Sickly, Sweet - Book One

Ch. 5 - Chained

Dedicated to @WretchedBlues cuz, she's the type to want to be chained. ;)

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'Anger is not enough to want to destroy ourselves, for it lies on the surface of our hearts.'

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What happens when you drive a wooden stake through the heart of a vampire? They die, of course. I have never heard of anyone surviving from a stake in the heart, regardless of creed. You'd be lucky to get that close to a vampire, though. Silver is too soft of a metal to even pierce their skin. Fortunately for us, their blood reacts very negatively to titanium.

"Yes, fortunate for you, my dear, but not at this moment." Valentine, using his power to hear thoughts, clicks his tongue and circles around me. I can't see his face clearly, my vision is blurred and he is cloaked in darkness. We are in a dim and decaying cell with only a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling.

"How about another question." He turns his back and lifts a syringe from a medical tray. "What happens to poison when injected with antiserum?"

I attempt to reach for his neck, but the heavy steel chains around my wrists stop me from doing so. I growl at him, "Release me, or so help me, I will use your head as a mantelpiece."

"Ah, well, that doesn't really answer my question, does it?" He replies with indifference.

"What more do you want from me?" I ask with anger.

"I want your blood, dear Saphira, just like every other vampire out there. Since Augustine has not agreed to meet, I will take matters into my own hands, starting with you."

"You and your brother are alike, motives and behavior, you're both selfish creatures." I am begging for my life, yes, and I have to.

"I have a question for you, Valentine, how is it that you are no longer King?" I shoot the question at him like an arrow. I hope it stings.

Valentine swallows hard and looks away.

"Did you lose someone dear to you?" I taunt, "I bet she was beautiful, she would have made a wonderful Queen."

He is quiet but his face remains feral. I continue my impolite and judgemental teasing in an attempt to ruffle his feathers. Everyone has a weakness and I think I just found his. "Did you watch her die, Valentine?"

"Quiet, Princess, or I will cut your throat and bleed you dry." His tone is dark and I lean back onto the cold stone wall.

A vicious smile spreads across my face and I wink at him. Valentine only narrows his eyes but he continues to work on the small dilapidated table with various medical instruments and torture devices. The familiar sound of his boots clicking on the stone is all I heard before he closes the wooden door across the room.

He removes his overcoat and unbuttons the top three collars of this shirt, giving me a perfect view of a dark chain necklace that hung on his muscled chest. He rolls his sleeves up and I eye him as he sits on the chair and pulls out my gun. He inspects it for bullets and he gives me a cryptic look.

"How -" I begin to say.

"What did I say about keeping your mouth shut," he interjects. He pulls the barrel on the gun back and then points it directly at me. I don't move from my spot. This has happened so many a time that I am completely used to it.

"I don't give a damn about what you say, release me now, vampire."

"Pardon me, Saphira, but I cannot do that. I can't have a child of Datura run around in Numidia."