As I climbed over the edge of the roof, my breath of relief as my feet met solid ground was short-lived. A vexation cut through me. He had the arrogance to have his back to me. He knew I was here. He knew I’d be furious. And he didn’t find me the least bit threatening.
With each slow step towards him, my resolve faded. My grip on my dagger loosened. I would never win, not now. I needed him vulnerable, and I couldn’t give away my hand. I needed him to trust me, to think I had given up and given in to him.
Sheathing my dagger felt like a final breath.
I stood beside him, looking upon the horror before me. I waited a moment for even breaths, painting a mask of indifference over my face. In one swift movement, I stepped up onto the ledge of the roof and swung around to face him, my back against the open air.
Our eyes clashed. At first, I thought he was angry, but my mouth almost fell open as I deciphered what it really was. Fear.
“What are you doing?” His tone was calm, each word placed with ease. But he had leaned forward ever so slightly, his body tensed, ready to spring forward.
I just wanted to get his full, undivided attention, which was clearly successful. But now I had the devious urge to test him. I stepped back, my heels at the very edge of the roof.
He grew even more rigid, his fists clenching. “Charlotte,” he bit out. He could no longer hide himself from me now. I saw it all.
Alaric didn’t really need me. He didn’t need me to be his queen. I had thought he just found entertainment in torturing me, in controlling me. It was just a game, something he wanted to conquer. But now I knew. He actually cared for me, and that was the most unsettling thing of all.
I shook off the confusion, the swirling emotions, and kept my tone firm. “Stop this now. Call off your newborns, and I’ll go with you.”
Any bit of fear was wiped clean as his eyes hardened. He tilted his head like a carnal beast. “You think you can threaten me?” His tone drove a chill deep into bone.
I drew my foot back, hovering it over the drop below. The breeze wrapped around my ankle, eager to take. He lunged, grasping for my hand as I snatched it out of his path just in time.
“Yes.” I smiled smugly. “I believe I can.”
He sneered, letting out a ragged breath. “Fine, Charlotte. Get the fuck down.”
I didn’t move, and I was losing my balance. “Call them off.”
He shouted an order to someone I didn’t even realize was there, hidden away in the shadows. The newborn nodded and headed towards one of the ladders.
“There. It’s done.”
I placed both feet back on the ledge. He held his hand out to me. A wicked grin spread across his face. My lungs couldn’t hold a full breath as I placed my hand in his.
A strong sense of triumph radiated from him, but buried deep below that was something peculiar.
Complete devastation.
And it ate away at that torn part of my soul, until it was a gaping maw stretched into a cry that echoed undying.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
I shouldn’t have been surprised that he had a wardrobe filled with gowns exactly my size. The longer I stared at them, the sharper the bitter taste in my mouth became. I twirled the ring on my finger with my thumb, trying desperately to ignore the pain in my chest. Sebastian knew. I felt it the moment the pure, unbridled anguish cut through me. It took everything I had to move one foot after the other. I considered staying in my blood-soaked gown, but though I deserved it, I couldn’t stand to don the blood spilled in my name any longer.
It was well into the night now. His house of horrors was oddly quiet, despite the hundreds of newborns trickling back in. We were on the top floor of four stories and in a private wing far off from everyone else. Alaric left me to my room. I knew I wouldn’t find sleep tonight, but I hoped he would, and I had to be there when he did. The only chance I had against him was catching him off guard.
I bathed until the water turned cold and put on a cream-colored nightgown that reached my ankles. Once I was before his bedroom door, I paused a moment, finding the will to lift my hand.
“Come in, Charlotte.” His voice bled through the door like the devil’s caress.
I reluctantly pushed open the door, my back pressed against it as I closed it. The cold surface seeped through the thin linen of my gown. I stayed there for a moment taking in the room of the man who had haunted me for a year. The walls were painted a deep burgundy, and the ceiling was a dark stained wood engraved with elaborate crown moldings. The grand fireplace before the bed illuminated the room with a soft glow. And then there was him.
He sat up in the massive bed, his back resting against the intricately carved wooden headboard. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. Myeyes caught on his tanned skin, his sculpted chest, and then his arrogant smirk.
Each step towards his bed was like trudging through mud. There was a wrongness to it, as if I were dropped into another life.
I lifted the covers, but before I slipped in, I eyed him. “Don’t get any ideas.”
