*Trigger warning: There are mentions of rape and a detailed memory recounting the rape that will be portrayed. There will also be detailed torture.* I will put a recap of this chapter in asterisks at the end, so those who had to skip know what happened
We showered and got dressed in a heavy silence. Neither of us had anything to say, and the only way we communicated was through touch. The majority of our shower Roman held me, and I held him back. We washed up quickly, and when I heard Aylin approach the door, I opened it, and instantly portaled us all to the dungeon in silence.
The two vampires we kept alive were in cells on different floors, so they couldn't communicate. Aston and Seth took the one on the second floor, who appeared to have been just a standard warrior, and left this one to the three of us. I recognized him as the one that led the second wave of vamps to us. So, he must be some kind of troop leader then.
He jumped, straining against his chains as we portaled into the room. Thankfully, no one fell on their asses this time. Not that it mattered how well put together we looked for him, he wouldn't be leaving these cells alive. I felt feral as I looked at him and remembered the dead bodies of the wolves on the battlefield. I held my power back as it started to hum at my fingertips.
His bright red eyes turned and met my own, there was no hint of kindness, no sliver of humanity in them. I held his gaze, not holding back the utter disgust I felt.
"Ah, the tribrid herself comes to greet me, what an honor" he hisses, his voice was sinister and oily. Foul. His gaze slides to Roman and Aylin at my sides. "And she brings along the hybrid mutt...and...oh who is this? Could it be? The demon Queen herself? How nice to meet you again Queen Aylin. Although, I must say, I much prefer you with those pretty red handcuffs on your wrists. You look quite plain without them" he finishes before he coughs, black blood spurting out of his mouth and across his hideous face.
I allow myself a glance at Aylin as he continues to hack all over himself. She's so, so pale. Her eyes are clouded, starting to tint with black, but otherwise, she held her chin a little higher than usual, and her picture perfect posture was as it always was. I looked away, I didn't want to know what he meant. The thought of him, my sister, and handcuffs didn't bring me to believe it was anything pleasant.
"Ah, Horace. How I've been waiting to meet you again." Aylin responds, her voice dripping with venom.
He continues coughing, trying to say words, but unable to. I smile in satisfaction. I hope he knows how pathetic he looks, he hurt my pack, he did something to my sister. His death will take all night. As his coughing fit dies down, he looks at me with his red eyes, and they're crazed. More crazed than they were when I first looked upon them.
"Give me the bitches blood. Give it. Give it or I'll kill you all" he hisses, his voice maniac. I raise my brows
"Well, that's not how you ask politely. Didn't your mama ever teach you any manners?" I respond sarcastically, and he lets out a guttural growl just as Roman walks over to a cabinet and takes out a small cup filled with red liquid.
I cringe as he dumps the blood on his face. It reeks of...rats? I stifle a laugh as the stench hits my nostrils and Horace goes crazy, his long serpent-like tongue reaching out across his lips and cheeks to get whatever he could down his throat. He thrashes, letting out a roar.
"What filth did you feed me mutt?" he growls
"Rat blood. Bottoms up, it'll be your last meal" Roman says before he dumps another cup of the blood on his face
"You filth! Our king will slaughter you all! And when he has your precious mate and she turns into his little whore, you'll be begging your pathetic goddess for her salvation. It will never come." he yells and I internally shudder, but don't twitch a muscle outwardly.
Both Aylin and Roman let out a growl, before I see Aylin's dagger fly across the room and land right on his manhood. Horace lets out a howl as Aylin saunters up to him to remove it. She grabs his jaw and runs the blade along his lips, allowing his own blood to spill into his mouth. She holds his jaw there as he thrashes more, trying to spit it back in her face and failing.
"Why don't you tell us what you know, and maybe I'll be kind and you won't die drinking your own blood tonight?" Aylin purrs
"You filthy bitch! You whore! You're lucky it was only my brothers who shoved their dicks in that tight little puss-"
He's cut off with a guttural moan as my powers break free of their hold. Losing any and all control I had over them, they slam forward into him. I have no idea what I'm seeing as I feel my own talons dig into his brain against my will and I'm flooded with visions. They're brief, but they're more than I can bear.
I see my sister chained down onto a dirty cot with bright red chains. She's wearing a dark red gown that's ripped up her middle as a man is on top of her, thrusting into her and groaning, while another man is rubbing himself on her face; her eyes are closed, and her mouth is shut so tight that I can't even see her lips.
I watch as she struggles, I don't know how long she struggles before the chains break and I watch as shock, fear, and disbelief run across the man's face who was on top of her as she throws him against the wall, and rips his junk off with her bare hands before she turns to the other guy. He lights on fire right before her and screams falling to the floor. Then, she turns her eyes to me. A murderous gleam in them as she steps forward. My eyes falling to the blood that runs down her leg as I get up and head for the window I know is just to my left, as she grabs my ankle and claws down my face-
I do what I can only describe as jumping out of the vision before I realize it's a memory. Horace's memory. I let out a feral growl, I'm raging. Raging for my sister, raging for what they did to her, what they took from her, and what this fucker did to my pack. Tamisra's rage mixes with my own as I walk up to him, claws fully extended and grab his manhood, digging my claws in deep, and slamming myself back into his mind and I scream at him
"VERMIN. WHAT DO YOU KNOW?" and I don't listen for his answer as I watch his mind flash before me.
He stands next to a man on a throne, looking upon thousands and thousands of vampires. They're all bony, starved, their faces hollow as they look up at their king.
Flash
"You can have the bitch if you bring her to us unharmed, on her 21st birthday" I say, looking up at Felix. He doesn't know I'm lying, the fool. The tribrid cunt will be the king's plaything.
Flash
"Fight for the race of the vampires! After centuries of the others believing us weak, we will rise!" My king says he looks upon his people, our people. Ten thousand stand in the army before us, ten thousand heroes willing to die to bring us to victory.
Flash
"We send a thousand men per pack. The idiot, Felix never came back to us, and the bitch isn't accounted for in the Red Moon Pack. We have reason to believe she fled. We don't know what she knows, so tread lightly." the king says as he looks at the cell behind him. A cot, chains, and a bucket decorate the cell. A flash of envy courses through me, I never had a cot when he chained me into a cell. But he gives this inbred bitch a cot and a blanket?
"Yes, my king. I will bring her to you." I respond, respectfully bowing my head
"We wasted five thousand men going through the pathetic pack of allies. There's only three packs left before we're officially sent on a wild goose chase. We're counting on her being in the Ivory Moon. I want less soldiers sent, I only want to know where she is at this point. The remaining five thousand we leave for the takeover whenever we find her." he growls again, slamming his fist on the armrest of his throne in frustration.
"We will get her, milord. We spent a hundred years on this plan, it will not fail us." I tell him
I claw my way to my own consciousness again, unleashing my mental talons from his mind as he lay there staring vacantly ahead and drooling. As soon as I do, he goes into another coughing fit. I don't meet Aylin's stare, only Roman's.
"I know what we need to know. Aylin, he's all yours" I say, and this time I meet her gaze.
I don't let any knowledge leak out of the look I give her. She doesn't need to know that I know, if she wants me to know, then I will be there for her. But until then, I won't utter a single word, not even to Tamisra in my own head. I won't treat her any differently, I will pretend I didn't see a damn thing. If she wanted me to know, then I would know. I can't help but feel like I violated her privacy.
She looks back at me, and the sight is terrifying. She grins, her canines lengthening, her eyes turning feral and black with rage and satisfaction. And when she looks down at Horace, I let his look of pure terror be my own closure at what I saw.
I turn and walk up to Roman, smiling when I hear Horace's screams of pain, and we're back in our room before he can even ask me what happened.
*****Amara, Roman, and Aylin portal to the cells where they have the vampire held captive. The vampire says some suggestive nasty things to Aylin, and in a rage Amara unknowingly enters his head where she sees him watching as two men assault Aylin. Disturbed, Amara exits his head but goes back in when she just wants to leave. She sees visions of a cell meant for her, the king's army which originally had ten thousand soldiers, but now they were down to five thousand after attacking the previous packs. Still in a rush to leave, Amara exits his mind and leaves him for Aylin to torture********