Page 24 of Tryst or Treat (Season’s Readings #3)
B elladonna’s eyes felt like they’d been glued shut. Her head throbbed, and her magic was suffocating within her soul. Every cell in her body ached, and she didn’t know how long she’d been unconscious. She didn’t know where she was or if Vlad was alive. All she knew was she was chained to a chair with a rough burlap sack over her head. It seemed the vampires learned from their mistakes at the club. They’d gotten rid of her husband first and upped the drug’s dosage, leaving her alone and on the verge of death.
The sound of footsteps grew closer, and a hand ripped the bag off her head. The sudden light was painful, but her fear was worse. Belladonna understood the gravity of her situation. She wasn’t walking away from this.
She blinked her sluggish eyes, forcing herself to focus. Panic wouldn’t help her, and while she realized this was her end, she would not exit this life easily. As Rowena’s heir, she’d survived harsh training, and while this might be her death, she would greet it with a bravery they would talk about for generations to come.
“Glad to see you finally joined us,” a familiar voice said, and Belladonna froze, horror washing over her.
“Gabriel?” she croaked. “What are you doing?” She scanned her surroundings. The room was too dark for her to make out where she was, but Gabriel and the horde of vampires surrounding her were painfully clear. “What’s going on?”
Her ex ignored her as he dragged a folding chair across the floor to sit before her.
“Gabriel, is this about your dad?” she pushed, her ex-fiancé’s presence changing everything. “Because there’s nothing else to say. I cared for you, but I had no choice but to marry your father. Then when I begged you to help me escape, you spat in my face. So why are you still punishing me? Why are you so angry when I know you can scent it on me? You know I’m not your mate. I never was, and whether or not Vlad loves me in return, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m his, and not just legally. I’m his mate, and when other men smell a man’s true partner, they instantly lose feelings for her, so I don’t understand why you?—”
“Oh my god, you really thought I was in love with you?” Gabriel’s cruel tone felt as if he’d ripped a layer of skin off her. “Wow, you’re na?ve. Can you guys believe this?” He twisted toward the vampires guarding them. “She really thought I loved a witch?”
The vampires laughed, mocking her with their overdone theatrics, and while she wanted to withdraw from the taunts, she forced herself to sit unaffected.
“I don’t understand why everyone talks about Rowena’s heir as if she’s a goddess reincarnated because you’re a fool. I never loved you. It was all an act, and you fell for it. I had you eating out of my hand, and you were so in love that you were ready to throw away centuries of tradition and family dignity for sweet words and a cheap proposal.”
“They were more than sweet words to me,” Belladonna spat. “And maybe instead of becoming our parents and continuing a war that began in a different era by people who no longer exist, I wanted to further the peace my mother started and lead by example.”
“You’re pathetic.”
“Then why date me? Why propose, Gabriel? If I’m so disgusting to you, why did you approach me at that bar?”
“Because I want war.”
Belladonna sat back in her chair and pinched her eyebrows at her ex. “War? I… I don’t understand.”
“My father signed that disgrace of a peace treaty with your mother, and any act of violence against the witches would violate the agreement. It might lead to war, but it would be a weak attempt. Too many vampires have grown complacent in this peace. If I were to attack, most would view me as the villain and call for my head instead of following our true purpose,” Gabriel said, leaning forward with anticipation. “No, if I want war, I need a cause every vampire can rally behind… like the death of a beloved wife.”
Belladonna recoiled, his words like a punch to the gut. How had she been so blind? How had she been so stupid to believe him? She’d been ready to marry this madman, but then another thought slipped into her brain. She’d tried not to love Vlad. Tried to hate him for his actions at the church, but she could no longer lie to herself. She loved her husband. He was her mate, her true partner, and her connection to Gabriel had brought him into her life. She hadn’t been a fool. It had been fate drawing soulmates together in the only way it saw how .
“You’ll be dead in a few minutes, so I suppose I can tell you my plans,” Gabriel said, his chest puffed up like a damned peacock. “Do you recognize where we are?” He waited for her to answer, and when she shook her head, he gestured behind him. The vampires lit the candles, and the room came into brilliant view, the sight freezing her heart.
“We’re in the Coven’s sacred gathering place,” Gabriel said. “I figured out where it was when I was dating you, and we were able to get past the protection spell tonight because of your DNA. When I heard Rowena kept her special daughter hidden, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about you. I used my father’s deep pockets to loosen lips, and when I finally approached you, I was a man tailored specifically to your preferences. I molded myself into a boyfriend you would date, and you played right into my plan. I did whatever it took to ensure you fell in love and then married me, and now that it’s Halloween, I’m going to kill you.”
“My mother will destroy you for this,” Belladonna growled. “And the vampires who enjoy this peace will never rally to your cause.”
“I know,” Gabriel said, completely unbothered. “It’s why I’m not killing you… well, I am, but the world won’t see it that way. It’s why we’re here, in your coven’s sacred space. I’m going to kill you and frame your murder on the fanatic witches. I’ll spread their manifesto that claims you’re a traitor for marrying a vampire. So, as you can see, your marriage to my father makes this plan work even better. Imagine how the vampires will rally to their leader’s cause when he learns the witches he tried so hard to make peace with slaughtered his young wife.”
“You’ll never get away with this.”
“You actually did me a favor by marrying dear ole dad. Seems like you’ve got him under your spell, and he’ll be all too eager to declare war when he sees what I’ve done to your body. He’ll push the vampires to annihilate the witches, and then Halloween will finally be ours. Rowena loves you, and your death will cripple her, making her incapable of leading her army. A few cheesy dates and a brutal murder, and you’ve destroyed a race that has lasted centuries.”
“You’re wrong about my mother,” Belladonna said. “She’s stronger than you give her credit for. She won’t crumble.”
“She’ll believe her own people tortured and killed her only child,” Gabriel said. “The bitch will cave.”
Belladonna swallowed her tears, forcing herself to remain stoic in the face of unspeakable agony. Her heart broke for her mother, knowing that tomorrow’s dawn would destroy her life. Her heart shattered for the husband she’d fallen in love with. She regretted she would die without telling him that despite his poor behavior in the beginning, he became the husband she always dreamed of. A man who respected her boundaries, who never tried to make her feel small or young or ridiculous. He let her dress how she liked, act how she pleased, speak how she chose. He made sure to always stock her favorite things, never once forbade her from keeping yet another cat, and even invited his sworn enemy into his home for dinner at her request. Vlad was a good man hiding within the skin of the devil, and she hated that she never got to tell him he was the love of her life.
“I understand my fate,” she said, her voice shaking despite her resolve. “I cannot stop you, nor can I change your mind, but know this, Gabriel. You will never be your father. You want to rule. You want power, but you’ll never have it. Not like him because you are too blinded by prejudice to realize that Vlad’s peace has been the greatest reign our races have seen. You’re nothing compared to him. I thought I loved you, but you were merely my path to finding Vlad, and I love him. He’s my true mate, and I hope you live forever knowing that you were the one who killed your father’s soulmate. You should be ashamed of your?—”
She gagged, choking on her words as an enraged Gabriel lunged for her and closed his fingers around her throat.