Chapter 16 #2
She shifts on the edge of my father’s bed, drawing my attention. Her lips curl into a smirk, her eyes glinting. She leans forward, her voice dripping with false sympathy.
“Love has nothing to do with it, darling,” she purrs, each word a dagger to my heart. “You’ve committed treason just by lying to the King.” I look frantically between Rhett and Bianca, searching for any sign this is all an elaborate prank, their expressions remain cold and unyielding.
Rhett’s smirk only widens, amusement in his eyes. “You’re right,” he says, drawing out each word as if savoring it. “Soren wouldn’t allow it. But…he might not have a choice.”
My heart drops into my stomach at his ominous confession, and a sense of dread washes over me. What could he possibly mean? Has Soren been overthrown? Is he being held captive?
Before I can voice any of these fears, Bianca speaks up again, her tone mocking.
“Oh darling, you really are clueless, aren’t you?
Your precious Soren has no say in this matter.
” She leans back in her seat, crossing one leg over the other nonchalantly.
“You see, your little rebellion has caused quite a stir in the kingdom. The council has deemed you a threat to their power and stability.”
Bile rises in my throat. The room spins around me. It feels like I’m living through some nightmare I can’t wake up from.
“No.” The word barely escapes my lips as tears well up in my eyes.
“Oh, yes,” Rhett says gleefully, reveling in my distress. His eyes darken, a storm brewing in their depths. His jaw tightens, and I see something dangerous flash across his face. In an instant, he steps forward, closing the distance between us.
I barely have time to register his movement before his hand connects sharply with my face. The impact is jarring, making my ears ring and sending shockwaves through my skull. Pain explodes behind my eyes, and the world tilts violently.
My legs give way beneath me, and I crumple to the ground. The cold linoleum rushes up to meet me, but I barely feel it. My vision swims, dark spots dancing at the edges.
The pain is blinding, and I can feel my eye starting to swell shut. Bianca’s cackles echo in my ears, her voice taunting me.
“Did you really think Soren would protect a traitor like you? He’s nothing but a weak king, easily swayed by the council’s wishes.”
I try to focus on what she is saying, the pain and confusion overwhelming. Rhett stands over me, his hand still raised as if he’s ready to strike again.
“Why?” I manage to choke out, tears streaming down my face. “Why are you doing this?”
I try to cling to consciousness, to fight against the encroaching darkness, forcing myself to my feet. Something wet runs down the side of my face, my fingers gently prod the slick area and I feel something warm and wet drip off my chin.
Looking at my fingertips they are slick with blood, yet my ear burns the most. My mother shrieks as I realize he has sliced my face and ear open.
Rhett leans down and grabs me by the hair, yanking my head back so I’m forced to look up at him. His eyes bore into mine with such intensity it takes all of my willpower not to cower away from him.
“You have Soren’s heart, but he still answers to someone; you can love him all you want; but you think you can claim him?” he hisses in my ear. “I’ll kill you before I let another man have you.”
I’m sickened by him and try to pull away, yet his grip only tightens, my hair pulling from my scalp painfully. My mother whimpers and moves, but Bianca makes her freeze quickly. “Ah ah, I wouldn’t,” Bianca taunts. My mother looks at me and I shake my head the best I can, warning her not to.
“You idiot, did you really think I would let you run off with a king and be his whore?”
“You seemed hellbent on selling me to him before!”
Rhett laughs. “He didn’t want you! He told me to find the money, that he wouldn’t take a woman as payment. I had other plans, and now the only way I can go through with it is by fucking claiming you!”
“Please, Rhett. Whatever he is paying you, I will double it. You know we are good for it!” my mother begs.
“This is no longer about money. Do you think the Vampire King cares about money?” he laughs, and I furrow my brows in confusion.
“It’s about the ports; I was hoping your father would step aside once we were mates; let me take over. I need those ports. When he didn’t, I had to come up with another plan. I was going to knock you up, then you stole from me!”
I scoff. Is that the only reason he took me as his mate, over the ports? I shake my head, and to think this idiot still believes it was me who robbed him. I glare at Bianca, who has a smug expression on her face.
“Now that the king has gone and ruined his reputation with the council and found out whose mate you are, I know he won’t help me. He is useless to me, but don’t worry, Aubrey, now, I just need to mark you.”
“That makes no sense,” I spit at him.
“You’re the sole heir to your father’s pack.
” he laughs, and realization dawns on me too late.
I pivot at the last second to see Bianca slash my father’s throat.
My mother’s scream is piercing as she launches herself at Bianca, but Rhett is quicker as he backhand her.
With a growl, I attack Rhett, only to feel the sharp sting and bang as I am hit in the chest.
I crumple to the floor as pain erupts everywhere, every nerve and muscle burning, gasping for breath.
The pain in my chest is so intense it feels like I’ve been stabbed.
But it’s nothing compared to the agony ripping through me as I watch my father bleed out on the hospital bed—or my mother’s blood-curdling scream.
Icy tendrils snake their way up my spine. All too quickly, I realize what he means: he’s going to mark me as his mate — permanently tie our lives together in a way even death can’t negate. The thought terrifies me more than any physical pain ever could.
“No!” My voice is raw, filled with defiance. Ignoring the pain radiating from my chest and face, I scramble backward until my back hits the wall.
There’s madness in Rhett’s eyes as he advances on me, that insane smile still etched onto his face. He seems to relish my fear, drinking it in like fine wine.
“I’m afraid it’s too late for protests,” he says softly as I watch his canines elongate in horror. Then another bang before pain explodes through my chest once more.
I whimper, my eyes darting down as liquid fire moves through my system.
Wolfsbane. It courses through my veins, tormenting and tearing at me from within, setting my blood on fire.
My mother, in her feral state, howls and lungs at Rhett, her claws outstretched.
He stumbles back, trying to avoid her, my mother’s attempt is futile.
My vision blurs as the poison continues to spread, and I collapse further into the wall, my limbs losing feeling.
Bianca stands nearby, holding a small gun loaded with darts filled with the lethal substance. I can barely focus on her, but I can see the grim determination in her eyes. She had always been envious of my mate bond to Rhett, so she destroyed it just like she is helping destroy my family now.
As Rhett knocks out my mother, I can see my father’s life slipping away on the bed. My vision fades. The last thing I see is my father, bleeding and dying, and my mother, unconscious and at the mercy of Rhett who stands over her.
My final thoughts are a mix of disbelief and terror. How could everything have gone so wrong so quickly? The darkness swallows me whole, but before I lose consciousness, Bianca’s fading voice is in my ear.
“Night, night, bitch.”