Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 90639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
I knew he wasn’t suffering. The fact that he could hide this madness for who knows how long and still behave as a functioning, civilized vampire spoke volumes about how much he wasn’t suffering.
He smirked at me, and it sent shivers down my spine. “I don’t need help,” he said. “The only thing I need is for you to sign our contract…” His twisted grin deepened as he tilted his head. “And for your brother to die shortly after our wedding.”
God damn me for not bringing my cell phone with me.
I shook my head, climbing backward up the stairs, halfway to the door to the main level now. “You won’t get away with this,” I whispered.
“Oh, I already have, sweet princess,” he said, and then lunged for me.
Fuck holding all the cards. I popped out of sight, leaping backward just as his fingertips grazed my shoulder. I spun around and clambered up the stairs as fast as I could, shucking my heels the second I’d bolted through the door.
“Clever princess!” Samuel roared from behind me, barreling through the doorway just seconds after me.
I held onto my invisibility and ran toward my rooms. If I could just get to my cell phone, I could call Hawke and hide. I had training, but I knew better than to fight an uneven battle, and with Samuel? The odds so weren’t in my favor.
Crashing through the door to my room, I nearly cried in relief when I got one hand on my cell and one hand on the dagger Hawke had gifted me—
My stomach lurched so forcefully I vomited all over the floor. The heaves came in unstoppable waves, my body convulsing as I emptied everything in my stomach over and over again. I crashed to the floor, my cell and the dagger falling from my shaking hands as my power slipped.
“There you are,” Samuel said, slamming my bedroom door closed behind him and locking it.
The waves of nausea stopped, replaced with a refreshing cooling sensation that filled my lungs with much needed air.
“That’s a neat little trick you have,” he said, sliding out of his suit jacket and hanging it neatly on my bed post. He unbuttoned the white sleeves of his button-down, rolling them up to the elbows as he crossed the room to kneel in front of me. “Not as neat as mine though, right?” He reached out, cupping my cheek and drawing my face toward his.
I glared up at him. “You might as well kill me,” I said, then spit in his face. He flinched, clenching his eyes shut as he wiped it away with the back of his arm. “I’ll never agree to marry you.”
Slowly he opened his eyes again, wetting his lips as he smiled. “I wouldn’t be too certain about that princess,” he said, releasing his hold on my face. He stood up, grabbing the dagger and sneering at it before he tossed it behind him. He towered over me as he slid his hands into his pockets. “I don’t have to bruise you to break you.”
Ice cold terror slammed down the center of me, but I kept my chin held high as I slowly rose to my feet. I calculated the distance from here to the door he stood before, and made my move—
His massive forearm slammed into my chest, stopping my vampire speed and sending me hurtling against the opposite wall. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t bruise you,” he said, stalking across the room to my closet, slipping inside.
I bolted to my feet, rushing for that door again—
A thousand white-hot needles pricked my skin, every nerve ending searing like flames bit at me. I dropped to my knees, my scream ripping through clenched teeth as I writhed against the pain.
“You see,” Samuel said loud enough to be heard over my screams. “No bruises. No marks. I’m not even touching you and yet, you can’t leave. I bet you can’t even think around the pain.” He shifted open some secret compartment in my closet, heaving out a ton of iron chains.
The pain lessoned the longer he held them, his power waning from the blasted metal. I tried to get my muscles to move, to race toward the door again, but the stinging pain was still too much.
Samuel gripped my hair with one hand, dragging me by the roots to a corner of the room. He knocked over the armchair situated there, revealing iron circles bolted into the wall. I struggled in his grasp, every movement like being dipped in acid as he chained my wrists to that wall.
Once I was secured, he stepped away from the chains, his power resurging as the fire mounted over my skin. I was burning from the inside out, being stung over and over again like I was wrapped in jellyfish tentacles.