Page 27 of A Bond in Blood

“Show no mercy!” a voice from the crowd yelled out, encouraging the show of depravity that I had become.

I focused my ears, trying to figure out where the voice had come from but laughed in shock and disgust when I realized people had resumed their fucking.

“I hate you all!” I screamed, hoping they would hear me over their moans.

“And we hate you,” Ulrich responded.

The next lash hit my back, harder, deeper, the blood instantly running down my skin, warming me from the cold. The pain—my head spun from it. I would have collapsed onto the ground if his shadows hadn’t held me in place.

“I hate you,” I whispered again as the next lash hit, in the same spot as before. The sound of my flesh breaking turned my stomach in knots while my eyes rolled to the back of my head.

I fell into darkness, allowing the pain to take over. Repeating my hate for him as I drifted away to the sounds of my flesh tearing, sending me right toward newfound vengeance poisoning my soul.

Chapter 7

Iwoke with my face in a soft pillow, the burn on my back somehow not as severe.

“Don’t move,” a gruff voice said beside me.

I turned my head, the stiffness in my neck making me groan. When I forced my eyes open, I found the room dark.

Fuck the Gods.

The last place I wanted to be taken after my torture was his bed. He must have been beyond sanity to believe I would have willingly stayed beside him. Near him. Following histerms.

“I said don’t move,” he repeated, shoving me back against the bed.

I bit down on the pillow from the shock of his touch, unable to hold back the tears falling from the pain.

“Why?” I asked quietly.

He was silent while his hand pulled away from me. His sigh filled the room. “Haven’t you heard of my violence, Brenna?”

I shook my head against the pillow, gripping the sheets below me. “Why?” I repeated, lost in the haze of hate, pain, and shock.

A creaking sound told me he’d leaned back on whatever chair he sat upon. “You’re going to learn,Ursa, the kind of monster I am. To have order in my court, I must rule with fear. I must punish those who deserve punishment. I must ensure my people know to never cross me.”

“I’m not one of your people,” I snapped.

“You are during the term of your service,” he replied.

I closed my eyes, burying my face in the pillow. “Please kill me,” I cried, unsure if he could hear my muffled plea.

He was silent beside me, but the air had shifted. I could only assume he’d left his spot beside me, understanding now the cold that emitted from him was due to the shadows he could recall in an instant. I strained my neck, trying to track him in the dark but yelled out in pain when the bed shifted beside me with the weight of his body.

“Get away from me!” I cried, unable to move from my spot.

His voice became low, predatory, a warning.

“Go to sleep, Brenna.”

I was too tired to fight. I was in too much pain to shift away from his body settling into the covers beside me. My tears fell against the pillow while the burn of my wounds served as a reminder of my plan.

He hadn’t done anything to deter me from my conviction to end his life. If anything, he’d solidified it. Made is stronger. Turned it into a monster of my own.

I would end his life. Even if it was the last thing I did.

My legs trembled while the quiet attendant helped me from the bed, allowing me to drape my arms over her slender shoulders. Tears lined my eyes from the pain as we walked toward thebathroom. But even more, the tears were brought on by the fear coursing through me.

---