Lucian

CHAPTER ELEVEN

"N-No, Master," I quickly blurted out. "This is fine."

He sneered and narrowed his eyes. "It's better than fine. Did you know most slaves are forced to sleep on the ground...locked in a cage like an animal?"

I shook my head, mortified at the thought of such an ordeal. "No, Master."

"Well, now you know so it wouldn't hurt to show a bit of appreciation for my gesture. Even though, I must admit the reason for this small token of mercy is entirely selfish," he said in a mysterious tone and stepped closer, brushing his cold knuckles against my cheek. "My slaves must be accessible to me at all times...day and night. When the bloodlust takes over, the last thing I want to do is fumble with a key and lock."

I gulped and clenched my hands into fists, forcing myself to remain silent and hold perfectly still.  I refused to fall into his trap and respond to his obvious taunting. But his mocking smirk told me he got exactly what he wanted. He managed to peel off another layer of my dignity since the idea of being locked in a cage suddenly seemed a lot more appealing because of this ridiculous notion it might offer a layer of protection from him. 

"Go to sleep," he ordered in a silky soft voice. "As much as I'd like to keep you company, I have some work to do before I retire for the evening."

Too happy to comply, I lay down and closed my eyelids halfway, staring after the prince, unaware I was about to witness something incredible. As he imperiously strode to his desk, one by one, the torches behind him extinguished without anyone's interference, leaving the part of the room where I lay in semi-darkness. Astounded, I held my breath, wondering how he'd done that. What kind of witchery did he employ to blow out those flames without even looking at them? Holding my breath, I was half-afraid that wasn't the end of it.

I reacted to every little sound and flinched at the smallest sign of commotion, but he paid me no further attention. Instead, he was busy studying that stack of documents on his desk. After a while, one of the servants entered the room to clear up the table. As soon as he began to greet him, the prince gestured to my mattress and instructed him to be silent. The man quickly nodded and disappeared out of the room in less than a minute.

As soon as we were left alone, I curled into a small ball and pretended to be fast asleep. Though I couldn't see him, I could feel his cold gaze on my skin and I was determined to remain vigilant and stay awake for the remainder of the night. But eventually, my determination wavered and the fatigue started to get the best of me. I drifted away, deeper and deeper into sleep, until everything around me faded away and I found myself trapped in the frightening world of nightmares.

It was that same haunting dream. A group of angry vampires circled around me and I had nowhere to run. The wounded woman in white tried to say something but she couldn't speak because of the blood that gushed from her mouth. She looked up and froze in instant terror.

Suddenly, the world around me dissipated into nothingness. Blackness yawned before me and I felt an overwhelming hostile presence. He stood there, and just as always I could only see his glowing grey irises. Nothing else. For the first time, he spoke, demanding to know why I was there. I didn't know why so I offered no explanation. I could feel his bubbling anger. Whoever he was, he was extremely powerful and dangerous.

"I'll ask you one last time." His voice held a threatening demand. "What the hell are you doing here, human?"

I woke up with a piercing scream, gasping for air and gazing at that same pair of grey eyes from my nightmares. It took me a moment to separate dream from reality, and it was then I realized the prince's large body hovered above me and he didn't look pleased in the least.

One moment I registered he was naked from the waist above and the next, he scooped me in his arms and crossed the short distance to his bed, throwing my body onto the soft satin sheets. The second I was freed from his grip, I raced to the opposite side of the bed to get as far away from him as possible, but in the blink of an eye, he was beside me, a mere inch away, his powerful arms closing around my shoulders and pulling me toward his massive exposed chest.