Page 56 of Eternal Captive

He let out a booming laugh.

“Yeah?” he asked, leaning forward with a shit-eating grin. “How about finishing our blood bond? Is that crossing the line enough for you? You even brought a witness.”

I prayed that my heart wouldn’t give me away.Blood bond?He had mentioned it since the first day he arrived at the palace, but the princess wouldn’t actually go through with it…would she?

That’s not why we’re here, or is it?

That would make my job that much more difficult. A blood bond between vampires was ritualistic and intertwined them for the rest of eternity. They would be able to feel each other; more importantly, he would feel it if she died.

But more than that, the princess obviously didn’t want to create a blood bond. I could see it on her face. The hatred that I thought was reserved only for me was starting to make an appearance on her face.

She wasn’t pretending in front of him. Maybe that’s why he had the nerve to tangle his hand in her hair and force her head to the side, baring her neck to him. She let out a pained groan.

Why does the image of her like this make me angry?I should be happy the spoiled princess was getting what was coming to her.

“You and I both know that’s not fucking happening,” she growled at him. “Take what you want and stop causing trouble.”

“You think this is causing trouble?” he asked, a laugh falling from his lips.

A stray feeder let out a groan as they turned over on the hard floor. None of us turned to them.

“I think you’re scared you can’t control me,” she gibed. “I think you want to get back at me for holding my power over you. I think that you’re pissed your daddy forced you into this marriage only to take the prize for himself. That’s why you’remaking up shit. Telling my stepmother that I haven’t beenpleasingyou. You’rescared.”

She spat out the word “pleasing” like it was a curse.

“I can count the number of times on one hand that you’ve been to see me,” he said. “Each time refusing my blood bond.”

“Don’t make me laugh,” she hissed. “In the short time you’ve been here, you drank from me five times. Drained me until I was weak. So don’t lie to her and tell her I haven’t been to see you.”

My blood ran cold. Vampires, especially the rich and powerful, would do anything to assert control. That’s why the hierarchy between clans and families existed. Why those at the top forced their followers into a bond they could never escape.

I’d known that, known it my entire life. I’d seen them all, and the prince barely scratched the surface of the worst ones out there.

There was just something so despicable about the way he treated her. But that was not what angered me. What angered me was that she refused to fight back. I knew she could. I had experienced it. I knew she could at least teach him some kind of lesson.

So why is she hesitating?

The more I watched them, the more it angered me. I didn’t like how he handled her. Didn’t like how his response was simply to smile at her before viciously digging his fangs into her neck. It was a gruesome attack. He sliced open her neck, letting his teeth rip into the flesh without a care for what might happen to her.

And then that bastard pulled away. He looked at her with her blood streaming down his mouth and neck and let out a chuckle.

“How does it feel, my love?” he asked. The way his voice took on a fake sweetness caused my skin to crawl. My hand had already shifted to my sword. I was ready to slice his chest open.

Princess Aurelia just sat there. Her eyes narrowed at him. The wound on her neck was healing, but not fast enough.

She fed on me too long ago. Has she had nothing since then?The blood cubes didn’t count. They probably wouldn’t have been able to sustain her if needed. Or maybe the wound was too deep. Blood poured out of it, streaming down her neck and soaking her dress.

“Fucking peachy,” she muttered.

Her response did not amuse him. He leaned forward once more and drove his teeth back into her neck. He wasn’t in the same spot, nor did he leave his fangs in long enough for her to get the venom.

He is hurting her on purpose.Something shifted inside me, the weight in my chest becoming painful. My fingers twitched, just begging to grab hold of the sword on my back.

“A reminder to be gentle to Princess Aurelia,” I said through gritted teeth. “While you may be her intended, her father would not like her body battered and bruised before the ball this weekend.”

This was not the intervention she wanted or the one that I had planned. I don’t know how the words forced themselves from my head to the back of my throat, just begging to get out…but I couldn’t stop them.

His eyes darted to me before he ripped his fangs from her neck.

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