Page 29 of Wicked Thirst
His power rushed through my body, and I couldn’t lie to him even if I wanted to. “You can trust me, Your Highness.”
“Will you do your best to help your fellow vampires?”
“I will.” My mouth snapped shut again because of his powers.
“Excellent. I believe you.” He waved his hand and suddenly I was completely free. The blood magic surrounding me disappeared as quickly as it came. The only evidence of it would be the memory I had of losing all control to someone else. It was a good reminder of what the King was capable of.
We stood there staring at each other. “What now?”
“Now we send for your sister and Martin.” He turned and started walking again.
“Just like that?”
“Though we’ve had a tough night, I do still have ways of getting what I want.” He walked with his shoulders back and chin held high.
This time I fell into step beside him. I didn’t know what to say so the first thing that came to mind was the first thing that came out. “Your power is very impressive, Your Highness.”
He chuckled. “Thank you.”
“Marius would do well to remember exactly that.”
The King paused and all humor dropped from his face. “Indeed, he would.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
PIPER
Atlas tried to rise up off the table. He bared his teeth at me and narrowed his eyes. “I don’t do timelines. He asked me for my word. I gave it.”
All I could do was glare at him. I knew what he was capable of. I knew he’d killed hundreds, probably a few thousand, but I didn’t care. I refused to back down from him. When I didn’t flinch back or even blink, he fell back onto the table sucking in panting breaths. He gritted his teeth and held the gauze tightly to his wounds.
Blood soaked through the gauze and seeped through his fingers. I crossed my arms, not making a move to help him. “He told you to hold still.”
“How am I to hold still when you’re standing there spouting idiocy in my general vicinity?” He nodded to the stack of gauze lying beside him. “You could take a moment from your single-minded mission to perish and hand me a bit more of that, unless you prefer to stand in the wake of the remains of my insides.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re not dying.”
“It bloody well hurts though,” he snapped and hissed at me. “You could take a bit of responsibility for this current situation.”
“Serves you right.” I shrugged. “You’re not a very good friend.”
His body quaked in pain and sweat beaded his forehead. “Pardon?”
I walked over to the table and grabbed a wad of gauze and stood next to him waiting silently for him to move his hands. When he just glared, I stared back at him waiting . . . The more time he spent being trapped in here, the more time it gave me to think of a way to get to Grayson before he did. Atlas let his head fall back and dropped his hands. I pulled the sopping used-up gauze off his wounds and threw them on the tray beside us. They landed there with a wet, sticky slap. I pressed new pads over the holes and held them in place.
“Not so sodding hard.” He winced. “Do they not teach new vampires how to control their strength in that night dweller cavern you reside in?”
“I’m pretty sure my strength is the only thing holding your insides in place. But I can let go and we can see what happens next. Would be interesting to find out how badly this could go for an immortal vampire who won’t shut the fuck up for a second.”
“Yet you’re the one regaling me with tales of how love will save all. Feels like a fortnight since you’ve closed your mouth.”
“By the way, you’re fucking welcome.” The blood seemed to be slowing but not enough. If he were human, he’d be unconscious and half dead by now. I wondered if he’d ever get to that point or if the pure audacity he seemed to be oozing would keep him going.
His jaw dropped. “And what exactly am I to thank you for? Nearly getting me killed?”
Infuriating vampire. “Why are you so quick to just kill him? At least give him a chance. Give me a chance.”
He rolled his eyes. “You are that bloody naïve. I am not.”
