Page 178 of A Bond in Blood

“Do you want to know what’s behind this door?” he asked, not meeting my gaze.

My heart tightened and I moved to shove away, but his hands on my hips pressed me back against the wood.

“Answer me,” he demanded.

“No,” I admitted. “No, Ulrich, I don’t.”

“YouthinkI am not a monster,” he breathed out. “IthinkI should prove you wrong.”

The room grew cold, and Ulrich’s shadows appeared behind him, trailing up the walls like a poison leaching from the stone of the palace.

“Ulrich,” I begged.

“This door only opens with my blood,” he continued, removing a hand from my hip. My eyes went wide when a tendril of shadows sliced across his wrist and his black blood trailed from the wound.

“Ulrich.” I tugged on his shirt again, but was stopped by the shadows. The cold bite of them slammed my arms to my side, preventing me from being able to fight.

“Ithinkyou want to know what’s in this room,” he whispered. “Ithinkyou want to see thehorrorsI have locked away.” His bloodied wrist lifted, and he slammed it above my head. The sound was deafening with only the two of us standing in the quiet hallway.

I suddenly regretted each choice I had made that led me to this moment.

“I don’t,” I replied.

Click.

The door under me shifted slightly with his blood seeping into the surface. His shadows moved to my face, pulling me toward him while the red-flame candles began to dim.

“I cannot let you see, but I can let youfeel.I can subject you to all that makes me,me.”

He shoved my shoulders, sending me stumbling through the door and in the room. His shadows stayed around me, blocking my vision.

I was sure my blood had frozen in my veins. My tears fell without my control while I tried to see through his darkness. But I could not, and I could not ignore the overwhelming evil of the room he’d forced me into.

It was awful.

My chest grew tight, and the heavy air of the room filled my lungs.

The sorrow. The hate. The pain.

So. Much. Pain.

Death—Gods—death permeated this space. Infiltrating the air.

“Please,” I cried, falling to my knees. “Please stop.”

His hand lifted my chin, and I gasped, not realizing he had been so close.

“Feel it all, Brenna. Every part of what makes me the monster you have branded me as.”

“Ulrich, please,” I begged.

“Enjoy your cell,” he whispered, running his finger across my cheek.

“What did I do wrong?” I sobbed.

He was silent, unrelenting, and as much of the beast he loved to be.

I stood, yelling out my fear in the dark as the door slammed shut. “I hate you!” I screamed louder. “I hate you!”

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