Hope I didn’t need that for anything important.
“You remind me of her a little. That same arrogance. That same assurance that nothing can touch you. So fierce and independent. Ahrun’s great love and the second vampire he ever made.” There was a worshipful look on his face. It faded as he focused on me. “It was a pity that I had to destroy her. She was glorious.”
Vitus’s hand moved inside me, sending another wave of agony ripping through my body.
“But needs must.”
I barely registered the faraway look on Vitus’s face as my head swam. The need to pass out struggling to rise before the roots inside me smoothed away the sensation, leaving me feeling the full extent of what was happening.
Too bad. A little time out would have been nice right about now.
“It makes me wonder how long you would last. Lilith took months to wear away. I suspect it won’t take as long with you. You’re mouthy but there’s little of substance within you. As far as I can tell, you’ve only come this far through pure dumb luck.”
“You’re lying,” I mumbled.
Except he wasn’t. There was too much pride in his voice as he described what he’d done.
Ahrun couldn’t have known.
“Are you saying that because of Ahrun’s gift of foretelling?” Vitus asked.
I barely grunted this time as he shoved his hand deeper into my abdomen.
“I’ll let you in on a little secret. There are blind spots to his gift. Lilith wasn’t the first test, but her death confirmed my hypothesis.”
I spat out a wad of blood on the ground. “What is it about you? Why do you hate Ahrun so much? Is it really just because he refused to make you a vampire?”
From the fact he was standing here before me, Vitus had obviously found a way around that. He’d gotten what he wanted. Why was he still so focused on the past?
“Hate Ahrun?”
The genuine surprise in Vitus’s voice made me still. He withdrew a hand covered in blood and gore and other matter I didn’t want to think too hard about and gave it a shake, genuine bafflement in his expression.
“This isn’t about hate or what Ahrun did or didn’t do. Ahrun has always simply been a means to an end. He denied me my rightful place as his heir. That’s what I can’t forgive him for. That position belongs to me. Not that child he replaced me with.”
I stared uncomprehendingly at Vitus as rage suffused his features. For a second, he resembled the monster he actually was.
“No matter though. After tonight, all will be made right again.”
Dread pooled in my stomach at the sight of the sadistic smile he offered me. I’d barely swallowed the whimper that wanted to rise when he extended a blood covered hand to touch my cheek.
“Shall we get started? I’m looking forward to seeing your features wracked with pain,” Vitus crooned, his smile widening as fear leaked through my defenses. “That’s it, child. Now you’re getting it.”
What felt like an eternity later, a scary amount of my blood covered Vitus’s hands, arms, and chest as he paused my torture to look over his shoulder at Navya. “What is it?”
“How much longer do you plan to be?”
I was too exhausted and hurt to feel relief, able to do nothing but hang there, my strength long since exhausted, as Vitus gave the other council member his full attention.
“Why do you ask?”
The quizzical look on Vitus’s face warred against the slight trace of hostility I could detect just under the surface.
For whatever reason, there was something about Navya’s interference that set him on edge.
“You promised me access.”
Vitus gave Navya his back in dismissal. “You can have her when I’m done.”
