Page 38 of Taken By Touch and Torment

“Right.”

I took a deep breath, and she was the only thing I saw. Her big blue eyes, her warmth in spite of all of life’s cruelty—her long waves of brunette hair twirled around my fingers as I whispered soothing words in her ear. Her soft giggle, the second most beautiful sound I’d ever heard in my endless existence. Trumped only by her stomach-dropping voice that never failed to bring me to my knees in worship.

“He’s an illusionist,” I said. The air around us darkened.

There was a brief pause.

“Visions,” Sadie echoed.

I nodded. “He’s using them to gain support. From his band of trafficker witches, the brainwashed mortals in born districts, and of course, the born themselves. Who knows what he’s been able to make people believe. We thought he’d merely been shrouded by propaganda, but it’s far worse than that. He is making the propaganda real.”

“And it’s a gift that would naturally be glamoured, an easy asset to conceal for one’s gain,” Sadie said. “It’s impossible to tell that one’s sense of reality has been manipulated while it’s happening. Similar to a succubus or incubus’s desire magick. The spell would need to be broken, and even then, he could merely start a new illusion.”

At the mention of Scarlett’s true nature, I no longer experienced any semblance of anger, paranoia, or disgust. I only felt burning shame, deep wells of regret and self-loathing.

“Which makes our seat at the table even more imperative,” I said through a clenched jaw. “On all levels. For her. For this city, and for the whole of the realm.”

“Soon, my protégé.” Sadie closed her hand over mine, a rare show of the unspoken platonic affection between us. “It won’t be long now before she’s back by your side. And I cannot wait to meet her.”

I laughed dryly. “The thought of you two being in the same room used to terrify me,” I admitted, distracting myself from my surging intensity. Anticipation, and dare I say hope, warmed the cool winter air around us. “As much as it amused me endlessly.”

She smiled and shrugged a shoulder. “Terror is to be expected. You’re not the first man to fear leaving his woman around me unattended.”

I shook my head. A sad smile tugged on my lips. “Now, the two of you meeting is one of the strongest desires I harbor. Because that would mean I get to see her again.”

Sadie clicked her long burgundy nails against the marble and stared straight ahead. “Your desire for her outweighs your desire for Valentin.”

It was nearly a question, but not quite.

“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “I will do what’s right for them both, because there is no world without Scarlett. And Scarlett is in love with the world. I would sooner die than let anything she loves go up in flames.”

18

SCARLETT

The crowd was impossibly big and rowdy now as vampires arrived back to the palace after long days of committing atrocities in the name of Lillian. I was in an adjacent, darker space that resembled a room in Odessa’s sex dungeon, but far more archaic and colder. I glimpsed frightening tools hanging on the walls and strewn on black tables—contraptions I couldn’t be sure were for torture or sex.

Brennan lifted me like I weighed nothing and placed me against the X-shaped cross. He insisted on being the one to fasten the cuffs around my ankles and wrists.

He stripped me of my gown, and I fought the urge to cover myself. Instead, I scanned the crowd, fanning the flames of their desire as they gazed at me. I encouraged the craze, the heightened emotions, the cruelty. Then, I trained it all back on them. Each other.

Paranoia, scarcity, fear, distrust. Jealousy and possessiveness. I watched as certain vampires looked from me to their fellow psychopaths, their minds churning. Some shot glares, eyes narrowing on unsuspecting comrades.

“You’re a sensation, Scarlett,” Brennan whispered to me, his voice shielded by the din of the gathered vampires. He pulled the strap tight on my right wrist and buckled it into place. “No one has encountered a human like you in centuries, if ever.”

I nearly snorted at the astute observation. It was easy to be unlike any other human when you were a demon.

He fastened the left wrist. “Don’t think of this as a punishment—it will be bringing your vampire masters endless pleasure. It will bring me endless pleasure to see your delicious body on display.”

I wanted to take a chunk out of his arm. Instead, I filled my eyes with yearning the moment he met them.

I wish I was with you, not with all of them. I projected this thought outward, playing around with using my magick in the first person rather than his inner voice. It seemed to work similarly, Brennan’s desire now churning molten heat.

He trailed his hands down my calves as he cuffed my spread ankles.

“Keep it moving, Brennan,” a man barked. “We’re here for our evening entertainment. That entertainment does not involve you.”

I recognized him as one of the lords. Brennan gave me one last burning gaze before displaying a rakish smile and rejoining his fellow men.

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