Page 39 of Blood Bought

Chapter Seventeen:

For the next coupleof days, Alaris was gone. It seemed almost cruel that when I was finally interested in seeing him again, he was nowhere to be found – but chatter around the castle told me he was away doing something Heir-ish, and I could hardly blame the man for doing his job.

I just wished he’d have picked a bettertimeto do his job. I was dying, ready to give myself to him for better or worse. Probably worse, if the anger I’d seen in his eyes as he touched me was any indication. But that orgasm had been incredible. Having someone else touch me for the first time, forhimto touch me for the first time... I wanted more. I just couldn’t have it yet.

Without him to wait on, I spent more time with the bloodwhores, getting to know them and asking questions where I could about why they enjoyed their role so much when all I’d heard about it seemed to be negative. I saw the effects, saw Elenor lose her humanity completely over it, and yet... they were happy.

Brenna lookedsohappy that I had to snap my fingers in her face a couple of times to bring her attention back to me. “Earth to Brenna, is anyone in there?”

She gasped, narrowing her eyes and studying me a little closer. “Oh, it’s you. Go away, you’re ruining it.”

Ruining what?“I can’t go away. I’m supposed to feed you and help you get clean, remember? Come on.” I hauled her up by her armpits and half-dragged her to the bath, and while I was a little offended that Alaris himself held claim to me and I was bathing the come-covered, blood-crusted junkies that clearly didn’t want anything to do with me, I had ulterior motives.

Namely... Tamsin.

She wasn’t there, which led me to believe she was still with Ciro somewhere or dead already, but I was refusing to consider option two. She had to be alive. She had to.

“That’s it, in you go,” I encouraged, helping Brenna into the hot water. “Talk to me. Tell me how it feels when they feed on you.”

She scoffed, jerking out of my grip, but answered anyway. “Like nothing else in the world even exists. Better than any drug or alcohol, better than sex... though when sex is involved, it’s... never mind. Why do you care anyway? You denied him.”

For good fucking reason,I mumbled silently. “Is that why everyone suddenly hates me?” I asked, handing her the soap to at least give her the dignity of cleaning herself. “Because I said no to Alaris?”

“HeirAlaris,” she corrected. “Don’t know why he hasn’t slit your throat for not addressing him properly. The rest of us would’ve been dead and burned for such a thing.”

I’d never once considered that I should’ve been calling him “Heir” for more than just sarcasm or to tease him. I wassureI’d heard people refer to him as just Alaris – but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that they’d never done it to his face unless it was Kellian, Renzo or one of the Alphas.

As if his growled,“Why are you so fucking defiant?”didn’t already live in my head rent-free, it now had a deeper, more shameful undertone to it. It wasn’t a wonder that he hated me more often than not.

“Right. Heir Alaris, but you still didn’t answer my question,” I reminded her. “Is that why?”

She splashed me, laughing darkly with a smirk that said she’d never tell me the truth. “Just suffice it to say you’re not welcome here, Adalind Silk. We had higher hopes for you.”

Great.“Then bathe and feed yourself. Maybe you’ll get lucky and Alpha Dregan will take pity on you... but likely not.”

I stood, whirling around to stomp out of there with my head held high – but then I saw her.

That gorgeous blonde hair was matted to her face and neck, half soaked in blood. Her clothes were torn, eyes were closed, and her skin was so pale compared to its normal shade that I honestly thought she was dead, but reason reminded me she wouldn’t have been brought back here if that was the case. She hadn’t wanted to be turned, and Ciro had no interest in making more Fauxs to feed unless he absolutely had to.

She was alive, but barely.

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