Page 22 of Resurrection (Daemons & Lumens #2)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Michaela

S everal guards led me to Laszlo’s bed chambers, and I was doing my best not to let terror overcome me.

I never visited this part of the mansion, and I most definitely didn’t want to.

His rooms were elegant. Muted grays and warm browns dominated the walls and furniture.

His king-sized bed was nestled between a canopy of creamy velvet and sheer fabrics.

His bedding was also cream colored, and if this wasn’t the bedroom of the world’s most vile villain, it would almost be nice.

The chill in the air stayed with me as the guards closed the doors and left me to my thoughts.

All I could think of was Morax. I’d never seen him look so helpless.

We were stupid. We should have known they would figure out the illusion.

Of course, the Kings would have evil daemons and lumens working for them.

Why wouldn’t they? Morax could usually sense them, and I was sure he was feeling all kinds of guilt right now.

I wished he was here so I could comfort my daemon. My mate.

It still felt weird to say that word. Probably because we’d been prisoners of a stupid cult for the entirety of our relationship. Calling it a relationship also felt weird. Because it was more than that, so much more.

I paced the room, trying desperately to sense him, but that connection I sometimes felt was dimmed to a whisper, and I didn’t really know how to access it.

The bedroom door opened, and my body went rigid. Laszlo stepped into the room, his dark eyes landing on me instantly, and I wanted to vomit.

His gaze traveled down my body and back to my face as he stalked closer. I was frozen to the spot, screaming internally. My fight or flight was clearly broken.

Laszlo reached out and grabbed my cheeks, turning my face side to side and examining me.

He frowned. “You do resemble your mother so closely. You and Lailah both carry much of her in your faces and slim frames.”

I was pretty sure he didn’t want me to answer, so I remained silent and waited.

“Unlike Seraphina.” His hand left my face, and he stepped back, eyeing me like a jungle cat. He smirked and began circling me. “You, I could break so very easily. But luckily for you, you’re not the one I truly want to break.”

I swallowed, and heat flooded my body. Not from embarrassment, but from fury. “My sister—”

“Your sister,” Laszlo snapped, interrupting me. “She has your mother’s beauty and more. There is something truly wild in her. And I want to break it. Consume it. Feel her wither beneath me.”

“You will never break her,” I spat at him. Apparently, I was feeling courageous.

Laszlo stopped his circling and stared at me, his eyes like two endless black holes eager to destroy everything and everyone in their sight. “Take off your clothes.”

My eyes widened, and I almost choked on my next breath. “What?”

Laszlo stepped closer, his height casting me in shadow. “If I have to repeat myself, I will have someone in here to do it for you. And it will not be gentle.”

My cheeks flamed, and I was suddenly back in that room with Darren. Morax wouldn’t be here to save me this time. No one was coming. I swallowed and slipped out of my dress. I wasn’t wearing a bra and quickly crossed my arms to cover my chest.

Laszlo watched me with a lazy smile. “Your underwear. Off.”

Shame trickled down to my toes as I slipped the panties down my legs and to the floor.

I hated him so damn much. Laszlo walked closer to me and grabbed my wrists, forcing my arms to my sides.

He stared and stared at my body, saying nothing.

The silence was deafening, and my heartbeat thudded in my ears as blood rushed to my cheeks.

He let go of one of my wrists and reached up to flick my nipple. I refused to make a sound.

His hand moved down across my stomach, and he inhaled. The next moment, he shoved me away and I smacked into the wall, my eyes wide.

“Not nearly good enough. Only she will do.” Laszlo frowned and began to undress. “Get into the bed. Arms above your head.”

Laszlo Blackbyrn’s obsession with my sister might help me tonight.

There wasn’t much for me to do besides obey, unless I wanted things to get worse.

But getting in that bed felt all kinds of wrong.

I slipped beneath the covers and lay on my back, bringing my hands up to the tufted headboard.

Laszlo came around the bed and pulled out chains hidden behind the headboard and locked my arms in place.

He ripped the covers off of me and produced more chains, trapping my ankles.

My body was completely on display for him.

He gazed down at me, still silent. I hated it, the silence almost as much as the starring.

“Still a virgin, Michaela Valdis?” Laszlo smirked.

My stomach dropped, and I forced myself not to squirm at his dangerous tone.

“The ruse was clever, and it took us longer than I care to admit to discover something was off.” Laszlo walked back to the other side of the bed. “Darren would have enjoyed humiliating you more in public. I surmise your daemon pet wouldn’t allow too much of that.”

He was right, of course, but I refused to respond. Instead, I kept my gaze on the copper tiled ceiling.

Laszlo’s hand drifted across my abdomen. “Perhaps I’ll have a guard fuck you while he watches. Tony has a thing for skinny blondes. See how quick we can have a bastard baby in your belly.”

He chuckled, and the sound was horrifying. His hand drifted down further, and he tapped his fingers over the soft mound between my thighs. My body was rigid, and I was so very close to sending my mind away.

“No. It won’t be the guards. It will be Foras,” Laszlo continued, drumming his fingers agonizingly close to my entrance.

“We want a hybrid baby, after all. The more creatures we can create, the stronger our future will be. Foras will be first for his loyalty. And then others. So many others. You’ll be a good little broodmare. ”

He smacked my pussy, and I let out a gasp at the shock of it.

Then Laszlo rolled away from me and left me there, chained and naked in his bed.

My arms went numb after a while, and I continued to stare at the ceiling.

I didn’t send my mind away tonight. Anger flooded my body, and I welcomed that rage.

The Kings were poisonous and needed rooting out.

He thought his words would break me. Scare me.

And maybe they did a little. But my anger was stronger than my fear.

I was no fucking broodmare. For him or anyone else.

And when I could finally unleash the rage inside me, these assholes better run.