Page 27 of Until the Heart Stops (The Oylen City #1)

I woke in such complete darkness for a moment I questioned whether or not I was truly awake.

My body screamed in protest as I shifted, reaching out blindly to see what was near me.

All too quickly my knuckles scraped against rough wall.

But when I moved my hand, I only encountered stone.

The breath in my lungs vanished as I felt along the sides and above me.

Sweat broke out on the back of my neck and in the crooks of my elbows.

Tiny whimpers echoed back far too close.

A coffin.

I pressed my palms flat on the lid but it didn’t give.

It was as if they’d built a stone wall on top of me.

Reaching for my magic, I groaned in realization that the reserves I had were gone.

My eyes widened. Goddess , there beneath my own magic was Callum’s.

Last night as I’d fought, I’d forgotten our connection as my survival instincts had overtaken me.

But I wondered, if the female hadn’t gotten her hands on me so quickly, if I would have been able to take her.

The unfamiliar power was there, but dormant.

It must have still been day. Another flare of adrenaline twisted my stomach.

Would I be trapped for hours? Days? Would I die here?

I took a deep breath, wondering if the air was thinning.

But no, it was only my fear, there was plenty of air.

I would not be trapped here, not with the bond flowing between me and Callum.

If I could not get myself free, he would find me.

I wasn’t sure how much time passed there in the dark, counting my breaths and occasionally succumbing to small bursts of panic only to force my breathing to slow.

But just as my eyes drooped and exhaustion overtook me, the lid was wrenched away.

Brightness burned across my face and I lifted an arm to shield myself from it.

But a hand wrapped around my elbow, jerking me from the coffin so forcefully something in my shoulder snapped.

My cry of pain cut off in a gurgle as I came face to face with a vampire I’d seen only a few times in my life, mostly within Callum’s mind.

Mael Auguste’s face was unearthly pale and smooth.

His white hair streamed down his shoulders and over his red robe, swinging in a sheet as he all but dragged me across the floor.

The hand wrapped around my arm was powerful, so much so that when he twisted his wrist to adjust his grip another bone snapped in my arm.

I bit back my scream. He watched me with fascination and it was clear the movement had been intentional after all.

“I do not see the appeal,” he mused coldly while appraising me.

Nausea roiled through my gut and I swallowed thickly. “Well, that’s a relief for b-both of us.”

His index finger pressed casually against my forearm. Another snap and black spots bloomed across my vision. He dragged me farther across the smooth stone floor and out of the alcove the coffin had been hidden within. “Theon told me you fought unnervingly well.”

I couldn’t hold my tongue. “Or perhaps they fought unnervingly poorly.”

Mael paused as if I’d meant the jab. “Perhaps.”

With another jerk, he strode forward. The room was large with tall, vaulted ceilings.

Windows were cut into the ornate stonework and the sky blazed overhead with the fire of the sunset.

But when Mael stepped into a ray of dying sunlight, he didn’t so much as smoke—goddess, how old was he to withstand such a thing?

A wide table sat in the center of the room, the stones beneath it a strange mottled brown.

Grooves flowed throughout the table, like the roots of a tree, and those, too, were the same color.

The pain in my arm flared, but faded, and the numbness I’d had in my fingers paled into a tingling awareness.

As if I weighed nothing, Mael tossed me toward the table.

I skidded across the stones, hitting the base with a crack that left the air whooshing from my lungs.

My hands splayed across the floor and I coughed, desperately trying to find my next breath.

I’d expected him to laugh or perhaps revel in my pain, but he watched with a dispassionate sort of interest.

“Raya,” he called.

The female from before flitted into the room and there it was again, a small flash of something behind her eyes before it hardened into stone—an approximation of the expression Mael wore.

Her hair was loose, black waves rippling down her back and shoulders as she came to a stop beside him, curtsying so low she was in danger of kissing the floor.

“Master.”

He snapped his fingers, gesturing toward another alcove. The female, Raya, hesitated a moment before jumping to her feet and disappearing for a beat. She returned with a heavy glass bottle in her grip. With another lazy gesture, he took a step backward.

Raya looked me over before kneeling in a pool of black robes. The hands that had been like claws last night were unexpectedly tender as she brushed my hair from my mouth before uncorking the bottle. She lifted it to my lips. My eyes widened and I tried to scramble back, but the table prevented me.

“Shhh,” she murmured low. “Drink.”

I shook my head, but she was tipping the bottle up, wine splashing over my mouth and chin.

Again, she shushed me in croons as I coughed up the wine even as more poured down my throat.

The room spun as I was forced to drink, Raya taking small pauses to wipe my chin with the sleeve of her robe.

Her lashes were thick and fanned out across her round cheeks with each blink.

Such thick lashes, like feathers. Like the quills Callum had gifted me. A giggle bubbled up from my lips. My hand lifted sluggishly and, though she caught my wrist, she allowed me to brush a pad across her lashes once before she moved my hand back to my lap.

Heat curled at the back of my neck and I shifted, brows pulling together.

The fabric of my gown slid against my skin and I was faintly aware of Callum’s release dried across my thighs.

Goddess, Callum. I wished he was here. The heat at the back of my neck slithered down my spine to pool at my sex and I squeezed my legs together tightly as Raya lifted the bottle again to my lips.

“That’s it, cherub,” she praised as I drank obediently.

Another spark pulsed and I fought the urge to slip my hand beneath my skirts. My core throbbed. A soft whine hummed from my throat and the female vampire shushed me again with a nod as she pulled away the now empty bottle. “I know, I know.”

Tenderly, she helped me to my feet. The room swayed.

Silk slid across my arms and I sighed with relief as cool air hit my skin.

I took a deep breath as my corset was unlaced and unbuckled.

I couldn’t help but smooth a hand across my belly and up between my breasts.

They were so heavy, my nipples peaked and needy.

I squeezed my thighs together again, thinking of Callum and his fangs in my skin, my blood in his mouth.

“Arms up, dearest,” Raya murmured.

Goddess, Raya was so pretty. So pretty and kind, I could see it in her eyes as she tugged the gauzy sheer gown over my head and belted it around my waist. I touched a lock of her thick black hair, rubbing it between my fingers.

Her gaze dipped to me and she smiled indulgently, eyes skimming my face, down my chest, and pausing on my breasts.

She froze, attention fixed on the round curves and the crescent-shaped scar and then the ruby stone from the silver chain. Tentatively, she took a step closer, breathing in deep. I blushed even as her eyes widened and her hands trembled.

“Goddess forgive me,” she whispered.

“Is she ready?”

I swung my head in the direction of the deep voice, frowning as the floor tilted.

A male I thought I recognized prowled forward, but it wasn’t Callum.

The hair was too white, the face too smooth, but I thought I’d seen him recently.

I wished it was Callum though, especially as Raya answered him in a stilted voice and placed a shaking hand on my waist.

The male moved closer, gesturing toward the table behind me. I opened my mouth to speak but my tongue was too thick. Raya lifted me with ease onto the stone with her back to the immortal male.

“Ah, yes, she’s ready,” he murmured, inspecting me over her shoulder.

Raya cleared her throat. “Shall I call the others?”

“No, this is not for the coven,” the immortal answered as he glided toward another alcove set with a small table.

The coven. I frowned again, slipping onto my backside.

My limbs tingled and I blinked, trying to focus on the male.

No…on Mael. I knew this immortal, of course I did.

But my limbs were heavy, even as my heart picked up speed, and I reached for the dagger in my corset only to find thin fabric covering my chest.

The female’s hand covered mine, squeezing once. Her eyes widened a fraction and she shook her head the barest amount, lips moving silently:

Pretend.

I frowned, the last few minutes swimming back to me as if in a dream. Whatever was in the wine had already burned up in my system, but she wanted me to pretend it hadn’t. She released me as Mael made his way toward us and I forced my body to relax and my lids to half close.

“Lay her down.”

Raya guided me onto my back and I didn’t fight her even though every instinct in my body roared against it.

My bond with Callum flared and his anger was tangible, like another being within our connection.

He pushed his strength through our bond and it burned away the remaining sluggishness.

With another burst of his magic, my own stores replenished until it hummed beneath my skin.

“Leave us,” Mael commanded.

Raya slipped her hand into mine, squeezed once before letting go and spinning on her heel.

I expected her to vanish through the double doors at the opposite end of the room, but her hand flashed out toward the ancient blood drinker.

In another instant she was on the ground, gasping, her hands clawing at her chest.

“Pathetic,” he spat.

A squelch pulled my attention to his fist, skin painted a deep red and dripping with tissue.

Raya gasped again, jerking against the marble, eyes wide.

Her body stilled and gaze slid to me before the light died in her eyes.

I waited for the blood to stop, for her chest to rise, for her to blink, but she did not.

“Horrifying, isn’t it? To know such a powerful creature can be felled in such a way.”

He stared at me and my mouth opened, agape in the horror he’d just spoken of. I scrambled back, but he caught me before I could move more than an inch, gripping me by the hair.

“You are the most horrifying thing here,” I grit out, eyes sparkling with tears as he pulled.

Mael gave a hum, dipping his hand into his pocket for a small black phial. He flicked his thumb, broke off the wax seal and pressed it against my lips.

“Oh, little girl, the horrors are yet to come.”