Page 27

Chapter 26

Adeline

T he final howl echoed in her head, and she knew Rolf was gone. She was so weak she couldn’t move, couldn’t fight. Not yet.Her throat ached, and she was so thirsty. Her body jostled as if in a carriage, but someone held her tightly.

“Here,” Juliette’s voice said from somewhere nearby. Then something metal touched her lips, and the liquid inside was warm, full of life, but sickly sweet.

Adeline’s eyes flew open, and she coughed, trying to spit the liquid out. She wasn’t going to drink anything offered to her right now, no matter how weak and vulnerable she was.

“Damn the Gods, Addy! You need to heal. I know this isn’t great, but it’s all we’re allowed to drink these days, and if you don’t, Erik will…”

Juliette’s voice faded in and out, but the only thing Adeline could focus on in her delirium was the nickname.

Addy? She hadn’t been called that in ages. Juliette’s arms tightened around her, and as much as Adeline wanted to fight back and push her off, her arms were leaden. Besides, it was nice to be held by someone who cared for her. Like Rolf.

Where is Rolf?

“No,” Adeline croaked. If Rolf hadn’t made it, then why should she? Her heart ached without him. “Just kill me.”

Juliette sighed. “Don’t be so dramatic.”

Adeline said nothing, her eyes clouding with tears. The carriage interior was lined with rich velvet and gilded accents. It smelled faintly of age-worn leather and dust. Which could only mean one thing: Erik. The blinds were drawn tightly, and they traveled at a fast pace, but she knew exactly where they were going, and she wished she had died back in the caves.

Juliette tried to feed her again, but Adeline turned her head, biting back a scream as the movement tore open the wound at her throat.

“Why are you always the difficult one?” Juliette mumbled.

Why are you trying to feed me? Adeline almost asked, but her throat was so dry and her tongue too thick to move. The more the coach jostled, the sicker she felt and the less she wanted to live, so why not refuse whatever it was that Juliette wanted her to drink?

Being helpless and at the whim of someone else was not what Adeline had ever wanted, which was why she had bargained with Erik. She had hoped that things would have turned out differently. But that was her first mistake—hope.

Gods, how could she have been so stupid?

She knew that a bargain with Erik would never end well. And, of course, Erik had been one step ahead the entire time, setting her up so she would fail, so she would have to hold up her end of the bargain, regardless of the outcome. It was the only thing that made sense. Why did he want her back when he could have anyone so easily in his grasp?

The carriage halted briefly, and she heard the sounds of a large gate creaking open. Through her haze and anger, Adeline could barely make out the shouts of vampire guards before she passed out.

* * *

Strong arms dragged her down a dark hallway. She didn’t struggle, but she didn’t help them, either. If she had any strength, she would have shaken them off and walked, because she would be damned if she was to face Erik in this state. Her wounds had healed for the most part, but some blood seeped through her clothes at her stomach, and her neck still felt tender.

The two vampires who carried her didn’t say a word.

Where is Juliette?

But when she tried to turn her head, a searing pain tore at her throat. She bit back a cry, unwilling to look even weaker before Erik. It would already give him too much pleasure to see her suffering like this. She wouldn’t allow him any more satisfaction, not if she could help it.

Her vision blurred with tears as she fought to get her emotions under control. The edges of her sight swam with shadows. Long ago, Erik had enchanted the castle against intruders, which made this place a vampire haven. Adeline had never figured out how he had done it, but since he was the oldest vampire in these lands, she always assumed the magic had been his before he was turned.

And now the shadows threatened to close in on her again. They clung to the edges, creeping along beside her, until she closed her eyes tightly, willing the darkness away.

When she opened them, the hallway was clear. Either the castle remembered her, or she was deemed not a threat.

A small win , Adeline thought, but didn’t let her guard down quite yet.

A set of tall doors loomed before her, and she closed her eyes briefly, knowing whose glare waited for her. The doors creaked open, and suddenly, the room felt much larger than she remembered, despite the heat that pressed down around her and the dozens of vampires milling about.

Enormous chandeliers with hundreds of candles covered the ceiling, filling the place with smoke and the smell of burning fat. Large tables lined the walls, laden with decadent foods that went untouched—just another show of Erik’s immense wealth and control. Since none of the vampires ate any of this food, it all went to waste or was sent back to the kitchens for the servants to eat once it went stale and moldy.

Erik was never one for a throne, claiming that the vampires were all equals. Instead, he sat at the head of an enormous table in a gilded and velvet armchair. But Adeline, and even the other Vampire, knew that they were no more equals than they were his pawns, his progeny. None of them mattered to Erik except for Adeline. And she had always struggled with why. Why had he singled her out? She could only guess since she had already given herself to him with her body and, once, her mind.

What was left for him to conquer?

The guards dropped Adeline to the floor before the table, and her knees slammed into the stone. Her matted, bloody hair fell into her face as she bowed low despite every part of her screaming against this. But she was the one who had made the bargain, she was the one who’d gotten herself into this horrible mess. If she hadn’t been so headstrong, so damn confident that she could win her way out, Rolf would still be alive, living out his life in the cabin.

Why does everyone I love die?

“Tell me, Juliette, does the shifter live?” Erik asked, his voice cutting through the haze in her head.

She fought the bile that threatened to creep up her throat and forced her head to stay bowed.

“No,” Juliette said behind Adeline. A swish of skirts, and she moved to block Adeline from Erik’s view. “As soon as he was confirmed dead, I left. But he killed everyone in the process.”

It wasn’t just Rolf, Adeline thought. She had killed half the coven and she was damn proud of it. So why was Juliette lying? And why the kindness in the carriage?

Why is she protecting me?

Erik said nothing for a moment and then waved his hand. “I find it hard to believe that a were-shifter was skilled enough to take out my elite hunters.”

Adeline wanted to speak but didn’t know what game Juliette was playing, so she kept her mouth shut and just watched the exchange.

“He had drugged Adeline and chained her upstairs,” Juliette said, pausing for effect. The entire room had gone silent as all eyes focused on Adeline. “He had slit her neck as a way to lure us to him. She was delirious and weak when I set her free. The wolf was in a cave nearby and had already shifted when we went after him. It was a maze, and we didn’t know we had taken the bait. It hunted us down one by one.”

Erik raised his brows, the only tell that he was shocked. The rest of his body gave nothing away, and for a moment, Adeline thought Erik would not believe any of it. She cringed in anticipation of Juliette’s head being ripped from her body in seconds.

“Adeline.” Erik’s eyes flicked to her neck. He almost sounded like a concerned parent when he asked, “How?”

Adeline swallowed and closed her eyes as if in shame. Instead, she was trying to see the scene Juliette recalled, because if she didn’t believe her story, Erik wouldn’t either, and it would all be for nothing. Every tiny detail, every moment spent in the cabin with Rolf, naked or otherwise, she shoved deep down into a hidden recess in her heart. In its place, an alternate history sprouted, one where she was the victim, where she didn’t know that Rolf had been glamoured a hundred years ago by her coven. A separate timeline where her blissful moments with Rolf had unraveled differently. She could almost believe that all of this hadn’t been her fault. That she was helpless and at Rolf’s mercy—that she was still going to kill him.

Even if, by the slimmest chance, Rolf was still alive, he should become a ghost or he would be killed. That, Adeline knew for certain. Erik did not like leaving loose ends.

“My horse died on the pass, so I walked the rest of the way down the mountain. A storm—unlike any I had ever seen—came out of nowhere and dumped inches of snow in mere minutes.” Adeline’s throat constricted as she swallowed against a fit of coughing that was sure to take over. Her hand went to her throat, the tender, fresh flesh pulsing with her slow heart.

Juliette nodded beside her. “We had to ski-shoe over six feet of snow—some places had drifts as high as twelve feet. We had never experienced a storm quite like it.”

“I was exhausted by the time I finally found the were-shifter’s cabin. It was in the mountains, where the last known sighting of an elusive were-shifter was living.” As she talked, more details of the revised history unraveled before her, and she knew she could sell this lie. “As soon as I was inside, I collapsed. Only to wake up chained to his bed and being force-fed tainted rabbit blood. He kept me in paralysis until the full moon came, when he slit my throat and left me for dead. I could hear his howls when the shift happened, but I could do nothing.”

She paused for effect, then whispered, “If Juliette hadn’t shown up when she did, I?—”

Juliette placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, but said nothing.

The entire room was quiet as Erik looked from Adeline to Juliette and back to Adeline. The corner of his mouth twitched. “You still didn’t fulfill your end of the bargain.”

Adeline’s heart sank as she hung her head.

Of course, I didn’t, you made sure I wouldn’t . She bit her tongue. Hard.

“Which means you are mine. Forever.” A slow smile spread across his face.

As she waited for her punishment, she let her mind drift briefly to the final few moments of bliss she’d had—the taste of Rolf on her tongue, the feel of him against her, the way his eyes lit up once he finally saw through the glamour placed on him.

Nothing would help her should Erik choose to torture her again, though.

Erik gestured with his hands, and the two vampires who had escorted her inside hauled her up to standing once more. The world tilted, and she wobbled. Their hands tightened on her arms.

“First, we will get you fed so you can heal—something Juliette should have done.” Erik held up his glass and drank heartily, then waved it in the air. A servant stepped forward, a glamoured shifter fae wearing a mask, and poured a thick red liquid into his cup. It didn’t look like fresh blood, but rather the same mixture Juliette had tried to feed her.

Erik whispered something to the servant, and they disappeared.

“You will sit beside me, Adeline, in your rightful place. As my mate. And wife.”

Juliette stiffened, and Adeline’s heart sank. His what ? He had never taken a mate, let alone even expressed any sort of commitment to any creature in his long life besides himself. Erik’s only interest was Erik.

Except…

My soul. It was the one thing he hadn’t taken full control of, yet. But she wouldn’t let him have it. It was hers to choose whom to give it to, and she was not in a giving mood.

But then it clicked. All of these years, ever since she had first tried to leave, he had been inescapable. Ruthless and conniving in his desire to keep her close, always forcing her back into his orbit.

Every time she refused, he would let her get far enough away, only to yank her back, chasing her like the day chased the night.

He may be the daylight, but she was not his darkness. She never was. But it didn’t matter anymore. Rolf was gone, and before her was the best trap she had ever been caught in.

“Well?” Erik snapped, and Adeline’s eyes flashed to his.

“Yes, sire,” Adeline heard herself say, her voice wooden. Blood rushed to her ears, pulsing like the beat of a bass drum, filling her head with doom.

“Sit.” Erik smiled threateningly. He gestured to the empty chair next to him.

Adeline took a steadying breath as the two fae released their hold. As if she were a puppet on a string, her body glided to the chair, and she sat. Her cup was filled with that same thick liquid, and she was aware that Erik’s gaze was fastened to her movements.

“Drink,” he said, and Adeline reached for the cup.

Had he put her in a thrall? No. No, this was just shock working its way through her body. She lifted the cup to her lips and took a small sip, stifling the reflex to gag and spit it out. It didn’t taste like fresh blood, but it would have to do for now.

“Good girl,” Erik cooed, and Adeline, once more, suppressed her body’s desire to shiver and give away her true feelings. His finger trailed along the scab at her throat. He clicked his tongue and shook his head. “I will send you fresh food tonight. You will heal, and this awful scar will be no more. Then we will start the wedding preparations.”

She took a deep breath, refusing to look at him lest her heartbeat give her away. “And when will we be married?”

Erik took a deep drink from his cup and smiled, his teeth coated in the blood mixture. “Three days, my little killer.”

Adeline tried not to blanch as he trailed his fingernail down the side of her cheek. She had three days to figure out how to end her own life.