Vampire Enslavement (Lords of Bondage) (48 page)

Suddenly there was a commotion at the door. When it opened, the princess herself walked through the doorway, accompanied by several of her cronies. The monstrously tall female watched her through beady black eyes. “So this is the ghastly, deformed creature that tempts our males.”

Snotti didn’t look womanly at all. Her body was thin and angular, with no discernible breasts or hips. She was only slightly smaller than the male hybrids. Her facial features were softer than the males, although not by much.

“I am the Princess Snotti.”

Cassia stifled the urge to let out a hysterical laugh. Seriously, she wouldn’t claim that name. “I know—”

“That you are but a worthless human slave, yes.” She lifted her long fingers tipped by dagger-like black fingernails and swiped Cassia’s blanket from her shoulders. “Now I see why they say you are deformed!” She tossed the blanket on the floor and pointed at Cassia’s breasts. “Look at those mountains of fat! How unsightly! I wonder how you manage to do any activity at all with those things weighing you down.”

Cassia shielded her breasts with her hands, feeling herself heat with embarrassment. The princess and her ladies had seen her naked plenty of times. They were goading her, trying to upset her with their cruel words and critical remarks.

“I can certainly see why human females are naught but whores instead of warriors. You are trapped inside such a worthless body. So very ugly. So very worthless.”

Cassia kept her mouth shut. It would do no good to argue with her by pointing out the human warrior women that excelled at combat, despite their more feminine features.

“I wish to parade you around a bit. It will be more fun now that your watchdog is sleeping.” Princess Snotti grabbed her by her arm and started to pull her toward the door.

Cassia dug in her heels and pulled in the opposite direction. “I was told not to leave this room.”

Princess Snotti slapped her across the face. “I don’t care what you were told, slave. I am the princess and you must obey me. I could order your death and it would be carried out in an instant.”

Cassia didn’t know what the hell to do, but she did know that defying Prince Diermont’s mate would likely mean her death. She allowed the woman to haul her from the room. She scanned the vicinity for any sign of anyone loyal to Cabrian. One of his friends would intervene. Apparently the guards had caved to the princess. They were missing.

“Look what I found!” Princess Snotti crooned as she pushed Cassia inside Lucine’s former office. “It’s a human female. See her unnatural appearance? This is what our males lust for. This is what they hope to replace us with!”

Cassia stared wide-eyed at the group of hybrids in the room. Two were females dressed in elegant gowns of silk cloth. They were accompanied by a male hybrid dressed in a black tunic and trousers. They stared at her with a mixture of curiosity and disgust.

Princess Snotti wrenched Cassia’s arms apart, exposing her naked breasts. “See how they possess unsightly heaps of flesh that serve no purpose whatsoever! It is gross, I tell you. But for some reason, our males are being seduced by this. Seduced away from choosing hybrid mates.”

No purpose whatsoever?
Cassia wondered how the hybrid females fed their young without breasts, but she kept her mouth shut.

One of the hybrid females pointed toward Cassia’s midsection. “The real deformity lies with what she has between her legs. It is the real thing that tempts our males and makes them refuse hybrid mates. They say it has elasticity. That it changes size according to what is inside it.”

“And yours do not?” Cassia’s face flamed as those eyes veered toward her woman’s mound. These people saw her as some kind of threat due to her differing anatomy.

“The human speaks! It has language,” Princess Snotti sneered. “It wants to understand how it is deformed.”

“Let us examine these deformities. Study them. Learn what it is that makes our males turn from us,” one of the female hybrids said as she turned to her male companion. “What do you think? Is the human female attractive to you?”

“No. She disgusts me. I think we need to determine what sorcery these humans possess that captivates our males so. Once her female organs are removed, we can learn what makes them tick. Then we can understand the reason some of our males prove resistant to breeding within their own species.”

“Cabrian will be pissed if you harm me,” she said. They couldn’t remove her reproductive organs. She was a breeder with a protected status.
She was so screwed. These hybrids hated humans
. They didn’t wish for her to breed. These APS fanatics were against the mixing of bloodlines.

“I am a princess. I do not concern myself with the moods of mere lords and overlords.”

How would she get out of this mess? She had no weapon, and even if she did, the hybrids were supernaturally strong. She scanned the room, searching for anything useful she could use to defend herself.

“I’ll get my tools,” the male said before he vanished. The female standing beside him disappeared a few seconds later.

The other female said, “I must get my sketchpad. Do not start without me.”

When that female traced out of the room, Cassia was left alone with Princess Snotti. There wouldn’t be much time before they returned.

She glanced at Lucine’s desk. Her stepmother kept blow darts in the top drawer. Some of the darts were lethal to hybrids, others were dosed with just enough vipermantis to knock them out cold. She took a step toward the desk.

“Do not move, human,” Princess Snotti said.

“You do want me to lay upon the desk, right? For the examination?”

The princess eyed her suspiciously before she nodded. “I suppose you may do so.”

Cassia sat upon the desk. When the princess wasn’t looking, she reached inside the drawer with her finger and searched for a sharp object. Finding one, she balled it inside her fist. She would have to hope the dart she had chosen was one of the poisoned ones.

The princess walked to the edge of the desk and stared at Cassia’s midsection. “I’ve always wanted to know what lies inside a human. What vile things will I see when they pull your organs from you?”

When Princess Snotti leaned over the desk, Cassia thrust the dart into the woman’s throat. Would it take effect? It not, she would only succeed in angering the woman further.

Princess Snotti dropped to the floor. Cassia’s heart pounded frantically as she raced from Lucine’s office. They would find her if she went to her room. Where could she hide?

She opened the door to a small storage room and hid behind some crates. It wasn’t a good hiding spot. They would be sure to find her and then they would kill her for harming the princess. She needed to find Cabrian. She knew he was being kept in a sickroom with the other injured hybrids. He was in a coma. If she could manage to wake him, she knew somehow everything would be alright. Or maybe not. Snotti was probably dead. She would be caught and executed for killing the princess. Cabrian was an overlord, but he couldn’t save her from justice.

Cassia was thankfully near the sickroom. She ran inside it and raced to Cabrian’s bed. “Please wake up. Please wake up.” She knew it was hopeless. He slept and was essentially gone to her.

“It will be weeks before he wakes. His injuries were severe.” Kiera gave her a look of sympathy, not realizing her utter terror. “I assure you he will recover from this. Give him a few more weeks.”

Weeks? What the fuck was she going to do? “I have to leave right now.”

Kiera rubbed her drowsy eyes. “Why?”

“Those fucking APS fanatics are trying to kill me. Cabrian cannot protect me from them so I have to leave.” Her eyes narrowed on Kiera. The female could transport and right now was her lifeline. “You could take me out of here. I’ll take you to your grandmother but we have to leave now.”

“You would leave Lord Ross? I thought you were in love with him.”

“Didn’t you hear me when I mentioned APS? They’re looking for me and I don’t have much time. They want to dissect me like a lab animal.”

“Once we leave there is no coming back.” Kiera sat straight up in bed and rubbed her eyes. “Diermont’s convinced one of us is a traitor. Leaving will make us look guilty.”

“I cannot help that right now. Do you still want to meet with your grandmother or not? I can get us inside. I’m practically family.” The last thing she wanted to do was leave Cabrian, but she knew she had to stay alive. She would find a way to reunite with him in the future. Somehow she would find him again. “I think I may have done something horrible.”
I think I killed Snotti
.

“Okay. Let’s do this.” Kiera rummaged through some drawers and pulled out some clothes. She pulled on a tunic and gave another one to Cassia. “We’ll need to exchange these for something better when we get the chance. You say you’re in a hurry?”

“Yeah, you could say that.” She could hear people shouting down the halls. Female voices were shouting her name. They were looking for her. Had they discovered Snotti’s body? They would figure out she was responsible.

Kiera covered her head with a scarf. “I have no reason to stay here. None at all. I’m ready to put this all behind me. I want a new life.”

“You’ll definitely get one.” Cassia was frightened. She didn’t know what to expect when she left the villa. She really had no choice but to return to the bosom of her family, but they were a bunch of crime lords that made coin from enslaving and exploiting vampires. Would they welcome her back, knowing she was in a relationship with a hybrid vampire? That she meant to return to him one day? She didn’t want to return to the family business but they would put pressure on her. She took one last look at Cabrian. She kissed his unresponsive lips. “I will find you again. I’m sorry I have to leave you. I fucked things up. I’m so sorry.” He couldn’t hear her. She turned to Kiera. “Open up a portal. I’m ready.”

Kiera complied, despite her weakness. It shimmered, blue and oval. “Okay. You’ve been through one of these before. We’re going to Eros this time. It’s a longer jump so it may make you queasy. But you’ll be just fine. When we arrive, we’ll take cover. Find Roman clothes and a blonde wig. Then we’ll meet my grandmother, Marly Agrippa.” She looked at Cassia expectantly. “And you say you know this woman. She’ll meet with us.”

“She’s Lucine’s sister.”

Kiera held up her hand. “Wait a minute. Your stepmother is my grandmother’s sister?”

“Yes.” Cassia knew Kiera was in for some shocks. Marly Agrippa was heavily involved in the Hydra business. If the hybrids weren’t already hunting Marly down, they would soon. “We have to go.” She would learn about Marly soon enough. The confrontation between the two would be an interesting one.

Kiera nodded. “You’ve been holding out on me, Cassia. You need to fill me in. Let us go.” She enclosed Cassia inside her arms and stepped through the portal.

Cassia felt like crying. She had been happy, finally happy. And now it was all shot to shit. Circumstances tore them apart, necessitating that she separate herself from her lover. The one that would have made her his mate. When he woke, would he understand why she had to leave? Would he feel betrayed by her? She had promised never to leave him. Never to betray him. Now she felt she was doing that very thing. But staying was impossible. They would kill her before Cabrian woke from the coma. He would have to understand. She would make him understand.

Chapter 35

Bloodfanger stared through the bars of the dungeon cell. Spying Gwyneth, his lips curled into a smile. “I came to see how you’re faring, Burnt One.”

“Diermont has locked me in the dungeon with this maniac.” Gwyneth clutched the bars with pale white fingers. “Help me, please. I’ll do anything if you get me out of here.”

“Do what you do best, Jelly Queen. Cure your mate of his illness with your well-used cunt.” He licked his lips and surveyed Gwyneth’s naked body. Even covered with burn scars, she was nearly perfect in her beauty. But she disgusted him and he was glad to see her suffer.

“Modez doesn’t want me. He’ll kill me.” Gwyneth was panicking as she shook the bars of her cell. “He’s insane. He’s beyond help. Beyond hope.”

“That’s too bad. For you.”

“But he’ll kill me. He doesn’t want to fuck. He wants to tear me apart with his bare hands.” Gwyneth’s hand reached through the bars and clutched his own. “I beg you. Do not leave me here with him. I won’t survive.”

“Probably not. But you made your bed.” Bloodfanger bowed while he basked in the satisfaction of Gwyneth’s misery. “Diermont trusts me. I wonder how it is that he doesn’t suspect me of treachery. It won’t be difficult for me to usurp control. His men hate him. What he did to his lords…well, it wasn’t the smartest move.”

“You are the traitor. It comes as no surprise to me, Bloodfanger.” Gwyneth continued to clutch his hand so hard that he felt his bones would separate from each other. “You brag of your deeds to me. How can you do such a thing? Are you not ashamed?”

“Not a bit. I feel no shame. No guilt. I can easily walk away from you, knowing that by doing so I condemn you to die by your own mate’s crazed hand.”

“Snotti will come for me. She won’t let me rot here much longer.”

“Sorry to have to tell you this, but Snotti’s dead. I saw one of those hybrids dragging her body into the woods. Diermont thinks she is but missing, so he is distracted right now trying to locate his wayward mate. Far too distracted to remember where he placed you, it seems. And it will only get worse once he discovers she is not coming back to him.”

“You monster! Don’t do this to me.”

“You are the monster who preyed on the poor villagers and crofters of Adevax.”

“They were peasants and serfs! Who would miss them?”

“I missed them. I grew up with them. They were like family.”

“We were your family. Not those peasants. A little bit of blood draining and defiling and you throw a tantrum over it. It boggles the mind,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I didn’t grow up in the North, but even I understood that the lords required sustenance and it wasn’t from fruits, vegetables, or meats. Northerners are blood drinkers. You are one. What is the problem here?”