Taken by a Vampire (Vampire Queen) - By Joey W. Hill Page 0,203

walls of a narrow cave. She could breathe a little better, but her chest still hurt badly. It was an effort, but she turned her head to see Stephen sitting against the wall, staring at her as if he could hate nothing in the world the way he hated her. And being hated by a vampire was a terrifying thing.

Being on the run had marred even his vampire beauty. The smooth black hair was shorn close to his head, his green eyes burning with anger in a gaunt face. His unkempt state reminded her of the Trad.

“Your chest hurts because I drove a stake into my own heart and then ripped it out,” he said in a monotone, those flat eyes staying on her. “You died, InhServ. As did I. Just for a moment, just long enough to make them leave your side. A calculated risk, but I have nothing to lose anymore, do I? Thanks to you.”

“You . . . betrayed them,” she managed.

He surged from the wall, moving so fast she couldn’t follow him, But she felt the single, precise kick that broke ribs, punctured a lung. As she sputtered, blood frothing her lips, he loomed over her. “Your loyalty was to me,” he snarled.

It was a squeezing, drowning sensation, but he could do much worse. Despite the madness and desperation driving him now, she saw the calculation in his burning gaze, lingering evidence of the intelligence that had driven his ascent in the vampire ranks.

“You deserve far worse, but you’ll have to wait on that in the afterlife. I intend for you to have centuries to dread my arrival. But before I kill you, InhServ, you’ll feed me one more time.”

He spat InhServ like a curse, yanked her upper body off the floor and stabbed his fangs into her neck, as excruciating as a knife blade. The stress to her system had overridden the blocker, which meant Stephen could scramble Evan’s radar, his ability to find her. A lot would rest on how good a tracker Daegan was. Not just Daegan. Niall.

He was a better hunter, warrior and scout than a crofter . . . But if Niall and Evan found her first . . . oh God. She knew just how powerful Stephen was.

If I had time, I’d fuck your traitorous cunt, bludgeon you to take away your beauty.

He wasn’t listening to her mind. He never had, had he?

“You . . . betrayed . . . me,” she rasped.

Stephen pulled back. The shock of hearing words an InhServ would never speak had snagged his attention. By doing what she’d always done—tell the truth to her Master—she’d make sure he killed her fast, before Evan or Niall were in danger. Licking her lips, she met his gaze. Deliberately. And since she could barely breathe, she spoke in his mind.

A servant serves for one reason. Because we love our Master or Mistress. I wanted to love you, and I couldn’t. I based my devotion on my love of service, not of you. That was my greatest mistake.

“I’m not your whore,” she coughed. “Or your maid service. I’m your servant.” A soul-deep oath, a commitment to the vampire, to be loyal and protect his soul with all that I am. Pushing herself up on weak elbows, she put her face right up into his, showing no fear. He wouldn’t get that from her.

“My brother died,” she whispered. “And you let twelve servants fuck me until I bled. To prove my loyalty to you. I owe you nothing.”

Blood was trickling out of the corner of his mouth and she used a trembling hand to collect it, placing it on his tongue as he stared at her. His fang pressed against her knuckle and she increased that pressure, letting it cut her. “I may wake in the afterlife chained to you forever,” she rasped, “but you will be chained to me as well. Do what you feel you must, my lord.”

“If you value your fucking head, you’ll step away from her.”

Stephen let go of her, leaping to his feet. The jolt made her groan, cough up more blood, but through the wracking pain she was able to see Evan arrive in the cave entrance, Niall at his shoulder.

Let him have me. Don’t . . . I can’t bear for either of you to be hurt. Please. Don’t let me take that to my grave.

“Daegan too far away?” Stephen passed a contemptuous gaze over Evan. “The weakling of the litter. This InhServ