Page 116 of Their Blood Queen

I don’t know if that indicates my mates are dead or lost. I did just witness them crash into a river in my dreams, and that river sealed over.

No, I decide. They can’t be lost.

One of the servants crowding the small cell offers Duchess Rinhold a tray of vials, and she selects a number of them, acting as if the matter is closed.

The courtship might be over, but now the Rinholds are in control.

“You still want me to marry your son?” I ask, bewildered.

“You will marry my son,” she clarifies. “The courtship was your chance to do this the easy way. You could have been one of us. Now, you’ll be what we need you to be, and nothing more than that.”

What could the Rinholds possibly need from me?

One of the servants produces a knife, and my eyes go wide.

“Do it,” the Duchess barks when he hesitates.

The male kneels and positions the blade above my navel. “Apologies, my lady. Please, don’t move,” he says. I bite my lip as he carves a neat line.

Then he goes to my back, and I panic.

They’re trying to re-create my marks to make it look as if the courtship is still active. “Stop it!” I screech as I use my nails, clawing and catching someone’s arm. I’m rewarded with a grunt of pain before a shin comes down on my wrist, making me cry out.

A slash rakes over my spine, making spots glitter over my vision.

Then another.

Then more until I think I might pass out. I pant through the pain as the weight is finally lifted from my wrist.

After the servant uses the vials on me, I realize one is to remove the bruises and to clean the blood of the new wounds, making them heal just enough not to look so fresh. Another is to wind decorations through my hair with pins and chains, and the third doesn’t seem to do anything. Maybe it’s some sort of perfume I can’t smell. A pheromone one, perhaps. Those are popular at weddings. Although, I don’t know what for, given that I have no intention of going through with it.

“You will behave,” the Duchess declares with finality. “You will do as you’re told, and you’ll submit. That is your role now. You will only speak when you’re spoken to, and in the old-style format of matrimony, your verbal agreement isn’t required.”

I open my mouth to tell her to fuck off.

But when my lips part, no sound comes out.

The third vial wasn’t a perfume.

It was a silencing potion.

I’m dragged out of my cell, unable to make a single sound as I fight with every ounce of strength in my body.

I’m going to be forced to marry Edward, I realize with horror as they take me down the halls, and hot, angry tears stream down my face.

I have a feeling if the Rinholds win, my mates will be lost to me forever.

Fuck if I’m going to let that happen.

I won’t marry him.

I have three dream monsters trying to break through the surface. And when they do… they’re going to kill all of you.

CHAPTER 33

SCARLETT

My brows furrow as I’m brought to a more intimate setting than I had been anticipating. Open windows allow in a soft breeze. Sheer drapes surround a central area, billowing on the gentle wind while chairs surround it on all sides.

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