Page 97 of Vow of the Undead
I scrambled to reach for the stake beneath my skirts but King Drakkar was faster. He snatched my wrist in his hand and tugged my arm behind my back. The hem of my dress fell to the stone floor at our feet as I struggled to free myself from him. Still, he was faster, grabbing my hand and pinching it into his other hand behind my back.
Dark corners cut his face into a mask. His mouth curved like the smooth edge of one of the rose carvings. “That’s a lie and you know it.”
I was a damn good liar, and I knew he couldn’t read mythoughts when I wasn’t heated for him. This was bait. I had to keep playing along.
I tried to twist my head into a slight shake. “No,” I breathed. I only had to get him to release my throat. Then I could whisper each sensation and take control of myself and the vampire in front of me.
His smirk spread into a wicked grin. “OhSilver,I know you better than that by now. The woman I proposed to would immediately correct me.” His grasp on my wrists tightened as he pulled my arms lower where his knuckles pressed into the swell of my behind. The hold forced me to arch my back, driving my torso up and closer to his body. “Because even if you were accepting my hand, we wouldn’t be married yet and I have no doubt that little side of you that has to be perfect all the time would tell me that you’re not my wife yet.”
With his hand still on my mouth, his thumb stretched, brushing soft sweeping gestures across my cheek. “This is how this is going to go, when I let go of you, you’re going to tell me the truth. Because we both appreciate the truth. Don’t we, Lux?”
Goosebumps spread over every inch of my skin. My nerves went raw with the sound of that name on his tongue.
This couldn’t be real.
Lux?
Lux.
Fuck.
I wouldn’t think about it. I wouldn’t let the thoughts clawing at the edges of my mind take control of me.
It didn’t matter who Silver or Lux were. I was the huntress.
As soon as he released my throat, I gulped for air.
He tilted his head, his icy eyes intense as they raked over me, perhaps trying to understand why I’d returned. “So, what are you really doing here?”
I squirmed against his hand gripping my wrists but he onlytightened his hold, pushing his body flush against mine, squeezing my wrists raw, his fingers pressing harder over my lips. He dipped so close the only thing separating our mouths was his hand. His eyes narrowed as he took me in.
The truth.My heart thumped harder and harder. At one time, I’d do anything for answers, for another piece of the sagas, for remnants of our ancestors, our history. Now, I had to trust that I’d receive enough of that from my mother. King Drakkar couldn’t tempt me.
I couldn’t speak yet, so he filled the silence.
“Your body is so warm, and yet, this room is so cold. How is it that you’re burning up?”
Because I was enraged, ready to fight and kill him. Because I’d climbed the hill that led to this wretched castle. Because my heart betrayed me as each beat skittered too quickly from one to another.
What could I do trapped in his hold?I can’t do this.I was just that little girl again, screaming Freya’s name, getting distracted and failing the task entrusted to me.
I couldn’t fail. The Gods had chosen me. I had the power to raise monsters from the ground, then to compel them.
I barely put a voice behind my whispers. “I see ice in his eyes. Feel his hands on me…”
He chuckled, the sound low and taunting as it seemed to stretch down the tunnel with the sweeping wind. My eyes flew open. “I feel you, Silver.” His gaze glazed, but he fought it, blinking rapidly. “I feel you trying to take hold of me.”
A crease formed between his brow as he resisted the power slipping into his mind, my gift from Loki. My gut sloshed with a sudden heaving sickness. It cracked my concentration as I swallowed the stinging bile back down my throat.
I hadn’t felt it before, but I hadn’t experienced a vampire trying to fight the compulsion either. Something about the flicker of wetness in his eyes, the pain that lanced across hisface with each twitch of his brow struck me. Why should I care if it hurt him?
I wanted to be a witch who helped others, not hurt them. Still, I pressed, letting Loki’s chaotic power mingle with my words.
“How could you kill Embla?” I said between my teeth. I couldn’t help myself. If he spelled out his cruelty for me, turning him to dust wouldn’t be so painful.
This shouldn’t hurt, but seeing him now, hearing him say…my name.
Lux.
