Their Hidden Princess Chapter 98

Zora

My hearing came back first then the feeling in my fingers and toes. I felt a drip, drip, drip of liquid sliding down my inner thigh. The same drip was sliding down my neck and into the valley of my chest. There was a subtle groan of chains in my ears followed by several snickers and hushed voices.

Then came the pain.

My head was pounding. My arms numb from how they were positioned behind me. Yet still, they ached and felt heavy. My legs felt like they were freefalling. The worst of it was my neck. It felt like I’d been stabbed by a dull blade and ripped up the carotid artery.

I moaned in agony then slowly opened my eyes.

It took me a few moments to get used to how dark it was surrounding me. I could tell by the whistle of the wind through the trees that I was still in the forest. Slowly, the shapes of the leaves and branches faded in from the darkness. Then, I caught sight of the people standing below me.

It looked like there were three people, all with skin so pale they seemed to glow in the moonlight. They all seemed masculine. Two had longer, scraggly brown hair. The third had hair black as night. He seemed to be the leader, barking hushed orders at the other two.

“I told yous to stop being so greedy!” he snapped.

“Gareth, you told us we could have some,” one of the men whined. “Why you lyin’?”

“I’m not,” the dark-haired man said. “But we have a job. If yous want to get paid, we finish the job.”

“Job said unharmed,” the third man grunted.

There was a crack that sounded like skin on skin. Then, I heard a thud and watched as the third man stumbled below me.

“Stop being a cunt,” The dark-haired man said. “You will get some of her blood when we finish.”

My blood? I rolled my neck, ignoring the pain and burning sensation that spread down my skin. I looked down and saw that the liquid dripping off my feet was landing into a bucket below me. My heart skipped a beat when I realized the liquid wasn’t black, but red.

They were collecting my blood in a bucket.

“Stop,” I tried to command. My voice was hoarse and rough and barely came out. My throat felt like sandpaper as I spoke. However, it was loud enough that all three of my assailants turned to look up at me.

The brown-haired man not on the forest floor nudged the dark-haired man. “Oi, Gare,” he said. “Pup’s awake.”

The dark-haired man looked up at me and smirked. I tried to hold my gasp in, but it slipped. The man laughed in return. The corners of his bright red eyes crinkled. I’d been taken by vampires.

Vampires.

“Good evening, sleeping beauty,” Gareth, the dark-haired man, called. He had a thick, Northern European accent. He cocked his head and smirked at me again. I noticed his fangs protruding from his upper lip.

“Nice nap?”

“Where am I?” I rasped.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” the brown-haired man next to Gareth sneered.

Gareth brought an arm out to cross the front of the other man’s chest. “Come on, Edmund,” he chided. “Don’t tease dinner.”

His eyes flashed as he said it and I whimpered, trying to get myself out of whatever bindings I was in. Chains rattled around me then I felt the burning sting on my skin. I jerked my head and saw the place where the silver chain had touched me was causing a bubble to form on my skin. A giant blister, oozing worse the more I struggled.

Zora! A voice chimed. I nearly sighed in relief.

Mona. We’re—

I know, Mona cut me off. Shift. Let me out. I’ll get us out.

I glanced back down at the vampires below me and spit at them. It landed on the ground near their feet and they all laughed.

“Fuck you!” I hissed. “I’ll kill you!”

The rage boiled up in me and I started to feel the burn of the fire that I associated with shifting. It built up and up and then, just as quickly as it came, it melted away. I couldn’t shift.

Mona! I cried

The chains, she said, quickly. They must be magik! They’re keeping you from shifting.

I jerked again, hissing when more pain came from where the silver touched my skin. Gareth laughed below me.

“Good try, pup,” he mocked. “Those chains are covered in wolfsbane. You’re shit out of luck if you wanna shift.”

“Stupid bitch,” the man standing sneered. “Going to be wonderful to watch the light go out from your eyes when we drain you.”

The man who Gareth had tossed to the floor had finally stood up. He looked up at me and licked his bottom lip. There was a hunger in his eyes that lit up an innate fear deep within me.

“She smells so good,” he moaned.

“Stand down, Wesley,” Gareth snapped. “Don’t make me tell you again.”

Wesley turned to look at Gareth and frowned. Then he took one step closer to where the blood was dripping from me. He shock a hand out and cupped it, letting it drop of blood fall into his fingers.

“Wesley!” Gareth snapped and lunged towards him.

“Jussa taste!” Wesley whined before shoving his fingers in his mouth.

Before Gareth could even strike him again, Wesley disappeared into a puff and a shriek so violent, it made my ears ring. We were all left staring in silence at the place where Wesley stood. The only noise was my blood, splattering into the bucket below me.

The other brown-haired man frowned and looked up at me. Then he looked back at Gareth. “Thought you said wolfbane kills all there magiks.”

“It’s supposed to” Gareth said slowly before taking a step back from my blood bucket. He looked back up at me. “Guess this one’s a special pup, huh? What’s your secret, Wolfie? Why’re you so important?”

“’spensive too,” the other man added with a grumble.

I was about to toss another explicative towards the men when there was a rustling amongst the leaves. Both vampires dropped into attack stances and barred their fangs. Then, slowly, from between the leaves, Amara emerged.

“Amara!” I cried, my voice crackling. “Get help! There’s vampires! They’re—”

“Quiet!” Gareth snapped. His lips curled back up into a sadistic grin. “She’s with us. Aren’t you, princess?”

I looked at Amara and my heart dropped. She looked haggard, covered in bramble and dirt. Her eyes were blown wide with deep dark circles under them. She moved slowly towards Gareth, yet there was a twitch in her that was erratic.

“I did what you said,” she snapped. “Now give me, more!”

Her hands went for Gareth’s neck. He swatted her away with a tut. “You’ve had enough,” he said, as if talking to a child. “No one likes a blood whore.”

“Please,” Amara whined. “I need it. I’m dying. I—”

Amara was reaching for Gareth’s neck again. He swatted her more violently this time. She landed in a tumble of limbs at his feet. She broke into sobs as Gareth glared down at her.

“I should’ve known,” he snapped. “Whores like you will never be satisfied.”

His head snapped up towards the forest and he snarled. He reached down and grabbed Amara by the front of her shirt yanking her to her feet. He grit his teeth as his red eyes bore into hers.

“Were you followed?” he hissed. Amara was scrambling to get out of his grasp so he shook her. “Answer me girl!”

“I—I don’t know!” Amara cried.

“Pathetic!” Gareth cried. He threw her to the side and dropped back into his attack position. Besides him, the other man did the same. The rustling of the forest grew louder and louder until it became a roar in my ears.

Then two wolves burst into my view. One was auburn. My mind immediately knew it was Kairos. The other, was a beautiful ashy brown that could be only one person.

Valentin.

They’d come for me.