As if reading my thoughts, he whispers against my lips, his voice tight, “Drink from me, Princess. Please.”
He kisses my neck and, by doing so, exposes his. I’m salivating before I lick a throbbing vein. Karl shudders and fucks me faster than before. I sink my fangs into his skin and come once again the moment his sweet nectar fills my mouth. Karl groans louder as a force ripples between us, pulling us together, turning us into one. He climaxes with a shudder, filling me in more ways than one. I stop feeding before I take too much and lick the incisions to help them heal faster.
Karl’s eyes are glowing a wolfish yellow as he peers into mine. Then he drops his gaze to my lips and slows his pace.I’m the one who kisses him this time, framing his face with my hands. There’s so much I want to convey in that kiss, things that words can’t describe.
He pulls back and says, “Nothing will tear us apart again, my love. You have my vow.”
“And you have mine. I will never letanyonecome between us again, Karl. Never.”
A strange magic wraps around us both, and I know instinctively that our words are binding, our vow…unbreakable.
Twenty-Five
RONAN
ELLNESARI, PRESENT DAY
Fury courses through me as I watch Cheryl being taken away, unconscious. I’ve failed her once again, and it’s tearing me apart. What good was all my relentless training when I can’t save the love of my life?
“Where are you taking her?” I ask through clenched teeth as I fight to break my bindings.
Two guards lift me off the floor, maintaining a tight hold on my arms. I keep struggling. I’m not about to make things easier for these fuckers.
The old Nightingale male is unfazed as he walks over, more curious than anything. “I sense a connection between you and the wolf shifter female, but I can’t figure out what it is.”
“They must be lovers,” the female Nightingale says.
“Yes, that’s for certain. They are in love with each other too—any blind fool can see that. But there’s more, isn’t there, my precious warrior?”
I clamp my jaw shut. I’m not about to reveal that I’m Cheryl’s sire. They’ll use that information against us, I’m sure.
He smirks. “Fine. Keep your secrets… for now. You aren’t going anywhere, and I have all the time in the world.”
I laugh in derision. “I wouldn’t bet on it. It looks like you have a foot in the grave already.”
His pale gray eyes flash with annoyance. I’ve hit a sore spot. Something is seriously wrong with this male. I’ve never met a Nightingale who showed advanced signs of aging before.
“Take him to the pit,” he commands.
The female’s eyes widen. “Papa, are you sure? He hasn’t fed or rested yet.”
“Yes, I’m sure. I want to see how he fares when he’s not at full strength.”
“What if he’s too weak?”
The male shrugs. “If he dies, he dies.”
The guards drag me in the opposite direction Cheryl was taken. It’s a minor consolation. She has to be in a better place than where I’m going. Whatever awaits me in the pit is awful; I know it in my bones. The hallway slopes downward and darkens as we progress. With each step I take, the air becomes heavier and more humid. The cloying smell of mold makes my nose itch. We’re near a port, which makes me wonder if this part of the building is underwater.
The hallway ends in front of an iron gate, secured by a rudimentary padlock. Whoever these Nightingales are, they aren’t royal and most likely don’t possess the same abilities I’ve come to associate with this race.
But how in the world were they able to cross into the human lands when all the portals have been sealed? And what were they doing there?
One of the Nightingales unlocks the padlock, and once the gate is open, he shoves me forward into a proverbial pit the size of a tennis court. The overwhelming scent of blood reaches me at once—new and old. A smell this strong I should have been ableto pick up back in the hallway, which means it’s been concealed on purpose. The floor is dark gray polished stone, and yet I see bloodstains no one bothered to clean properly. Stone brick walls surrounded me, and fifteen feet above the ground, there’s a metal mesh covering the entire area—a precaution to protect observers standing on the balcony that wraps around the pit.
The gate shuts behind me and locks once more. An ordinary padlock I could break, but I have a feeling this one isn’t ordinary. I search for other ways to escape. I’d have to break the mesh above me, or try the solid metal door on the other side of the pit. My instincts tell me I don’t want to go there.
A roar sounds from within, sending goose bumps all over my skin. My stomach tightens as my body tenses. An uncontrollable fear sweeps over me, trying to render me useless. I have to use all my mental strength to fight the unnatural emotion. I know now what stands on the other side of that door, and what that decaying Nightingale son of a bitch wants from me. This is a test.
