The two wardens forced James onto Leticia’s chamber bed, the soft feathered mattress dipping and puffing under his weight. They anchored the metal links curling around his neck to a steel hook in the wall, just above the headboard, then removed the chains from his ankle and wrists—only to cuff him to the bedposts. Leticia had brought slaves here before, Grace realized. The posts were damaged, the intense grooves evidence of their hostility. A lot of friction. How many times had James undergone this sort of indignity with the mistress? At least he didn’t try and bite the wardens, and they didn’t try to harm him, and Grace didn’t have to side with a “slave,” fueling suspicion. Already she felt as if she had a neon sign blinking over her head: Fake SorcerersThank God, Levy hadn’t realized the truth. And wasn’t the other mistress a shocker? Short, squat, and foaming-at-the-mouth-rabies mean. Awfully. If the Wicked Witch of the West had sex with Mr. Bean and John Cena, and the two of the
Such sweet, intoxicating words, all the more powerful because she couldn’t denounce him for only desiring what was available. Levy, too, had wanted him in a terrible, terrible way, but he hadn’t wanted the ugly mistress at all. So, logically, Grace had to understand that he was as enticed by her as she was to him. Alright, logically. And not just because she was throbbing and desperately wanted it to be true.James could simply be attempting to soften her up. Right? Maybe? Maybe not? Who knows?Oh, great. The alarming thought pushed its way from an awful spot inside her. A spot that never wanted her to be comfortable. A spot that felt she didn’t deserve to be optimistic. They’d been butting heads for months; more and more, she won the battles. Today, she might not."If I hurt you, you would not help me," he explained in a polished tone. "I want you to help me, Grace, and I am not a stupid man."No, he was a sexy one. So delectable."You’re a vicious man. I k-know you are.""Yes."His
One half of Grace trembled in delight, the other half shivered in concern. The vampires in her doctor friend’s lab had fed from bags of plasma. She’d never been bitten either. Had never wanted to be bitten. Until now. If anyone could make her appreciate something like that, it was this man. This vampire, this predator, "I’ll think about it. Now let’s backtrack a little. If you can make anyone look like the mistress, why did you conjure me specifically?" She asked. Why put her in such danger? Not that he’d completely wanted her, and her alone. She remembered his revulsion when he’d learned she was merely a mortal, recalled his shock. "I asked before, but you never answered." James leaned toward her, forcing her fingers to press into his skin. A quiet command—and an unrelinquishing demand—for contact. "I did not conjure you specifically." She’d realized that as she’d spoken, but hearing him ascertain it saddened her. She had to stay on a comparable footing with him, and even though he
Grace never wailed, never even gasped as the whip flayed her soft, delicate skin.James was shackled to Leticia’s bed. He hadn’t marked Grace as he’d wished, but he was somehow attuned to her in a way he challenged he had ever been attuned to another. He should not have been able to concentrate on her, particularly since he’d been battling a burning desire for her—her body, her blood, her everything, and all other thoughts had become dazed and trivial in comparison.Now, he felt the wrath. He was furious. There was so much resentment, and every bit of it was leveled at the wardens.They had hauled Grace along the elegant hallway filled with paintings of the master sorcerer and the mistress and their daughters, down the winding stairs with dim velvet carpeting, and to the outrageous banqueting room. Though Grace was no longer in the chamber, James saw her still. As if their psyches were somehow connected. She fought the entire way. Only when they bent her over the dining table, her fac
The wardens had touched her, damaging Grace. They would perish. Badly. By the time James finished with them, they would possibly thank him for killing them. All he had to do was free himself. And he would. Nothing would halt him. Not now, not anymore. "Soon" had at last appeared. Being a pureblood ancient vampire, as Grace had called him, was not going to aid him; James admitted that now. Still, his eagerness intensified, stirring with the scorn, the burn of that possessiveness. He would reach her by grit alone; he would protect her. No matter what he had to do. His gaze wandered to the wrist cuffs and dwindled. Without his thumbs, his hands would slide right through. He didn’t have to think about it. Goodbye, thumbs. Biting his tongue against the anguish he knew was to come, he banged his hands, thumbs out, into the headboard. Crunch. The bones broke with that very first punch. He sucked in a breath, but, like Grace, he did not mumble a sound. Punch, punch. Each new hit caused ev
They paid Grace no heed. One of the guards headed toward the entryway, where other guards were pouring inside to escape the beast, but he didn’t make it outside the room. Not alive. There was a blur of movement, then blood was squirting, a headless body falling. From the corner of her eye, Grace spotted James. He was a mess, covered in blood, limping, his arms hanging at his sides. His fangs were bared in a fearsome, crimson scowl, and she knew. He was the animal. Thank God. Some of the tension drained from Grace. Somehow, some way, he’d managed to escape. His plan to destroy the people who lived inside this palace was well under way. Before, she’d thought there would be survivors. Now, not so much. James barreled into another guard, his shoulder slamming into the man’s middle and knocking him backward. The guard propelled into another, the one with the whip. The two fell to the floor. James slashed into the whipper’s neck and shook, a demon with his first meal in months. Screams…
They traveled for hours—or so it seemed—though they never managed to exit the forest. James suspected they were going in circles, his doom in the center. Just when he would think they’d made progress, he would spy the glittering palace rooftop. A rooftop of the fortress was famous for, the shingles consisted only of slaves tears. No matter what he tried, he could not alter his path. Fail. The word the mother sorceress had used. Go ahead. Try. Fail. The bitch had used her magic on him as promised, James' realized. But what spell had she used? Unless he figured it out, he could not fight its power. Even as the question and answer formed in his mind, a sharp lance of pain jetted through him. He gnashed his teeth. At least the guards never caught his trail. Even when the magical shield around him evaporated in a puff of smoke. Magic he wasn’t sure how he’d wielded. He knew only that the mother sorceress had constructed a shield of her own, and he had instantly known how to do the same.
Such a strong reaction, when she’d had no cause to worry. And yet, that worry pleased him. James liked her concern. Liked what it meant. Already Grace cared. This mortal cared. “I’ve been thinking,” she said, nibbling on her bottom lip. James stomach clenched at the sight of her teeth, doing what he wanted to do. “Something you enjoy.” He placed his throbbing hands over hers, preventing her from drawing away. “Yes, well.” Grace tongue emerged, swiping where she’d bitten. “We’ve been going in circles, which means Levy her mother told the truth. You are cursed to remain in Nork.” The sight of her tongue did far more damage to his control than the sight of her teeth. How easy it would be to lean down, lick, sample, savor. Not until she heals. Another reminder. Also, not until she begs. You promised. “I know,” he said more harshly than he’d intended. “Oh.” Her nose scrunched adorably, easing the sting of his self-directed anger. “Well, you could have told me. I’ve worried, expecting