Heroine

Ch 44 - Opening Move

Drake smiled in my peripherals, his white teeth glistening in the soft light against his red lips. My fingers found their way into his silky black locks without taking my eyes off of his.

"You're mine, Rose," his voice seeped throughout my whole body. "I'm the only one worthy, darling. You're all done with the worthless human. You belong to me."

A beautiful, terrible vision entered my head with perfect clarity. Drake and I stood hand in hand on a stage made of bones. Everyone bowed to us: humans, wolves, fairies, witches, demigods, everyone. The world was ours.

Drake turned to me with a lovely smile, transporting us to a black castle so fierce even the sea broke against it. He took me in his arms running his forked tongue along the skin on my neck, causing a chilling ecstasy throughout all of me before sinking his teeth into my shoulder.

I loved it. I loved the way he touched me. I loved that I was part of him and he had all of me. I loved the way his long fingernails scraped against my scalp as he pressed into me.

He made me blind with pleasure.

A voice echoed in the distance— my voice. Wake up! Snap out of it!

I didn't want him to touch me. I didn't want his gnarled fingernails in my hair. I didn't want his hands anywhere on my body and I certainly didn't want his diseased tongue on me.

"You want me," his beautiful voice sang to me and I was back in heaven.

He and I traveled the world, feasting, celebrating, and conquering until there was nothing left. Kingdoms rose and fell but we remained constant, at the center of everything. Vladimir Dracul, the king of it all, and I, his muse and weapon.

"Don't you want to be mine, Rose? Say you're mine." I felt his soft hand touch my cheek. His voice was so beautiful. I could listen to him for eternity. "Say you're mine, darling."

I felt something sharp poke my calf and my focus shifted from his eyes to his hand. His yellow fingernails were digging into my arm, holding me still.

"You bastard!" I screamed in his face and smacked his hand off me.

I glared at him, eyes burning with tears. The sound of the cafe came back to me gradually as I snapped out of his nightmare trance. Gunfire and metal slashing through flesh surrounded me. The customers were in a frenzy, tearing each other limb from limb. The dragons fought the fae, the wolves were transformed, herding the witches into a corner, and Adam sliced through vampires like butter.

I pushed myself out of Drake's space, my lip trembling as I stifled sobs.

His eyes darted from one eye to the next, fear plain on his face. "I was saving you." He lifted his hand toward me, his eyes focusing on mine again.

"Enough!" I screeched and backed away from him. "You fucking pig."

The room grew silent as I wiped the tears from my face. Everyone stopped their fighting to stare at us. Music continued to play through the speakers, reminding me of how cheerful everything was a moment ago. I looked around the room at the sober, bloody faces of the customers. The dragons that weren't a pile of body parts cringed at me, covering up their noses like they smelled something awful. The fae stared at me like I just killed their families and I realized it wasn't just my happiness that was contagious.

My joy that everyone was relishing five minutes ago had twisted into anger and sadness. I felt violated and powerless and everyone in this room was sharing in my torment.

I backed further away from Drake, bumping into a table. "You are pathetic," I sneered. "You disgust me in every way possible. I do not want you. I will never want you. I am not yours and I never will be. Stay away from me."