A dull ache began in the spot where the man had inserted his teeth, and it grew gradually by every minute until it had become a searing agonizing pain that clawed at my mind and at my body. Whimpering, I tried to free myself, only to be held steady.
"You aren't going anywhere." Came the man's voice from all around as the pain intensified.
Letting out a scream, I felt myself become completely overcome by what could only be described as burning. It felt like I was being burned alive before it all stopped, and I was left floating in a dark abyss.
Looking around, I tried to figure out exactly where I was. There seemed to be no signs of life and no light to be found. I couldn't even see my hand as I lifted it directly in front of my face. If I didn't know any better, I would think that I had died and this was what came after.
As I tried to figure out what exactly was going on, a small shuffling and then a grunt drew my attention. Whirling, I tried to find the cause of the noise but came up shorthanded.
Around me, I could hear the shuffling and grunting growing louder as a voice began to let out unrecognizable words. It seemed that it was looking for something but wasn't able to find it, and that was making its frustrations grow. I didn't quite know how I knew that was what was going on, but I could just feel it as if I myself were the one experiencing it. Odd.
"Why..." a deep voice rumbled as I began to feel like I was suffocating. "Why is there nothing?" The voice sounded on the edge of snapping as it spoke.
Opening my mouth, I attempted to speak, only to have the voice give a bellowing growl of rage at not being able to discover what it wanted.
With a jerk, I was falling and then crashing against something hard and cold. In my chest, my heart was pounding rapidly as a cold sweat sprung up on my skin. It seemed that I was back in my body once more.
Opening my eyes, I stared into anger-filled red eyes that looked hungry for blood.
"How is it you have no memories?" The man demanded, grabbing me by my shoulders. "What kind of trick is this?"
"I told you." I chuckled, locking my gaze with his. "I can't remember anything, not even my own name. You should learn to trust people more."
The man narrowed his gaze at me as his huner-filled eyes drfited from my face down my body, stopping moentarily to take in my heaving breasts, and then continued up before resting on the spot on my neck where my jugular would be located.
"Should I just kill you then?" He mused as a sinister smile began forming on his face. "It isn't like you are useful to me anyway."
Was this man really talking about killing me right in front of my face? And he was even doing it with a smile.
"Can't you just let me go?" I asked slowly, even though it sounded absolutely ridiculous to me. "It isn't like I'm a threat to you."
The man smirked, "You snuck into the bedroom of a royal and expect to be let free? Most would be beheaded on the spot; I gave you a curtesy by allowing you to live this long."
The bedroom of a royal? Was this man saying that he was royalty? What the hell had I woken up to? What kind of place was this, exactly?
"How about we make a deal?" I tried, as fear of being killed right here and now began to squeeze at my heart.
"A deal?" The man asked, lifting an eyebrow. "Why would I possibly make a deal with a pathetic human?"
"Because I can be useful to you." I tried forcing a smile. "Since I'm a human, doesn't that mean that I can pretend to be part of your enemy and sneak in and get information for you?"
It was probably an absolutely ridiculous idea, but I wanted to live, dammit!
"What makes you think I need you to do anything for me?" He asked with a chuckle. It seemed he wasn't going to give in so easily.
"Because it could help you get the upper hand." I pointed out. "Or, I could become your servant. I could cook, clean, and do the laundry, and I could be a blood source for you since I'm human. I'm like a walking blood bag at your disposal."
I realized that I had begun to ramble, but my nerves were getting the best of me, and I was pulling everything out of my ass as I went. I didn't want to die, and I needed this guy to agree to keep me alive under some deal or another.
"Blood source?" He asked as amusement began to light his face. "Are you openly asking me to drink your blood? Did you enjoy it that much?"
No, I didn't enjoy it; it was extremely painful, but I wasn't ready to die yet!
"Sure, yeah, I enjoyed it." I said quickly, trying not to grimace.
Tilting his head back, the man gave a loud laugh that filled the room around us.
"You're quite amusing, human." He said, fixing his red gaze on me once more. "Fine, I will give you a chance to prove your worth."
"Really?" I asked, beginning to perk up. "What do you want me to do?"
The man allowed a broad smile to form on his face before his eyes traveled down to my breasts again, and his eyes grew darker.
"I will keep you alive, but in return, you are going to be my slave." He said slowly. "And as my slave, your first order is to please me."
Please him? Did he just say please? Was I misinterpreting his words here?
"Please you?" I repeated, trying to keep my voice from cracking. "What do you mean exactly?"
"Are you really questioning my order after you tried so hard to convince me to make a deal?" The man asked, sitting on his bed. Resting one leg on top of the other, he watched me with a bemused expression, waiting for me to decide what I was going to do.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm my racing heart as I realized exactly what it was that he wanted from me. Fixing my eyes with his, I grabbed the hem of my shirt, ready to begin trying to save my ass.
That evening, in the dead of night, Tristan appeared, escorting a single Griffin. He seemed slightly nervous, and I wondered just how much danger he was putting himself in to help us."Are you sure this is okay?" Elias asked as he took the creature's reigns from him. "Won't they notice one is missing?""I have a plan." Tristan smirked."Okay," Elias murmured, holding out a hand. "Thank you for all your help, my friend.""Anytime." Tristan beamed. "Just try to stay out of trouble, got it?""Sure." Elias chuckled.I could feel tears beginning to prick at my eyes from the warm send-off between the two men. I couldn't explain it, but to see Elias having someone on the other side that has his back made me feel a little more at peace with the fact I could leave him at any moment."I'll see you when I see you, then." Tristan announced taking a step back. "Hopefully next time will be under better circumstances.""We can only hope." Elias agreed.With that, he turned and grabbed my waist. A sma
For the next few days, Elias and I laid low in the cabin that Tristan provided for us. Each morning, he would bring us food and a change of clothes and then disappear for the rest of the day, leaving us to our own devices. It was a good time for us to grow closer—much closer. It was also a good time for me to tell him a bit more about my past than I now remembered, starting from when I was born to the time I was murdered.I knew that it pained Elias to hear these things, but he listened quietly and didn't ask many questions. Likewise, he told me more about his past, like the time before the curse. Back when he was a happy young boy, the king wasn't so strict and smiled more. It looked like we were a pair of ruined souls that somehow managed to find each other despite the difference in universes and time."You awake?" Elias murmured on the morning of the third day.I was, but I was still thinking about everything, including the fact that I hadn't told him that I was slowly dying. As tim
"Listen." I said, slowly sucking in a breath. "I know maybe this sounds ridiculous, and honestly, it could be highly offensive towards you.""Offensive?" Elias repeated, lifting a brow. "What exactly is going through that head of yours?""I can't help but wonder if it is me that you care for or my blood." I said quietly, feeling the blood begin to rush to my face.There, I expressed my biggest worry. It was now out in the universe, and I couldn't take it back. I could only hope that I wasn't ruining the moment entirely, but before we proceeded, I had to know.Lifting my eyes, I met Elias' unreadable gaze and found myself wishing that I could read his thoughts. I wanted to know what he thought. I wanted to know how he felt about what I had just confessed to him."You think..." He said slowly, clearly trying to get his thoughts together. "That I would possibly mistake my feelings for you for an addiction to your blood?"Flinching, I realized just how bad what I had said sounded. Of cours
I felt a shiver rush through me at Elias' sweet words and tender touch. It was definitely going to take a lot for me to get used to him being like this."I think I will go find a healer." Tristan said slowly, drawing my attention to him."You don't have to." I said, quickly blushing ferociously. "I'm really okay."I was okay, truly. However, I wasn't going to be okay. I had almost forgotten what I had been told about slowly dying. That meant that eventually I would start to show signs of the end, and I wasn't sure how Elias would take it."What's wrong?" The man in question asked, immediately catching on to my discomfort. "Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?""I'm fine." I assured him, plastering on a fake smile. "I just want to be able to go back to Allsbrook."For now, I simply wanted to go back to the place that had become my home and spend the rest of the time I had left with Elias. I didn't want to have to worry about a major battle or about having to kill someone."Soon," Elias s
The room around me grew quiet as my words sank in. We were in for quite a fight with the fake Vladimier. I knew from experience how nasty and terrifying he could be when he wanted something. What the hell was he even planning?"Tell me how the original curse was cast." Elias spoke, causing shock to roll through my body. "That way, we know what we are up against.""A life." I whispered, shivering. "In order to cast the curse, a life must be sacrificed.""A life?" He hissed, seeming unable to quite believe what he had just heard. "If that's the case, then who..."The rest of his question never managed to escape, as realization began to show in his eyes, followed by a horror that left me feeling happy and sad at the same time."You're saying..." He managed as his face paled. "That bastard."I could feel Elias' aura beginning to seep off of him as his anger at Vladimier's method of cursing his land sank in."You need to calm down." I murmured, reaching out a hand and touching his arm. "We'
Elias held me while I cried, not speaking a single word. Instead, he just made comforting noises while his hand rubbed soothing circles against my back. I knew that I didn't deserve this kindness that he was giving me, but I couldn't bring myself to try to pull away from it. After days of being with Vladimier and dealing with conflicting emotions at all times, it was just too wonderful to be in the arms of the man that I truly loved."I know you're upset, and now isn't the time to be asking this," Elias began, finally breaking his silence. "You mentioned that you were used to cast the curse."Tensing I began to realize exactly what it was that he wanted to know. He wanted to know if there was a way to break the curse since I knew how to cast it. Of course, I knew how to break the curse, but there was only one way to do it. To break the curse, I would have to repeat what happened to cast it."There is a way to lift it." I responded slowly while sitting up enough to wipe tears from my fa