Page 16 of Her Blood Revenge

‘Clearing the castle of fae wine. If you’re going to threaten us, at least you can do it without slurring.’

Flushed with a wave of anger, I stand and look at the bedroom door. He still has hold of my wrist. His grip tightens, and his lips meet my stomach, planting a gentle kiss on my flesh. I see his black eyes looking up at me through his lashes.

He kisses me again.

I’m stood before the Shadow Master utterly naked. I have no shame. There’s no room inside me for something so trivial. The lust and devotion he has as he looks up at me makes me want to make him suffer.

Make him pay.

I run my fingers through his hair as he plants another kiss on my belly.

‘You think that you get to betray me, use me, restrain me and treat me like shit… and then kiss me?’ I ask.

‘You smell amazing when you’re angry, my Poppet Doll.’His tongue grazes my skin.

‘I’m not angry,’ I correct, tugging his hair and pulling his head up. ‘I’m indifferent to you. You’re all beneath me.’

There it is—that flicker of hatred I knew from when we first met. I feel comfortable with that.

With hate and disdain.

Him the witch killer.

Me, the witch.

Nothing more.

‘You’re indifferent?’ he repeats.

‘Extremely.’ I tighten my hold on his hair, knotting my fingers around the roots as I tilt his head back.

His teeth sharpen as he slowly grins. Especially when I step closer, putting my stomach a hair’s breadth from his mouth.

‘Liar,’ he smiles. ‘Your scent betrays you.’ He briefly looks down at what’s between my legs before returning his gaze up to me. ‘And you forget. I’m linked to you. I feel what you feel.’

‘And what do I feel?’ I sneer.

‘Hate. Pain. Lust. Fear.’

‘Fear,’ I scoff. ‘I am not afraid of you.’

‘No. You’re afraid of what you are. Of what you may become. Of the overwhelming urges you have. To drink blood. To fuck until your legs buckle. To kill. To forgive, just so you can feel what you once felt for us. You can forgive us. It wouldn’t make you weak.’

With all this newfound strength, I toss him across the room, snatching the chain from reach as he soars away.

He’squick to right himself, returning to his feet with surprising ease.

We face one another.

My poppet doll lies abandoned between us. The crude dolly of straw, clay and blood with my hair stuck to the top of its head. He glances at it, wondering if he can reach it before I do.

‘Do it,’ I encourage him, nodding to the miniature version of me. ‘Grab it. Use it. That’s what you do, right,Shadow Master? You control and manipulate others. Take them as you please. Kill them with your little dolls or your shadows, and claim their souls.’

His brow furrows.

‘Takemysoul, Shadow Master. I’ll haunt you and revel in every second as I slowly drive you mad, right along with all the other souls you’ve stolen. You will never know a moment of peace as I make your black heart rot.’

‘Loving you will never bring me peace.’

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