Текст книги "Darkest distiny"

Автор книги: Pepper winters

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Chapter Forty-Four

SLEEP REFUSED TO COME.

Dawn had broken and bled into early morning, and no matter how many times I flipped the pillow or flung myself onto my other side, sleep completely abandoned me.

All those moments I’d shared a stare with him, felt a flutter from him, suffered a throbbing between my legs because of him.

I couldn’t stop replaying everything.

Every inconsequential thing clung to every monumental moment where something had been flying between us.

I flopped over again, doing my best to forget the way he’d kissed me. How his fingers dug into my hips as he hoisted me from the cold water. How his—

“Ugh, will you stop?!”

Shoving the pillow over my face, I groaned into it.

My door flung open, banging against the wall.

Jackknifing up, I threw my pillow away and twisted toward the noise.

The urge to apologise for what I’d done last night—for making him do something he didn’t want to do, for encroaching on his privacy in the plunge pool—made me blurt, “Lucien, I can explain—”

“Explain?” A feminine voice echoed. “Explain what exactly?”

My eyes cleared and in the cloudy morning light, I recognised the two annoying gatekeepers that liked to guard the steps of Lucien’s palace. “Evelyn? Lydia? What are you doing here?”

Evelyn laughed quietly, dressed in her usual black leggings and top. “What did you do to Lucien Ashfall that requires an explanation?”

“We all know she’s banging him,” Lydia snipped. “Keeping him all to herself because she’s greedy and won’t share.”

“Pity.” Evelyn clucked her tongue, both coming closer. “The more the merrier.”

Fear flung me out of bed. I wobbled on two feet, cursing the lack of bodily protection from my powder blue pyjamas. Shaking my head a little, I balled my hands, begging my system not to forsake me. “Why are you here so early?” I scowled. “Actually, why are you here at all?”

“It’s ten a.m., you lazy slob.” Evelyn’s teeth flashed in a smile. “And can’t we visit our favourite Cinderkeep sister?”

“I’m not your sister.”

“You’re right. You’re not.” Lydia shot forward, her peach dress flaring around her knees. “Where is it? Give it to us and we’ll leave.”

“Give you what?”

Evelyn sighed and tapped her foot. “Don’t play stupid. Give it to us.”

Anxiety scratched down my spine. “I can’t give you what I don’t—”

“His blood, you little seductress.” Lydia held out her hand. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with him. Whatever you’re letting him do to you means you get special privileges. So...gimme.”

My heart thudded hard enough to bruise. “I don’t...I don’t have any more.”

“Oh, come on.” Evelyn rolled her eyes, her black hair glossy even in the dull day. “Don’t make this hard. Just give us his blood and we’ll leave.”

“Where are you keeping it?” Lydia asked, her gaze flashing around my pavilion. “Tell us right now.”

“I already told you,” I snapped, my temper helping chase away some of my anxiety. “He hasn’t given me any—”

“Liar.” Evelyn shot toward me. Her hand cracked across my face so hard, my head snapped sideways.

Tears stung my vision.

Did...did she really just slap me?

Cupping my stinging cheek, I blinked back the pain.

My first instinct was to fight back but...I wasn’t an idiot. “I’m not lying.”

“Find it, Lydia,” Evelyn commanded, stalking away from me to join her as Lydia shot toward the sideboard and wrenched open all the drawers. Ripping them off their railings, she tipped them upside down, sending papers, pens, and all the folded cranes I’d made—when I’d been bored on those first few days of captivity—flying.

“Can’t we just talk about this?” I asked, wincing as yet more stuff joined the mess on the floor. “You don’t have to get crazy.”

They ignored me.

Kicking aside the mess, they scanned the chaos for another vial like the one Lucien had given me. When they found nothing, they took their destruction into the kitchen.

The cutlery drawer was flung aside, the pantry ransacked, and fridge left open.

Bottles clattered, glasses shattered. At least they didn’t ruin any wine—seeing as I’d already drunk the meagre supplies that’d arrived a few days earlier.

The soft hiss of fabric shredded as Lydia attacked my wardrobe.

“Will you stop?” I crossed my arms, ordering my legs to stay stable even as a migraine slowly built behind my eyes. “You can clearly see I don’t have anything.”

“That’s going to be a problem if it’s true,” Evelyn muttered as she ripped out a cushion’s stuffing and shook the case. “You better hope we find something.”

“Last chance, little whore.” Lydia smirked like a deranged villain. “Where are you hiding it?”

“I told you; I’m not hiding anything. I honestly don’t have any more.” Forcing my tongue to work, I rushed, “I’m not one of you, remember? I’m not here to do whatever it is that you are. I’m not lying or trying to win over you. All I want to do is rest and stay out of trouble until I can somehow find a way home.”

“We can send you home.” Lydia grinned. “Today if you don’t behave.”

I gulped.

Out the corner of my eye, a black shadow appeared in the courtyard. Through the open door, Whisper froze. One paw above the earth as if he was about to take another step, his golden eyes meeting mine.

Neither girl saw him behind them.

His teeth flashed as he lowered himself into a pounce.

I shuddered at the thought of watching these women be torn apart.

I wouldn’t be able to stay living in this pavilion if everything was covered in gristle and blood.

I shook my head subtly, hoping he’d get the message. Don’t.

I hoped he’d sense my inner voice and saved the massacre for when Lydia and Evelyn had left. If I was honest, I was surprised they were still alive after Lucien’s systematic deletion of all the assassins in Cinderkeep. They were probably the last ones alive, and despite my dislike of them, I’d known them long enough to actually care if they got dismembered.

“You should go,” I whispered to the two wannabe thieves. “Before it’s too late.”

Evelyn gawked at me. “Did you just threaten us?”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

“Fuck it,” Lydia cut in. “It’s not here.” Balling her hands, she stalked toward me. “Maybe you’re hiding it on your body, huh?”

Whisper’s haunches bristled. He took a silent step forward, the girls oblivious as his lips peeled back, revealing dangerously sharp teeth.

He took another step.

I shook my head. Leave. I tried to shoo him with silent commands. Go back to Lucien. I can handle this.

My head throbbed, contradicting me.

Okay, so maybe I couldn’t handle it, but I didn’t want Whisper to get hurt. Laura had managed to cut him, and she was as skilled as me when it came to fighting. Evelyn and Lydia had been trained by whoever threw them in here. They had weapons.

Lydia snapped her fingers at Evelyn. “Hold her down. I’ll search her myself.”

Whisper’s ears flattened as both girls crowded me, pushing me back down onto the bed.

I lost sight of him.

Panic that he’d pounce had me falling sideways, looking past them.

My eyes met the panther’s. We shared a look. And instead of him charging in and drenching my place in blood, he snapped his teeth, spun around, and took off like a streak of midnight.

“Maybe we should open you up?” Evelyn smirked. “See if you’re hiding it inside you.”

My gaze snapped to hers. “What?”

“Maybe you swallowed it.” She smiled, yanking out a dagger from her legging’s waistband. “Should we find out?”

A chill shot down my spine. “You’re insane.”

“And you’re dead,” she whispered.

Lydia leaped on the bed behind me. Her nails scored crescent moons into my wrists as she yanked me down and pinned my arms above my head, digging her knee into the sensitive part where my shoulder met neck.

Discomfort flared, hot and debilitating.

“Let me go.” I bucked and wriggled but Lydia ground her knee into my shoulder, making me cry out.

Evelyn landed on top of me, locking my hips beneath her spread legs, her left hand pressing against my sternum, grinding my raindrop pendant against me.

She brought up the dagger with her right.

“I don’t think you’re in the position to tell us what to do, do you?” She grinned and pressed the sharp knife against my throat. “Last chance. Where’s another bottle of Ashfall blood?”

“I told you!” I cringed away from her blade, cursing myself for being so pathetically weak. “He hasn’t given me another one! That other one wasn’t even planned. He just—”

“If that’s true, what do we need you for then?” Evelyn smirked, tracing the metal tip along my cheekbone. “Better to get rid of you so someone else—someone better—can serve in his bed.”

“For the last time, I’m not sleeping with him!”

“There’s only one way to make sure.” She smiled and pressed the dagger against my very breakable skin. It split with a sharp sting, the tickle of blood rolling hotly down my neck.

“Wait!”

Lydia’s fingers clamped harder as I struggled. “Just let it happen,” she cooed. “Fighting will only make it hurt worse.”

“Oh, I think a bit of pain would be good after she’s wasted so much of our time, don’t you?” Evelyn snapped. Rearing upright, she removed the dagger from my throat and grinned. “You really shouldn’t have gotten in our way, you know.”

And then she hit me.

Hard.

A ruthless punch to my face.

Stars exploded. Coppery blood bloomed in my mouth.

“That’s for wasting our time,” Evelyn spat as she pulled back.

She hit me again, this time in my stomach.

I tried to curl in and protect myself, but Lydia kept me trapped.

“That’s for thinking you’re better than us.”

She hit me again, right on my breast.

I groaned as pain exploded.

“And that’s for refusing to give us what we want.”

Every punch compounded in my skull as fireworks shot up my spine and gathered in the base of my skull. The migraine that’d been simmering since they’d arrived ignited, hijacking all my senses with shooting, searing misery.

I squirmed, wishing I could claw and bite and win—but that nasty dagger pressed against my throat again.

Panting, I did my best to look through the haze and beg. “Please...y-you don’t have to do this. You don’t have to kill me.”

“Yeah, we do.” Evelyn leaned close, her eyes full of evil satisfaction. “You’re lucky we kept you alive this long.”

Lydia’s fingernails gouged into my wrists, jerking my arms so hard they threatened to pop out of their sockets. “Do it.”

I fought.

My panic set off a tumble of dominos in my brain, shutting down my senses, making me blind and deaf and petrified.

Evelyn raised the knife, aiming for my heart.

She brought it down—

Chapter Forty-Five

I SAT CROSS-LEGGED IN MY private courtyard.

Eyes closed, hands upturned on my knees, I did my best to fall into the meditative practice that was my only trick apart from the cold plunge to temper my pain.

Detach. Let go. Fade away.

The mantra refused to work.

And it was her fault.

I’d grown too reliant on her calming, cooling presence. I’d become dependent. Every part of me disgustingly desperate for her to appear.

I didn’t even recognise half the emotions clawing through me anymore, just that she made me burn and burn and—

A blur of power exploded into the courtyard, wrenching my eyes open just as Whisper shot in front of me, black and panting and furious.

I scowled. “What’s up with you?”

He snarled and lunged for me. His teeth clamped on my coat sleeve, scraping on the silver cuff beneath, making me jerk in fresh misery. The open port in my veins made those cuffs incredibly sensitive.

He jerked me forward with a growl, my body colliding with his bulk. “Hey!”

Getting a better bite on my coat, he tugged me in a half-circle until I faced the door.

I narrowed my eyes at the gloomy interior of my quarters. The sun hadn’t broken through the dreary clouds today, reflecting my depression.

I searched for Rook.

Why the hell hadn’t she arrived yet?

I’d grown to know her habits these past few weeks and regularly caught her snoozing when she thought she was alone. It seemed sleeping was one of her favourite pastimes. But there were limits—

Whisper snarled around a mouthful of coat, shaking me like a dead wildebeest.

“Do you mind?” Grabbing the giant cat’s whiskers, I tugged them very, very gently. Just enough to make him drop me. “Stop being so dramatic.”

Spitting and hissing, he wiped his muzzle on his leg before glowering at me like I’d betrayed him.

Which I kind of did.

We had an unwritten rule that I wouldn’t grab his whiskers unless absolutely necessary. I’d read in the zoology encyclopaedia that yanking his whiskers—also known as vibrissae—was intensely painful and disorienting, thanks to so many sensitive nerve endings.

“I’m sorry, okay? But you started it.”

Staggering to my feet, I rested my palm over the vitalsync core. “Why are you in such a foul mood? Did I not feed you enough last night?”

His glowing eyes met mine. He let out a roar so loud, so angry, it rattled the windowpanes.

“What the hell is your problem?”

He slammed into me, teeth clamping on my coat again and jerking me forward.

“Don’t make me grab your whiskers again.”

He let me go, trained to recognise that word.

A frustrated whimper escaped him followed by a savage growl.

The fire in my blood paused as goosebumps scattered down my spine. He’d never put on such passionate displays before. Not before she arrived.

I went still. “Is it Rook?”

He cocked his head and sneezed.

I didn’t know what that meant.

Would he even recognise Rook’s name?

Bending over, I held his stare. “Has something happened to the girl?”

He hissed right in my face.

I took that as a yes.

Urgency shot down my legs to go to her—

I froze.

A thin bead of sweat ran down my temples as a burn centred in my heart that had nothing to do with the vitalsync core.

This felt...human. Messily intense instead of callously engineered.

But...

If she was in danger—if Marcus had noticed the unwanted connection forming between us and decided to use it against me—wouldn’t I be walking into yet another trap?

What would he make me do in order to stop hurting her?

The worse question was: what would I be willing to do to keep her safe?

Anything.

I didn’t like that answer.

I didn’t like the sudden flash of wrath and violence and—

Fuck.

Swaying backward, I shook my head.

Impossible.

How had this happened?

I didn’t even know her.

I wasn’t supposed to feel anything.

She meant nothing to me, so why did the very thought of Marcus and his men laying a single finger on her make me want to slaughter them in the slowest, sadistically cruel way possible?

I backed up, shaking my head as more rage filled me.

If she’d become yet another tool to keep me in-line, then...I’d somehow already fallen for it and—

Stalking into my quarters, I threw myself onto the well-worn couch.

Fuck it.

Whisper dashed after me, snarling, spitting, hissing.

He leapt onto the couch and shoved his nose right in my face. Panther spittle landed on my black shirt as he growled.

“I’m not going.” I crossed my arms, fighting the trembling in my legs demanding I go immediately. “She means nothing.”

My pulse violently disagreed.

My hands balled into white-knuckled fists. “I have no intention of getting tangled in their games. I was only using her to combat my pain. Her suffering has nothing to do with me.”

A wrenching somewhere in my soul—

Whisper roared right in my ear, making my skull throb.

“Fuck you too,” I shouted right back. “Even if I do go, I’m just running into Marcus’s trap. Do you think he’ll stop hurting her if he knows how quickly I’ll give in?” I shoved the cat away from me, hating the judgement in his stare. “I go now and he’s won, do you hear me? I go and I condemn both of us to a lifetime of yet more pain.”

Whisper hung his head and whimpered.

I didn’t know how much he understood but he definitely recognised my tone. With a flick of his long tail, he dropped to the floor and charged toward the door.

He didn’t look back as he vanished.

In the silence left behind, I glowered at the coffee table and how clean everything was. Not a speck of dust, not a piece of lint. I’d always kept this part of the palace tidy because my days were long and insufferably boring but...somehow, she’d transformed my home from a prison cell into something more.

Memories of her in the window seat—curled up in a patch of sunlight, dozing when she thought I wasn’t watching. Images of her moving around my space—her gaze flicking to study me every couple of minutes as if she was highly aware of me, just like I was highly aware of her.

I’d pretended to read a book—hiding how ridiculously addicted I’d become to watching her move about my quarters, her cooling presence muting my pain so I could breathe again.

If Marcus truly was hurting her, then...she’d never share this space with me again.

I’d return to being alone and hurting and—

Safe from being manipulated.

Gritting my teeth, I nodded.

“He won’t kill her. This is just a test. A little experiment to see if he can use her against me.” My voice dropped like stones. “A little pain will be fine. The minute he realises he can’t use her against me, he’ll leave her alone.”

Fury grew hotter, sharper—

“She’s not my responsibility.”

Ferocious rage seized my muscles—

“Not my problem.”

Flames erupted in my blood—

“Fuck.”

Chapter Forty-Six

“I TOLD YOU! I TRULY DON’T HAVE any more!”

Evelyn dug the tip of the dagger into my chest for the fourth time. Each time she raised the knife and acted as if she’d plunge it deep into my heart, she paused, laughed, and demanded I tell her where Lucien’s blood was.

“I don’t believe you,” she hissed. “Tell me where it is, and I’ll make it quick.”

“I have told you! I’ve told you as many times as you’ve asked!” My vision flickered as my migraine became unbearable. “Why do you even want it? It’s not like it will do you any good in here!”

“You don’t get to ask questions,” she hissed. “Tell me who the fuck you are! Why has he accepted you and none of us? Who are you?”

“I’m no one. Literally no one. So let me go and—”

“Bullshit,” Lydia snarled from above me, her fingernails drawing blood around my wrists. “You’re working for someone. You have to be. Why else is he just fucking you? What makes you so special?”

“He’s not. I’m not—”

“Stop lying!” Evelyn snarled. I gasped as she drove another fist into my side, directly over the previous injuries.

Lydia crouched over me, her face upside down. “Tell you what...we won’t kill you if you help us, how about that? Help us keep him company. We’ll look after him with you.”

“You’re trying to kill him,” I spat. “There’s no way I’ll let you get near him.”

“Did you hear that?” Lydia blinked at Evelyn. “She’s getting possessive. We definitely have to kill her.”

“Agreed.” Evelyn sighed. “Ah, well. I was getting bored anyway.” Double-fisting the knife, she raised it high. “I’m really going to kill you this time. Any last words?”

“Wait!”

“Goodbye—”

“I suggest you stop if you don’t want to die today,” a bored, cold baritone cut through the air. “However, even if you do...I can’t promise you’ll walk out of here alive.”

All three of us sucked in a breath, our eyes snapping to the doorway.

Lucien filled the entrance, lazy and nonchalant, leaning against the doorframe as if he had nothing better to do than interrupt a murder.

His gaze flicked to mine, his expression unreadable. Power hummed from him, low and electric, his long black coat pooling by his ankles. Whisper flanked him, fur bristling and eyes molten.

My heart leapt. My pulse skipped.

He looked...beautiful. Lethal and feral and not a single sign of the pain I knew he constantly suffered.

“Mr. Ashfall,” Evelyn simpered, still sitting on top of me with her dagger raised. “What are you doing here?”

Dropping his chin and watching us beneath hooded eyes, Lucien smiled softly.

Every moment we’d ever spent together—all the seconds I’d been drawn to him, threatened, commanded, and kissed by him—vanished as I stared at the man from the first day we met.

A callous, heartless, ridiculously terrifying predator who snapped necks and ordered his pet panther to slaughter people as easily as drinking tea.

An avalanche of stress crashed over me, adding pressure to my head. Hypersensitivity cracked every broken piece of me.

“You two. Come here.” His jaw clenched as he looked at me, but then his lips twitched into a seductive smile. “Now.” Crooking his finger, he summoned the two girls as if he truly was interested in what they had to offer.

A spike of unexplainable jealousy arrowed through me, adding to the rest of my messed-up feelings.

Lydia released me and scrambled off the bed, brushing down her peach dress and running her hands over her blonde hair. Evelyn chased after her, slinky and sultry in her black skin-tight leggings and long-sleeved top.

They crossed the carpet with sexy sways of their hips, fawning for his attention.

As they drew to a stop before him, Lucien’s gaze rose over their heads and locked onto mine. For a second, his frosty mask slipped and the fire in his eyes—the absolute inferno blazing inside him made me suck in a tattered breath.

I forced myself to sit upright.

Vertigo made the room swim.

Gratitude that he’d come to save me plaited with fear for his safety.

Two against one.

Two killers trained to kill him.

Gripping the mattress, I tried to get to my feet to help him, but my vision vanished completely.

My ears twitched as Lucien’s husky, deep voice purred, “There’s quite a few things that make me angry and having inconsequential little rats fighting each other in my home is one of them.”

“Rats?” Lydia spat. “Who are you calling—?”

“You.” Lucien cut her off. “Obviously.”

Rubbing my temples, I tried to ease back the awful crescendo. I fought my system from shutting down. I didn’t want to pass out. Not now. Not with him—

“Get out of my way,” Lucien snarled, wrenching my head up. Shoving the two girls aside, he prowled toward me. Dressed all in black, his mood matched his clothes, dark and morbid.

I stiffened as he stopped before me.

His focus locked entirely on me, all while Whisper acted like a guard dog, growling at the women.

Lucien dropped to his haunches and cupped my cheek. His hand trembled—rage or pain, I couldn’t tell.

I froze in shock.

The two girls squeaked in indignation.

Lucien showed no sign of caring about them as his thumb traced me gently, leaving a wake of prickling heat.

Could he see Evelyn’s abuse painting my skin?

Was that why he—

His fingers tightened, pressing on the bruise from being punched. “How badly did they hurt you?”

I couldn’t catch a proper breath.

With my system driving me closer to burnout and the way he watched me, scorching me with intensity and possessiveness and rage...I couldn’t do it.

I bit my bottom lip as it all became too much.

Leaning backward, I tried to escape his devastating attention, but his fingers moved to cup behind my head. Capturing me tightly, he pulled me forward until our foreheads touched. “Tell me what they did to you.”

“I—” Another flush of nausea made my lips clamp shut.

Having him here should help me. I was no longer at risk of being killed but...he killed me in a completely different way. He tore through all my defences, ripped apart all my rationality, and set fire to every heartbeat.

I grew dizzy—

“They cut you.” His gaze dropped to my neck where Evelyn had drawn blood.

His fingers dug painfully into my nape as if he couldn’t control his reaction. “They really shouldn’t have done that.”

His voice.

That tone.

So quiet it whispered through my bones, yet so loud it sent the gates of hell swinging open.

His expression emptied of everything human.

With a slow nod, he let me go and stood gracefully.

Turning to face the girls, he pulled the dagger from a previous dead girl out of his pocket and thumbed the sharp blade. “I’ve finally found someone who wants nothing from me and you...” Lucien cocked his head, his blue-black hair catching on his collar. “You tried to take her away from me.”

Evelyn was the first to sense how precarious her existence was.

Dropping to her knees, she clutched her knife still stained with my blood and bowed her head. “I didn’t mean to take away your current distraction but...I’m doing you a favour, don’t you see? Of course she wants something from you. She’s just good at lying. You can do better. So much better.”

“My distraction.” Lucien nodded along. “And you thought you could provide a better distraction by taking away what’s mine?”

“I was helping,” Evelyn blurted. “Even if she isn’t lying then...she knows nothing of your world or your company. She’s only here because she was stupid and her blood test showed she wasn’t on birth control. You should be with someone who’s—”

“—like you?” He smiled thinly.

Her chin popped back up again, reckless courage filling her dark eyes. “Yes. Someone like me. I can replace her. She’s weak and useless and—”

“Interesting.” Lucien looked down at her, his tone soft and deadly. “And what do you propose you could do for me that she doesn’t?”

My head swam; ears rang...I wouldn’t last much longer.

“Everything.” Evelyn smiled coyly. “You deserve someone who knows how to please you.”

“Ah.” His tone softened, scarily amused. “Then I suppose I misread you over the past few weeks.” He shifted, his long coat kissing the ground. “I assumed you were here to kill me.”

“What? No, I—”

“You were next on my list to exterminate,” he murmured. “I haven’t gotten around to putting you down yet because I’ve been a little...distracted.” Glancing at me over his shoulder, his gaze arrowed to the cut on my throat. His shoulders bunched and his eyes ignited with fury that threatened to set him alight.

Smiling, he looked at the girls again, but he couldn’t hide his shaking, his body burning up with all the scalding rage inside him.

My vision turned fuzzy again. I struggled to sip air around my throbbing migraine.

How was he fighting his pain for me?

How was he making me feel this way?

This overwhelmed, hyperaware, and aching?

Lydia licked her lips, glancing at Evelyn kneeling politely. She didn’t bow but she did tip her chin in respect. “Evelyn has seen the error of her ways and is willing to join me in serving you.”

“Serving me?” Lucien asked. “Serving me how?”

Lydia smirked. “You know...”

“No, I don’t know.” Lucien linked his hands behind his back, his fingers going white they balled so tightly. “I want you to tell me. In explicit detail. Give me the truth of why you’re here without a single lie. If you can do that then perhaps, I’ll consider your offer.”

Lydia’s eyes gleamed. “Alright.” Sucking in a breath, she stepped forward boldly. “I’m here to be whatever you want me to be. Your mistress, your wife, the mother of your children.” She pressed a hand to her chest, sincerity blazing all over her pretty face. “I’m the daughter of one of your board members and my father said if I can share your burdens and bear your children, then I’ll never need to work again. I’ll have the prestige of having my family forever linked to yours. I’ll be known as the one who protected the future of Brimstone Industries and—”

“And once you bear my child, then what?” Lucien interrupted. “Once you have a puppet with Ashfall blood in their veins, what did your father say to do with me?”

Lydia gulped and flicked a look at Evelyn. “He...he would petition to set you free, obviously—”

“Careful,” Lucien purred. “You were doing so well. Are you sure you wish to continue with that lie?”

Tearing her gaze from Evelyn, Lydia braced her shoulders. “Fine. I’ll...I’ll tell the truth.”

“Go ahead.” Lucien nodded politely.

Whatever trap she’d set for herself didn’t prevent her from saying, “I’m guessing you already know that Marcus Ward and the rest of the board have offered a staggeringly large reward for anyone who can either synthesise your blood or bear your offspring.”

“I’m aware.” He smiled. “And the minute either of those things happen, my death is imminent, isn’t that right?” Lucien sighed as if all of this bored him.

“You have to admit, you’re a danger to your own company,” Lydia said. “You refuse to behave and have openly admitted if you ever get out of here, you’ll kill everyone involved in running it. You’re the biggest threat to the most profitable energy company on earth.”

“I see.” Lucien nodded with a low chuckle. “So what you’re really saying is, whoever has my child first will be the one who inherits my company? That they’ll rule my birthright through whatever spawn I give you?”

Lydia balled her hands but nodded bravely. “Basically, yes.”

Lucien shifted to look at Evelyn. “And you? I don’t believe you’ve suddenly decided to switch teams from killing me to fucking me.”

Evelyn climbed to her feet, trembling a little. “You’re just going to kill me anyway. What does it matter what I say?”

“That’s true.” Lucien nodded. “But won’t it feel good to tell me what you really think before you die?”

I sucked in a breath, my heart palpitating.

Even though they’d hurt me, I couldn’t sit by and watch. I couldn’t witness this man I had feelings for kill in burning blood.

“Lucien...” I coughed, another rush of sickness flooding my mouth. “Stop it.”

He didn’t even turn to look at me. “Well?” he asked quietly. “Will you speak, or should I end you now?”

Evelyn went white. She shifted on the spot as if she wanted to run but...where to? If Lucien had decided to kill her, nowhere was safe.

As if she’d reached the same conclusion, she raised her chin and smiled coldly. “Fine. You want the truth?” Her entire face twisted into something evil and crazed. “I’ll tell you. You’re right that it will feel good to tell you exactly what I feel.”

“Go on then.” Lucien sighed with scathing sarcasm. “I’m positively dying with anticipation.”

“Fuck you.” Marching forward as if she heard the ticking clock of her own demise, she spat, “Fuck you and fuck your fucking company. You want to know the truth? FINE.” Tears ran down her cheeks as she gave in to insanity. “I still want to kill you but...after all this time and watching you pick us off one by one, I now have a sick fascination of knowing what it would feel like to trick the most powerful man alive into bed, then kill you when you’re at your most vulnerable. To do to you what you’ve done to all these women. To destroy you and your company. You’re nothing more than a caged dog and fuck, I want to put you down.”