But I hadn’t been prepared for how kissing her would make me feel.
The agony, the pain, the never-ending torture stopped.
It just...disappeared.
Maybe that was why she terrified me more than Marcus ever could.
Because she somehow had the power to change everything.
Stalking from the coverage of the willow fronds, I kept the dagger hidden in my coat sleeve while the bent piece of wire I’d spent years tweaking rested in my pocket.
Whisper padded at my side, his paws soundless on the grass. His luminous eyes flicked to me, a question glowing with accusation. After fifteen years together, the annoying beast had become my conscience, reflecting all my fears back at me.
“I know,” I muttered, keeping my voice low as we headed toward the only weak spot in the entire wall. “This isn’t a good idea.”
He tilted his head, grunting with a flash of fang.
“The chances of succeeding are slim.” My mouth twisted in something between a snarl and a smile. “But fuck the consequences.”
Whisper’s tail lashed once.
“I don’t care what will happen if we manage to get out. That’s tomorrow’s problem.”
He snapped at a moth flitting past, then scowled in my direction.
“You’re so pessimistic. I won’t die.”
He yawned.
“Thanks for the confidence.”
Picking up my pace, I kept as much as I could to the shadows. Crossing a dead patch of grass, I glanced over my shoulder at the castle that was my prison.
It sulked in the middle of flickering flames, soaking up the numerous fires without a single light in its windows. It looked like a crypt, a tomb, and I was the dead crawling out of it.
Breaking into a jog, grateful my head remained clear and my muscles didn’t seize, I pressed against the iron gates and sucked in a shallow breath.
Whisper pressed against my thigh, his mouth parted and black gums shiny with spit. He glanced at me, shaking his head as if highly disappointed in me.
“What?” I snapped. “Do you expect me to just give up and stay in this hellhole?”
He rolled his eyes.
“I have to try. If I only manage to kill Marcus before they kill me, then fine. At least I’ve fulfilled a tiny part of my revenge.”
Looking away from the panther’s judgement, I eyed up the fortified gates. Thanks to years of trying to escape, I’d learned almost every flaw of this compound. Every crack, every faulty hinge, every unpatrolled spot. It hadn’t helped me break out because I could never fight the vitalsync core, but perhaps tonight I’d get lucky.
Moving to the triple lock that included two huge deadbolts on the other side, I ignored how pointless all of this was and pulled the twisted piece of wire from my pocket.
My pulse thundered as I bent closer, working the wire into one of the mechanisms.
My hands went slippery with sweat, my heart beating like a drum.
“Calm down.” My voice sounded too loud. “Don’t trigger another dose.”
Forcing myself to breathe through my nose, I jiggled the wire around, trying to spring the lock.
“Come on. Open.”
Whisper whined, his hackles rising as he stared into the dark behind me.
“You deal with it,” I ordered. “I’m busy.”
With a hiss, he stalked forward, tail dead straight.
The urge to look over my shoulder to see how many assassins had found me, battled with the desperation to unlock this fucking door.
Whisper snarled, low and threatening.
A nervous feminine laugh replied.
At least one would-be killer had arrived.
My temper suddenly exploded.
I flung away the useless wire, yanked the dagger from my sleeve, and inserted the tip into the lock. I hacked at it instead of teased.
I hated this.
All of it.
I was disgustingly claustrophobic.
Driven to breaking point.
Moments away from snapping and burning and slaughtering every-goddamn-thing and every-fucking-one in this motherfucking place.
I needed out.
NOW!!!!!
My heart rate soared past my control.
A hot, painful punch cut through my coat and sank into my shoulder. I cursed and spun around.
Three of them.
Probably the last three I hadn’t dispatched out of the sixteen or so who’d come to murder me. They formed a semi-circle, bleeding from the night, dressed all in black like me.
The dark-skinned model to my left grinned, knowing she’d hurt me with whatever weapon she’d thrown.
I felt it embedded in my shoulder, blood oozing down my spine.
Over the years, they’d tried different methods to take my life. Throwing stars, knives, a metal garrotte—one even sneaked in a collapsible bow and arrow.
Why Marcus allowed it, I didn’t know. Perhaps he liked the sport of watching me fight to survive, all while knowing I begged for death. Maybe he hated me so much, even the allure of all the money my company made him couldn’t quite stop the glee he’d feel at killing me.
Either way, I was getting sick and fucking tired of this never-ending war—of not having a say in my own existence.
Whisper’s low rumble tainted the night.
Fisting the dagger for a different purpose instead of a jailbreak, I glanced at each woman. “I wouldn’t bother if I were you. You don’t stand a chance.”
The brunette grinned. “I think we stand a very good chance.”
I arched my chin at Whisper. “With one slash of his claws, your intestines will be all over the lawn.”
“Not if we gut him first.”
“Go ahead.” I smirked. “I’ll wait.”
The circle tightened.
I let them look at me like I was prey. Let them think they would win. Who knew, perhaps they might—
A high-pitched whine echoed behind me, coming from the other side of the wall.
I stiffened.
The hum grew louder, followed by another and another and another.
My shoulders slouched as all hope of getting free tonight—no matter how ridiculous—blew up spectacularly in my face.
I might as well go to bed because that was where Marcus was about to send me.
With a heavy, bone-weary sigh, I pushed off from the gate as ten drones flew over the wall and clustered like a swarm of mechanical wasps overhead.
It only took three seconds.
The drones lined up with the girls.
They went to run.
And then dropped dead thanks to bullets fired directly from the snipers mounted on the flying machines.
Whisper leapt upward, trying to snatch the closest one.
Marcus’s voice echoed, smooth and amused. “Lucien, Lucien, Lucien.”
I gave him the finger and stalked back to Cinderkeep.
The drone followed me even as Whisper tried swatting it again.
“Must you always be so dramatic?” Marcus tutted. “You should know by now there’s no escape unless I give you one.”
I didn’t bother turning around.
My heart fluttered with twenty years of hate. One of these days, I would get my revenge. One day, I would kill him.
Slowly.
Painfully.
I would relish in his screams.
“I see you’re feeling rather good tonight. There’s almost a pep in your step,” Marcus said, the buzz of the drone making my ears ring. “It seems I’ve been remiss in monitoring your dose.”
Shit.
My hands fisted but I refused to give him the satisfaction of my misery.