The only pop of color and piece of interest in the room was a red, ceramic, anatomically-correct heart on top of one of the dressers.
How morbidly “vampire.”
Bit if this was going to be my place, I wanted it to reflect more of my aesthetic. I had some cool prints I’d collected over the years, my plants—for decor and as ingredients for spells—not to mention my clothes, my books, and of course my cauldron…
“Can I go back to my place to get more of my things? And what about my classes? Oh, shoot!” I hit my forehead and groaned. “How long have I been out? I have a quiz in InorganicThaumaturgy this week, and my professor is such a hard-ass about missing those!”
His lips flattened, and that already too familiar look of displeasure fell across his face.
I was probably going to be seeing that one a lot with the way things were going between us.
“I’m sorry for not making myself clearer, Sage, but you’re no longer enrolled at Umbris University. I withdrew you.”
My whole world felt like it had stopped, and I could hardly breathe. “How… why…”
“I told you,” he said, his voice taking on that slow, clipped, patronizing tone again. “Your previous life is over. I’m afraid you’re never leaving this apartment again.”
Never…
My gut churned, but it wasn’t from heat. I covered my mouth with my hand, leaning over to the wastebasket someone had smartly put next to my bed and began to throw up.
I didn’t know when I’d last eaten, so there was nothing but bile that came up, but I couldn’t stop.
After the fourth time I heaved, the Premier sighed. “A little dramatic, don’t you think?”
I shot him a look of pure spite, surprising both of us with my boldness. “Dramatic? You’ve just handed me a life sentence of house arrest for the crime of being your ‘mate!’”
The alpha in him did not like being challenged. He got up, his hands balling into fists at his sides. “You’ll watch your tone with me, Sage. And I don’t understand this, this reluctance, this refusal for what I’m offering. You’ll stay in a luxurious penthouse apartment where your every whim and desire—”
“My desire is to finish college! My desire is to start my business!” I cried, beginning to detach myself from the equipment. I winced in pain as I slid the needle out and ripped the tape off my skin, which left the itchy, red patch I knew itwould. His eyes dilated at the smell of blood and I bent my arm, cradling it to my chest as I continued. “Do you have any idea how hard I’ve worked to get to where I am today? Before my surgery, I didn’t have the energy to take more than one or two courses at a time, and then I had to take off a whole semester to recover! I’m three years behind my peers, but I’m damn proud of where I am because I got here despite my defect. I’m on the dean’s list, for Hecara’s sake!”
The Premier took a step towards me as I scrambled out of the bed. My knees felt like they might fail at any second, but I didn’t want to show any weakness.
“I don’t care if you’re my mate or the Premier. Neither title gives you the right to lock me up in a tower and throw away the key!”
“Both titles give me the right to do whatever I want!” he bellowed, shaking the walls. I finally crumbled, my legs buckling as I landed on the floor. “You’rethe omega,I’mthe alpha. What I say goes—end of discussion!”
Blood ran through the crease of my elbow and my lips trembled.
No, I couldn’t cry now. I’d just be proving his point at how pathetically omega I was.
He stepped closer and I turned my head, refusing to look at him. He crouched down, fisted my hair and forced me to do so anyway. “Say it, Sage. Tell me you understand.”
Mate bonds were rare, and I never thought I’d ever have one. At least not with an alpha. But they couldn’t be absolute. I still had some choice. I had options.
“I… I reject you. I reject this bond.”
And then I closed my eyes, waiting for him to strike.
But instead, he let out a mirthless, bone-chilling laugh.
“Oh, Sage. It’s too late for that. I’ve already claimed you.” His fingers grazed the wound he’d left on my neck. “Onlypowerful magic could undo our bond, and you’re never touching a cauldron again.”
My body shook with rage, with fear, with frustration. A witch’s cauldron was an extension of her soul. Like all witches, I’d received mine on my thirteenth birthday. I’d seasoned it with my own blood, sweat, and tears.
Literally.
“You can’t do that, it’s against Lundarian law to deny a witch…”
