Page 36 of Their Blood Rite

‘F-f-f-fuck you…’ My response comes out as an exhausted groan.

They all laugh.

I desperately try to rejoin the world. To get control back over my body. To run or fight. Anything but lie here limp and helpless.

There’s a light knock on the door.

‘My Lords,’ a delicate voice greets in a low, polite tone. ‘Is there anything you require?’

‘Yes. Prep a bath,’ Shaw orders.

‘Yes, My Lord,’ she replies, followed by her soft footsteps leaving.

‘Bathing her, Ronan? Awww. That’s sweet,’ Archie teases. ‘Gonna braid her hair too?’

‘All I can smell is her blood. It’s distracting me,’ Shaw retorts.

‘I don’t mind the smell,’ Archie replies.

‘Neither do I. That’s the fucking problem. I can’t decide if I want to drink her dry or go back there and finish off the bastards you left alive for spilling a single drop of her blood. She’s smothered in cuts, and I'm pretty sure they’ve broken her eye socket as well. You were supposed to get to them before they could cause too much damage.’

‘I got there as fast as I was able and killed as many as I could, Ronan,’ he argues, clearly offended. ‘I’ll be shitting mud witch for a week. I’m just glad I got there before Cole’s old man pushed that damn moon dagger up her pussy.’

‘Sorry… what did you just say?’ Dorian asks. ‘He did what?’

‘Yeah. He had the tip in there. Another second, and she’d have lost her virginity to steel. That would have been one hell of a shame.’

There’s a crash like a drawer slamming shut.

‘You okay, Shaw?’ Dorian asks tentatively.

‘There’s nothing in here that will fit her,’ Shaw snaps. ‘She’s too fucking skinny for any of these stupid dresses. Did those mud witches not feed her or something? I hate skinny females.’

I feel the mattress droop and manage to open my eyes just enough to see Archie’s boyish smile looking down at me. He reaches over and sweeps my mattered hair aside.

‘We’ll fatten her up. She’ll need to gain her strength if she’s going to survive us.’ His fingers trail down and follow the harsh line of my collarbone. ‘She’s cute as fuck, don’t you think?’

I manage to lift my arm and attempt to swat his hand away. This only makes him laugh.

‘She’s a feisty little thing,’ Dorian adds as he stands by my head. His hands are in his pockets as he looks me up and down.

‘Feisty?’ Archie laughs. ‘She stood over her fiancé’s father’s dying body and pissed on him. She didn’t look away from Cole as she did it, either. Like full-on staring and just… pissing.’ His hand grips mine as I try to push him away pathetically, and he carries on, chuckling to himself. ‘Feisty may be putting it lightly. I’m looking forward to seeing more.’

‘More of her pissing?’ Dorian snorts.

‘I mean… if it’s on her enemies, then why not?’

‘Because we may very well be her enemies now, Arch.’

‘Nah. Cole and his mud witches are on her list for sure. And her father, wherever that fucker went.’

‘Cole’s still alive then?’ Shaw asks.

‘What she left of him, I think so. Looked like she boiled his blood from the inside. His face was glowing like the embers ofa fire.’ Archie laughs. ‘It was one of the many highlights of the evening.’

‘I hate that little prick,’ Dorian mutters. ‘Why didn’t you tear his head off as well?’

‘I tell you what, Dorian. Next time we break through a coven's protection shields during their most sacred ritual, where they all gather to increase their powers,youcan shift into a wolf and face them alone asIhide in the trees. Oh, wait. You can’t because all you can do is fuck about with dolls and creepy arse shadows, so wind your neck in, and both of you quit telling me what I should or should not have done. We wanted the blood witch.’ He gestures to me. ‘I got you the fucking blood witch. I am so sorry I only killed a dozen or so witches…alone… and all you had to do was bite her and feel her up.’

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