Minutes passed,ticking by at an expedited rate as I fervently wished for time to slow so I could think. Plan. Escape. Dosomethingthat would allow me to stop the inevitable, but only seconds later, the door reopened, and my uncle appeared.
His outline was illuminated by the fairy lights in the hall. He held a vial, just like the vial Verin had hidden in her room back at Gwenery and Timith’s home. The vial Jamie had confiscated, which had held my uncle’s potion. And just like those potions prior, this onepulsedwith immense power.
“Oh gods,” I whispered. I couldn’t look away from the vial. Couldn’t stop terror from washing through me.
Once again, I wrenched on my magic with everything I had. Matron Olsander’s teachings came careening back to me. Eyes scrunched tightly closed, I searched and searched for just a kernel of power. Something to assist me and banish me from this horrific situation. I just needed to mistphase. Just one short mistphase would get me out of here.
But Tylen’s magic had completely annihilated mine.
“There’s no need to be frightened.” My uncle’s tone was surprisingly gentle as he approached the bed. “And I know the room is dark, but that’s only because in the very early stagesof the transition, sunlight is bothersome for both vamfeers and vampires, but once you’re fully changed into a vampire, it won’t hurt you.”
He reached the bed, and I froze completely, terror making me rigid.
His shadowy expression was filled with mock sympathy. “As I said, you don’t need to be frightened. This will be over soon.”
For a moment, everything about this situation felt surreal. The male staring at me looked so much like my father, a male who I trusted and loved. It was so strange to look at Arnel and have that male create inexplicable fear in me. I’d never felt that way around my father before. Not once.
“Now, Primelle,” my uncle continued in that fake, serene tone. “We can either do this the easy way or the hard way. Which do you prefer?”
Kicking into action, I struggled against my restraints again. “I’ll never make...anything easy for you.”
His face clouded, losing its luster. “How unfortunate. For you, that is.”
I braced myself against the mattress and tried once again to lash out, but his rope held.
He sighed. “Very well.”
“Please.” I arched off the bed, limbs locked to my sides. “Please don’t do this.”
Tears filled my eyes, and I wondered if I would ever see Kole again and know that it washim, my mate. Because if I was forced to drink that potion, I had no idea what would become of me. For all I knew, my mind would no longer function as my own. Perhaps my thoughts and feelings would vanish. Maybe the mate bond that the gods placed inside me would disappear too. Nathaniel and I hadn’t learned enough about vampires to truly know what it did to a fairy.
My uncle uncorked his vial. Potent magic pulsed from it. The clear liquid looked so harmless, entirely benign. But I knew better. That potion had changed my uncle into a creature with fangs.
With his free hand, Arnel pulled my hair, forcing my neck to arch, and a spark of pain shot down my spine.
Neck angled back sharply, I cried in earnest. “No, Uncle, pleasedon’t!”
“Be a good girl and drink.” He forced the vial between my lips. I tried shaking my head back and forth, tried pulling my face free. Dizziness made everything spin around me, but in the same move, Arnel tipped the vial’s entire contents into my mouth and slammed my jaw closed, holding it with his hand and magic.
Cool, flavorless liquid sat on my tongue, but I refused to swallow it. I tried to spit it out, but his grip on my jaw hadn’t lessened, and he must have felt my attempts because he left his magic to hold my jaw as he pinched my nose closed.
I couldn’t breathe.
“Swallow,” he said calmly. When I didn’t comply, my uncle pinched my nose tighter. “Swallow!” he growled.
But I didn’t.
I wouldn’t.
I shook my head back and forth, refusing to give in to him, but my vision began to darken.
My body screamed for air.
He scoffed. “Fight all you want. Your body will swallow reflexively sooner or later.”
Pinpricks of light danced across my eyes, and I knew I could only fight him for so long. He was right. Sooner or later, I would fall unconscious, and my mouth would relax, and the potion would trickle down my throat.
And my body, my damned treacherous body, seemed to understand the inevitable, because as soon as the stars in my vision increased, my lungs desperately wanting air, my throat reflexively worked even though I tried to stop it.
