what happened between me and Dante.

Opening my wardrobe, I sort through my clothes. Both men watch with varying degrees of intensity as I drop my towel and pull on fresh knickers and a bra.

Felix’s gaze is appreciative but respectful, warm without being demanding. I catch him looking away several times, as if battling with himself. For someone so outwardly flirtatious, there’s a surprising shyness underneath. A vulnerability that makes me want to reach out to him.

“Did Luke seem normal otherwise?” I ask, pulling on a simple black dress.

Felix nods. “Whatever Luke’s normal is.”

Pulling my hair into a ponytail, I sigh. “I need to go and find him. See if I can do anything for him. The last thing we need is him going feral.”

A commotion in the hallway interrupts our conversation. Raised voices, hurried footsteps, the unmistakable sound of panic spreading.

Felix moves to the door, cracking it open to peer outside. “Something’s happening.”

We join him, watching as students rush past, their faces etched with worry. A group of vampires has formed further down the corridor, huddled around someone’s scrying mirror as they talk all at once.

“Reports are coming in from London.”

“Paris as well, my friend!”

“The entire continent is going feral!”

I exchange alarmed glances with Felix and Dante. “Fuck.”

I clutch the doorframe for support, my mind reeling. Was this me? I don’t remember doing it if it was, but that doesn’t say much. If it was me, how did I bypass all these students to reach the continent hundreds of miles away?

Dante grips my hand. “This can’t be a coincidence.”

“No,” I hiss. “But I don’t understand how it could be happening. I didn’t do it!”

“Maybe it wasn’t you specifically,” Felix suggests, closing the door again to give us privacy. “Maybe activating the sword triggered something wider. A catalyst rather than a direct cause.”

“I need to talk to Luke. This is a disaster.”

“We’ll come with you,” Felix offers immediately.

“No,” I shake my head. “I need to do this alone.”

They both look reluctant but eventually nod their agreement.

“Be careful,” Felix warns, his eyes fixed on the sword on my pillow, frowning when it simply vanishes from sight. Guess it doesn’t like the attention.

“I’ll try.”

We leave my room together but part ways in the main corridor. I close my eyes at the staircase and then open them, heading down, outside and around the East Tower. Slipping inside, I gulp when I hit the wards. If they changed them from Founder’s Blood, I can’t access this space anymore.

But suddenly, there is a loud pop. I wince as it’s like an elastic band snapping in my face.

Stepping forward, I pass through the wards with caution. Was that Luke or Felix that allowed me to do that?

The stone staircase is quiet as I climb upwards, my vampire hearing, listening out for someone coming. Not that I have anywhere to go if I do come across a member of staff. I’m kind of trapped in this tower.

The hallway leading to his room is deserted.

When I reach his door, I try the handle. It’s locked, of course. Tensing my muscles, I twist sharply and the lock cracks. I push the door open quietly and step inside.

The sight I see makes me gasp.

He is on his knees, stripped to the waist and flogging himself with some kind of short whip.

“Get out,” he growls through gritted teeth as the flogger hits his back with a sickening crack.

I freeze in the doorway, unable to look away as crimson rivers flow down his muscled back. Each strike leaves new welts over the old, his pale skin a canvas of self-inflicted punishment.

“I said get out,” he snarls again, his voice rough.

“Luke,” I whisper, stepping into the room and closing the door behind me. “What are you doing to yourself?”

He doesn’t answer, just raises the whip again. I move with vampire speed, catching his wrist before he can bring it down. His skin burns hot beneath my fingers, feverish.

“Let me go, Gaida,” he warns, still not looking at me. His eyes remain fixed on the wall in front of him, his breathing slow and controlled. This isn’t some madness that has overtaken him. This is… not new to him at all.

“I will if you tell me why you’re doing this.” I keep my grip firm despite his strength.

“Pain focuses the mind.” He yanks his wrist free with sudden force. “The physical drowns out the psychological.”

Dropping to my knees, I hold back the tears. “You’re bleeding.”

“It will heal.”

“Luke…”

“I don’t expect you to understand, nor do I really want you to. This is none of your business.”

“You are my business, Luke.”

“And that is a mistake. Now, do you see why I resisted this, Miss Aragon? Do you see the true Luke Blackthorn? Haunted, traumatised. Broken.”

“No,” I cry, gripping his hand and crushing it around the handle of the whip. “You are not broken. The rest I can’t attest to. You won’t tell me. You won’t let me in. How am I supposed to help you?”

“You aren’t.”

“You can’t deal with this all alone, Luke. Dammit!” I slam my free hand to the cold stone floor. “Let me in!”

He reaches out and grips my hand, peeling it from the floor before he tightens his fist around it, hurting me. “Let me go.”

His voice is deathly quiet. I do as he asks, knowing to push him will be a mistake. This isn’t a game. This isn’t part of our push and pull. This is terrifyingly real, and I wonder if I did make a mistake pursuing him.

“She realises,” he whispers, letting go of my hand. “Too late, though, isn’t it, princess?” He slams his hand into my chest, flattening me to the floor and knocking the air out of my lungs. “Too late to walk away now. I know I can’t even though I’m fighting it every single second of every single day.” He looms over me, bracing his one hand at the side of my head as his other shoves my dress up my thighs. He fists my knickers and rips them from my body as I whimper at the bite of pain.

I should be afraid, but I’m not. Instead, I’m transfixed by the raw power, the darkness he’s kept hidden even during our first time together. His eyes are wild, the blue almost completely overtaken by black.

“Luke,” I whisper. “I’m not walking away.”

His hand clamps around my throat, pinning me to the floor. “You should.” He straddles me, effectively blocking me in. His hand tightens around my throat as he unzips his pants and pulls his cock out.

“Tell me to stop, Gaida.”

“No,” I croak.

His hand is like a vice around my neck. “Tell me to stop.”

“No!”

With a growl of frustration, he hauls me to my feet by my neck and slams me against the wall. His cock is inside me in the next second, thrusting deeply, roughly, almost painfully. His fangs drop, and he bites into me, sucking my blood savagely, quickly, going in for the kill. He is intent on draining me dry, but I don’t stop him. If this is what he needs, he can have it. He can have it all.