13. Chapter 13
Camille
We had spent the next several days training and I found myself regularly lost in thought.
Josiah hadn’t come back after his quick departure, yet again.
I understood that it was painful. I knew it wasn’t the same for him, because he lost me and I gained Jerrod, but his inability to talk about anything was not helping his situation.
Everyone was on edge after my vision. Jerrod was by my side, pretty much all day, without fail and when he couldn’t be, he made sure someone else was with me at all times. He said that having someone else with me would at least give me a fighting chance to stop the vision from coming to fruition.
I didn’t know that I was in agreeance with that theory, but I didn't argue, mostly to make him feel better. I had a nagging pit in my stomach. One that told me, something big was coming. Something was going to bring all of my visions full circle.
“Did you hear me?” Jerrod asked.
“I’m sorry. I am just so distracted,” I admitted. “I have a horrible feeling in my gut that I just can't shake. Have you heard from Josiah yet?”
“I haven’t, but I don’t doubt that my brother is fine.”
I was starting to think that maybe I was just overreacting.
I had to admit that the pain of making the choice to pick between the two of them, brought nothing but unease to my soul.
My life had been nothing but impossible and unreasonable choices, over and over, for the better part of a year.
I knew there would be more of those choices in my near future though. It was just an inevitability.
“Do you think we could try to make contact with him? I’d feel better if we did.”
“Of course. If it puts you at ease, I will do what I can to make it happen, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he just appears in front of us at any moment,” he laughed softly. “Truly, Camille, I think he’s probably just plotting.”
“We’re coming up quick to the day of that meeting he brought up. I just feel like he should have reported something by now.”
We rounded the corner and I slammed into Jade. We both made a loud ‘Oooof” noise as our bodies collided.
“Apologies,” she said quickly. “I was actually looking for both of you. Training is about to begin again.”
“We were just heading that way,” I said as I rubbed my shoulder. “Have you heard from him?”
She gave me a sad smile, “I haven’t.”
“And what about Kresh or Veshkru?”
“Not that I am aware of. I am very sorry, Camille.”
I sighed and began to move toward the training room.
I had been practicing for the last several days with physical combat, swordplay and a little practice with daggers too.
I needed to be ready for anything and I couldn’t rely on everyone else to carry me through this fight.
The longer we spent training, the more my mind was pretty dead set on stealth being our best option in fighting Kyril.
Catching him unaware was probably our best bet.
As we walked in, I quickly noted what everyone was doing.
Kresh and Veshkru were in the middle of a sparring match with each other.
When I had first met them, I didn't possibly think their skill level could get any better.
The sparring taking place between them, proved that theory to be highly mistaken.
I found myself regularly baffled that none of them got injured during training.
King Kian was taking instruction from Ansel and he seemed to be taking it quite seriously, which made me smile.
You could definitely tell that The King had never done any sort of training previously, other than maybe curling his dinner to his face at his throne.
He kind of reminded me of myself back on Croneatos, learning all of the techniques from the leader, Vina.
I was starting from square one too, with no training and no fighting skills to speak of then.
She had gotten so irritated with me during our training sessions.
I could see why now. Ansel looked a little frustrated with the situation.
The rest of The King’s Guard was in various matches with each other.
Their skill levels all varied but you could see that they were really putting their all into increasing their ability as much as possible.
I knew Jade would be joining them. She said she needed a change of pace and fighting with multiple of The King's men really put her skill to the test.
“Today, it’s my turn to assess your skill,” Jerrod grinned.
“You sure you can stay on task with that?” I asked him with a taunting smile back. “I promise… I’ll use everything I have to win.”
He looked at me with a knowing grin, “Try me, my love. I don’t think I will be the one that will be struggling to stay on task here.”
I didn’t get another word in edgewise before he was effortlessly flipping me over his shoulder and carrying me to the middle of the room like a sack of potatoes.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!” I yelled playfully.
He laughed as he teasingly slapped my right ass cheek and kept moving without another word.
When we got to the spot he had intended to work with me in, he lightly set me down.
His hand found my face and he gently caressed my cheek.
I leaned into his touch, enjoying the warm sensation left behind.
He looked me straight in the eyes and lightly brushed his lips against mine.
It never took much for the world to disappear around us.
I could have lost myself in him right in that moment and not even noticed the surrounding people.
My body shivered at his hand trailing down my neck, lightly brushing down my breast and he pulled away just as quickly, “How’s staying on task?” He whispered as I looked up at him in a daze-like state.
“I’ll always lose myself in you,” I admitted unabashedly.
If there was anything I wasn't embarrassed about, it was my lack of control with him. I knew I was hopeless in resisting anything to do with his touch.
He stepped back from me, ready to finally test what I had learned thus far, finally ready to teach me something.
I never even saw it coming. I had barely felt the absence of his touch when something suddenly blocked my view.
It was too late for me to do anything. It was too late to realize that I was standing face to face with Kyril.
“It appears that this rift led me straight to you,” Kyril chuckled, his cold eyes locked on to mine. His voice was like thick honey, rich and baritone.
And I instantly knew then who had been in my vision.
I instantly knew it had been Kyril’s deep seductive voice.
It was then that I realized that he was the reason I was taken and I understood then why no one came to my aid.
They couldn’t. They didn’t even have a chance to register the situation playing out right in front of their faces.
I could see Jerrod’s eyes behind him falling on my own, widening as he realized all of the same things that I was in that moment.
He took a step toward me, arm outstretched, fear and failure playing endlessly on his face.
I smiled at him, one last time, before Kyril’s hand was on my wrist and everything faded to black.
When I finally came to, I was in the dark musty room.
Unlike the vision, I was not confused. I knew what had led me to this moment.
I internally scolded myself for allowing this to happen.
All of the training and everyone being with me at all times, had done nothing at all.
I instantly thought of Jerrod and knew that he was going to be so angry with himself.
He was probably already in a state of panic, trying to fix what he considered his personal transgressions.
“She wakes,” Kyril said from behind me.
I couldn’t see him and my entire body ached. I instantly wondered if it was from traveling through time and space so quickly. Josiah never seemed to show any discomfort from it. I had to assume that he had grown accustomed to the act from the frequency of transporting.
Unlike the vision, I didn’t ask him who he was. I already knew the answer. I sucked in a deep breath and my lungs burned with the intake of air.
“Where am I?” I groaned.
I began to pull at my restraints, longing for the freedom from these shackles. The metal of the cuffs cut into my wrists. They were too tight and I knew it was going to start breaking skin if I fought against them too hard. I groaned again as I took in how uncomfortable I actually was.
“It’s really not pertinent information, love. All you need to know is that I will likely haunt your dreams in the future,” Kyril said in amusement.
I stayed silent, trying to sift through my own head.
I had to figure out a way out of here. I had to get free.
But fuck, it was so dark in this room. I couldn’t even attempt to free myself with Kyril standing so close to me.
I could feel his breath next to me now. He sucked in a deep breath right by my ear.
“You smell divine,” he moaned.
I cringed as I remembered this moment from my vision. “Fucking gross, bud. Not interested,” I said, stressing my disgust.
As his deep alluring voice played in my ears, I kept telling myself I was grossed out, but my body was telling me absolutely otherwise.
The intense richness of his tone sent shivers down my spine and it was mortifying that he had that kind of effect on me.
His tongue softly trailed up my face and I recoiled away from him.
“You taste divine too,” he said seductively.
He bit deeply into the flesh of my neck, which fucking hurt like a bitch. He moaned in ecstasy as he drank deeply. This couldn’t be how I died! I had to find a way to get away from him. I was already beginning to feel weak from the blood he was taking, but I struggled anyway.
“Get the fuck off of me, you disgusting vampire,” I screamed, a little over dramatically.
He stopped and pulled away from me. He laughed, loudly. “VAMPIRE!” He roared in amusement. “It’s been quite a time since I’ve heard a reference that endearing.”
I found myself speechless. This asshole was entertained. Fantastic. So this guy was a blood sucker and a narcissist.
“It wasn’t a fucking compliment, dickbag, but apparently your ego just got in the way of your ability to comprehend a fucking insult.”
Suddenly, there was a whooshing noise and a flame ignited on the wall.
The area was small and looked as though someone had dug the room straight into the ground.
The walls and ground were literally just dirt.
That was when I noticed the mass next to me from my peripheral.
Slumped over in another chair, completely unconscious, was Josiah.
I gasped in horror at the state he was in. “Oh, sweet Jesus,” I choked out. “Oh, Josiah, what did they do to you?”
A sob slipped out of my lips as I took a mental inventory of his current condition. He had unmistakable bruising all over his skin. His clothes were tattered and ripped. There was blood soaked into a good portion of the fabric. I was fairly certain that they had been torturing him.
“You definitely know this creature then,” Kyril noted as he gauged my reaction. “Interesting.”
“You’re a monster,” I spat.
He lowered himself down in front of me and got so close that his nose was almost touching mine. “You don’t know what a monster I am.”
He gripped my hair and yanked it backward. I yelped at the sharp pain exploding across my scalp. Before I even had the time to register what was happening, his lips were against mine. I fought against him and he bit my bottom lip, drawing blood again.
I thrashed my head around to try to get him off of me, but he got more forceful, wrapping my hair around his hand to give me less space to move. He moaned against my mouth as the blood hit his tongue.
“Your essence is like nothing I’ve ever tasted,” he whispered as he moved back to look into my eyes. “I wonder how your mate would feel knowing I’ve tasted you.”
“I imagine he’s going to fucking kill you, actually,” I said sharply.
A laugh rang from behind me and my stomach bottomed out.
“I see you’re playing with your food again.
You have a little leftover red on your chin there,” Amelia said, pointing to Kyril's face, as she strode into the room. “Seriously, can’t we bring them to a cleaner place? The dirt is going to ruin my shoes.”
“Have we learned nothing from the last time the girl was here, Athia?” Kyril asked.
She looked at him with a forced smile, “Point taken. We need to keep her hidden. I would assume someone will come for her.”
I looked at them both as they discussed my capture. I wouldn’t mention that they were probably right. Jerrod was probably already looking for a quick way here. I know how I felt when he was captured and he wasn’t even my mate then. He was probably losing his shit.
I needed to find a way out of here quickly.
I needed to get Josiah out of here too. If I could get him to wake, he could rift us out of here.
As I sat there thinking, I suddenly realized, I was away from Jerrod.
I was extremely far away from him. It was only a matter of time before the bond began acting violently yet again.
I apparently couldn't catch a fucking break.