“Now that we can be together, I can open your eyes to how incredible this life can be as we rule together,” he whispered almost reverently, reaching out a hand toward me. “I will remain in the shadows as I always have, but finally we will be able to accomplish all my dreams together. Every piece of land will be owned by us.”
Spreading my feet, I fell into a defensive stance as I held my head high and prepared to enrage an old god.
“I’ve been shown how incredible this life can be by others already,” I announced proudly, thinking not only of my three men, but all those who had welcomed me with open arms to the Tridian empire, as well as those within this empire who still chose to fight for their freedom even when their arms shook with fear.
As I thought of the way my men had lavished my body and opened my mind to new experiences and pleasure, I couldn’t help but smirk in satisfaction as I added, “And I most definitely am not pure for you, you piece of shit. Much like my mother, my heart is spoken for and so is my body. I will follow her to the grave before I give up any of that.”
Chapter Seventeen
Kyella
Iknew my words would enrage him, but what I hadn’t realized was how quickly he would react. I thought my increased speed would keep me prepared—wrong.In the split second after he processed my admission, Lazarus was on me.
In an instant, my body was thrown against the wall, my head snapping back with the force of the movement, slamming into the stone hard enough that I felt the vibration through my teeth. A hiss slipped past my lips, the only sound I could get out before his hand wrapped around my throat and squeezed.
A wheeze left me as his grip tightened, suffocating me as I wondered if he was going to crush my esophagus or try to rip my damn throat out. I had a feeling neither would be that hard for him to accomplish. My body spasmed with the force and sudden loss of air, my grip loosening my hold on my daggers as my hands reflexively went to try to pry his hand off. Panic seared through me as I heard my weapons pinging and clattering against the floor.
Do something, Kyella.
Out of desperation I thrashed against him, trying to kick my legs out and clawing at the hand that pinned me to the wall, but to no avail.
The look of smug arrogance on his face at my inability to fight him off only made me double down on my efforts.
A crack echoed through the room as he slapped my face hard enough that I felt my teeth cut into the inside of my cheek, filling my mouth with hot blood. The hit was humiliating and hurt like hell, making my head bounce against the wall once more and adding to the feeling that my brains were scrambled and hazy.
“Weak, you’re so weak,” Lazarus sneered in a voice laced with venom as he released my throat just enough for me to suck in as much oxygen as possible.
I blinked, black dots filling the space around me. They cleared with each desperate draw of oxygen I took, and I was exposed to the pure fury that painted every inch of his expression. His eyes radiated malice, and his wrath poured from him like a living thing, attempting to wrap itself around me and crush me into submission.
Fear surged forward from my very center—a true primal fear of a creature so strong cornering me—and the threat of true death lingered before me. He could easily kill me, I knew that, but I wouldn’t submit to him. Not now. Not ever.
Redoubling my effort, I grunted, bringing my knees up to try to get enough leverage to kick him off me, but he slammed against me, keeping me pinned to the wall with no room between us. My skin crawled, disgust filling me at the closeness of our bodies.
“Do not fight me, little dhampyr. I have very little patience for you right now,” Lazarus hissed, his body vibrating with his barely contained rage. Burning pain radiated from the top of my skull as his free hand snapped up to thread his fingers through the hair there, tugging on it so hard that I wouldn’t be surprised if he pulled away with a chunk of my scalp in his hand. “Tell me that you’re lying about not being pure. Tell me—now!”
He roared his words, and with ringing ears, I dug my nails into the hand wrapped around my throat. But before I could attempt anything else, I was floating through the air, tossed aside like a rag doll before crashing in a heap on the marble floors with a heavy thud.
Rolling onto my side, I grunted as pain radiated everywhere all at once through my body. All I could do was hope my accelerated healing kicked in quickly as I continued to try to fight him. Pushing to my feet, I swayed slightly before taking a deep breath and fighting to calm my racing heart as I let my fangs extend once more.
His expression morphed from anger to amusement as he let out a maniacal laugh. “Oh sweetheart, do you still think you can fight me? What you experienced was merely a quarter of the speed and strength I possess.”
My breathing was even, and though I could feel that my throat was bruised, I still managed to bite out the truth with a slight rasp to my tone. “I’ve freely given my body of my own accord. You don’t own me, contrary to what you might believe.”
Lazarus’ expression transformed into one of pure, exalted amusement, and his light chuckle had me wavering in confusion. “You and Katarina…You’re so much the same. Giving away what wasn’t yours to do so with.”
Already braced for an attack, I was less surprised but still pissed off when my legs were knocked out from beneath me and my body was pinned to the floor. I groaned at the reverberation of hitting the ground, and I felt a panic surface through me. How did he move so damn fast?
He wasn’t like any other vampyre I’d dealt with in the past. I suppose I shouldn’t have been so surprised, as he was an old god.
His hand squeezed my jaw as he leaned down, crimson eyes sparkling with anger before he trailed his tongue along my neck, making my stomach pool with bile. His lips brushed against the skin as he whispered, “Do you know how honored you should feel? How honored both of you should have felt? That a god like myself wants a creature like you?”
“I’d feel honored if you’d get off me—” I grunted as he pulled back and hit me right in the stomach in a hard full fist punch. I swear I felt something crack but I refused to cry out, to give him that satisfaction, instead tightening my jaw and sealing my lips shut. I hoped it was just the armor concaving and not my ribs.
“I shouldn’t be surprised by another disappointment,” he muttered as he pulled back to gaze at me. “I thought perhaps you would be different, what with the role I took in controlling your life, but you’re not. Pity that.”
Bringing my right knee up, I tried to put space between us, far less focused on his words than getting out from underneath him. He only pressed further against me before a sneer lifted his lips
“Now tell me, Kyella,” he purred as his eyes narrowed to slits, “whotookyour purity from you? Tell me and I will punish him—I will ensure that he is slaughtered so he never comes between us again.”
