I was late by the time I made it to Disco’s—well over thirty minutes after the timeframe he’d given me. Although I was dead on my feet, I paid the cabbie and climbed out. The front door opened as I scurried up the stairs to the ginormous house. Goose appeared, and he didn’t look the least bit happy. I wanted to ask questions, or get a general idea of what I was up against, but the way he shook his head and narrowed his eyes told me to keep my mouth shut.
The door closed with a snick and I was just about to relax when I was literally thrown across the room. I hit the wall on the opposite side of the door, saw stars, and slid to a heap on the floor.
“Where is it?” Marius thundered, rushing over, eyes furious.
“Let me talk to her. Don’t do this.” I lifted my head and saw Disco striding toward me, distressed and worried. The family stood at his back, watching everything from the sidelines. I couldn’t tell if they were concerned or angry, not with Marius heading in my direction.
“No,” Marius snarled, “and don’t you dare open your mark to her. When I am here it is my home, my rules, my way.” Marius grabbed the front of my sweater, lifting me off the ground, and got in my face. “It’s time your human learns she is nothing more than what we allow her to be. She does not come and go from this home at her leisure. Her life is ours to dictate.”
“This isn’t like her, it’s—”
“The amulet, I know.”
Marius wrapped his hand around the leather at my throat and the stone became hot against my skin. Just as the surface of the pendant started to burn, he ripped the leather apart and yanked the amulet from my neck. He thrust it into my face, making sure I saw it in his fist.
“You’ve done wrong by your master for the last time. I’d kill you if he didn’t plead so strongly for your life. From this moment forward, you are nothing more than a servant, a beholden necromancer to our family. You’re going to wish you’d taken things more seriously before I’m finished with you, and you have no one to blame but yourself.”
Grasping a handful of my hair, he revealed my neck and bit me—in the same place Disco had earlier. It hurt worse than any bite I’d ever received. Marius wasn’t gentle or caring. He was cruel and vicious, tearing at my skin, causing the circular wounds created by his huge canines to broaden. After the blood started flowing, he ripped his teeth from my throat and allowed blood to torrent down my throat. He smeared the hand holding the amulet over it, and my heart sank.
He was initiating a blood rite—the only way he could prevent the magical jewelry from returning to my possession.
“You can’t have it!” I screamed, struggling hard against his hand, uncertain of where my rage came from. “It’s mine!”
“This is for the best, Rhiannon. It was time you let that thing go. I’ve told you it’s no good,” Goose said softly.
I gaped at my confidant in shock, growing sick with dawning comprehension. He was the one who told Marius about the amulet and how he had to take it from me. The betrayal was unlike the one I felt with Disco, harsher in a bizarre way.
“I trusted you!” My shout echoed off the high ceilings and rang in my ears.
“I told you I’d do whatever it took in the best interest of the family.” He wouldn’t meet my eyes, lowering his head, a lock of hair resting on his forehead. “The amulet is dangerous. It’s making you dangerous. It’s time you let it go.”
“She doesn’t let anything go. She gives me what I want, when I command it,” Marius corrected.
He moved me from the wall, held me midair, and thrust me back. The base of my skull kissed the hard surface, creating little stars in my vision. I was trying to blink and see clearly when fingers were buried in my face, forcing me to look into the eyes of a vampire who wanted to see me suffer.
“The knife,” he demanded, the words a harsh whisper. “Give it to me.”
Maybe it was because I didn’t have anything left to lose, or maybe it was because I would be left defenseless, but I knew I couldn’t give him the dagger. If he’d attacked me like this, the battle had already been waged. I’d lost one valuable weapon to him. I wasn’t giving him another.