Page 51 of Lured

Chapter 22

Anais

After training for a while and deciding that I wasn't getting any further, I took a break and tried to get a little rest. After everything that had happened and knowing I would have to face Ludis eventually, I couldn't sleep.

I tried a couple of times but found myself tossing and turning. Even after snacking on some of the food from my pack and getting a drink from the mini bar, I couldn't get myself tired enough to go back to sleep. I just wasn't ready to do so.

This whole situation was crazy and when I wasn't thinking about Ludis and how creepy he was, I couldn't stop thinking about Leo and the way it felt to be his enthralled. I feared that I was addicted because there was a big part of me that wanted nothing more than to be in his presence for some reason.

This wasn't possible. I had to kill Ludis and then I had to go back to the academy. But I wasn't sure I liked the idea of leaving Leo entirely. He was amazing to be around.

Sighing, I got up again. The longer I stayed here, the more danger I was in of not leaving again and becoming addicted. I couldn't take the chance that I wanted this for all the wrong reasons. While I didn't know how addictive this was generally, I did know that it was addictive on some level.

As soon as I was up again, I chose a new outfit from all the ones that Leo had bought me. Almost all of them had some element of purple in them but the rest had green or pink. It was a strange set of colors, but I could appreciate the purple and pink especially.

I didn't have as many options for weapons with this dress, purple and pink colors intermingled in the patterns and elements of the dress, but I went back to the faithful purple boots. With them and the wire in my bracelet I would have to hope the few concealed weapons I had were enough if a fight happened.

Leo had given me more tools and I ran through the moves a few times again to try to get the muscle memory to work. Some of the moves came more naturally than others and I was fairly confident that if I continued to practice them at every chance I got, it wouldn't be long until they were stuck in my head.

With that, I did the only other thing I could and opted to go to the lounge. The sooner we found out exactly what Ludis was up to, the sooner I would get to end this and go back to the academy. I needed distance between Leo and I.

I didn't know if I could find the lounge again on my own, but I was certain that it had to be in one particular area of the ship given how much I had already explored and what I knew of it. It shouldn't be too difficult to find again.

After a little wandering and back tracking a couple of times when I wasn't sure, I found it again. There were men on the outside but either they recognized me, or I passed whatever criteria was needed for the doors to be opened because they had barely spotted me before one of them stepped to the side and pushed the door open.

I smiled on the way past, not sure if I should thank them or not. I didn't know if I wanted to truly be in the lounge again when I would almost certainly have to perform in some way, but Leo had said he would go here and I had no other way to continue this mission.

Knowing that this would all be over in two days one way or another I would keep hold of that and hope that it was enough. Just two days and then no more.

My heart sank as I looked around the lounge and didn't find Leo. He wasn't here yet and I had somehow got here first. Either that or he had left and in my wandering I had somehow missed him.

I considered leaving again, but before I could Ludis broke off from the group he was with and came over toward me. I got the impression that it would be rude to leave now and that I would have to endure whatever this was going to be.

For a moment I considered attacking the vampire and finishing my mission now. I knew I had the tools and could take him by surprise. Everything Leo had taught me played before my eyes as I imagined myself killing the turned creature.

Instead I found myself standing where I was, waiting for him to come to my, my head lifted high and my body waiting to see what I needed to do.

If nothing else, Leo and his alliance and interest in me had given me something I had been missing for a while.

Confidence.

Ludis came right up to stand in front of me, then looked me over in an exaggerated way. Still I didn't say or do anything, but waited for him to say what he wanted.

“I will admit that Drew knows what to dress you in and he has good taste.”

“Yes. He does.” I didn't show the deference I had earlier despite knowing he would expect it.

It got his attention and he looked up at me, meeting my gaze.

“What is it you see in Drew?” Ludis asked.

“It's not what I see in him. It's what he sees in me and what he's willing to offer to get it. I could tell you that I'm eager to be an enthralled and do as I'm told all the time, but it would only be partially true.”

“That's very... different, of you.” Ludis lifted an eyebrow.

I stepped a fraction closer, hoping he'd see this for an attempt to offer something with a much more interesting flare. “He understands my skills and what I offer him. He called me an alpha submissive. Someone who in every other area of life is in charge and yet still finds she needs to let go. But only to someone who truly has the power and skill to deserve that level of submissive.”

Ludis tilted his head to the side and looked me over again. I let him walk around me, trying not to show my revulsion as he considered what I might be able to do for him. He was weighing up if I could be his submissive and I hoped that the earlier conversation we had could be continued.

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