Page 52 of Forced Vampire Mate

I whimpered, shying back as best I could. My mind whirled, but what could I promise him to make him stop? He wanted everything Luken had and I was just a tool to get it. Everything I could offer him was something he already believed he’d get eventually.

Draven brushed his fingers on my arm, and pain exploded through me.

“Stop!” Luken howled. “Stop!”

Draven withdrew and turned. He breathed heavily, excited.

Luken had been brought back to his knees. Now he slumped, his massive shoulders sagging. “I’ll give you my throne. Just let Elara, Thessa, and Darcie go.”

Let us go? My heart hammered. All three of us?

Draven growled softly. “That’s not the deal I offered. Give me your throne, and I will stop the pain. I’m not giving them up when I can take the crown. Oh, it might be a bloody civil war if you don’t abdicate, but I can still have it!”

“You can have more than the throne, then,” Luken answered. His voice was low and pained. “I’ll take on oaths. I will swear to serve you. I’ll be your slave, bound my magic to serve you. You can have forever to torment me. Just let them go.”

“No,” I whimpered. “Luken, don’t!”

Draven whirled on me with a snarl. He lifted his hand, but when I flinched back from him, he froze. He stared at me with wild eyes. Was he considering the offer? Or was he thinking that if Thessa and Darcie went free, I wouldn’t be ‘purified’ for him? I understood now why the gods had demanded his celibacy. It was to control him. He’d spent centuries like this, and now they dangled the possibility for his loneliness to be ended.

I didn’t feel sorry for him. Not when I knew he didn’t care about me. I was just a body to him. But I understood what the gods did, and the full extent of their manipulations made me sick.

“Let them go, brother,” Luken whispered. “They’re innocent lives. There’s no reason to treat them this way. I’m the one who hurt you. I’m the one who deserves punishment. Strip away my magic, humiliate me, do whatever you like. But please, please don’t hurt them for my crimes.”

He loved me. Even more than I realized. He was begging, giving up his pride. He was willing to sacrifice everything for me. Not just his crown, but his dignity, his freedom.

Draven answered angrily. When he lifted his hand this time, he let it swing forward, punching Luken hard in the mouth. The gathered crowd laughed and mocked as Draven beat on Luken. A cry tore from my lips, but Draven ignored me.

“Stop it! Stop, please,” I begged. “If you hurt him, I’ll hate you forever.”

Draven drove his fist into Luken’s stomach and whirled on me. “You beg for him?”

“I will burn for him,” I answered, snarling.

“Elara—” Luken started, but Draven punched him again.

We were going to die. Draven wasn’t going to stop until he got what he wanted, and he wasn’t going to release me. Not when I’d been promised as his property. Luken wasn’t leaving this hall alive and I would not face what Draven had planned for me. My heart ached for Darcie and Thessa. I could only pray that they would die quickly.

I couldn’t let Luken die without knowing the truth. I wrenched open the bond, letting the last traces of my self-preservation fall aside. Luken gasped as I let my feelings flood between us. I let him feel everything, every thought, every emotion. His head lifted and wonder crossed his face as he stared at me.

I love you.

Our eyes met. Oh, I wished I had let him in well before this. My flood of emotions was met with his own. I felt everything, the obsession he’d had with me since we first met, how it melted to something softer, more protective, the more he got to know me. How the need to protect me had grown while he struggled with the fear that he’d ruined my life completely. The determination he’d had to save Darcie even before I ran away from the palace.

Tears welled in my eyes. Maybe this wouldn't have happened if I’d been just a little less stubborn. Even if he’d told me all of this before, I wouldn’t have believed him.

Forgive me,I begged through the bond.Please forgive me.

A tear rolled down his cheek, dripping onto his chest. His shirt was torn, and it splattered on his skin just as my tears dropped. Our tears touched our tattoos at the same moment. Draven was shouting again, but his voice seemed to be coming from a million miles away as heat flared through me. It felt like the sun coming out after a winter of snow. Warmth radiated through me, chasing away the lingering pain from Draven’s torture.

Magic swept through me. I knew what it was instantly, knew how to use it. Luken and I gasped as one. The magic reverberated between us, reaching a crescendo like the climax of a song. I reached out with this magic, sliding it through the air as easily as if I was reaching with my hands, and brushed aside the bonds around Luken. He leaped to his feet and hurled one of the elves into Draven, then relieved the second of his sword and ran him through.

The chains snapped away from me, and I sprang through the air at the nearest enemy. It was a vampire, and they dodged to catch me, but I flicked a hand out. Magic flashed, blasting the vampire’s head clean off. They burst into flames, and the hall erupted into chaos. I snatched up a sword and moved methodically, three hundred and fifty years of experience supplementing my assassin’s training. Though we were on opposite sides of the room, Luken and I moved in tandem, quickly cutting down the bastards that had been mocking us moments ago.

They weren’t laughing anymore.

Draven was the last one alive. He shot a blast of magic toward Luken, but Luken turned the spell around. It wrapped around Draven’s legs and arms, driving him to his knees. He howled as he fought. I walked to Luken’s side, both of us covered in blood. Draven’s eyes bulged, his fangs long as he struggled against the magic holding him.

“No! I was chosen! You can’t defy the gods!” he screamed, spit flying from his mouth.

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