Chapter 39 Dinner and a Show #2
Courage gathered, I looked up to see myself in the mirror, suspecting a gasp of horror, but none came.
This visage—pallid skin, dark circles under my eyes, and bruising along the bite marks on my neck, had become so normal it no longer surprised me.
If anything, watching myself slowly come back to life in the precious days I’d had of freedom had been much more alarming.
I turned the faucet on, cupping water into my parched mouth with trembling hands.
If there was one silver lining in all of this, it was that this new path Victor was taking us on would likely kill me much faster.
In the penthouse, just the two of us, all of his concentration was on me.
And while he sometimes went a little overboard, he could usually stop himself once he realized what he was doing.
But now, he had an audience to perform for, and any action that could be be construed as weakness was to be avoided. He’d play with me like a little doll to pose on his lap, ignoring my limits and taking his fill until one day he finally drank too much, and my heart—his mate’s heart—would give out.
I wondered if it would be possible to pass a message on to Ronan some way. To let him know he would be in my thoughts until the very end, and that I hoped he would one day find some semblance of joy in his life.
After taking a quick shower and washing the dried blood from my neck, I tiptoed back into the bedroom, hoping my wakefulness wouldn’t bring Victor from his sleep, hungry for the other thing I provided him.
Even if I’d never liked him much from the beginning, I couldn’t deny the way my body used to respond to him, the way he could draw an orgasm from me as easily as he could my blood.
Now though, there wasn’t any comfort or escape in his touch. Even closing my eyes and trying to imagine him as Ronan did nothing for me.
Luckily, Victor was well sated from the previous evening, and he didn’t even seem to notice I had gotten up.
Relishing this little bit of freedom, I nearly jumped for joy when I found the door to his room unlocked.
Escape was impossible, but at least he had a TV.
I muted it and turned on the subtitles, ignoring the hunger gnawing me from the inside out as I flipped through the channels, soaking in every image, every word like it would sustain me all the same.
He had channels from all over Lundaria, naturally—like he would deny himself anything.
Noctis’s stations were full of infomercials and reruns of films older than I was during the day, but for the rest of us Magiks, this was the time for pulpy soap operas.
My grandma’s familiar, a small possum named Gladys, would watch these with me after school when I was a kid and my parents were still at work.
I settled on one from Fenmoor, As the Moon Wanes. A classic.
The pup isn’t yours, Darien. Vorrak knows it, and so do I.
I sucked in a startled gasp—reality TV wished it was as dramatic as this.
She was just about to reveal which pack member was the father of her son when the door creaked open.
I whipped my head around, fear coursing through my veins. But it was just Accalia with Alaric in her arms. He was fussing, and Accalia looked somewhat frazzled, especially to see me there.
“You startled me,” she half-whispered,
I forced myself to look at her face, and not the baby she cradled to her chest. “Same. Couldn’t sleep?”
She cracked a wry smile. “Oh, I could sleep for days if this little guy would let me.”
I tried and failed to smile back. “I bet.”
Accalia stood awkwardly in the doorway for another moment, bouncing to keep Alaric from getting any louder. “Sorry, I just need to check if his favorite teething toy is in here.”
“Nothing to apologize for.”
She hushed and shushed, patting the baby… her baby… with the arm she held him in as her free hand rifled through a bassinet in the corner.
“I’m sure you left it here… hmm… oh, a-ha! See sweetie, I told you it was in daddy’s room.”
Alaric made a wet, gummy sound, and my eyes widened as they turned around and I saw the anatomical rubber heart that he was chewing on enthusiastically.
Noticing my expression, Accalia sighed. “Yes, it’s a little morbid, but he loves it. Vampires… what can you do?”
We gave half-hearted laughs in our shared exasperation of the Magik who’d imprisoned the both of us, and then she cleared her throat.
“Um, I’ll be heading back to bed, then.” She paused.
“And I’ll be going back to Fenmoor tonight for a while.
My family wants to meet Alaric, and it would be better if we weren’t here for… whatever Victor is planning.”
Take me with you, I begged silently.
She walked past me towards the door, but leaned in, her voice a barely audible breeze along the back of my neck. “I’m so sorry he found you, Sage.”
I nodded, my eyes welling with tears. The door closed, and my chest shook as I held in the sob building inside me.
Taking a deep breath, I counted to ten and then released the pain quietly, hoping Victor would stay asleep long enough that I could watch a little more of my show before whatever programming he and Vorthain had in store for me was to begin this evening.
The episode ended—on a cliffhanger, of course—and the news started soon after.
Good afternoon, Fenmoor. We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you a breaking story.
Authorities have confirmed the discovery of multiple bodies in the desert approximately one hundred miles east of Ignareth, near the Godscar Basin—a region of the neutral lands known for its extreme conditions.
The deceased have been identified as members of an archaeology field course from Umbris University in Noctis, led by renowned historian and antiquarian Professor Theron de Lornis.
Authorities say the group had been conducting sanctioned research at a remote excavation site when contact was lost three days ago.
Oh, Hecara, how awful. I hadn’t taken any classes with Professor de Lornis, but I’d attended a public lecture he’d once given on Old Lundarian witch cauldrons. For a vampire, he’d seemed remarkably humble and kind.
At least seven bodies have been recovered so far. Among the dead is Conan Silva, a Ph.D. candidate and werewolf researcher. University officials confirmed his identity earlier this afternoon.
The cause of death has not yet been released, pending forensic analysis. However, investigators have confirmed that two omega students who were part of the expedition remain missing.
I felt the blood drain from my face, and my body began to shake.
Conan… was dead?
“How tragic.”
I bit back a scream as Victor appeared in the doorway between our rooms, clicking his tongue against his teeth and shaking his head at the TV. “I suppose I will have to make some sort of announcement, then. Perhaps set up another memorial fund.”
My fear turned to anger, and I narrowed my eyes as I hissed, “Did you do this?”
His brows furrowed in confusion. “Pardon?”
I got up, feeling violently dizzy from a combination of the sudden movement, loss of blood, and lack of food. Victor came to my side to keep me from falling but I twisted myself out of his grasp, pointing my finger at him. “You did this, didn’t you?”
A low growl sounded from his chest. “I don’t appreciate the tone or the accusation, darling.”
“That isn’t a no,” I growled back.
He reached out and grabbed my finger, pulling me into him. “Why in Sanguiel’s name would I kill an entire class of graduate students?”
“Because you have a pretty good track record of killing my friends, darling.”
His body shook with barely restrained anger, but then dissolved as something almost like regret flashed in his eyes, for only a second, and he sighed. “I’m sorry for your friends, but I had nothing to do with us.”
…confirm that the two missing individuals are both omegas and were last seen with the group at the excavation site.
Search efforts have expanded outward in a fifty-mile radius, but with nightfall approaching, Ignareth officials will now hand the reins over to Noctis to continue the progress they’ve made today.
“I swear to Sanguiel that I didn’t do this,” he said, his voice calm yet heavy. He let go of my finger, wrapping his arms around my trembling frame. He began to purr, but I found no comfort in the vibration.
“I swear.”