Page 25 of Taken By Touch and Torment

“Gladly,” Brennan said with a dark chuckle.

Leashed to Durian and on my knees, strong hands yanked me to my right. Platters of food lurched to the side, and a chalice toppled. The scent of copper filled the air.

“Your pet has made a mess,” Brennan said, tearing through the last of my lacy black dignity as I swallowed down a sob.

“Perhaps a group punishment is in order,” Durian murmured. “Then we could send an update across the border to Rune telling him what has become of his poor little human.”

I was thrown back to the center of the table, my right leg covered in someone else’s blood from the spilled cup.

I lay on my back, now fully naked, and I did everything in my power to clear my mind. I was out of time. I had one last chance to escape this.

“What a pristine little creature,” a man said to my right.

“Her blood smells divine,” another said. “I fear she won’t have nearly enough for all of us to take what we want.”

Cruel laughter and more crude remarks about my body filled the space.

I thought of Rosalind—how easy it was for her to spin her web at will. I remembered all the times I’d been able to match her skill without even trying, before I’d become uselessly fearful and blocked. All of those simultaneous games of chess in Noel’s and then at Odessa, bending men to my will.

“No, she won’t,” Durian agreed. “Her blood is better than the finest elixir. And it’s all mine.”

I pretended the stakes were lower. Like I was merely working a room for tips, safe and protected by Odessa’s bouncers. This time, when I spoke to Durian’s mind, I erased the desperation and the fear. I painted my reality, and I charged my words with magick.

This was my world, and these men were merely side characters in my story.

What did Durian want? I’d been studying him, soaking in his expressions, his patterns, all the bits of his mind he’d inadvertently revealed.

I stepped into his mental field, and I held the reins of his desires with a loose, confident grip.

These men want to take as much as they can from you. You are right to be paranoid. They want what you have. Don’t let them have it, I whispered to his psyche.

Durian paused. All men looked to him for direction. I pulled from their hunger. They were the ones who were desperate. They were the ones out of control, their minds ruled by fleeting whims and hedonistic impulses.

I took a deep breath. I slowed my heart.

I was the puppet master here.

You want to show them you hold all the power. They don’t get to play with your toys. If they touch your pet, they’ll respect you less. She will lose her purity and her value. And what if this is what she wanted all along? She’s a dumb human in search of pleasure and touch. You want to deny her. You want to break her.

You want to remain strong and in control of everyone in this room, everyone in this realm. You aren’t like them. You’re above all the rest.

You want to preserve that.

That’s what you truly desire.

My leash pulled tighter. I remained still, calm. I removed all of my visible fear, playing into Durian’s paranoia that I wanted him to share me.

After an agonizing pause, he finally spoke.

“Did you really think I would share my pet with all of you?” Durian asked, a note of disgust in his voice. “This innocent lamb of Helia, gifted to the future ruler of all born vampires?” He stared at me angrily as he looped my leash around his wrist.

All. He’d said all. My ears perked up at his admission of treason. Pleasurable tingles erupted on my skin as my field of influence radiated from my aura outward.

Magick. I was using my magick. And it was divine.

It was as though my brain had rebooted after days of numbness, thoughtlessness. I was listening again. I was processing. Remembering.

What would King Earle think of Durian’s traitorous declarations?

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