Page 30 of Darkest Heart

“Remember how much you loved me, then? Think about that before you answer. If I came to you and told you then what they wanted to do, and that I found a way to save myself and not die, what would you have said?” He swallowed hard, moving his eyes up to meet mine. “We were engaged and despite everything we’ve said to each other, I did love you. So, if I told you there was a way to save me, would you have done it?”

“That… that doesn’t matter anymore.” I hesitated. “If I had known what you were really like, I’d have helped the guild kill you before you turned.” He flinched, and something buried in me released. I arched a brow, watching him carefully. “Having bad things happen to you doesn’t give you the right to be an asshole, or in your case, just downright evil.”

‘Stop.’The voice floated back into my mind.

“I’ll admit,” he said. “Since becoming a vampire, my darker nature has been hard to push down. It was there when I was mortal, but since Velda changed me, I am quicker to anger.”

The sudden self-awareness caught me off guard. My eyes bulged as I pinched the back of my hand to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. He continued. “Resentment feels like poison, and killing feels natural. Sometimes, I catch myself in the middle of an act I would have never done before, and wonder why I’m doing it. Even willing myself to stop. Everyone’s ready to blame me, to make me pay for it all, but not a single one of you has tried to understand. Sebastian’s a vampire, he’s killed people, he's done terrible things, but you love him.”

Ah, there it was. The victimization was back. I was definitely awake. “Sebastian would never have done the things you have,” I defended, and a shot of warning pierced through me.

“I’m tired of trying to convince you.” He stood, his fingers flexing at his side. “If you want me to be the bad guy so much, then fine.”

Grabbing me by my hair, he slammed his hand over my mouth before I could scream. Slowly, he moved his hand down from my face, then grabbed something from his pocket.

A needle punctured my skin, and a chilling liquid entered my bloodstream, running through my veins. Every limb felt like led, breathing a labor of its own. I tried to fight, but quickly slumped as my eyes rolled to the back of my head. My heart rate slowed, anxiety slipping away as numbness spread over me, stealing the slices of consciousness I had left. I could barely notice his arms under my back, lifting me from my bed when the darkness sucked me in.

‘Stay awake!’The voice rang like an alarm in my mind, and I managed to squirm a little, but it was like trying to run underwater.‘Don’t let him take you.’

The voice and everything else faded.

The pungent rot of old leaves and dirt greeted me as I climbed out of the suffocating blackness. My magic had never felt so distant as I sat up, my heart palpitating. Aniccipere towered over me, their low snarls filling my ears.

Astor moved through the group, stopping over me as I dug my fingers into the wet ground. The cold air pricked my cheeks, blowing my matted hair back over my shoulders. I breathed in a gulp of fresh air, glad to be outside, welcoming the absence of urine and blood in my nose. He extended his hand, but I didn’t take it. Something wasn’t right. A bird took flight from a dead, willow tree, the decrepit house a silhouette against the moonlit, hilly horizon.

“What is this?” I asked, my head pounding as the poison lingered. I found the male aniccipere from my talks behind Astor. Craning my neck to get a better look at him, I licked my dry lips.

“Your initiation.” Astor dropped his hand to his arm, then paced in a circle. He chewed on his nails. He had as much on the line as I did. They didn’t trust his word anymore. I assumed this invitation would prove otherwise.

Rattling chains screeched through my mind. I whipped my head around and saw a cage with a blond man. He couldn’t have been any older than me. My heart picked up speed, my eyes widening as the gnawing dread came.

“Olivia,” Astor snapped, jolting me. I turned my head back to meet him, wanting nothing more than to rip his throat out. “You told Algor here that you don’t care about mortals, or anyone except Erianna.” Disbelief crowned his amused smile. “So prove it.”

My stomach knotted, bile rising in my throat. I didn’t open my mouth, trying my best to keep my composure, but the goosebumps spreading over my body were a dead giveaway. I looked at the mortal guy, and Astor leaned in, whispering against my ear as I strained my neck away from him. “This one is a volunteer,” he said, his tone hollow from any feeling. “From our kingdom.”

I ran cold as I thought about Baldoria, the kingdom I had grown up in when I was taken from Sanmorte as a baby, for a better life. Little did my mom know what destiny awaited us. “Astor,” I whispered his name in a plea, without saying anything that could cast suspicion on my intentions to the aniccipere.

“You did this to yourself,” he reiterated my own words back to me. “Kill him, or admit you were lying.”

If I confessed, then I would never get out of here. If I could make them believe it, then I had a chance of saving Sebastian, my parents, Erianna and Zach. Being queen one day meant I could get rid of the aniccipere, stop the slavery of mortals. This couldn’t be how things ended. But murder… no. I clamped my eyes shut as I contemplated running, but I was too weak. I wouldn’t make it to the trees before they’d tear my heart out. I missed my magic so much, but I couldn’t rely on that now. “Why should I kill him? I have no need for blood,” I said as indifferently as I could.

“It’s an initiation,” he said, eyes narrowing. “Come now, Liv. Show them how dark you supposedly are.”

His laugh was like nails on a chalkboard. I got to my feet, my legs wobbly under my weight, my stomach aching. “I’ll kill you instead,” I countered, fixing my stare onto his.

The male aniccipere, Algor, stepped between us. Pointing a long talon at the cage, he tilted his head. “Kill the mortal now and prove yourself to me. Don’t let the boy get in your way.” He pulled Astor away. “We still need him.”

My brain fuzzed as I tried to think of every idea to get out of this, but I couldn’t find any way. Desperation clawed into my thoughts, my heart tugging me one way, my mind the other. There was no other way. Kill, or be killed.

I closed my eyes, and moved toward the cage, refusing to look into the man’s eyes as I reached the door. I shut out his pleading screams, and unlocked the cage, knowing nothing would be the same after this.

Killing someone as an empath was next level torture.

ELEVEN

Niall

Azia touched the top of his ear from the other side of the throne room, signaling for me to join him outside. “One moment,” I told Penelope who was harking on about the wedding that wasn’t going to happen. She just didn’t know it yet. “I’ll be right back.”

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