Chapter 19

Zara

I was terrified. I knew the twins were killers, but I had never seen it first hand. There was so much blood. I'd never imagined there would be so much blood.

There were bodies everywhere. The ballroom floor was littered with them. A dozen Rogues had tried to tear down Kieran and Lucian, and a dozen Rogues had died. Just like that. I'm not sure the whole fight took more than three, maybe five minutes. It all happened so fast.

Lucian barked something at the guards. I wasn't really listening. I was trying not to scream. I didn't want to draw their attention. I didn't want either unpredictable Kieran or icy Lucian to come anywhere near me. They were going to let me die.

If I hadn't thrown that Rogue, they would have waited for him to slit my throat. I saw the truth of that in Lucian's eyes. Our bargain meant nothing to them. They didn't even care that I was the only person who could prevent their wolf bonds from shattering. They only cared about winning a fight.

The guards started moving, dragging the bodies away. I backed up, and slid down to sit against the dais. My legs were numb. Everything was numb. I might have been shaking, I'm not sure. I felt so cold, and everything was too loud. I covered my ears and closed my eyes.

I felt him approach, rather than heard him. The mate bond shivered inside me, as my wolf yearned for her second chance mates. I shoved her away. My wolf had helped me fight the Rogue, sure, but she would doom me if I let her. She would reach for the Alpha twins and I would be theirs and I could not belong to them. I could not belong to a pair of ice blooded killers.

I opened my eyes as I realized one of them was standing over me. I looked up into Lucian's eyes and shivered. There was something odd in his expression, an emotion I couldn't quite identify.

He crouched down next to me, just staring at me. I watched him warily, half expecting the Alpha to attack me. Maybe he would. He was so close to going feral. I shivered.

Lucian reached out and brushed a hand across my face. There was blood on his hand, still hot and sticky. My breath caught in my throat. What was he thinking? What was he going to do?

“Now, you know what you need to do,” he said, “Be a good girl.”

Be a good girl?

Rage flooded through my body, replacing fear in a fiery wave. How dare he?

If I could have shifted, I'd have done so and shown him just what a 'good girl' I was. Because I couldn't, and I knew fighting him like I was would only get me ripped apart like the Rogues, I settled for knocking his hand away.

“You're filthy,” I snarled at him. “Don't touch me!”

I was shocked when he rocked back, taking his hand off of my face. I expected a slap. He never tolerated disrespect. But he just sat back on his heels and watched me. He didn't even scold me.

I scrambled to my feet. I couldn't stand being in that room another second. The smell of blood was overwhelming. I was going to throw up if I stayed.

“I'm going to take a shower,” I announced. I swiped at the blood he'd left on my face, only managing to smear it into my hair.

I turned on my heel and ran out of the room before he could decide to stop me. I knew if I gave him a second to think, he'd be furious. He'd punish me again, maybe lock me in the tower for even longer. I new if I stayed anywhere near him, I'd start screaming and I might not be able to stop.

A couple of the guards tried to stop me, but I slipped around them. I needed to get away. I burst through the ballroom doors and ran down the hall. No one followed me.

I reached the bathroom and stripped down, tearing the damn dress off of me. There was blood splattered on the shoulder and some on the hem. The red stood out starkly against the white silk. I knew the dress was ruined, and I didn't care. I threw it across the room.

Something clattered, and I realized the vial I'd tucked into the belt of the dress had fallen to the tile floor. I had forgotten all about the poison.

If Lucian caught me with it, I was doomed. There was no telling what he'd do. He'd ordered me starved in a tower for days over a little disrespect. What would he do for carrying poison meant to murder him and his brother? Would he kill me?

The only think I could be certain he wouldn't do was banish me. He knew I wanted that, wanted to be free. So he'd never do it.

I needed to get away. I had to keep my end of the bargain long enough to earn my freedom. I was not made to survive in the brutal world of the packs. Tonight had proven that quite well. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the splash of blood on marble and felt the cold metal of the knife at my throat.

I took a deep breath. I couldn't dwell on it. I had to get cleaned off. Then I'd get rid of the poison. That's what I needed to focus on. Everything else could wait until later.

I took off the stupid collar and hung it on a little towel hook. Kieran would be annoyed if I ruined it by soaking it. He'd say something about me disrespecting his dead dog. And he'd probably find something even more humiliating for me to wear. He was petty like that.

I rushed through the shower, washing my hair three times to be certain I got all the blood out. I scrubbed my face and hands until they were pink. When the water started to cool and I felt mostly clean, I stepped out of the shower stall and wrapped a towel around myself.

I went to the sink, intending to dump out the poison. I'd have to hide the little vial until I could find a good way to dispose of it. Maybe I could just bury it. The trick would be doing so without getting caught.

Suddenly, the bathroom door opened. I gasped and clutched my towel tighter as Lucian stepped into the bathroom. I could see his face in the mirror, although it was blurred by steam. He was looking at the vial in my hands.

He stepped close behind me, and pressed up against my back. I could feel his breath against my neck and the heat of his body through the thin towel.

He reached around me, and plucked the poison vial from my nerveless fingers. I trembled, and waited to see what his reaction would be. I knew, whatever it was, that it would be violent and painful. This was a man who didn't even know what the word 'mercy' meant. He'd been willing to let a Rogue slit my throat. He wouldn't hold back if he thought I had betrayed him.

“So,” Lucian rumbled, his voice surprisingly soft. “You're the killer, hm? What a surprise. I didn't think you had it in you.”