CHAPTER 54

Faye woke slowly to a view of Hell's twilight sky through tall narrow windows. A low vibration lulled her with its gentle constant purr. Her brow came down as she realized exactly what room she was in and who she was curled up against.

If you allow it, I will stay until morning.

Her heart constricted. He would leave soon. Faye shifted beside him, finding a more comfortable spot on his chest. Wanting to savor their final moments. Rune drew a sharp breath beneath her, and the room filled with silence.

She turned her head to glance at him and he tensed further. Did he regret what they'd done? What she let him do. Faye sat up, pulling the sheets around herself, and stilled.

The front of his black robe hung open revealing heavy bruising over his chest. Disjointed memories drifted up in her mind, and she glanced away as they slowly pieced together.

"How did you get hurt?" She asked.

"I am drained and mending, for a moment," Rune's voice was deeper, he sounded exhausted. The effortless predatorial grace he possessed was gone, replaced with slow, stiff movements. His long white-blonde hair fell forward in vivid contrast to the ugly bruises marrying his pale skin.

Scenes stitched together in her mind, filling her with false recollections, but she remembered them as though she'd committed these acts herself. Faye flushed deeply as the memories took shape fully. She'd straddled him. Moaned as his hard length slid against her while she rocked her hips. Darkness, she leaned back and spread her legs for him.

Worse than her blatant offering was the rage that filled her when he refused. "I hurt you," Faye whispered. She'd truly viewed him as a possession and wanted to punish him for daring to disobey her.

Bile rose in her throat. These emotions weren't hers. This wasn't her. They were sick and Faye couldn't separate herself from them.This wasn't her. Wasn't she?

Faye backed away in a panic, stumbling off the end of the bed. She hit the stone floor, tangled in his sheet. Her stomach revolted as Faye rolled onto her hands and knees before dashing to his bathroom.

The lid clanked as Faye violently shoved it up and emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet. She coughed on her knees in front of the bowl.

Tears pricked Faye's eyes, she couldn't dislodge her unwanted memories from her mind. She didn't do these things. Wouldn't do them. She would never feel like this.

A sheet fell over her, warming as it slid across her shoulders. Hands gathered her hair, holding it away from her face. Faye turned to find Rune kneeling beside her. He twisted her hair into a bun, and it somehow stayed in place when he let go.

"I am sorry I failed to hold you above the Darkness," he said, offering her a towel. Faye took it and the talisman he'd given Sparrow appeared on the ground next to them. He touched it and said, "Water and bread— Simple bread."

"I remember…"Hurting you. Expecting you to obey me without question.A pleasant chime interrupted Faye's thoughts. A silver tray appeared with four glasses and a pitcher of water beside a plate of small rolls.

Rune poured a glass, holding it out for her while he smoothed his hand over her back.

Faye took the glass, her breaths finally slowing. The nightmarish scene faded to settle in her mind. She rinsed her mouth and set the glass on the tray, drying her face with the towel. She closed the lid and sat back, sitting sideways between Rune's legs.

He pulled her closer, stretching his legs out on either side of her with his back to the tub that matched the one in her room. She stared dumbly at his bare foot poking out of the bottom of his dress slacks.

Her double called her a vessel. "Am I a body? Is she the dark queen you've been waiting for? When I invoke my blood does she take over?"

"No, vsenia," he answered, pulling her to his chest. "I am certain she is part of you. The only race I know of that can take a vessel are Pure Bloods." Rune reached out, taking the plate of rolls, and held it in front of her.

Faye took one, tearing off a small piece of it. Rune's words were no comfort as her breaths came faster. "What if she's like them, and I'm the vessel she plans to take?"

Rune rubbed his hand over her back in soothing strokes. 'Your heart is racing. Breathe in," he said, tracing his fingertips up her spine. When he reached the top, he said, "Breathe out," and followed her spine down.

Faye breathed with his strokes, hugging his other arm to her as she nibbled on bites of bread. "What do I do if I'm a vessel? How do you fight that?"

"You are not," Rune said, in a calm, even tone. "My mother and Lyssa's mother were used as vessels for the original Pure Blood sisters. My mother killed the being that would have taken her body and became a Pure Blood. Lyssa's mother succumbed to it."

"How will I know the difference? "

"Tell me what you remember."

Faye concentrated on his touch and her breathing. The last thing she remembered was a burning sting when her body yielded to Rune's. Then she saw herself falling with Rune and reached for them.

She swallowed and said, "I remember everything."

"As you?" Rune asked.

Faye nodded.

"When the Ra'Voshnik—"

"Voshki," Faye said weakly.

Rune exhaled. "When you were with Voshki, I witnessed it. I feel what the creature does because we share a body. But the memories and thoughts are not mine. It has its own mind and speaks to me too often.

"I suspect your winged double is somehow your power running off instinct and base needs. The same instincts your Anarian upbringing suppressed."

Rune's words sickened her. She wasn't like that crazed bitch. Everything about her felt foreign and wrong. Faye's gaze met Rune's. He didn't seem overly upset by his treatment. Did all dark-blooded women act this way?

Faye muttered, "She thinks she owns you."

The corner of his mouth lifted. "Ownership is how a dark-blooded female shows affection to their male."

Faye laid her head on his arm. "I don't want to own you." Rune stiffened. "No I don't…" Faye hugged his arm tighter. "Your customs are strange to me."

He pulled her hair loose now that she was calmer and said, "They are customs you should have been raised in."

Faye remained silent. She didn't want to be raised in a dark court. She wanted a partner, not a possession to be commanded when the urge struck her and shelved when she was bored with it.

"Are you in any pain?" He asked.

"You're the one injured," Faye muttered. She leaned away to glance at his chest over her shoulder and asked, "Why is this still here when you healed up after I knocked you into the wall?"

"I have been preoccupied and need blood."

She hurt him, the least she could do was offer him the blood he needed to heal. "You… can take it from me."

He pressed a kiss to her hair. "I appreciate the offer, but bites are sexual. You are still adjusting, and I would be taking advantage of the situation."

A wine bottle appeared next to the silver tray. Rune poured the dark red liquid into a glass.

"Is that blood?"

"Yes, it is called crimson wine," Rune said before he drained the glass and poured a second.

Rune reached behind him and opened the faucet. Steaming water was poured into the tub. He ran his hand through her hair, and Faye couldn't help but remember how he touched her last night. It felt like he cared, and it was more than a ritual between them.

Faye smiled to herself. It was more than a ritual for Voshki. He called her his queen. He cherished her. And because he did, she gave him everything, took his bite while she screamed for him. Faye froze.

Everyone was in the study when she was—

Faye flushed. "Did they hear me last night?"

Rune chuckled.

"I'm serious."

"It is customary to shield the room when performing such duties."