Page 51 of Forced Vampire Mate

“I kept a close watch on the temples and all the entrances to it,” Draven continued. “I knew you’d convince him to try to save Thessa and Darcie. And he’d agree, knowing it was the perfect timing to attack the gods. The veils between the gods and us are thin in these spots. If he seals them…” At this, Draven shuddered, stepping back from me. “But you’re only a pawn in his game. You don’t understand, Elara. Which means you are innocent. The gods have agreed to spare you. I want you to know, I fought for you. I told them of the sacrifices you’ve already made. The pain he’s put you through. You can see that, right? It’s his fault. None of this would have happened if he wasn’t so arrogant.”

Was he being serious? I tried to shove aside my emotions to study him, but that hunger in his eyes only grew worse. He reached for me again, and I tried to yank away. He gripped my face tightly in his hands.

“Tell me you understand. I’m not going to hurt you because I want to, Elara. I don’t. But it’s necessary.”

“What are you going to do?” I tried to snarl out the words, but my lungs wouldn’t fully expand. “Where’s Thessa? Where’s Darcie?”

Draven’s hands tightened on my face. “They are with the other tributes, waiting for their glory.”

They were still alive. Good.

“As for you, there’s only one way this ends.” He dropped his hands, and a hard look came across his face. “I’m going to torture you. I will make my brother watch it, feel it, until he relinquishes his claim on the throne. He’s trained himself not to feel the torture, but you? You’ll feel every moment, and through you, he’ll feel it too.”

I clenched my fists, the air thinning around me. Part of me wanted to ask how exactly he intended to torture me, but my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth. Was it true? Was Luken immune to torture, unless I was the one being tortured? I shut the bond even tighter. I wasn’t going to let him feel my pain!

“He will relinquish his throne,” Draven said, nodding to himself. “He doesn’t know what pain is. It won’t take long. And then you will be purified. Your sacrifices will be honored.”

He looked at me hungrily again, his eyes lingering on the visible tattoos on my stomach. Disgust crossed his face, but he smoothed it out quickly. “Those marks will be removed from your body, and your virginity will be restored. And when I’m king, you will be my queen. We will be mated before the gods and serve them together.”

I stared at him in horror.

“You were blessed by the gods, Elara. Our union will be pure. They’ve kept me waiting all these years so that it can be so. That’s why I had to bring Thessa back,” he added, almost pleading as he came toward me again. “Because she and your sister are the sacrifices necessary for you to be made pure again. So you can be mine instead of his.”

“I don’t want to be yours!”

Draven shook his head. “It’s only because he’s poisoned your mind and body. You’ll see. In time, you’ll understand. But for now…” He stepped away from me again, a mask of indifference falling over his face. “For now, it’s time to begin.”

Doors opened all around the temple. In came a dozen elven mercenaries, a handful of vampires, some orcs and others. The largest set of double doors burst open, and Luken, bound with ropes of magic, was dragged in by two hulking elves. The crowd laughed and jeered as Luken was shoved to his knees before Draven. His amber eyes flickered to me and I felt him pushing at the bond.

But I knew what was going to happen and held it shut tight.

Please understand. I can’t let you feel my pain.

Chapter 23

I slumped forward, gasping for breath as the pain ended. How long had I been screaming? Every inch of my body felt like it was frostbitten. My thoughts were scattered, darkness swimming in and out over my vision. Shouting surrounded me, but I didn’t have the strength to lift my head. The chains that held me to the chair were the only thing that kept me from dropping all the way to the floor.

“I will kill you for this!” Luken’s voice.

Luken was here.

Weakly, I lifted my head. Where was he? The pain had been so all-consuming I’d forgotten he was there. My blurred vision focused on the shape I knew was him. He was… fighting? A body hit the floor. Another man was shouting, too. I struggled to understand what he was saying.

“Don’t you idiots know how to bind magic?” Draven’s voice.

A flash of light blinded me. White spots drove away the darkness. I pulled myself up more, blinking rapidly. This time, when the spots cleared, my vision was clear. Luken was being driven back to the floor, several elf mercenaries pinning him in place. Draven stood over him, speaking spells and weaving magic around him. Bodies were strewn over the floor. I tried to count them, but there were too many pieces.

“You know what you have to do to stop this,” Draven snarled, stepping on Luken’s chest. “If you want the pain to stop, give up your throne. That’s all you need to do. Is your pride really worth it?”

Luken snarled up at him, trussed up tightly with the magic. “I won’t forgive you for this, Draven. I’ve tried. I wanted to give you a chance. No more. I am going to kill you.”

“I have the gods on my side. How do you think you can defeat me?” Draven asked. I expected mocking, but he sounded angry and frustrated. “I thought that even if you won’t do it for her sake, you wouldn’t want to hold the pain. You, who have never lived through hardship!”

I closed my eyes, trying to steady my breath. This was only a respite from the torture. It wasn’t what I expected. Rather than branding irons and car batteries, Draven had been using magic. There was nothing I could do to protect myself from it. I’d tried not to scream. I really had. I didn’t want Luken to know how much it hurt.

It was useless. I couldn’t control my body when Draven was using his magic on me, and I screamed. I wasn’t even sure that I had kept the bond closed. It was as though he froze every nerve ending in my body, then lit them on fire one by one.

“Are we ready to start again?” Draven’s voice was cold as his footsteps approached me.

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