Groaning, he pulled his fangs from her flesh and licked the spot thoroughly. His touch making her stomach churn with acid.
“It seems my little dove has been at play,” he murmured in her ear, biting her earlobe till it must be bleeding. She gasped. He didn’t lick her wound this time to allow it to heal.
Rearing back to his full height, he glared at her accusingly.
“You smell of another man.” Crushing his lips to hers in a mockery of a kiss, he stroked his tongue in so deep, she gagged. Then he yanked back, nicking her bottom lip with a fang. Again, leaving the wound open. A drop of blood pearled on her lip. “But not for long.”
He let go of her so fast, she stumbled but didn’t fall.
“You are mine now, Vilhelmina. You will do as I command you to do.”
“No, I—”
Like a serrated knife gouging down her spine, the pain bowed her back in agony. She screamed.
“Just say, ‘Yes, master,’ and it will go away.”
“Y-yes, master,” she whispered barely above the wind.
A roll of pleasure washed over the pain as if it hadn’t happened. His elixir was frighteningly powerful.
“Louder, little dove.”
He lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him. The fear of pain ripped a quiet answer from her mouth.
“Yes…master.” She may have said the words, but defiance burned brightly in her chest.
He grinned, for he knew it. “I’m going to enjoy making you say that over and over again.”
“Your Majesty! We should be leaving. Trackers will not be too far behind.”
“Yes, Kostya,” he said over his shoulder.
Without warning, he leaned down, gripped her hips, lifted her, and tossed her over his shoulder, keeping a firm hold across the back of her thighs.
“Your Majesty, what do we do with him?”
Upside down, she glanced toward the Legionnaires on either side of Gavril, who still kneeled in silence in the snow. His head cast down. Unmoving.
“Toss him over the cliff. If the fall doesn’t kill him. His blood brothers will.”
“No!” Mina screamed as they dragged a nonresistant Gavril to the edge and threw him into the cold darkness.
“Don’t worry your pretty head,” said King Dominik, gripping her thigh tightly. “I’m sure it was a painless death. Aye, men?”
“Aye,” replied the chorus of a dozen soldiers.
“Let’s get home.” He laughed, and his Legionnaires with him, as they flashed into the night, speeding away from Arkadia. Away from Mikhail.
Closing her eyes, she sent a prayer to the stars above, smudged out by the gray tempest, pleading for the answer she’d sought a short while ago in those flames to burn back to life inside her. There was a way out of this, a way of escape, a way to victory. But she couldn’t see it. Only feel it. She begged the fates to show her how, to guide her hand. And her heart.
“Please,” she whispered. The wind snatched the word and swallowed it like a ravenous monster.
Still, she held onto hope. No matter that the devil himself held her captive in his hands. No matter that she knew his intentions were foul and twisted. No matter that the queen had even more diabolical plans for her. It was hope that flew on the wind next to her, like a gale-swept lark, tattered but fighting to stay alive. Never giving up and staying with her till the end, even when its wings were frayed and torn.
Mina closed her eyes and cradled that hope within her chest, not allowing fear to destroy her now. Her prayer took on new form as she whispered so softly that only she could hear the mantra that gave her strength.
“Mikhail…Mikhail.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Mikhail shouldered into the wind. It had picked up speed as he’d made his way along the southern perimeter of camp to the western edge, where he’d spent some time chatting with each guardsmen and even longer speaking to Gregory about provisions some of the men had picked up before leaving Arkadia. All was quiet, except for the howling wind. Nothing out of the ordinary at all.
He headed up the incline, where a hill protected their encampment from the harshest winds. Katya stood like a solid tree planted in the ground on the ridge. She spun at his approach, dagger drawn.
“Hold, sister. I’m not the enemy.”
Her eyes were all that were visible, her head hooded and face shielded by a kerchief like his. She rolled her eyes at him. “Dammit, Mikhail.” She dropped the captain title when they were alone. “This wind is playing tricks on me. Messing with my senses.”
“Aye.” He frowned, crossing his arms over his chest and standing in the wind to block her as best he could. “Mine, too.”
She crossed her arms in a similar fashion. “I know what you’re doing. I don’t need you to shield me from a little snowstorm, Brother.”
He scoffed. “Katya. You’re the toughest, meanest, hardest woman I know. You’ve proven it, aye?” He nudged her with his elbow. “But you’re still my baby sister.”
Her indigo eyes crinkled with her unseen smile. “All right then. I’ll allow it.” She sighed. “To keep my big brother from feeling insignificant.” Her eyes narrowed mischievously. “Though I believe someone else has convinced him of his significance.”
He stiffened. “What do you mean by that?”
Another roll of those eyes. “Please, Mikhail. The whole camp knows you and the queen are smitten with each other.”
“Smitten? I’m the Captain of the Bloodguard. I do not get smitten.”
She laughed. “Liar.”
He smiled beneath his kerchief and shrugged. “So I am.”
Katya sobered. “You’d be right to marry a queen, Brother. It would be fitting. Don’t you think?”
He glanced down, unwilling to travel down that path again. He made a promise to Mina, and he would keep it. He’d never leave her. Never. But he wasn’t sure how he’d fit in her world exactly. Time would tell. Rather than answer his sister’s question, he noticed her gloved hands trembling as she gripped her crossed arms. “You’ve been out here long enough. Why don’t you get some sleep? I’ll take your place.”
“Are you sure? I can remain on duty longer.”
He chuckled. She’d always been stubborn beyond reason. Even as a small girl, she’d face off with the biggest bully in the schoolyard. He didn’t stand a chance in convincing her to stay home with their mother after their father died and he set off to form the Bloodguard. She swore she’d just follow if he and Dmitri left her behind. So she’d become the one and only female of their band.
“Go. But before you do, go ’round to the eastern perimeter and tell Gavril to break now and tell his replacement to relieve him. I didn’t make it to him.”
She nodded and flashed away.