Chapter 10
Use Your Words, Princess
Cedar
Citrus and lilies infiltrated my brain before I could even process what was happening.
I didn’t want to see her. Fates help this female if she decided to come back into this cell.
Was me trying to rip her throat out not enough?
Because that was what happened the last time she’d blessed me with her real presence.
I was finding it hard to fully control myself lately, and I wasn’t sure what was real and what was a product of the insanity they’d been pushing into my subconscious.
Something was happening with my dreams, with my mind.
Maybe it was the venom or magic or Cora herself.
I’d seen her before, in my thoughts. At least, I thought it was my thoughts, but was it?
Or was it real?
Was the conversation we’d had earlier while the sun was high even real? The one at the window before? It had been hours and the sun had sunk below the horizon. I’d had time to think, pace, ponder. Maybe it had all been in my head—maybe not.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw things.
But I knew that wouldn’t help. It would have the guards lining the hall and entering the room with their fucking wolf venom toxin like it had the last time I’d had a breakdown.
I couldn’t handle another drop of it. I couldn’t handle being unconscious again like that.
I couldn’t handle her in my head again. I needed to be awake and functioning so I could find a way to contact Silvana and Raiden.
I knew I hadn’t said anything—given them anything—but I was losing time, gaps of time, and I was finding it harder to stay away from the sun.
Maybe that was why I’d gotten this cell. The torture was in itself a way to escape, but being too stubborn to take the chance.
So I paced. I paced the full length of the cell—all five steps I could make.
The sun had finally descended below the horizon once more, freeing me from the corner of this Fates-forsaken room.
I tried to take deep, calming breaths, tried to remember who I was and my reasons for even staying in this damn court.
My goals. My people. I spun around and hit the wall behind me as hard as I could.
“Fuck!” I screamed. I needed something. Anything to take my mind off of what was to come.
I knew they’d be back with their vile syringe and whatever evil magic they were using on me.
I hadn’t heard a peep out of Oren since we’d talked before.
It had to have been at least a week, maybe more, and that had me even more nervous.
Was he okay over there? Was it safe to ask Cora?
Would she act badly if she knew I knew who he was?
Maybe she already knew? Or maybe she didn’t and I would be putting Oren in more danger.
I leaned against the wall, staring at the door that would lead to my escape, willing her to appear as her scent grew more intoxicating. As if by some magic of my own, the intoxicating smell of her filled the small, dank cell.
Was it real? Or more hallucinations?
A quiet thud sounded from outside and I managed to keep my stance of pure arrogance.
I could feel her out there. I knew it was her.
Not a hallucination as my magic surged through my body and my raven itched to get out and fly to her.
Perch himself upon her shoulder and nuzzle into her hair, which only pissed me off.
He’d never been anxious to see anyone, not even Silv.
I wanted to scream at him too and tell him he was a fucking traitor.
We owed no allegiance to her whatsoever past tolerating her, because Silvana would expect it of us.
Normally with the shadow stone bracelets around my wrists, he remained quiet and kept to himself, but the moment I scented her, he was alive and ready to shake off these prison shackles and go to her.
Even the vague scent of her had him clawing at the edges of his internal cage.
I gritted my teeth, willing him to settle the fuck down lest she somehow used her witchy senses to know how he was acting inside of me right now.
Witch.
I couldn’t fathom the thought that she was part witch. I wasn’t even sure what it meant for a vampire to be part witch.
My teeth ground together as the door clicked and swung open.
My face blank as my gaze raked over her curves.
I had no ability to stop even if I wanted to.
A long blue gown that matched her eyes cascaded to the floor, the sleeves billowed out around her wrists.
Her chocolate-colored hair in soft waves around her shoulders.
I knew there would be red highlights coming through if more light was available to reflect off the color.
Her deep sapphire eyes stared at me expectantly from across the room as if I should bow at her feet.
I wouldn’t be doing that. If anyone would be dropping to their knees, it would be her.
“The guards are unconscious. For now,” she whispered, her eyes rising to meet mine. “I wished… no, I needed to speak with you without the extra prying eyes and ears.”
I stared at her curvy form and nodded, doing my utmost to keep my control intact.
To not show her just how much her presence affected me—her real presence.
Not her magic. Her. I hadn’t truly been in her presence since the day she ran in to save me from Keres, signing me up for more sessions with Voss.
Or maybe it was when she tried to be kind and docile and I attempted to rip her throat out.
There had been another… with tonic, right?
My mind was having a hard time keeping things straight, and my soul wanted to believe she was here to save me, but my brain knew better than to walk down that road once more.
The scent of her was so strong I couldn’t even smell the dungeon around us anymore.
It was her. Only her. Always fucking her.
My body’s response to her made me want to punch the wall another dozen times, but I refrained.
“Do you plan on coming into my lovely residence? Or is the hallway more to your liking for the upcoming interrogation?” I finally spoke, though it came out more as a growl, but fuck it.
That was exactly how I felt about her. If she came in here, one of two things would happen.
I would kill her or I would fuck her. Maybe both if I were being honest with myself, though in which order remained to be seen.
She bit her bottom lip and it made my fangs ache, seeing that small peek of the sharp points along her lips.
Fuck me. Maybe she should stay out in the hall.
Or leave—that was probably the safest option if she valued her life.
However, the Fates were laughing at me right now because she walked in the room and closed the door behind her.
As if we hadn’t tried this dance before.
Lovely.
“What are you doing here, Cora? I’ll be honest, this is the quietest interrogation I’ve ever been in the midst of.
” I spoke quietly. She said the guards were down, but did I trust that?
Did I trust her? No. This entire thing could be a setup, a way to force secrets from my lips in my confused state that I otherwise wouldn’t speak aloud, and for whatever reason Vega couldn’t pry from my mind.
She was clearly in bed with Keres, literally and metaphorically, so it didn’t feel like that much of a stretch that she could be the next round of interrogation methods.
“I needed to make sure you were okay… after everything.” Her eyes were normally so closed off, but tonight something was different.
Something was off about her tone. I felt as if I could read everything happening behind those endless ocean blue eyes of hers.
They reminded me of The Black Sea, and a small part of my mind wondered if that was why Silvana was so drawn to it.
If the quiet vastness and color reminded her subconscious of her sister.
I knew it would always remind me of Cora, assuming I ever saw the sea again.
“What’s wrong?” I wanted to not give a fuck, but seeing her look so vulnerable made me want to hit something.
She shook her head, quiet for a moment. “Nothing. A normal day here in the castle of ice.” She shrugged and walked over to the small window I had access too, standing too close to me for my own comfort. “They wish to kill you. Did you know?”
I stared at her, confusion clear on my face.
I knew when someone was trying to change the topic of discussion, and she was obvious as fuck.
“This was what you needed to speak to me about? Without prying ears and eyes, as you put it?” She didn’t answer, her eyes only staring back at me, so I continued.
“I had some idea as to that plan, yes, Cora. They haven’t exactly tried to keep the fact quiet.
All you’ve done is prolong my suffering, it seems.”
“It would be easier if I let them. Easier for the two of us. He thinks you are dead in the mind already. He doesn’t realize that I’ve… we’ve…” Her voice was barely a whisper as it trailed off, but it felt as if she were a million miles away in that head of hers.
“Why are you here, Cora? Don’t make me ask you again. Trust me, you won’t like the outcome.”
She stared up at me, her small frame right below my shoulders. I could see the defiance growing in her eyes as if she came here just for a fight, or at least prepared for one. Who knew, maybe that was exactly why she’d come to me instead of her beloved master.
“Or what? You did ask me to come back so we could have words, as you put it,” she finally said after a moment of silence, throwing my words back from days ago.