He waved Drake over, which meant she was going whether she liked it or not. Once she was standing next to Grey and his first victim, Drake stopped and held her there.
Grey grinned. “Just watch, girl.”
He leaned his head back and revealed his fangs like a bad shot in a Dracula movie. They were glowing orange. He murmured something under his breath and then lowered his head into the crook of the woman’s neck.
The woman’s dead eyes turned to the ceiling as he bit into her flesh. She didn’t react. Quinn wondered how they could be so still under his vicious attack.
Grey drew back and licked his lips of the blood smeared over them.
Quinn leaned forward and examined the woman’s neck. There was a little bit of blood. Then just like Grey, the woman’s body seized, and her veins lit up like a Christmas tree. The lava pulsed through her blood. She collapsed to her knees, then to the floor, her chains pulling at her limbs tightly, as if they were intent on ripping her arms from their sockets.
Quinn jerked forward in Drake’s grasp and tried to help, but his grip held true. She wanted to scream and kick and fight. The woman writhed on the floor, but still she had no reaction.
“What is wrong with her?” Quinn cried.
“She’s been told to feel no pain and remain still and quiet,” Grey said nonchalantly.
She wanted to knock his nonchalant face off.
“What do you mean she’s been told?”
“Dragon Fire, love. They must do as I order. Nothing more. Nothing less. Soon you’ll be feeling the effects of it as well.”
Quinn’s eyes widened. “I’ll be what?”
“That’s right. You’ll be my little puppet. I’m going to send you to assassinate your own mate. Then I’ll only have six left in the tourmaline royal family to destroy. One by one, I will have them all, then it will be time for the rest of the dragons.”
Her breath caught in her throat as she stared down at the helpless woman he’d just infected. Or maybe she was just dying.
Quinn wondered if she should try to find a way to end her own life before she could be used like a mindless weapon. She didn’t want to hurt Henrik or anyone else.
Tabitha approached the woman on the floor and leaned down and put her fingers to the woman’s pulse. “She’s alive.”
Grey nodded. “Stand.” His order was deep and authoritative.
The woman didn’t move at first. Then, very slowly, she pushed herself up until she was standing in front of Grey.
“Excellent. How do you feel?”
“Fine, sir.”
Quinn’s lip curled in disgust.
“I’m going to release you. You will do as I instruct.”
“Yes, sir.”
Grey nodded to Tabitha. She muttered the magic words and waved her hand over the metal cuffs. They fell to the ground with a loud clang.
“Excellent. Please pick that up.” He pointed to a barrel.
The woman moved around him and went directly for the barrel. She bent her knees, wrapped her arms around it and lifted. She picked it up like it was Styrofoam.
“Throw it against the far wall.”
She did and the barrel flew through the air and hit the wall hard, exploding. Maroon liquid exploded from it. The woman who’d thrown it was barely a hundred and twenty pounds dripping wet. She waited for her next order.
“How do we get her to breathe fire?” Grey asked.