Was he forcing those smiles withmypower? Or did they just do it to please him? My heart sank into my stomach when I realized I’d never be free of him. If he had the power to control me, I’d never be let go.
Maybe when he’s sleeping. Or maybe over time, I can learn to fight the power.
“Oh, I should warn you that Ricov can hear thoughts and transmit them to me.” Maxim pointed to a big, burly man with a beard.
I paled, fear rushing through me. Had he been listening to my thoughts this whole time? What had I been thinking that might be damning?
What the hell!Screw you, Ricov, I thought, and watched the grin slide off his face and turn into a glare.
A small win. A small thing I had control over.
I felt Maxim’s power over me loosen a bit, and I used the moment to yank my hand from his.
He reached out and grasped it, clamping down to the point of pain, and I flicked my gaze to his, feeling my whole body freeze as I fought for control. I couldn’t move. I could scarcely breathe. Oh, how I’d love to just knee him in the balls right now. I would even settle for a throat punch. Anything to wipe that look off of his face. The look that said he’d won. How did he master my powers so quickly?
“Play nice,” Maxim warned me, “and we will have a content life together.”
Life.A life with him. I could think of nothing worse.
As we continued walking, I said nothing. Thought nothing. And when I did think things I didn’t want him to know, I recited the Amersean pledge in my head over and over to cover the thoughts, make them less loud in an effort to mask them.
‘Don’t say anything in return,’I told Liana mentally.‘I am closing our bond because Maxim has a soldier who can read my thoughts.’Then I closed the bond, sealing off my connection to her as I watched Ricov grin.
Bastard.
I repeated the Amersean pledge over and over again. I didn’t want Liana to report anything back to me about the situation in Amersea or what I’d asked her to do. I didn’t want Maxim to know anything. I felt like a prisoner in my body and my mind. To not even be able to have the freedom to think what thoughts you wanted was the ultimate horror.
My mind raced with thoughts of being stuck here in this situation for years, and I began to feel dizzy. We approached a sleek red car with a wolf and a female firebird standing in front of it, and I froze.
His two bonded.
Elaine was right. Liana was right. Kohen was right. Everyone was right. How did I get here? I was having an out-of-body experience. Things went so wrong so fast.
“Aisling…” Maxim held my hand and gestured to the wolf creature. She was white with glowing yellow ember marks and a deadly glare. “This is Misha.”
I bowed my head deeply, against my will, and again, I wondered how he was doing it. I’d heard no words to force me, and he’d said nothing aloud. I was like a puppet now. He’d perfected my power on his first try. Maybe that was part of his power.
“And this is Nalika.” He gestured to his firebird. My head was still bowed. He’d not allowed me up, so I just stayed that way, raging inside my body like a caged lion.
I would kill this bastard. I would rip his head from his body!
“Tsk tsk, naughty thoughts for your future husband,” Maxim said.
Screw you, I thought, and instead of letting my head up, I was forced to kneel. My legs gave out as he finally let go of my hand so that I could fall onto my palms. On my hands and knees, I touched my forehead to his feet.
“So obedient,” Maxim said and laughed.
The dozen or so soldiers around us laughed, too, and at that moment, I wanted to cry. I was trapped in a nightmare.
“Take me to my sister. Please,” I begged.
His hold over me broke, and I was allowed to stand. When I did, he was grinning at me. “Ohh, Idolike the word ‘please’. That will go far with me. You will learn. Right, Whitney?” He looked at the blonde again, and she nodded.
“Yes, sir.”
I didn’t know what she’d done to incur his attention, but it clearly wasn’t good. She was shooting eye daggers at the back of his head. Maxim opened the car door, and I stepped inside of my own free will as he, his wolf, Whitney, and Ricov, got in behind me. We all spread out along the seats facing each other, very similar to my family car.
The car took off, and we rode in awkward silence as I prayed my sister was unharmed.
