Chapter 31

Wake up.

I suck in a sharp breath, arching against the bed. Excruciating pain surges through me in an overwhelming rush, aches biting at every part of me, throbbing with violent agony. I flop over to my side, I cradle my bruised wrist to my chest and I'm completely bare. I bolt upright, clutching the blanket it bring to my naked chest. The memories bombard my mind in a barrage, harrowing images strobing my mind, my body ridden with skin-crawling sensations.

Fresh terror rears up within me.

My eyes strike wide. Hot tears burn behind them.

"You're awake." Rimnick strolls into view with nothing but a blanket bound to his hips. "Did you enjoy our time together?" He smirks wickedly, sparking a ghoulish glint in his eyes. "I know I did."

Fathomless dread renders me mute, even though I try. I cannot utter a word, my bottled breaths begging to be freed.

"What's wrong, my pet?" He regards me with no expression. "Are you not satisfied?" Another dread-inducing smile splits his face apart. "Let me correct that."

I capture a glimpse of a moving figure emerging in the doorway. He comes at me, looming taller. Instincts awaken—retaliating. My foot strikes his stomach. He staggers back into the other's grip.

"You low-life scum!" Vince roars. "I should wrench your insides from your gut."

Rimnick ensnared in his hold, Vince wrests him under his control. Vince releases him, only to smash a fist in his face, a blow that sends him to his knees then he devenastates with three more gut-wrenching punches. Vince yanks him back to his feet. His nostrils flaring with pure outrage.

"Duce Merian will hear of this. And if not by his command but my own hands, your retribution will be grave."

Aggressively, he drives him out of my bedchambers and departs with him in his charge.

"Guards!"