But Rad only smiles. “Call off your rabid dog, beloved, before I have Blair blow his fucking head up.”
I give Marcus an urgent shake of my head, a silent plea in my eyes. “Leave it alone, Marcus,” I beg.
Marcus throws Rad back into his chair and stalks back to the wall where Blair watches him with dull eyes. Ready to act as soon as Rad commands.
“My apologies for my future mate’s outburst,” Rad says to the tables around us. “It won’t happen again, will it, beloved?”
I glare up at him as I taste blood where his slap split my lip.
“I asked you a question,” he says sternly, and the whole restaurant seems to wait, not even daring to breathe.
“No, alpha,” I grind out. “It won’t happen again.”
He settles himself in his chair once more and flicks open his napkin, spreading it on his lap, acting like my outburst didn’t happen, as if he didn’t just mark my face with his handprint, but I can still feel the sting, my skin hot where he struck me. “You must be dying to know why I did it. I could have shown your father my results over a video call, after all. But I went to all that trouble, and do you know why?”
I bare my neck, the collar biting into my skin, but I can’t bring myself to say anything.
“It’s simple, really. You misbehaved.”
Acid churns in my gut, but I force myself to stay still and quiet.
“You told a terrorist organization about my work.”
I should have realized sooner that Cadigan would tell Rad about me attending a resistance meeting. Fuck, of course he did. And because I attended that singular meeting, Rad attacked an entire campus, nearly ending a student’s life and the lives of all the omegas who were forced to attack us.
“You had to be punished,” he says, reasonably. “It’s a shame there wasn’t more… collateral damage. Maybe it wasn’t enough to teach you a lesson. You’re so stubborn, but I’ll fix that. Once my bite is on your neck, you’ll learn to behave. You’ll have no choice. And with the results I’ve shown, we’ll be mated by the New Year.”
I startle, looking up sharply. “My father has given his permission?”
His smile is slow and sickens me to my very core.
“No, beloved, but if you don’t want me to tell him that you’re a member of the resistance, you’re going to leave your bedroom door unlocked when I visit for Yule.”
Dominate, degrade, defile.
It’s like a chorus, repeating through his thoughts. He plans to take everything from me over the holiday: my body, my autonomy, my future, my freedom.
My entire world upends.
Rad has always had leverage against me—he stalked me and photographed me for months, catching me in enough compromising positions to truly damn me. Saints, my father would force a mating immediately if he knew the things I’ve done at Fairhaven. If he knew I wasn’t pure.
But this. This is what could end me. This is what could land me in prison, and I know what happens to resistance members who get sent to prison for treason.
“Say you’re glad I’m visiting for the holidays, Juniper,” he growls, the threat clear in his voice.
I force a tight smile as my world crashes down around me. “I’m so glad you’re visiting for the holidays,” I murmur.
When we’ve finished a meal I barely touch, he leads me back to the limousine, his hand at the small of my back.
I catch just one thought as I step into the back seat.
With her crushed beneath my heel, I’ll take my rightful place at the right hand of Baphomet’s Prince.
CHAPTER19
Rad leaves me to my thoughts on the ride back to campus, a punishment in its own way. He doesn’t distract me from the terror sinking low in my stomach, turning my insides to ice. Despair crashes through me like waves on a sandy shore.
He knows he’s put me in an impossible position—that there’s no good choice.
