Chapter 27
Twenty-Seven
RONAN
ELLNESARI, PRESENT DAY
T he guards escort me to a bare room without any windows.
Illumination comes from blue fire lamps hanging from the walls.
We’re no longer on the same level as the pit, but the walls here are made of dark stone too.
There’s a simple bed pushed against one of the walls and a wooden tub in the middle, filled with water already.
“Undress.” One of the guards pushes me forward.
“Leave the room and I will.”
The guard sneers. “We have no desire to see you naked, vampire, but we’re under orders to keep an eye on you.”
“You can simply wait outside.”
The two idiots remain rooted to the floor, their expressions unyielding. They aren’t going to leave.
Pick your battles, Ronan.
Resigned, I take off my clothes. They’re filthy, covered in mud, blood, and sweat. The water in the tub is warm and a blessing to my tired body. I try to relax, something that’s hard to do with two Nightingale hooligans watching me and when I don’t know what happened to Cheryl.
“Where did you take my friend?” I ask without any hope that I’ll get an answer.
But the shortest male of the duo replies, “She’s with the other females.”
“Other females? What other females?”
The door opens inward, and the Nightingale female from before enters, making me tense in an instant.
She changed clothes to something much more revealing—her neckline plunges almost to her navel, and half her breasts are exposed.
The fabric is sheer, and when it hits the light, I can see her nipples and the fact that she isn’t wearing undergarments.
Her scent is also different, more alluring.
It toys with my senses, clouding my mind.
I splash water on my face, hoping it will clear my head.
She turns to the guards. “You can leave now.”
Both males bow and reply in unison, “Yes, my lady.”
Fuck me. This can’t be good.
The door shuts with a resounding clang, leaving me trapped with the blonde female, who watches me with clear desire glimmering in her eyes.
“What do you want?” I ask roughly.
“I came to help you with your bath, naturally.”
She sashays toward me, and the movement of her hips makes her dress skirt part on the sides—the slits go all the way to her hips. I clench and curl my hands into fists.
“I do not require assistance,” I reply through gritted teeth.
She picks up a sponge from the small bench next to the tub and dunks it into the water. I grab her wrist before she can touch me. “I said I don’t need any help.”
Her silvery eyes narrow and shine with irritation. The emotion is fleeting, though. A second later, she smiles, dropping the sponge into the bath. “Very well.”
She steps back and watches me for a couple of beats without saying anything. She’s appraising me, and when her eyes linger on my crotch area, her lips curl upward. Mercifully, my dick remains dormant despite her best efforts to arouse me. I burn for only one person.
“Where’s Cheryl?” I ask.
Her brow furrows. “You know where she is. Dular has already told you.”
“He only said she was with the other females, whatever that means.”
“Yes. She’ll be taken care of very well despite her savagery. You don’t need to worry about a thing.”
“Your reassurances mean nothing to me. I want to see her.”
“You’re not in a position to demand anything, warrior, even though you’ve won my father’s favor.”
“How did your father manage to capture that shadowbeast? You still can’t see them or you wouldn’t go through the trouble of kidnapping vampires to fight them.”
“One of your kind did, but sadly he didn’t survive. In fact, none of the males we’ve acquired have lasted long.”
I swallow hard. “Maybe they died on purpose. Death sounds like a better alternative to living an eternity as a slave.”
Her nostrils flare. “They weren’t slaves! They were more than happy to exchange their freedom for protection and to be near Nightingale magic again.”
“I doubt that very much.”
“Your kind is slowly dying, isn’t it?” She squints. “Second-generation vampires need to hibernate, and I’ve heard your king hasn’t been seen in months. Is he even alive?”
Fear grabs hold of my heart and squeezes as tight as a compressor. I try to hide my reaction from her, but the victorious smirk on her lips tells me I failed.
“How were you able to cross into the human world when all the portals have been sealed?” I ask to divert the conversation from King Raphael’s illness.
She leans forward, bringing her breasts to my eye level. “I could answer all your questions if you let me bathe you.”
“I said I don’t require assistance.” I hold my breath to avoid inhaling the intoxicating scent her body is emitting.
“How about food? Are you hungry?” She tilts her head, offering me her neck.
My eyes zero in on her throbbing vein, and my gums ache as my fangs become longer.
I didn’t realize I was famished until she offered me her blood.
The urge to feed is almost a compulsion, and I find myself leaning closer.
I lick her neck, grazing my fangs on her skin, ready to bite, but she moans in pleasure, and instead of making my control snap, it does the opposite.
The bloodlust fog clears, and I rear back with whiplash. “No! I won’t feed from you.”
“Don’t be a fool. I know you’re hungry, and you won’t find better nourishment in Ellnesari than from me.”
“I’d rather go hungry than drink a drop of your blood.”
She straightens her spine and glowers. “If you won’t feed from me, you won’t drink from anyone else either.”
Drinking from a Nightingale would replenish me for days, and I might even get the answers I seek—blood remembers. But she wants more from me than just to provide nourishment, and I won’t touch her or any other female. Cheryl is the only one for me as long as I live.