Page 92 of Eternal Captive

From one cage to another.I was just grateful my brother wasn’t here to see it.

Ice-cold water was poured down on my weakened body, stinging any exposed skin.Magical.Of course they would resort to magic.

The craziest thing wasn’t that the king wanted me to be the one to kill Prince Icas. Or that he had me do it at the bastard’s very own wedding.

It was that helet me go.

A loose end that had the ability to make life hard for him. He wasn’t a merciful king—killing someone in front of thousands and then declaring war between the families wasn’t mercy. But I wasalive.And home.

Well, in a basement.But home nonetheless.

That was the craziest thing. Not only had I lived to tell the tale of the king’s wrath, but I was somehow right back home, like it never even happened at all. I expected to be tied to him for the rest of my life for what I figured out. Expected that he would need to keep a close eye on me.

It would have been better than the hell that awaited me at home.

“You were supposed to be thesavior, Vesper. How could you fuck up so severely?”

I looked up at my father through blurred vision. Pain shot through my chest with each breath. My head was killing me. But none of it was as angering as his fucking face. He had that sad expression on his face, like he actually felt pain for “punishing” me.

The stark black tattoo on his neck was calling to me. In my delusional haze, I could have sworn the snake moved, opening its mouth and preparing to strike.

If only it could put me out of my fucking misery.

The basement was lit enough that he couldn’t try to hide in the darkness. That he couldn’t try to look the other way when he was torturing me. I was still stuck in my clothes from days before and chained to the cement walls that surrounded the room. I was forced into a kneeling position, the chains sufficiently tight to hold my arms and body up in case I was weak enough to faint during the assault.

The basement itself was soundproof. None of my screams would get out. No one would know what went on in the house. They would drive or walk by, thinking it was a picture-perfect suburban house. Though I learned long ago that the screams didn’t make a difference.

Maybe at one point I had screamed for the attention of the people on the outside. Maybe on the off chance that someone would come save me. But no one heard. Not even if Mother had guests over like she sometimes did when I was down here getting mypunishment.

That’s when I learned just how unlikely it was that I would ever be saved. I accepted it after some time. Hoped my brother wouldn’t have the same fate as me.

I didn’t believe either of them ever truly felt bad for what they had done to me or my siblings. Father wasn’t capable of asmidge of empathy, much like the vampire king. But, unlike him, he wasn’t drunk on power. Not this time. He wasangryand wanted to take it out on something. Mother was the scared one. Her expression told me as much when she saw me walk through the door.

They had truly expected me to die. Even if it wasn’t a part of the seer’s prophecy, they had hinted that what I was meant to do would change the fabric of all vampire families and the secret organization that ruled our family. It was only natural that the person who was to change the future so drastically would become a martyr.

But if I hadn’t become one, what could they do? They couldn’t force me into it any longer.

Maybe this is my father’s way of trying to cover up what I’ve done,I thought bitterly.By killing me himself.

No one in our family or any of the other ones in the secret organization had ever gone against their prophecy. At least that we’d heard of. From the start, we were controlled by the seer’s visions. Completing job after job. Starting families and then indoctrinating them into the same fucked-up family business.

“I tried,” I forced out. My voice grated against my throat, scratchy from not having access to water for almost three days.

I had spent about a day in the Castle family dungeons, and Father locked me up as soon as I was dropped off in this city. Word had gotten out fast, but Father was faster.He always was.Somehow, someone had to have given him notice of what happened.

If someone like yourself made it in here, what makes you think there aren’t more?Cedar’s warning rang loud and clear in my head.

I had stopped the wedding, but what about after? I wouldn’t be there to protect her.

Images of Aurelia’s expression as I stabbed her almost husband were etched into my mind. She truly thought I had abandoned her. But then shesmiled.A bone-chilling smile that made me realize just how bloodthirsty she really was.

I couldn’t stop the laugh from spilling from my lips.

Seeing her covered in the blood of that asshole was probably the most beautiful sight I had ever seen in my life.

“You think this is fucking funny?” he snarled. “What happened to you? We’ve been preparing you for this for years. Don’t you know what it means for this family?”

I struggled against my restraints.

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