War of Hearts (True Immortality) - S Young Page 0,55
the prickle of it in her chest frightened the shit out of her. Turning to him, she watched his expression soften at the sight of the tears shimmering in her eyes.
“If I tell you …” She pushed off the bed and glared down at him. “If I tell you and you betray me to Ashforth anyway, I’ll kill you, Conall. No hesitation this time.”
He nodded slowly. “Aye. I believe you, lass.”
NEW YORK, SIX YEARS AGO
Posters covered the white walls, images that reflected who Thea had been before this madness had descended. There were rock bands she knew Amanda detested but allowed her to listen to. Photos ripped out of magazines of Caleb Followill and Ryan Gosling. There was a poster of the movie UP, an animation that made her sob her heart out in the first ten minutes.
Photographs of her classmates from the ages of twelve to fifteen.
Thea often wondered what Ashforth had told the school and her friends about her. What he’d told her therapist. She’d finally gotten the courage to ask Devon, and he’d said his dad had told everyone she’d gone back to England to live with her mom’s family. And no one questioned it. No one ever questioned Ashforth.
That had made her laugh for about two seconds before the laughter turned into hysterical sobs.
No one who might care knew where she was.
No one was coming for her.
Although there was a wall of books and DVDs and an old-fashioned TV and DVD player in the corner, Thea rarely left the big luxurious bed. The entire room was lined with this stuff that burned the crap out of her when she touched it, and proximity to the amount in the room left her feeling weak, almost flu-like. Or at least what she assumed flu felt like.
Hearing the click of a lock, Thea turned her head on the pillow and watched as the heavy, armored door opened and Devon walked in. A werewolf guard followed Ashforth’s son and stood at attention by the now-closed door.
Whenever one of the Ashforths visited, a werewolf or vampire always attended for their protection.
Last month Ashforth had taken so much blood from Thea, she’d been so weak she couldn’t keep her eyes open. One guard, a human, had tried to take advantage of that. He climbed into her bed at night. She didn’t know where she found the strength to fight him off, but in her fear and rage, she’d punched a hole through his chest.
He was the first human she’d ever killed.
Ashforth had cleaned up the mess like it was no big deal. He’d given her a fatherly smile and praised her strength. It had horrified Amanda and Devon and he’d promised nothing like that would ever happen again.
But they’d allowed it to happen by letting Ashforth keep her here. A prisoner. A science experiment.
A torture victim.
For four fucking years.
She turned her head away from Devon, unable to bear looking at him.
The night before, Thea had escaped. Again. It took a lot of strength, most of which was zapped by the room, but she was determined to get the hell out of there. Unfortunately, the last two times she’d tried she hadn’t even gotten out of the house before someone shot her in the back with a dart. It contained that black substance Ashforth used to weaken her whenever she was out of the room.
“Dad’s furious, Thea.” She could hear Devon pulling a seat over to the bed.
Yeah, she kind of guessed that when he hit her.
She’d escaped the house the previous night. But a vampire tackled her on the tennis court and injected her. The last thing she remembered before she blacked out was Ashforth’s enraged expression as he punched her in the gut.
“I’m worried about you. I’ve never seen him so angry.”
She scoffed and turned to look at her adoptive brother’s handsome face. “If you were really worried about me, you would have gotten me out of here a long time ago.”
Remorse darkened his expression. “He has too many men. He’s too powerful.”
Yes, Jasper Ashforth had used his money to surround himself with supernatural guards at his island estate. He’d bought the small island on the Lawrence River, just off Lake Ontario, a few years ago. It was far enough from the other islands that dotted the river to afford complete privacy. He’d converted the house for his purposes and as far as Thea knew, he invited no one but family onto the island. For example, none of his wealthy business