Page 183 of The Princess and Her Grand King

Only a week ago, Emeriel’s cries had been of an entirely different sort. Wails of pleasure spilled shamelessly into the night as she lay tangled in her Daemon’s arms.

Sinai did not forget how sickening it had been to listen to those revolting sounds.

But tonight, oh, tonight, it was an entirely different melody. One Sinai found far more beautiful.

She paused mid-step, closing her eyes to savor the distant, tormented sounds. A slow laugh bubbled up from her chest.

For the first time since she’d been thrown into this godforsaken pit of hell, Sinai felt truly, wholly happy.

Humming happily, she resumed her dance, spinning and twirling to the tune of her melodious screams. “Who would have thought this year’s Lantern Festival would come so early?”

***

Vladya and Ottai sat by the door until the early hours of dawn.

Emeriel’s voice had long since failed her.

Reduced to raw, broken whispers of suffering. The girl was utterly spent.

Occasionally, a tired sob would slip from her lips, but otherwise, the air was deathly quiet, though they both knew the beast within was still active.

At one point during the night, Ottai had soaked his robes with tears.

His shoulders trembled as he listened to the horrors taking place beyond the thick wooden door.

Yet neither of them had moved, their promise holding them captive in that same position. Waiting. Hoping.

Because Vladya was fully attuned to the room beyond, he caught it first. The faint, almost undetectable sound of fangs piercing flesh.

His body snapped upright, every muscle coiled and alert.

“What’s going on?” Ottai croaked, jerking awake from the shallow sleep that had finally claimed him.

“It’s coming to an end,” Vladya told him. “He is finally drinking from her.”

Ottai’s tipped ears flared, his senses sharpening as he, too, tuned in.

Vladya heard the stuttered rhythm of the beast’s strokes. Low, muffled growls in the air as Daemonikai reached his peak.

But the drinking continued, dragging on as seconds turned into agonizing minutes.

Ottai rose to his feet. “We have to go in there. He will drain her completely.”

But Vladya pressed a firm hand to Ottai’s knee. “Not until she uses the safe word. We vowed.”

“Iknowwe did,” he snapped, his teeth grinding audibly. “We have listened to hersufferthrough the entire night because of that damned promise! But Vlad, the girl isexhausted. What if she can’t say it? What if she’s too weak? Or she doesn’trememberit? What if—”

“K-Keira…”

The soft, weak cry silenced them.

Vladya and Ottai sprang to their feet at the same time, rushing for the door handle, but Vladya got it first. Holding it in a death grip, he threw open the door, with a force that rattled the hinges.

The scene that greeted them was something out of anightmare.

Daemonikai was still in his beast form, hovering over Emeriel at the far end of the room.

They were sprawled on the floor, the scent of blood and sex hanging thick in the air.

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