Page 81 of Eternal Captive

Because then there would be nothing holding me back. Nothing I said would mean shit in the morning. There was something powerful pulling at my chest. Something begging me to just let the words out. To spill to the person who once dared to consider ending my life.

How pitiful is this?That the last person on earth I should feel safe with provided me the greatest comfort?

“Make someonerecognizeme.Seeme.”

More silence. The sound of the wind traveled around us, weaving through the roses and sending some petals flying through the air.

“You’re seen,” she noted, her tone softer than before. “All day, every day, by the vampires in your family. They adore you.”

I let out a sigh and sank back into the tree. The sharp bark digging into my body felt more like a hug than an attack. The alcohol-infused blood was running through my system, relaxing my muscles once again.

It paired well with the hopelessness.

“They adore my mother,” I said. “Not me. I want them to loveme. To move families forme. Not because of their loyalty to my mother, and certainly not because Icas has offered them money, or houses, or even decided to declare war on the fucking witches.”

She sucked in a sharp breath.

“War with the witches?” she echoed, the same horror that I once felt shooting through my chest in her voice.

“That’s what I meant when I saiddealing. What did you think I meant?” I said, leaning back into her, letting my fingers brush across the stitches of her uniform.

“I don’t know,” she whispered after a moment. “Something—anything—but that. Vampires should know better. It won’t be a war, it will be?—”

“A massacre,” I finished for her, a bitter smile spreading across my face. “I know. But he seems overly confident because he will use Father’s and my name instead of his. He’s stupid, but brave. There will be more than one casualty in my family, but his death won’t be far behind.”

There was nothing to say to that.It was all out there. And it was even more horrifying than either of us could imagine.

There was a reason that neither vampires nor humans would ever do something as stupid as fight with the witches. They were an anomaly and kept far too close to themselves for either side to ever gain an advantage over them.

“You’ll remember me, won’t you?” I said once the silence became too much. “As the one contract you wanted to kill but couldn’t?”

There was another long silence as another breeze passed through the roses, carrying their scent to us. I hated how good they smelled. Hated that I would probably miss them.

It would have been perfect if she just kept playing along. I could forget about whatever moment we were having and go on to marry the prince because there would be nothing else holding me back. Fully content to forfeit my life.

But she decided to give me the worst wedding gift imaginable.

“I never wanted to kill you, Aurelia.Never.”

Hope. A vile, disgusting sickness that did nothing but ensure a person’s tolerance for the worst. And after her words, the tiniest bit of it sparked in my chest.

Vesper

“On the floor,” the king commanded. “Both of you.”

He was quite comfortable in his large bed, pillows piled up on all sides. Two young humans were on either side of him, naked and leaning into him, while his vampire handmaiden stood by the bed.

A sight I hadn’t expected to see and made me work hard to control the disgust on my face.

His room was much different from the princess’s and was the length of about three put together. Princess Aurelia’s was that of a perfectly pampered princess. Consistently clean with pretty carpeting and white, fluffy bedding.

The king’s was drowned in gold and black. The chandelier above us was dimmed, but even in the darkness, the gold shimmered. The walls and curtains were mainly black, except for the real gold accents. Large windows flanked us, connecting the two other rooms to his.

There were even more feeders just beyond them, but the most overwhelming thing was the number of guards.Vampire guards.All their bright-red eyes digging into mine.

The room itself looked like a dream, but the aura was sticky and it made me feel like something was crawling up my back. Itdidn’t help that he was forcing us to wait in silence as he finished feeling up his maidens for the night.

Melia was the first to kneel on the ground and placed her head on it so fast, I was afraid she might knock herself out because of it.

---