Page 127 of A Bond in Blood

“I thought we had gotten past this battle,” he groaned. “Get up.”

I shook my head. “Please.”

“Brenna, get on your feet now.”

“I can’t!” My shoulders rose with my sobs. “I cannot do this. I cannot live this madness.”

“You’ve been living it,Ursa. For months now.”

My eyes met his and I glared. “Ihatewhen you call me that.”

To my surprise, his eyes widened with shock. “I don’t understand.”

“Stop calling me abear. Like I’m a beast you’re determined to keep caged. Stop using a pet name that claims me as an object you own.”

One nod. That’s all I received in response.

His hand reached toward me, but I flinched, turning my body away.

“I will not harm you.” His voice was soft.

“You’re a liar, Ulrich. You’re a monster. You’ve done nothing but harm me.”

“I will not harm you,” he repeated.

My tears blurred my vision, and I shook my head. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

“Do not run.”

“Lay in your bed and never look upon your face,” I muttered my rules. My spell, entrapping me in this Hel.

“Look at me, Brenna.”

My name left his lips, and I wiped away my tears.

“You have taken over, Ulrich. You have infected my mind with a dangerous poison. One I cannot rid my body of.”

He was silent but his hands trembled at his sides.

“I want to beridof this poison,” I sobbed. “I want to befree.”

“Six months,” he replied.

Two words, hitting me in the heart.

His hands reached for me again, but I stood on my own, brushing off my skirts. Heading back toward my comfortable cell. Obeying my new master.

Betraying myself and my desire to have a sliver of control.

Chapter 27

Days went in a blur. My heart grew more tormented with each passing hour. Watching the Unseelie King’s odd, hidden behaviors. Longing to know the softer side of him, while also hating everything he was and stood for.

I laid on the new couch before the library window, scribbling with my koal. Smudging the edges, blending the lines and curves together.

Lost in my hate-fueled movements with the silent room as my companion.

“Let me see.”

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