Chapter 20
Astrangled scream rips me from my sleep, and a force lifts me from the bed into the air.
It takes a moment for me to realize that the scream belongs to me.
I hit the bed with a force that causes my back to arch.
I open my eyes, but it’s like the world is zoomed in, and everything is out of focus.
I scream for help, but I’m not sure who I’m expecting to come.
My body begins convulsing, and the vibration causes my teeth to clatter together.
My bedroom door slams open, and I hear a set of footsteps rushing inside the space.
“What is wrong with her?” I do not recognize the voice, but terror laces it, and I can only wonder what they are seeing.
The invisible force picks me up again, hovering me in the air before throwing me from side to side.
“Help me!” The words leave my mouth in a desperate cry as tears slide down my face. I try to gain control of my body, but whatever has it is far too powerful for me to fight against.
“Hold her down!” The voice belongs to a woman who sounds quite mature, and I can tell that she is human, somehow.
Several pairs of hands try to press my body against the bed, but whatever has me in its grip fights against them.
A sharp pain shoots from my feet to my head, and a loud crack fills the air.
It takes a minute for me to realize that it’s the sound of my bones snapping.
My body bends unnaturally as the force takes over my entire being.
I feel something tear along my spine, and a scream is ripped from my throat.
I writhe in pain as several parts of my body begin to stitch themselves back together, only to break and tear all over again.
“Please make it stop,” I beg.
Adina, take back control. Athriel’s voice reaches me as a muffled plea in the distance, and once again, since setting foot in this wretched palace, I feel my connection to him fading. I call out to him in desperation, but my voice is weak and strangled.
Burning fills my veins, turning my blood so hot that I feel like I’m on fire. I can feel the trickles of sweat dripping down every inch of me as my body is thrashed from side to side.
“Get the prince!” The voice booms as though a thousand people are screaming, and I clutch hold of my ears, feeling a dampness leaking from them. They’re bleeding.
“What is happening to me?” I cry out. Panic twists inside me, and I feel a dark shadow come over me, and without thinking, I lash out. “Get away from me!”
A scream that is not my own fills the room as the sound of a body hitting against something hard reverberates around me. The pain is excruciating, and my head is pounding.
“I think she’s dead,” a tear-filled voice sobs.
I open my eyes again, but the world is a blur of colors that forces me to snap them shut again. My body shakes violently, slamming back and forth between the bed and the air.
“What the hell…” The voice is one I recognize, and while I hate him more than anyone, a strange relief fills me at the sound of it. Something in my chest tugs at the feel of his presence. “Did she do that?”
I want to say that this is nothing more than a dream or hallucination, but the pain is too real for that.
I await the person’s answer to his question, but I hear nothing and everything.
The scrape of boots across the floor is loud, and the wind dances wildly outside the window, but the voices are lost in the chaos.
I lift my hands to my ears pressing against them to dull the noise, but nothing makes it stop.
“The noise,” I cry.
“Everybody leave,” the prince’s voice booms.
“Make it stop!” I scream out, desperation not allowing me to care that I’m begging the prince for help.
The slam of the door makes the room quiet just a fraction, but not enough to take away the pain. I feel the cool touch of a hand against my forehead, and something in it soothes me just a little. I find myself leaning into it.
“What is happening to her?” the prince asks.
I feel a presence step closer to me, and a small hand peels my eyes open, and I make out a blur of white.
“It’s the mating bond,” the whispered words are from Iza. I recognize the fear in her voice.
“I’ve never in history heard of a mating bond that causes this effect. The bond is supposed to strengthen both parties.”
“But she’s human.” There’s a pause. “There are no records of a vampire and human bond. The last recorded bond in history was from a century ago, and even then, it was two vampires who had passed their adolescent years.”
“So, what exactly does that mean?” I can hear the impatience in his voice and a sense of panic that I’m not sure if I’m imagining.
“When we go through adolescence, we experience the change, but our bodies have time to adapt to the new heightened senses and powers. I think that the bond is causing her to siphon your power, but it’s happening too fast. It’s happening all at once.”
I try to make sense of the words, but beyond the pain, everything is just too much. All I want is for her to make it stop.
“Then what do we do?”
Another long pause.
“There is nothing we can do but allow her body to deal with the transition.”
“And if she can’t deal with it?”
“Then we prepare for the worst,” she says.
“That’s not an option, you know what will happen if she dies. I need you to find a way to fix this.”
“This isn’t just something to be fixed. There are no texts or research available on this. It’s new territory, Karius.”
“Then figure it out.” There’s a pause. “Send the servants back with towels and cool bowls of water and tell Eamon that I need him.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
A sigh fills the room, and silence follows before that familiar touch is on me again, soothing the aches that wrack my body. Somehow, I find myself being lulled into a sleep, though it’s not long before the agony begins all over again.
My eyes open, and I find the prince’s hard stare on me.
“Good, you’re awake.” His voice is cold and devoid of the softness I swear I heard earlier.
My eyes scan my surroundings, and I find myself tucked under the thick covers of the bed.
My muscles ache, and a deep tiredness weighs me down.
Conversations that I caught parts of come back to me from when I was half delusional, and I push myself into a seated position.
I’ve experienced pain before, but nothing as bad as this, and I want answers.
“What the hell is a mating bond?”
He tilts his head back in frustration and blows out a breath.
“Let me make this abundantly clear: I am only answering this question because the safety of my court depends on it, but do not think that you can demand anything of me. I am still your prince, and if you do not deign to follow the rules I put in place for you, I will see to it that you return to your previous status of prisoner.”
I narrow my eyes at him but don’t say a word.
“Good,” he says as though my silence is an agreement. “A mating bond is usually the pairing of two powerful vampires who combine their powers to strengthen themselves and their court. It seems that before they went missing, the gods decided to change the rules.”
His words are filled with disdain, and I can tell that he is not happy that he is linked to me in any way.
“Then why are we…bound as you say?”
“That’s a question for the gods—or the fates, even. Believe me, if I knew the answer, I’d be working to sever the connection this very moment.”
“For once, we agree.”
He runs a hand through the dark strands of his hair as he sits up.
“You came here to kill me, so let me tell you this. The bond binds our lives together, so any attempt on my life is an attempt on yours.”
My eyes widen in confusion, and he smiles at this.
“You’re saying that if you die then—”
“Yes, it really isn’t that difficult to follow. If one of us dies, then so does the other, so keep that in mind the next time you think up another assassination attempt.”
I throw off the covers, my skin suddenly hot. The movement draws the prince’s eyes to my very bare legs, causing them to flare for just a second before he stands to his feet.
“Yes, little witch, whatever you did with your feeble attempt at killing me has damned us both in more ways than you can imagine.”
That catches my attention, and I think back to the dead bodies that surrounded me the day I left the dungeon and the moment that the prince fed from me, how alive he looked. I gasp.
“You can’t feed from anyone else, can you?” I scramble out of the bed, moving backwards as if I can escape him in this confined space.
“Ajax was right, you are smarter than you look. And correct, you are my only source, and the gods also saw fit to allow you to siphon my power too, so we are well and truly bonded, my dear.”
My heart is pounding inside my chest as I try to absorb all the information that he is giving me.
“This can’t be real. I can’t be bonded to you…I need to leav—”
“I expect you to be ready and dressed in the outfit I have laid out within the hour. You will begin training sessions today,” he interrupts me.
“Training?”
He rolls his eyes and then slows his words as if speaking to a fool.
“If you wish to avoid what happened last night, then yes.”
“I’m not training with vampires,” I spit.
He speeds over to where I’m standing, causing me to stumble into the wall behind me. Placing a hand on either side of my head, he moves forward until we are inches apart, boxing me in so that I cannot escape.
“Our lives are bound, and that means that any enemy I have only has to target you to take me out, so the training is not optional. You can either go there of your own volition, or I will drag you there myself.”
“You lay a hand on me and I wi—”
“You will what?” he asks before dropping his voice down low. “Moan like you have all the other times my hands have touched you. I’m not really seeing a downside for you here.”
I slam my hands into his chest, and even though I know that I do not require the strength to move him, he steps back.
“You’re an arrogant ass.”
He cocks his head to the side.
“Maybe, but right now our lives are bound, and if you want to move freely around this castle, you will train. Unless you prefer the privacy of the dungeon?”
“No,” the word slips out too fast, and a flicker of an emotion crosses his face, but it is gone just as fast as it came.
“Get ready, Adina.” He heads toward the door but pauses at the threshold. “And I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that other than my royal guard, no one can know about this bond.”
I nod. I’m not a fool. Anyone with this kind of information will know that if they wish to take down the crown of the court of shadows, then they need only target his human mate.
“Good.”
Without another word, he turns and stalks out the door. I press my back against the wall as I think about the events of last night. I will train, and I will figure out exactly how to break this bond so that when the day comes that I strike again, he won’t get back up.