Chapter 25 #2
I was fucking pissed. I would not be held captive again, and I would not let Tristan and his family get hurt.
I refused.
In such a short amount of time in the Tridian Empire, Tristan and his family, Myrin, and the three men I was quickly falling for had come to mean so much to me.
Suddenly a door slammed open, and light filled the room as several pairs of heavy boots pounded down the creaky staircase.
Despite being tied up, I kept my chin held high, straightening my spine as I stood—nearly stumbling from the rocking of the ocean—while staring at the shadowy figures of my captors. I couldn’t afford to be weak.
“If it isn’t our little runaway,” a masculine voice filled with malice goaded. The sound caused the hair on my arms to stand on end.
I tried to not react, but I was damn positive I recognized the individual.
I stayed quiet, knowing from my years of imprisonment that it was sometimes better to not talk; you couldn’t imagine the things people would say when they forgot you were there.
Unfortunately, I didn’t think I was in a position for them to forget about me.
But I also wouldn’t give them what they wanted—my fear.
“Nothing to say?” The center man stepped forward into the beam of light. There were many people I disliked from Malakai’s empire, but openly hated? Despised? This man was on that list.
Holmeth.
One of Malakai’s most loyal and long-serving guards.
I was sure he’d made his way to that position by killing a great many people.
While he had never touched me, he’d made my life a living hell in a very different way, doing everything from suggesting punishments for me to reporting my every move to Malakai, getting me in trouble for the smallest things, while never suffering consequences himself because he hadn’t touched me or even interacted with me.
He loved to watch from the shadows, enjoying the pain he could inflict on me with his power of having Malakai’s ear.
Today his dark hair was pulled back, and I held his gaze, refusing to look away even when he openly sneered at me.
“That’s fine. I have plenty of ways to make you talk, Kyella.” He looked me over with a lascivious gaze that caused my stomach to turn. “Ways to make you scream.”
Breathe, Kyella. You aren’t back in Malakai’s castle, and you definitely aren’t the same Kyella who left that place.
“It was hard to get you alone,” he said, chastising me. Two more figures emerged from the darkness, but I didn’t dare move my gaze, not wanting to take my eyes off the real danger. “But luckily, these two managed to finally get to you and kill the traitor that helped you escape.”
Tristan.
No. No, no, no…
I closed my eyes and took a single deep breath, not wanting to show any emotion to this monster. He was watching me like a hawk, just waiting for me to break down in tears, but I refused to give him the satisfaction. I channeled Myrin, drawing the strength I’d need to face this vile man.
When I opened my eyes again, his expression wasn’t nearly as smug as it should’ve been. The asshole was lying! The only reaction I gave him was a glare.
“Did you not hear him, girl?” one of the others snapped, stepping forward.
“Oh, she heard me.” Holmeth grinned, his fangs flashing dangerously. “It seems her short stint of freedom has emboldened her. Pity that. We’ll have to strip her of that before returning her to the Emperor.”
It had emboldened me, because I was aware now how powerful I was. I wasn’t valueless, nor the blood slave Malakai had tried to turn me into.
I was a dhampyr, and I would never be defenseless again.
Shifting slightly, ignoring Holmeth’s taunts, I tried to feel if my daggers were still strapped to my thighs.
“Looking for your daggers?” he asked, clearly amused.
“We split them between the two of us,” the third man said, chuckling. “It seemed a fitting reward for capturing you.”
I wasn’t able to fully mask my anger at them taking such meaningful items from me. I would take them back and make them regret ever coming for me.
“Maybe we won’t have to use them on you, if you behave,” the second one offered, raising a brow at me.
Behave? I wouldn’t behave. I wasn’t a fucking pet.
“Oh, she’ll behave,” Holmeth said smugly, grinning at my change of expression. “You see, we aren’t simply bringing you back to Malakai. Not yet, at least. We need to know what you’ve learned here in the Tridian Empire. To see if there’s anything else we need to take care of while we’re here.”
They wouldn’t get anything out of me. I wasn’t scared anymore, especially not of these scum.
“Speak!” Holmeth suddenly snapped, his temper flaring. I felt a solid kick to the back of my knees from one of the others who had worked their way behind me during Holmeth’s speech.
A groan of pain escaped me as I fell to my knees and nearly face-planted on the moldy floorboards, managing to gain my balance at the last moment.
I inhaled sharply, staying down to catch my breath and plot my next move. I had to play this smart. These vampyres thought they had me—Kyella, the weak human Thrall… Which was why they’d tied me in ropes that stretched as I tested them, unsuitable for someone with a vampyre’s strength.
Someone like me.
They thought they’d taken the only weapons available to me, but my fangs were aching to be released, and I planned to put them to good use and test out the venom I supposedly possessed.
Snapping my head up, I held Holmeth’s gaze once again, knowing it’d make him livid that I wasn’t cowering.
He crouched down in front of me, roughly gripping my chin.
“You will comply, even if it means bringing you back to the Emperor half-dead. As long as there’s a sliver of life left, his blood will revive you. ”
“It doesn’t matter what you do,” I goaded, loving the way my voice stayed even and confident.
“Is that so?” he snarled, his grip turning bruising.
A feral grin pulled my lips up, revealing my fangs.
“I’ll not bow to any of you.”