43. Cornered by Piranhas
Chapter 43
Cornered by Piranhas
CINDER
A nother fucking ball.
Another fucking bullshit evening, and I can’t even pretend I don’t want to set fire to this entire castle.
Worst yet. I’m here by myself.
I was told by one of my royal dressers that the prince would not be attending tonight. He’s “not feeling well.”
It was a message.
This is over. You can’t do this without me.
Well, Prince Charming can go fuck himself off a cliff and right in his own butthole. Because I’m tired of holding back on everything.
He said he loves me. Loves me!
I only wish I’d had time to go home to tell Goldie, Red, and Snow about his dick move.
If he thinks he can manipulate me with his so-called charm and woo me into doing whatever he wants, he’s got another thing coming.
Because that’s what it is. A manipulation.
He doesn’t love me.
He can’t.
We had an agreement and sure, we may be fucking, and the chemistry is blow-the-roof-off hot, and he’s worked his ass off to make me comfortable and trust him even though he possesses a set of fangs as lethal as his pierced dick.
And okay, so he’s helped me find the Ember of Midnight and shared gory personal details I don’t think he’s shared with anyone else while allowing me to do the same. But it’s all a play.
He said it himself. He’s using me to overthrow his father. To inspire the Mice to creep into the castle and take over.
That’s all I am.
It feels as if my heart is on fire and I’m struggling to tamp down my feelings of anger, outrage, and. . . and. . . something else.
Something I don’t want to admit, or even fucking consider.
That he means it? Or that I feel it too?
No. I have to focus on why I came here. And then I can cut ties to Midnight and all of Charming’s bullshit.
I’m still equally suspicious of the King and Marisela. Despite what she said about not having killed my father, I can’t trust her. And I certainly can’t trust what she said about my dad.
She is the abuser.
I hate the way my stomach roils whenever I think about what she said.
“All alone this evening?” Anastasia asks. Drusilla is behind her. A head shorter than her sister, her dark plaited back hair is a perfect contrast to her blue dress. She stares at me with those colorless snake eyes with a hunger that makes my skin itch and gives me a need to get as far away as possible.
“The prince isn’t feeling well,” I say for the twentieth time in half an hour.
“I think I have an idea of what’s making him sick,” Anastasia smirks knowingly.
“Yes, well he thought it’d be rude to tell you to lay off that skunky perfume, so he chose the classier route of staying safe behind closed doors from your stench and bad attitude.” The words flow easily off my tongue as I search the room for the Queen.
Maybe she knows more about my father. She's a resource I haven’t used before. And without Kai protecting her from every interaction threatening her little world, maybe I can get something out of her.
“You little bitch,” Anastasia hisses.
Drusilla’s eyes dart back and forth between us with an anticipatory grin on her face. As if she’s excited by the prospect of blood being spilled in front of her.
“Now now, is that any way to talk to your future Queen?” I ask, turning to look my older stepsister in the eye.
Anastasia is moments away from lunging at me and either tearing out my hair or my throat. I almost want her to do it. Let everyone witness what an uncontrolled animal she is.
Just like vamps detest the sight of red, they can’t stand uncouth displays that are considered uncivilized. My presence alone has nearly pushed them past their limits.
“Ah Cinder,” the half-elf ambassador calls out, coming to my side. “I wanted to ask you about your wedding attire. I know there is much pressure for you to adorn the black dress of a Midnight fairy, but I believe a white gown heralds the Common World values and would help cement this blending of cultures.”
I can never remember his name, but I always wonder if it’s a coincidence he smells like plums when his skin is a light hue of lavender up to his pointed ears. Either way, I let him lead me off to talk about the vapid details that somehow further his political agenda of pulling power and influence in not one, but two realms.
An hour later and I have to admit that as tough as I thought these gigs were before, without Kaison it’s fucking excruciating. He takes so much of the social pressure off me while making me feel like I’m not alone.
When I spot the Queen, I catch her slipping from the ballroom. It’s not unusual. She doesn’t seem to have the stamina for these things either and often retires before the evening concludes. I decide to follow her, leaving the murmurs and music of the ballroom behind to head down a corridor. I don’t see her, but I head toward where I know her chambers are.
When I turn the corner, I come face to face with Drusilla. Despite being a half-head shorter than me, the grin on her face would make the devil pee himself.
“I’ve missed you, sissy,” she purrs like the predator she is.
I start to back away, feeling I’ve made a massive mistake.
“That makes one of us,” Anastasia says from behind me, arms crossed barring the way. I could chip a couple of ice cubes off her face if I needed a cold drink.
“Y- you can’t touch me here. They’ll know. I’m engaged to the prince.” My words seem infantile to my own ears. Suddenly I’m that twelve-year-old trying to convince two vampires that they are sisters, friends even.
They did an excellent job of clearing up that notion back then.
“Why do they think that?” Anastasia asks, cocking her head to the side. “Is it because you dress like one of us, pig?” With that, she grabs the necklace at my throat and yanks.
My hands fly to the jewels that choke me instead of breaking.
“These should be my jewels,” Anastasia says through gritted teeth. “This should be my dress. And he should be my fiancé.”
“They dressed up the piggie,” Drusilla says with a gleeful little clap. She was always the truly sadistic one. “Like a yummy bloody present to open.” She grabs my sleeve and rips it away. It flutters to the ground which seems to send Drusilla into a frenzy. She grabs the other sleeve and rips that off too.
I can’t stop her because I’m too busy trying to keep Anastasia from choking me, even as black dots appear in my vision.
Nails scratch at me. Someone pulls at my hair.
“Stop,” I gasp.
“Aww, little piggie wants us to stop, Dru,” Anastasia mocks. She shakes the necklace like a collar, and it cuts my throat. Fear flares like a supernova as I feel my blood slide down my neck.
Dru gasps in delight. “Let me bite the piggie.”
“Not yet—” Anastasia says, but she never held any real sway over her younger sister.
Drusilla jumps on me. The necklace breaks against my throat sending Anastasia stumbling backward.
I slam to the ground, the breath knocked out of me so hard I lose my bearing for several seconds. A cold, thick tongue swipes up my throat as greedy fingers grip my hair to keep me in place.
“I forgot how good you tasted, piggie,” Drusilla pants in my face.
Fear turns me ice cold. I know what happens next.
I’m desperate to disconnect from my body, to be anywhere but here. Just like I used to, I want to send myself elsewhere to colors and shapes in my mind where it’s safe, so I feel no pain. But I’ve spent so much time being inside my body, letting Kai into it. I'm too grounded to let go.
Oh fuck, oh fae lords, I’m going to have to feel it all. Be agonizingly present while she tears into me. Tears slide out of the corners of my eyes and trickle into my ears.
If I were going to manifest those powers latent in my body, now would be a great time. I could use a fireball, the power to fly away, anything to save me.
Reearrrr! A pissed off feline yowl fills the hallway.
“Gah, get it off!” Drusilla jerks away from me.
A darting figure of black fur clambers over her. I scramble back, not wasting any time.
“Ana, get this beast off me,” Dru screams as her sister flails uselessly at the offending creature.
Lucifer. Lucifer is attacking my stepsisters.
Between them and the cat, I’d bet on devil kitty any day. So I turn and fucking run. I slip at first but regain my bearing, determined to get as far away as fucking possible.
I don’t get far before I slam into something solid. Two hands grip my shoulders, holding me still despite my struggle.
“Cinder. Cinder, it’s me.”
I look up and find Kaison, fully dressed to the nines. I sag in relief as he holds me up. Fuck, I hate how much I need his strength, but I’m seconds from bursting into some very messy tears.
“You weren’t going to come down tonight,” I say, the words not making sense to my own ears.
“I couldn’t stay away,” he says with a lopsided smile that vanishes as he takes me in. “What happened? Your dress is torn. You’re bleeding.” With each observation, his tone tightens as his nostrils flare and his pupils visibly expand. Whatever effect my blood is having on him is overpowered by his concern.
I throw a look over my shoulder, trying to see if they followed me.
“Cinder,” Kai gently takes my chin and directs me to look at him. “What the fuck happened. Who did this to you?” Darkness enters his face.
I should be afraid. I should be afraid of him for so many fucking reasons. And definitely still pissed off at him. But one night without him and it was too fucking much.
“My sisters,” I whisper. Then I do what I never thought I’d do. I tell him the whole story. Clenching my eyes shut, it all pours out of me. “After my father died, I was no longer a family member, I became a servant. I served them by cleaning house, by trying to cater to their every whim. I kept thinking if I did a good job for a while they would accept me as a family member, that they were hurting too at the loss of my father. But then they. . .” I couldn’t say it. I could feel myself go flat as I moved outside my own body. As if it was too much to stay in this meat bag.
Oh great. Now? Now I can detach from my body?
Where was this ability five minutes ago?
“They fed on you.” Kai finishes my sentence with a snarl so hateful and brimming with wrath, it suddenly snaps me to awareness. I take in the way his muscles bunch and coil, from his shoulders and pecs, to the way veins now throb at his neck.
“It was a long time ago,” I say, trying to keep the events far in the past. But they are here, I am here, and it feels like only yesterday their fangs tore into my flesh as they sucked the lifeblood out of me with uncaring savagery.
And it almost happened again just now.
To this day I can’t figure who was worse—Anastasia, with her blatant hunger for power—power over me, power she gained from me—or Drusilla. Being younger, her fangs ripped and shredded my skin with a lack of precision. Like a tiny piranha out of its mind with bloodlust.
“The scars on your body,” Kai whispers, almost to himself. “It wasn’t rogue vampires. It was your family.”
Then that rage disappears and it’s as if his emotions have flatlined, like mine do all the time.
“I’m going to kill them.” He turns on his heel and I’m too late in realizing he’s not reacting like me at all. He hasn’t detached. He’s simply made a decision and now he must execute.
“Kai, no,” I run after him, clawing at his arms, trying to hold him back, but I can’t.
The entry hall is empty except for my stepmother and sisters and two thralled familiars helping them into their coats. Ana and Dru sport numerous visible and deep scratch marks on their faces from a certain devil cat.
“You,” Kai snarls. “You three aren’t going anywhere.”