“You’re mine, little bird,” he rumbles, stretching me to my limit. “Mine.”
“I love you, Damien.” I dig my fingers into the silky waves of his dark hair, completely his. Supported against the wall, I’m at his mercy as he starts to move, and there is no place I’d rather be.
“I love you, my mate.” His thrusts come harder, faster, deeper. He fucks me senseless like he’s trying to merge our bodies. Sweat breaks out across my skin even as his shadows wrap me in their cool embrace. His illusion slips, and his horns and wings break through. My monster. My mate.
I reach over his shoulders and stroke the inner webbing of his wings. It seems to turn him on, because he growls and picks up the pace. My back thumps against the wall as he unleashes himself. This time my climax doesn’t roll in like a gentle storm, it tears through me like a lightning strike. I scream loud enough they can probably hear me in the waiting room. Damien revels in it. He watches me come apart with a satisfied grin even as he swells inside me and finds his own release. I wrap my arms and legs tighter around him, taking everything he has to give.
“Mine, Eloise. Only mine,” he repeats into my neck.
“Always.”
As the time for the second challenge closes in, Damien stays with me every day and trains me during my time off at night. We’ve started practicing my magic again too. Lighting and extinguishing a candle, making water form into salamanders that crawl the sides of the tub in my bathroom, creating a breeze strong enough to blow the covers off my bed. I’m getting stronger.
Physically, I’m in the best shape of my life. I’ve done more push-ups, lunges, and squats in this room than a fitness guru. And the witchy shakes Marabella has been feeding me make my recovery from my donations faster than ever. I need all the help I can get. I must win this second trial. Damien and I deserve better than this. It’s time we put it behind us.
A knock comes on the door. I stiffen as the key turns in the lock. I’m not due to donate until after the next challenge. It’s not time for a meal, and Damien never uses the door.
When it swings open, I see a face I haven’t seen since the day I came to Marabella’s.
“Olivia? How did you get my key?” I smile brightly, although the last time I saw her, she withheld vital information from me. We’d bonded during the auction and the train ride over, and at first I thought of her as a potential friend. But looking back, she’d worked at Marabella’s before and knew about the outrageous expenses donors are charged that can keep them indebted to the house for years. She knew how difficult it would be for me to buy my freedom without having sex with my clients, but instead of warning me when the topic of sex came up, she comforted me with Marabella’s strictly enforced rules. If I ever met a potential donor, the expense schedule would be the first thing I’d mention. Anyone with half a heart would do the same. Olivia didn’t. I don’t hate her. After all, nothing would have kept me from coming here, but I don’t trust her.
“I wanted you to be the first to know.” She widens her smile under those same doll-like features I found so arresting the day we met, and I see fangs. “I no longer work at Marabella’s. I’m a client now.”
I hold my smile, although if she suggests I feed her, I’m diving across the bed for the rope. This is my day off, and I don’t want to feed a brand-new vampire whose restraint, I assume, is questionable. “You found someone to change you?”
She nods enthusiastically. “Finally met a vampire willing to do it.”
Olivia struck me as perfect when I met her, but now I notice some enhancements. Her skin is smooth as marble. Her straight-backed posture is effortless. And her big blue eyes put off their own light. “I’m glad you got what you wanted.”
She sighs. “Me too. Finally.” She brushes nonexistent wrinkles from her dress. “I just wanted to say goodbye. I’m no use to Marabella anymore, so she’s letting me go.”
“Congratulations. So you’ll be living here now, as part of the coven?”
She nods excitedly. “I was approved to stay, and my sire is taking me in. We’re… involved.”
“So, uh, good to see you, and good luck with everything.” It’s as close to see you later as I can get. “It’s my day off, so I’m trying to prepare for tomorrow.”
She sniffs, grinning as if I’ve said something funny. “Uh, right.” She stands as if to leave. “I thought I might get a taste of your blood, but Marabella says all your slots are booked. I guess this challenge has made you, like, a famous donor or something.” She rolls her eyes.
I lift my chin. “Not for too much longer now. With any luck, I’ll win the next trial and Damien and I will be free of this place.”
Olivia unlocks the door. “True. It will all be over for you soon, one way or another.” She stares at me, a smirk plastered on her face the entire time the door is closing.
By the time the lock finally engages, I’m not surprised to find my hand on the hilt of my dagger.
38
The Second Trial
ELOISE
It’s louder in the silo the night the scribes escort me to the second challenge. Thanks to Everald, I’m more prepared than ever in the state-of-the-art tactical gear he brought me. I find him leaning against the wall and give him a nod of thanks. From his spot beside Lazarus, I see Damien roll his eyes.
As the moon climbs, I spot Olivia against the wall with a familiar vampire at her side. I can’t place where I’ve seen him before, but he’s wearing a palace uniform—not in the military still like Marcel’s but similar to the ones vampires in administrative roles wear. Vampires who work for the queen. Their hands are coupled. So this is her sire.
My eyes snap back to the podium and box as Lazarus starts to speak. “Challengers, step forward.” We do, and I can’t help but notice that Valeska looks smug. I narrow my eyes and study the bitch. She has something up her sleeve. I can feel it.
“Valeska, because Eloise rolled for the first challenge, you will roll today.”
