Page 81 of Stalked

Noah nodded.

The vampire licked his lips. The news of my immortality obviously satisfied him. He stalked around me slowly again, touching each part of my body. I quivered as he ran his fingers through my hair and lightly touched my neck with his cold fingertips. Goosebumps continued to trail up my spine as my stomach rolled with nausea. He then put his hands on my shoulders and rubbed where Noah’s claws had been embedded.

“What the fuck happened here?” he said, continuing to trail his fingers near the marks. “I told you she wasn’t to be harmed, Noah.” Though the vampire’s tone was eerily calm, he shot Noah an icy glare.

Noah’s breaths were shallow as his shoulders shook. The man before me was as evil as they got, and I knew right away he would make my life a living hell if he wanted to. No, he wouldn’t grant me any sort of reprieve. He was a predator who would play with his toys because he could.

“I’m sorry, Maurice. I tried to avoid injuring her, but she kept squirming under my grasp. The wounds healed immediately; I assure you.”

I made a mental note of the name, which was now the name of my greatest enemy: Maurice.

As I repeated the name in my head, memories of my past life ached to show themselves, but they seemed lost behind a mental haze. I hadn’t met the man before, not in this life or in my past. However, his name, I had heard his name before.

Dorian!

Dorian had said it in my vision. Maurice was coming for me, but I had escaped through death.

Now I was within his clutches, trapped behind his walls.

Maurice’s devilish smirk returned, and I wasn’t sure what was so damn funny. He placed a finger under my chin and lifted it, forcing me to stare into his eyes. His nails were painted black, sharpened to a point, and the tip of his nail dug into my skin. Then he slowly traced his thumb over my lips. “You’re so beautiful.” His lip curled. “And such beauty will now belong to me.”

No, it fucking won’t.

“What the hell do you want from me?” I managed to say, but my voice hitched, showing my enemies how terrified I truly was.

He raised a brow and slightly bit his bottom lip. “What every vampire who knows of your existence wants.” His tongue slid out, licking his lips. “That incredible, powerful blood of yours.”

“Well,” I responded with false bravado, “you can’t have it.”

I shocked myself at how fearless I sounded right then, especially knowing that it was a ridiculous thing to say. My powers were bound, and Maurice could take my blood at any moment. In different circumstances, I could do damage to his pretty face. Still, everything that made me powerful and invincible was trapped under that bracelet, and I had just poked the beast like an idiot. I wasn’t anything special to him—I was a toy he could play with and devour at any given moment, and his dark and evil eyes warned me he had planned to.

He ignored my defiance with a heavy sigh. “I’m the master of this house, but you’ll address me by Maurice.” He glanced at Noah, who was now right in front of him. “Thank you, Noah, but you can leave us now. I’ll get your report tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Maurice.” Noah proceeded down the hallway and through the double doors.

Maurice turned back to face me. “Akasha.” He said that damn weird name again, and I hated it even more coming from him.

“You can call me Mercy,” I mumbled under a shaky breath.

He laughed under his breath. “Mercydoesn’t exist behind these walls.” The smile that followed sent a wave of unwelcome goosebumps over my skin. I wasn’t a praying person, but I said a silent prayer that I’d find a way to get the bracelet off, so I could show them how powerful I really was.

“You escaped my clutches centuries ago, you know, and then sacrificed yourself like a damn fool before I could reach you.”

And there it is.

Maurice smiled again, sending another wave of fear through my entire body. “I’ve stood by for years, waiting for this moment.” The vampire’s fingers trailed slowly down my shoulder. “The moment your purpose in the human world dies, you’re reborn into a life behind my walls, at my mercy.”

I swallowed. “For someone who seems to know so much about me, you don’t appear to be afraid of what I can do to you with my magic.” A hard lump pressed painfully against my throat. And it wouldn’t go down. My words were empty threats because I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing.

Maurice licked his bottom lip. “Not with that bracelet on your wrist, you won’t.”

He was right. I was defenseless without my magic, but I wasn’t going to let him believe I was feeling so defeated.

“People aren’t possessions, Maurice,” I argued. “I’ll never willingly give you my blood.” I instinctively took a step back, but his hand reached out and grabbed my throat, but didn’t squeeze. It was merely a threat to how much power he had and how easy it would be for him to cause me pain.

“Oh, I don’t expect you to give it freely,” he said calmly. “Makes this more exciting, doesn’t it?”

God, he’s sick.

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