Blood Lust (COMPLETED)

Chapter Forty-Three: Doubt pt. 1

I drifted in and out of consciousness as the smoke transported me out of the dorm room. When I finally came to, my right wrist was being shackled.

And then my left.

And then I was dropped, my knees painfully meeting a jagged stone floor. At least, I assumed the drop was painful--I was still too numb from Aiden and Duke's blood to sense pain.

"Apologies for the landing." A familiar voice cooed in an unfamiliar way. "It has been a while since I have used my ability. I am a tad rusty, I'm afraid."

Horror stricken, my head snapped up to see Nero leering down at me. His left arm was in a homemade sling, effectively hiding where his left hand used to be. He spotted me looking at the crude apparatus, and smirked. "It didn't hurt. Well, not at first."

Slowly, Nero began to pace around me, running his fingers through my hair as he got behind me.

"Funny thing about dismemberment." He said, absentmindedly skimming his fingernail along my jawline as he came back into view. "If you are quick enough, the nerve endings do not have time to register the agony of separation."

I tried to jerk my head away from him, but he grasped me roughly by the chin and forced me to look into his eyes.

They weren't their usual shade of amethyst, no. They were black, so black that it was impossible to descern where the iris ended and the pupil began.

The sight made my heart stutter.

"However, pain will always catch up to you. One way or another," he paused to squat down and brought his mouth to my ear. "You'll do well to remember that, your highness."

The disdain in his words slithered across my skin, prickled at my scalp. I didn't understand what was wrong with Nero. Had he been Influenced?

With a brief chuckle, Nero flung my head out of his grip and stood up. I watched as he walked away, noting the manner in which he carried himself. It was regal, poised, with a perfectly erect spine and head held high. Not at all like the cool swagger Nero normally walked with.

What if that had been an act? What if this is really who he was?

I shook my head.

No.

Nero hadn't been Influenced. But this wasn't his true nature, either. I wasn't sure how, but I knew it.

"Josephine, my dear." He stood at the base of three stone steps, his good hand behind his back. "You did an exceptional job!"

I looked around for Jo, but it was so dark, with the exception of a patinaed oil lamp next to Nero's feet. All I could see was that I was chained to a sunken floor, with stone steps encircling me. Everything beyond the circle was pitch black.

"Thank you, master." Jo's voice sounded emotionless, weak. "Will that be all?"

I felt bile rise up my throat. She betrayed me, they both did. But was that really her intention, or was she forced?

"Such obedience." Nero purred. "And willingness to please. Come to me, little human."

In seconds Jo was descending the steps, face blank, movements stiff, like a robot. She came to stand nearly eye-level with Nero, and waited with a slightly slacked jaw.

"I love the easily Influenced." Nero smirked, running his fingers down her jawline. "They're so pliable."

He ran his hand down her neck, wrapping his fingers around it ever so slowly. "I could kill her in an instant, and she wouldn't make an attempt to stop me."