Vérzavar Ház

Chapter 23: Help Me Forget

Ruhn Danaan knew three things with absolute certainty:

He had smoked so much mirthroot that he couldn't feel his face. Which was a damn shame, because there was a female currently sitting on it.

He had downed an obscene amount of whiskey, because he had no idea what the female's name was, or how they'd gotten to his bedroom, or how he'd wound up with his tongue between her legs.

He really fucking loved his life. At least... right now.

-House of Sky and Breath, pg. 54

Lidia couldn't remember a time when she'd felt so... free. So content. Perhaps after the first time she and Ruhn had been intimate, but those shared moments were darkened by the shadows of her role and everything that came after. But this - falling into a deep, sated sleep after being brought to climax by a generous lover who expected nothing in return - it was something she could barely comprehend.

"What have I told you, Lidia?"

Her entire body seized at the smooth, cruel voice. It couldn't be. Pollux was dead. She had watched his final moments. She had almost died because she had been unable to comprehend that the male who had tormented her for decades was truly gone.

"You smell like him."

The words echoed around her, hanging in the heavy air. Lidia pushed herself up from where she'd been curled on the mattress, her eyes desperately searching the dark around her. She could feel the panic rising, her lungs puffing out air at an alarming rate, but never filling enough for her to catch her breath. Silence stretched, her breathing the only sound. Perhaps she'd imagined all of it, her mind unable to accept her contentment. That had to be it; she had never been in a situation where she was safe, and her body was still on edge.

The shifter felt the darts on the torque dig painfully into the thin flesh of her neck as she was jerked backward, her startled cry choked and strangled by the pressure on her throat. She was drawn back against a hard, unyielding form, and the burning breath against her ear sent her body into terrified tremors.

"You're mine, Princess," the angel crooned. "You will always be mine." His hands were everywhere - touching her, stroking her. No matter how hard she tried to fight, to escape the cruel hands. She felt him force her thighs apart, trying to blink back the tears that burned in her eyes. This wasn't right. It couldn't be happening. It couldn't be real. But she could feel him, and for the first time since the Hammer had entered her life, she begged.

"Please. Please, no." Her voice shook, lips trembling. But the plea meant nothing. It certainly wouldn't stop the angel from taking what he wanted, just like he always had before. He'd never cared about consent, never sought to ensure her pleasure. Not like Ruhn had.

Oh, Gods. Ruhn. Where was he? Was he alive? Would he save her? Had everything been nothing but a cruel dream? If this was truly reality, she wouldn't survive it. Not after hope had warmed her heart. Not after she'd started to believe that there just might be a sliver of her shredded soul worth saving.

He pushed her to the ground, her knees landing hard before her hands caught her. She felt him behind her, pulling down her panties. Then the silver band was yanked back again, forcing her to look straight ahead as his other hand gripped her hip. She tried to dig her fingers beneath the metal as she struggled to breathe, desperate to be free of the infernal device.

"You will always be mine."

Lidia shot upright with a scream, her hands already at the cool band around her throat. She scratched and clawed at it, desperation making her frantic. Her vision blurred, with tears or panic she couldn't be sure. All that mattered - all that she could think about - was getting that thing off of her.