43. Lethal Contempt
43
LETHAL CONTEMPT
T he long hallway out of the dungeon is narrow and dark as I walk behind Colesef, three large male vampires flanking me.
With every step away from Zariah I take, her scent fades until I can’t sense it at all.
I’d thought I was aware of her presence before, but ever since the first time I fed from her, as we watched innocent humans slaughter each other in the arena below, an invisible string now tethers us.
And that connection has only gotten stronger each time I’ve consumed her blood.
I push down the nerves skittering through me. They serve no purpose outside of a distraction, and I need to be focused if we have any hope of escaping.
"You're quite the dutiful little servant of Mavet's," I say to Colesef. "Always doing his bidding like a good boy."
He spins around and snarls. "You know nothing, Prince."
"Don't I? What has you so obedient to the Blood King then? Humor me before I'm sacrificed."
He only glares at me before turning back around and continuing to the throne room.
The shadows seem to part as we enter, revealing the strangely bare grand chamber. At the end of the room, Mavet sits upon his throne, a dark crown in a cream-colored suit that washes out the pale color of his skin and feels markedly out of place in the grim setting.
His lips curve into a lethal grin as I, with my hands secured behind my back, follow Colesef across the room. “Welcome, Princeling.”
Maddox stands to the Blood King’s side, donning a navy-colored suit that has the Valazican crest embroidered on its chest in emerald green thread. Atop his head sits a small gold crown.
One of the guards pushes me toward my brother and Mavet. I stumble forward, and with my hands behind my back, I land on my knees.
When I stare up at the Blood King and Maddox, fury blazes through me. The urge to tear them limb from limb follows, nothing humane in my thoughts.
Mavet chuckles. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”
Maddox clicks his tongue. “Gloating never serves anyone.”
“Doesn’t it? Feels pretty good to me.”
As four guards bring a large wooden cage inside the room, I’m forced to stand by two other guards. The cage is set in the center of the room, and remembering to save energy, I allow them push me to the side and then shove me into the small prison.
As a guard shuts the door, Maddox approaches me. “You've seen better days, brother.”
I keep away from the bars. "I've seen worse, too.”
"Come, everyone," Mavet announces. "The prince has requested a moment alone with his older brother."
As everyone vacates the room, I give a sardonic laugh. “You’re so afraid of me you had them cage me?”
“You’re a demon now, brother. I don’t know what you’re capable of.” Maddox paces back and forth until the room has been cleared. "There were times I thought you were on to me. Especially when I scolded you for so blatantly parading Zariah around the palace."
I sigh as I shake my head. “No, brother. I was a fool who thought sharing blood meant something."
"An understandable mistake." Maddox grabs onto the bars and peers inside the cage at me.
Before the betrayal, I would have given my life to save either of my brothers. I’d always been closest to River, but I was nothing but a protective older brother to Maddox. I would threaten children with time in the dungeon when they’d called him the bastard son.
I ask, “What would River think of what you’ve done?”
“He got himself killed in filthy fae territory. He doesn’t get an opinion.”
I clench my jaw so hard I think it might crack. Only the worst people speak ill of the dead. How have I not seen what my younger brother has become?
He releases the bars and steps back. “You've brought this on yourself, you know. I might have given you the tools to dig your own grave, but you're the one who made everything truly fall into place." When I don't respond, Maddox continues, "Tell me, brother. Do you actually care for the girl?"
I grit my teeth, fighting the urge to take my brother’s bait yet again.
Maddox grins at me. "If you confess your feelings, perhaps I can talk Mavet out of killing her first as he plans to do."
The fury I’ve been holding back explodes inside me, and I charge at my brother.
Maddox stumbles back as I crash into the bars.
"You do care for her." He grins. "If she's anything like her friend in bed, I can see why."
"Go to hell," I spit. "What do you really think you're going to achieve with all these games? The people will always see you as a bastard king.”
The words that have scarred my younger brother so many times slip effortlessly from my tongue. Although my brother deserves no mercy, a surge of guilt rises in me as he winces.
"I'm going to do what needs to be done to save our people. You think this treaty with the fae will last? No, it won't. Because it isn't even real. They're using father's grief against him, and if we don't attack first, they will."
I’ve always known Maddox hates the fae, but he never mentioned his doubt about the treaty between our kingdoms. "Why would you think that?"
"The fae can't be trusted. Anyone who thinks otherwise is nothing but an ignorant fool."
"And you think the Blood King is a dependable ally? What makes you so sure you can trust him?"
"Because we share a common goal. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, if only temporarily."
I shake my head. "Mavet will never be anyone's ally. Perhaps you share a mutual goal, but that won't be enough. The second he doesn't need you, or worse, he does need you for his own agenda, he'll betray you."
Maddox shrugs. "That's a chance I'm willing to take."
"And what about father?"
"You needn't worry about him, brother. You'll be dead soon enough."
I eye the crown atop my brother’s head. It isn’t as large or exquisite as our father’s crown, but clearly, my brother wears it for a purpose. “Fancy piece of metal sitting on your big head.”
Maddox reaches up and runs his hand along the gold crown. “Did you hear the news? Since you missed yesterday’s Heir Ceremony, father named me as his heir. Word on the street is you fled to Elderburn, drunk and a coward.”
“Betraying me and stealing the title of heir wasn’t enough? You had to tarnish my name, too?”
Satisfaction, sweet and evil, flashes on Maddox’s face.
There is no room for hurt inside me anymore, not with the amount of anger now brewing within me. “You are not my brother. Not anymore, and never again."
I turn away from Maddox.
"Big threats for someone with not long left to live,” my brother says.
I don't respond. I won't waste another breath on him.
"Nothing else you want to say? No more insults? What about a plea to save Zariah?" Maddox waits for a response that doesn't come. "Fine then."
His steps get quieter until he leaves the room.
As the door clicks shut, I vow to someday make Maddox pay for his betrayal.
But in order to make that promise come true, Zariah and I will need to find a way out of here before Mavet kills us both.
I don't remain alone in the monstrous throne room long. Mavet is the first to return, with only two guards this time.
Within minutes, Colesef tugs Zariah, whose hands are bound in front of her body, not behind like mine, into the room.
My connection to her is heightened. My body buzzes with power from her blood.
With her presence, a peaceful sensation fills my chest. As if suddenly remembering it has consumed her blood, my body thrums with power. To the outward eye, I’m the same broken vampire who'd been thrown in a cell to drain Zariah. But fae energy now rushes through my veins.
The Blood King claps three times as Colesef leads Zariah straight to him. "I must say how surprised I am that the Princeling didn't drain you already. I didn't think he was capable of such self-control."
She glares. "You don't know what he's capable of."
"And I suppose I never will." He shrugs. "It's a pity you're so attached to him. If you beg me for your life, I might consider letting you live."
The muscles in my neck tighten at the thought of all the horrible things Mavet will do to her if he gets the chance. Even the thought of his teeth on her skin sickens me.
And for our plan to work, the Blood King will have to taste her blood.
I’m struck with nauseousness as a deep, possessiveness overcomes me.
Zariah is mine.
Not only have I consumed the glorious blood from her veins, but we've consummated our bond by making love. I haven't told her how fucking her had been different.
I'm not sure why. She’s the only person I've been with as a vampire. I’d been too afraid I'd lose control and kill the woman to try bedding any after the curse.
But it’s more than that. There is some tie between drinking her blood and being intimate with her, I just am not sure what it is. And I sure as fuck am not about to ask Mavet the finer details of sex as a vampire.
Zariah’s gaze glows with lethal contempt. "I'd rather be eaten alive than ever beg you for anything. You're a monster."
Mavet reaches out and twists a strand of her hair with his finger. "Everyone says they'd rather die. But don't underestimate my ability to make you beg for your life."
Her brow furrows as her lips press together in a tight line, her entire face seeming to harden with disgust as she glares at him. "You misjudge just how much I hate you."
The Blood King releases her hair and steps away. "Gag her."
I’m about to yell out the word no, but I stop myself. The more I show my anger, the more they’ll use it against me.
And so, I stand there, watching from the cell as one of the guards shoves fabric into Zariah’s mouth and secures it around her head.
After she’s tugged away, Mavet saunters to me. “Now, on to why we’re here, Princeling.”