Chained - Zara Novak Page 0,27
woman with a stronger mind, she could have solved that situation by herself.”
“You’re saying that was my fault?”
“I’m saying you are a naïve girl with no idea how this world works, and while you are a guest here you will learn how to conduct yourself. Stand up straight. Stop hiding your body. From now on you will be proud of who you are. You will own the skin you walk in. You are a coward no more.”
I straightened at his command, moving my arms to the side so I wasn’t hiding myself anymore. It didn’t feel natural at all, but I supposed it wouldn’t. I had spent my whole life being ashamed of myself. It might take time to fix that.
“I’m not as thin as I should be,” I said, “I—”
“This is the last time I will tell you this,” he said, his voice rife with warning. He came towards me and took my jaw in his hand. Inches separated us, the heat from his body felt intense. “You are a picture of divinity, slave, and I will not hear you say another bad word about yourself. If this lesson has to go on any longer there will be severe punishment.”
“I—”
“You are beautiful Rachel Chase,” he said. “Do not forget it.”
For a second he held me there, my jaw in his hand. I stared into those red eyes of his, looking at him like a deer at headlights. He had used my name. My actual name. I was stunned.
Vincent let go of me and walked away a few steps, seemingly agitated that he had let slip his role as an aggressive tyrant. It was another confusing glimpse of his multiple facets. Was he a violent kidnapper, or the dark-eyed and compassionate stranger?
I couldn’t get a read on him. Perhaps he was being deliberately confusing on purpose. He was capricious, revolting, and utterly bewiling. I hated that I could like him.
“You need me to be confident,” I said, repeating the thread of our conversation.
“If you want to survive, yes. We are about to meet some other vampires, and I have little choice but to bring you with me.”
“I thought you were the man in charge,” I said, more out of curiosity than disrespect. “Who is ordering you around?”
“The world of mortals is easy to control. My mafia is second to none in that realm. In the world of vampires, I have equals, those that seek to usurp my power if they have a chance. This is one of those chances. I need you to be at my side, strong and unbreaking. Ideally, I would have had much more chance to forge you into something stronger, but events out of my control have moved faster than I anticipated.”
So, he did need me. I wasn’t just a pawn. I did have more control than I realized. “I need the bathroom,” I said, suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to pee. My cell had no facilities, and I wasn’t about to be the girl that pissed in a corner. “Badly.”
Vincent waved his hand casually, gesturing to the toilet. “Go then.”
“I expected privacy,” I said.
The cold flash in those red eyes told me that wasn’t happening. I see. He was back to being a bastard. I took Vincent’s advice and decided to throw caution to the wind. I walked across the room and sat down, as if going to the bathroom in front of another was the most normal thing. I didn’t break eye contact.
When I was done, I stood up and came back to him. “What now, master?” I said, my words laced with a slight attitude. Vincent glanced down at his watch, and then a knock came at the door behind us.
“Enter,” Vincent said. The door opened and a man stepped inside. From my position Vincent was directly in between us but looking around him I saw a servant with long dark hair. He was beautiful too, much like Vincent, but he where Vincent was masculine this beauty was effeminate.
“Sir, the party is delayed by an hour. There was some difficulty with the travels.”
He nodded. “Good. Leave.”
The servant did, closing the door again.
“That is good news. We have an hour more than I expected,” he said as he turned his eyes back on me. I could already see from his body language that he had relaxed a little. Was it because he now had the time to torture his pet again? “That gives us plenty of time,” he said.
“Time, sir?” I asked.
He walked forward,