Page 34 of The Curse of Eternity
I whirled when the thick Eastern European accented voice spoke behind me. Icy blue eyes caught my gaze, and a nasty, feral smile spread across Lucian’s thin face.
“Certainly.” Ezra bowed his head, his hand still in mine as he turned away.
“Leave the lolly,” Lucian said, almost too quiet to hear, and Ezra’s palm slipped from mine. The last I saw of him was the brief glimpse of piercing green eyes glancing back at me before the sorcerer’s purple suit and beret blended into the waltzing wash of colors surrounding us.
Pain trickled down my spine, so stiff from the surrounding bloodlust that Lucian’s attention on me started to hurt. Jaw clenched, I faced him with every ounce of dignity I had left. The vampire in charge of this whole charade extended his sickly pale hand, and my fists tightened at my sides. My gut instinct was to tell himfuck off, but Ezra’s warning replayed in my head.
This was all an elaborate act, and if I didn’t play along then I wouldn’t be tolerated among these filthy rich undead—their assets stolen from their murdered victims.I still had to find Drake,and my concern for him spurred my action, placing my bitterly cold hand atop Lucian’s freezing fingers. Instantly, his grip tightened against my knuckles until they burned.
I didn’t have time to do anything but inhale a hiss before Lucian pulled me closer. After dancing with Ezra, I anticipated the steps but had to quicken my pace to keep up with the blond vampire. Suppressing a wince when my ankles burned from the strain, I was breathing fast within the confines of my dress by the time Lucian had led me across half the ballroom.
“Such agony,” Lucian murmured, sounding like he was talking more to himself than me. Cruel blue eyes bore into mine, seeming intent to scour my brain for secrets left unturned.At least he couldn’t charm me.“What is the purpose? To care for something so fragile. A pet that will never last the toll of time.”
“Even a tiger can be chained, but that doesn’t mean it won’t bite your head off given the chance,” I spat, and Lucian seemed surprised that I had replied at all. My eyes widened when he yanked me into a twirl which almost pulled me off balance. Biting my lip, I concentrated on my footwork, reminiscent of training with my cousins. My breath puffed out when I hit the solid surface of Lucian’s chest, finding there was armor beneath his frilled ivory shirt.
When I tried to move away, Lucian’s grip squeezed my knuckles closer to my wrist. I stifled a shriek, glaring up into his icy gaze.
“You willingly refer to yourself as an animal?” His tone was impassive, condescending and unaffected as we stood stock still near the center of the room before the dais.
“If it keeps me alive then you can call me a fucking honey badger for all I care,” I seethed, my arm muscles straining under his tight hold that kept me way too close to him. The smell of blood wafted off his breath, and I nearly choked. Instead, I held my breath, counting my heartbeats while others slowed their dancing around us.
The band’s final notes were left to hang in the atmosphere, reverberating from wall to ceiling. I subtly slid my left foot back to gain some distance and said, “Whatever you want to call me doesn’t change what you all really are.”
“And what is that, Descendant?” Lucian asked, as quiet as if he only intended for me to hear despite every surrounding vampire listening in. Any one of them might have been the bastard who condemned Drake to these suckers. Rage at the injustice strengthened my resolve when Lucian leaned closer, and I braced my aching legs not to retreat. “What will your final words be when I devour every last drop of your lifeblood?”
A shiver shook me, and my chest heaved while the bodice constricted my breathing. Somewhere behind me, the shuffling thuds from suits of armor accompanied the rattle of chains.
“You’re monsters,” I answered, shoving any semblance of fear so far down that I could pretend I accepted this end with whatever pride I had left. “Every single one of you—” My words cut off when Lucian released my hands, his motion fast enough to spin me around one last time despite utter silence surrounding us.
The unexpected movement made me teeter on my boot heels.Shit, the orb!Black and gold marble tile rushed up to meet me when I fell to keep the pressure off my foot. The impact jarred my bones as my knees and elbows hit the ground with a loud smack. Metal clinked nearby, and I looked up.
Air rushed into my lungs when I found familiar dark eyes staring back. There he was, maybe two dozen steps between us where he was positioned ahead of the raised dais. Thick shackles encircled Drake’s forearms, dragging his posture forward. Vampires didn’tgettired, but if they were starving him of blood, then he’d inevitably start to slow, lose his strength.
Worry pinched my brow while I took him in. He still wore the same clothes he’d been in when we were abducted. Except his shirt’s sleeves were pushed up to his elbows to make sure the shackles’ metal bit into his skin, and his dark-wash jeans were coated in grime.
The rest of him seemed untouched, besides the hollows of his cheekbones and dark circles beneath his eyes being more pronounced. Probably a sign of starvation, but it wasn’t nearly as gruesome as his visage under the sun. Laughter echoed around us, and I ignored the cackles coming from the disgusting undead. Drake’s raven-dark eyes bore into mine, as helpless as I felt but set with an edge I couldn’t interpret.
His gaze shifted, and pure loathing hardened his features when he glared at someone behind me. A huff passed my lips, and I counted the breaths that might be my last. For the first time in ages, regret and guilt became a distant emotion.
Noise rose and fell around me, and I heard Drake’s voice exclaim through the throng, his foreign words indecipherable. A prickle at my neck made me glance up, and I narrowed my eyes at a lone stationary figure standing against the far wall of the ballroom.
Piercing green eyes stared back beneath a furrowed thick brow. Curiosity and conflict came to mind when Ezra’s cheek twitched. Must have been my imagination. Then Lucian spoke, his words concealed by another language entirely. I didn’t bother to turn, but rose to one knee while gathering up my skirts to keep from tripping again.
“Death ought not to be delayed,” Lucian said, the English clearly for my benefit.
Anger pulsed through my veins, and my molars ground together. If I was going to die, then it was going to be the best fucking show these assholes had ever seen. Sweat-soaked dark curls framed my lowered face as something approached. It sounded heavy, made of metal, and I inhaled through my nose.
The tang of polished steel filled my senses, and I exhaled a slow breath. My eyes opened when the air shifted near my left arm. Anticipation tightened my muscles, poised but waiting until the last moment.
Then I spun on one knee, reaching with blind instinct for the weapon at the guard’s side. Chilled metal met my palm, and I pulled with all my might to free the weapon from its sheath. The broadsword swept out in an arc, and I used the momentum to slice in between a gap in the guard’s armor where the breastplate met the hip bone.
A startled groan growled from within the armor, but quickly cut off when I rose to my feet and gripped the sword’s hilt with both hands. Adrenaline surged, and my survival instinct let loose a shout while I drove the sword through the chainmail covering the guard’s left armpit.
The ping of cascading broken chainmail links rang through the silence that descended in the wake of my blade striking true. A gurgle rose as blood ran down the metal breastplate, coating it in red. I yanked the sword free. Blood spurted, soaring to the floor as the suit of armor crashed to the marble tile at my feet.
Through the stillness, the harsh sound of my breathing became deafening as I raised my gaze to greet a room full of enemies.
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