Vampire Debt - Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers #2) - Kelly St. Clare Page 0,65
Humiliating him like this was a bit much for visiting the human, wasn’t it?
Frowning, I glanced up at the king to find his attention riveted on me. Crap.
I forced my attention to the wall behind the king as Safina climbed to stand beside her eldest brother, resting a hand on his shoulder.
“A human liaison,” she announced. “Someone already in our near-absolute control. Someone already aware of the workings of our game who can provide daily input on our proposals.”
The siblings turned to me, and I was slammed by a wave of defeat from Kyros. He didn’t want me further embroiled in the game?
I kind of appreciated that.
“Don’t look at me,” I shot at the siblings, playing my part. “I have my estate to run.”
That really did take up several hours of my day.
Safina tilted her head. “You work for Live Right already. Your job role can be changed.”
I blew out a breath. “Did I say I liked you?”
“No, you said I was a badass bitch.”
I scrunched my nose. I suppose that’s still true. “In all seriousness, your meetings are in the middle of the night. I like my current job—”
Fingers curled around my throat.
The king lifted me bodily off the ground, eyes flaring softly.
I hadn’t even seen a blur when he moved!
My toes scrambled for purchase as I wheezed and gurgled through the burning grip constricting my breath. My eyes bulged and I pleaded with him silently to release me.
His blue eyes bored into mine, and like a stretched rubber band pinging back on itself, my mind and body were no longer my own.
“Why are you here?” King Julius demanded, his voice coated in icy daggers.
My feet settled on the ground as his grip on my throat relented so I could answer. My lips moved without my permission. “Because I have to be.”
“Do you love my heir?” His eyes bore into every corner of me.
“No. The blood bond isn’t real.”
“Does he love you?”
“No. He’s led by the blood bond.”
King Julius regarded me. “How simple you are. Why did you return to his tower?”
“To win the game.”
“By all reports you hate games,” he replied.
It wasn’t a matter of choosing words carefully or withholding the truth, I had to answer. “I do. This game has taken too much from me. I will win it.”
His lips curved. “A human win Ingenium for Clan Sundulus? How ludicrous.”
I awaited his command.
“Are you working for Clan Fyrlia?” he asked, his fingers tightening once more.
“I’d never work for those fuckers.”
Tears squeezed from both eyes as spots filled my vision. My legs lost their strength, my arms fell away from where they’d gripped his wrist in some puny attempt to save my life.
The rubber band pinged again.
He released me from his mind compulsion, and I collapsed to the floor, sucking in great gulps of air through my bruised, raw throat.
“Rise, heir.”
Kyros stood immediately, not sparing me a glance as I trembled on all fours, trying to force away lingering clouds from his father’s mind rape. A vibrating wrath settled over me—Kyros’s—and I realised just how much control he was being forced to exert. His need to kill and destroy was so strong, it made me want to attack the king.
Gerome had compelled me like that once before—after the first blood exchange—and Kyros lost it. His father just trampled the blood bond big time; even I knew that was a serious no-no.
I sent Kyros what I hoped were soothing vibes. He could not lose his shit right now.
“Son,” King Julius spoke dispassionately. “You have disappointed and disobeyed me.”
Kyros lowered his head, eyes fixed on his father’s bare feet. I didn’t mistake it as subservience. He was hiding the violence in his expression.
“I will do better, Father.”
Managing to get my legs under me, I dragged myself upright again, mind furiously rehashing what I’d let slip to the king. I said I’d wanted to win. He’d assumed I meant on behalf of his clan. My hands shook.
His superiority complex had led him to grossly underestimate this particular human, and that’s the only reason I was alive or not tied to him through a blood compulsion right now.
Fuck.
Julius resumed his throne. “You are expressly forbidden from exchanging blood with this human again. Do you understand?”
Kyros bowed low and remained that way. “With respect, Father. My control is no longer absolute around her.”
“Was it ever, heir?”
Burn.
“My blood wishes to claim her without delay. In all ways. I have tried to seek physical gratification twice without losing control and met with failure.”