Page 16 of Tyrant

I look back at Vic and nod. One thing Vic likes? Fighting. He doesn’t care who it is or what the situation is.

He steps up to Lia and reaches down for her. His hands wraps around her throat. He doesn’t squeeze. This is Lia’s last fucking warning. I can’t focus on her. I can only focus on the new arrival. My claimed one.

My Serafina.

I crouch down and gently place Serafina on the ground on her back. My hand touches her left cheek. I stroke it gently.

“You have to wake up, Sera,” I say to her. “You should be terrified right now. All you need to do is listen.”

Her eyes flutter and slowly open. When she sees me, panic spreads across her face. I hold her face and press my thumb to her throat.

“Stop it,” I tell her. “You’re my claimed one. I’m yourace. Make your fucking peace with it or else this will get worse. Now get back on your knees in front of me.”

Serafina blinks and reaches for me. Her hands still shaking. When she touches my arms, she claws at me.

What the fuck…

She’s full on panicking. Not just worried or freaking out. This is a true panic attack. Her body is trying to convince her mind that she’s going to die right now.

Well, good fucking luck to that. I’m herace. Whether I like it or not, it’s now my job to keep Serafina safe. Alive. Untouched. She cannot be claimed by another. I am her one and only. She must accept me. If not, she’ll have to learn.

I hate everything about this part. I scoop Serafina up into my arms and I stand back up. Her hands touch the back of my neck. She’s shaking in my arms. A terrified little puppy.

I could take my mask off right now. Let her see that I’m human under it.Fuck that.I’m going to savor her fear. I’m going to manipulate and twist her fear into nothing but pure lust. It’s my job.

It’s my fucking punishment.

She seemslike the type that enjoys books. I take her to one of the many libraries throughoutSinners Academy. There are books on the shelves around here that are older than old and worth more than people can possibly imagine. Ancient texts. Books that contains truths that would feed into societal conspiracy theories. Or debunk them and cause chaos.

The library is small, semi-dark, and smells of old wood and old paper. There’s a row of desks, each with that cliché emerald-green bankers light.

Nobody is in here. That’s good. I sit Serafina down on the third desk and I cup her face in my hands.

“Take a deep fucking breath, Sera,” I order her. “If you pass out again I’m calling for medical. And if you need medical attention, I will be by your side the entire time. Whether you like it or not.”

She nods. Her lips quiver. She’s thirsty.

In the far corner of the library near the door there’s a water cooler. I leave my claimed one on the desk, where she grips the edge with force. I get her some water and return to the desk. She stares at me.

“Oh, fuck,” I growl.

I have to feed her the fucking water. I’m going to do it my way. I grab her throat—not hard… not yet—and I tilt her head back a little. Then I slowly offer her some water, which she drinks. Life appears to snap back into her eyes and she finally takes the cup from me and drinks.

I step away from her and lean against the desk behind me. I fold my arms.

“You know, this was supposed to be a quick ordeal,” I say to her. “I’m on mile three of my normal ten mile run. You’ve fucked that up.”

“Were you one of… them? From last night?”

I shake my head. “Unfortunately, no. I was out handling business. Want to know what business that was?”

“Sure,” Serafina says, her voice with a tiny bit more confidence now.

I’m going to shatter that confidence with my next statement.

“I murdered two people last night,” I say.

Serafina drops the cup of water. There’s not much left in it but the water that does hit her, it’s perfectly placed between her legs. A tiny wet spot. It makes me smile under my mask.

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