Annoyed by his sarcasm, I strike his shoulder with my fist. He throws his head back in laughter, and it’s a sound I want to hear again and again.
Flashes of my domestic daydream fill my head again. I clear my throat and resume piling my plate full of food.
Knox continues, “And I’m telling you because you need to stay alive and not get thrown to the Rabbids.”
I gulp, my eyes wandering over to the endless desert beyond the wall of glass.
“Is that what happens if I fail?” My stomach feels emptier than before.
“Yes, if you are not bound to me for an eternity, that is. At that point, I’ll have to tell The Five who you are, and that will be a fate far worse than whatever the Rabbids will do to you.”
At the wordeternity, my eyes flick back over to Knox.
How am I ever going to escape him and his kind?
Perhaps dying would be simpler, but something in the pit of my stomach tells me that he will never let it happen.
I’ll have to find a different way of getting away from him.
12
Knox
On the inside, I’ma nervous ball of anxiety. On the outside, I play the role of the spoilt prince to perfection. I lounge dramatically in the front-row seats of the arena, schooling my face into utter boredom. Celeste sits beside me, as always. My former lover and doting ex-Familiar watches this year’s competitors with narrow, beady eyes. The Five haven’t made their appearance yet. They rarely do so early into the training, but it doesn’t quell the unease wrapped around my insides.
I haven’t witnessed the first part of the training in almost seventy years. I’ve always managed to get out of it one way or another. But I’m glad I stayed this time around. If I’m buried underground, then I won’t be able to protect her.
Her, her, her…
She’s all I fucking think about.
It’s tiresome fighting a mate bond.
As the first trainee takes their stance on the starting podium, my mind drifts back to Danniella and the taste of her last night. The magnificent crescendo of her release had left me a panting fool. I yearned to bury myself deep inside of her. Last night was a true test to how much fucking restraint I have. It would’ve been so easy to make her mine. Her body writhed beneath me, desperately begging, and I could have sworn my name was whispered on her lips.
But she hates me.
She stares at me from across the arena like I’m a monster plotting to drink her blood when she least expects it.
It’s stupid to want her to like me.
Cheers erupt from the onlookers sitting in the stands of the tent. My attention slides back to the trainee who’s successfully jumped through the first ring of fire. Her tight ebony curls bounce when she moves, and a skin-tight sparkly bodysuit shows off her stunning body.
Yet I feel nothing. No lust, no desire. Not even a scrap of interest. I’m a hollow mess.
I couldn’t give a fuck if she fell from the tightrope onto the spikes down below.
Because she isn’ther.
13
Danni
I don’t like thatI can’t see what is happening behind the curtain. All I can hear are gasps and random rounds of applause. There’s no telling what’s actually waiting for me on the other side.
Dread coils itself around me tighter and tighter after each name is called. I take a big breath in and let it out slowly. The faint squeaky sounds of the rubber catsuit that Betty helped me pick out is the only noise heard backstage. I’d like to think I’m living out my Catwoman fantasy, but that remains to be seen.
The other Familiars lined up barely speak to me. I try to make conversation with each of them to dive into the inner workings of whatever spell the vampires cast over them. But they are so focused on what lay ahead.
