Page 68 of Chain Me
“Of course not.” He released his grip, allowing my hand to fall. “At least nothing that I could dare call a ‘child.’”
A cold, icy feeling resonated through my stomach. “How…how so?”
“It would be an abomination, my darling.” He flicked his fingers to dismiss the mere idea. “A nonviable creature. There have been stories, terrible things.” His eyes sought mine, gleaming with callous amusement. “Thankfully, such creatures are rumored to have mercifully died within the womb. And there is almost always a curse within play, those nasty things. Why, any of my kind foolish enough to evenattemptto sire a living child would most surely forsake his eternity.”
“Forsake?” I asked in a whisper.
Beside me, Dublin was stone. Had he known any of these rumors? I couldn’t tell from his expression—hard and unreadable, stone once more.
In a sense, I probably resembled him. I couldn’t breathe.
“He’d become forever damned.” Dmitri shrugged. “A creature doomed to never die, no matter how the world may decay around him. A terrible bargain, I’m sure. Especially in exchange for such a twisted parody of nature. Oh, I wouldn’t trouble your pretty little mind with such horrors.” He mimed shooing away an invisible fly. “Best to not even think of such things.”
“Oh.” It was all I could say—just a gasp disguised as something intelligible. Twisted images filled my head before I could block them out, giving vivid life to his brutal imagery.
Death. Dying. Deformed.
“Though Dublin would know better than I,” he added, chuckling. He inclined his head at the man beside me. “Right, old friend? After all, I believe that Mero was the first to—”
“Don’t,” Dublin warned, sitting forward. “Do not mention him.”
“Ah.” Dmitri rubbed his hands together with barely concealed glee. “We still aren’t allowed to say his name, I see. Not even his given one? Oh, well. His little friends certainly seem emboldened these days. I hear even the bothersome Gray girl has taken a side for once. Either that or vanished. Theotherone, of course.” He eyed me pointedly, his lips quirked. “Georgiana, I believe her name is?”
“Side?” I croaked. Something in how he’d emphasized that word…
It terrified me to my core.
“Well, I’d consider it more like a lack of objection, one might say. Though it could be as the rumors claim and the poor girl has simply disappeared, gone without a trace—”
“Enough,” Dublin bellowed. “This isn’t the time for your mind games.”
“Mind games? I’m sureyoulearned the truth well before I did, what with your network of little spies.Minetold me that you were on your way the second your plane landed. And while you didn’t bother to introduce your guest, I knowhername well enough.” His head swiveled in my direction. “Eleanor Louise Gray, the second-to-last living heir in the entire Gray line, barring her uncle of course. My my, Dublin, you didn’t think to tell her that her own sister has signed her death warrant? That is rather cruel, even for you.”
“What?” The room bled into formless color around me. Only Dublin’s face held any real definition—his mouth strained, his eyes turned away.
“I saidenough,” he growled.
“Pity. I could tell her so much more.” Dmitri lifted his hand to my cheek. “Such a pretty little thing—”
“You touch her and I’ll kill you.” Dublin didn’t even look like himself anymore. Hunched forward, he radiated an ageless power, every bit as commanding as Raphael.
Dmitri’s smirk never wavered, but he shrank back, contritely bowing his head. “I meant nothing by it, Dublin,” he simpered. “The rumors have buzzed with how much of a liking you’ve taken to her. I wouldn’tdreamof harming her—though I do wonder how long it will be before…”
“Before what?” Dublin hissed.
“Before the owner of her bloodline comes searching for his little toy. They’ve followed you here, though I’m sure you know that. I don’t think they even know why they need her dead. Mere soldiers following orders.Hisorders. How ironic that her sister may have volunteered to carry them out—”
The room spun as their conversation divulged into distorted noises and hushed voices. Nothing mattered but a single thought I couldn’t suppress. Georgiana wanted me dead?
Or…she was missing.
“…must ask why you care about this one anyway?” Dmitri added, his voice regaining clarity. “Everyone knows that you kept an unusual interest in the other one. Such a beauty. If I had to place money on which woman you might desire, it would be—”
“Eleanor!” Dublin reached for me as I knocked the chair over in my rush to stand, hitting the floor on my hands and knees.
Air clawed its way into my lungs as I hauled myself upright using the wall for balance and threw myself between the gap in the curtains shielding our box.
The hallway beyond was deserted. Spinning and distorted. No matter where I looked, all I could see was endless red. It dripped from the walls and coated the floor. Drowning me…
