Page 16 of Unhallowed

No.

“Kill—” I say and he pulls down his robe, a smirk playing on his lips.

“Mea est nunc.” he announces, loud enough for the entire cult to hear. “I claim her.” His painted face is smug and possessive all at once. As if challenging anyone to say otherwise.

“You can’t.” I shake my head rapidly, as if that will convince him to retract his words. As if that will stop him from making this mistake. Draven will kill him and me. He will be devastated.Iwill be devastated. No, I cannot marry this stranger. I willnot. “I don’t want to. I wantDraven.”

Killian gets closer, his lips flush to my ear, and my lashes flutter slightly as I breathe in his vanilla and leather scent. “I don’t give a fuck what you want, Angel. As far as I’m concerned, all that matters is thatIwantyou.”

“Please—” I look at his skeleton painted face as he pulls back—a match to mine. And as he opens his robe and drops it to the ground behind him, I notice he’s naked underneath, blood painted all over his torso, an upside-down cross dangling from his neck.

“Athame,”Duxsays impatiently. “Knife.”

I look down as Killian picks up the knife, his fingers around the beautiful crystal-encrusted hilt, and angles it toward me. Is he going to fucking kill me? And why is his dick hard?

My eyes meet his for a brief second and then back down at the three bars going through the underside of it. Is he…pierced? I meet his eyes again and he smiles smugly, looking down at himself and then back at me. My face heats as my gaze snatches on him again, unable to tear it away from him in something close to fascination. God, I need to get out more. I need to see the world. I can’t be amazed by something as trivial as that.

“Hold your hand up, Angel,”Duxsays, and I do. “It’s time to vow loyalty to your husband.”

Loyalty.

What an odd word to choose for a betrayal. Clearly, he knows Draven is supposed to be here instead, and he’s doing nothing about it. Where the fuck is he, anyway? Did he lie to me all along? Is this some kind of sick joke? Surely not, though. I’m kneeling in the blood of twelve fucking virgins. But I have no choice. Something tells me if I don’t go through with this I will be killed, just like all these other girls will be. That much I do know.

Either way, I take a deep breath and wait for him to speak with my hand held up. I look around though, searching for Draven in the crowd, but come up empty-handed.

My eyes meet Killian’s once more.

“Repeat after me,”Duxbegins, his voice booming again, and I do, taking my vows. If only because I don’t want to die tonight.

“I vow,” my voice shakes in a moment of weakness, which I’m sure will only be followed by more, “to bind myself to you, from now until my death, and even after yours.”

Killian slices across my palm, grabbing my hand and squeezing it until blood pours into a chalice. It stings and burns, and I gasp when he grips it tighter as he makes the blood flow faster. There’s so much of it. Then he does the same to his, slicing across his palm and pouring his blood into a different chalice.

“With this blood,” he dips two fingers into his chalice and runs them from my forehead to my cupid’s bow, then from one cheek and over my lips to the other, forming an upside down cross on my face. “I anoint you and bind you unto me, blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh, until we join the gates of the eternal fire.”

I freeze again as he holds up his chalice up for me to take, and he grabs mine with his other hand. He shoves it toward my left hand and tangles his arm with mine until my chalice is raised to his lips.

“Drink!” he commands, his voice rising. “And let us seal this bond between us.”

Because I have no fucking choice, I raise the chalice to my lips and chug the thick metallic liquid until there’s nothing left. I feel the stickiness of it dripping down my chin and onto my chest, and he drinks as well. I watch his throat roll as he watches me, and when my eyes find his again, the sapphire blue of his captivates me for a long moment before I force myself to look away. He sets his chalice down and so do I, then I stay still because I don’t know what happens next. Killian grabs both my hands, smearing my blood with his, and thenDuxspeaks again.

“Vinculum signatum,” he says, pride in his voice. “The bond is sealed,” he clarifies for me. “And loyalty above all.”

A man in a robe enters the circle, a brand in hand, and I tense. Is that…for me? Draven warned me this would happen, but knowing it and living it are two completely different things. I keep searching the crowd for him, as my body begins to vibrate. I’m shaking so hard my teeth chatter. But I look back at Killian and he looks so fucking…relaxed. Like this is just another day at work.

Calmly, the man steps up to me and stops right in front, kneeling and holding out the brand. “Give me your right hand.”

I shake my head and Killian—myhusbandnow—grabs my hand forcefully and grips it hard. A hot, blinding, searing pain flashes through my body as the brand connects with my hand, and I scream. Faintly, I hear everyone chanting “vinculum signatum” and I scream again.

“It’s okay.” Killian shushes me and lets go of my wrist as the robed man pulls back. “You’re alright.”

“No,” I growl. “I’m not.”

“It’s not over yet,wife.”

“Don’t call me that—”

“Be quiet, brat.” He shushes me again. “This is not the time.” He looks down at my hand, the one with the slash, and grabs it. Directing it to his body, he wraps it around his hard dick. “Grab my cock, little demon. I want your blood all over it.”

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