CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

ELLIE

The last thing I remembered was pure bliss, tangled in Kaelen's sheets after the best sex of my life. Or, rather, lives. He and Lucian had really pushed me to my edge. I was beyond sore, every inch of my body humming with a pleasant ache.

Then, I was waking up, not to the soft light of morning, but to a grip on my arm. Too rough, too strong. "Kaelen…" I mumbled, still half-asleep, expecting a familiar chuckle.

But the hand squeezing my arm wasn't Kaelen's. Panic flared, cold and sharp. I tried to pull away, but it was like trying to break free from a steel vise. Adrenaline surged, and I screamed.

The sound was cut short by a stinging blow across my face. My head snapped to the side, and I landed back on the bed, the silk sheets doing nothing to cushion the rough landing. Naked and terrified, I scrambled away, trying to put as much distance as possible between myself and this stranger.

He was huge. Bald by choice, his scalp gleaming under the dim light. Tattoos snaked across his massive arms and neck. Then he smiled, a wide, cruel smile that flashed fangs. Real fangs. My heart stopped. I knew what Kaelen and Lucian were, but I had never met anyone besides them.

I lunged for the side of the bed, desperate to get past him, to get to the door, to get away. But he moved with terrifying speed, blocking my path. My bare skin slammed against his hard chest.

"Put your clothes on! We can't have you running around naked." His voice was a low growl.

I instinctively balled my fist and hit him. It felt like punching a brick wall. He barely flinched. With casual ease, he tossed me back onto the floor.

"Now, bitch. I won't ask again!"

My hands shook so badly I could barely grip my discarded clothes. I fumbled with the leggings and the t-shirt Kaelen liked me to wear. Every movement was slow and clumsy, fueled by pure terror.

He grabbed my arm the second I was dressed, yanking me to my feet and dragging me out of the bedroom. We stormed through the apartment, past the living room, and into the kitchen. He reached into his jacket, pulling out a folded piece of paper and a quill.

"Time to leave your boyfriend a little letter," he sneered.

My blood ran cold. Before I could even process what he meant, he grabbed my arm and slammed it onto the cold marble countertop. The quill plunged into my skin. Raw, searing pain exploded through my arm. I screamed again, a high-pitched, animalistic sound as I thrashed, trying to break free.

He ignored my struggles, calmly writing on the paper with my blood. The letters swam before my eyes as tears streamed down my face. I didn't need to read it to know it was bad. When he was done, he pulled the quill out, wiped it on my shirt, and shoved it back in his pocket. The paper read "An eye for an eye."

He hauled me up, throwing me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. My head swam, the room spinning. Blood dripped down his back from my arm, a horrifying trail of crimson. He strode through a door at the back of the kitchen, one I hadn't even noticed before.

We descended a long flight of stairs, each step jarring my injured arm. The stairs smelled dank and moldy, leading to another door that opened onto a dark, trash-strewn alley behind the building. He tossed me into the back of a sleek, black car.

"Get us the fuck out of here!" he barked at the driver.

The car lurched forward, tires squealing as we sped away. My head was reeling from the pain, the blood loss, and the sheer terror of what was happening. I was still incredibly weak from my time with Kaelen and Lucian, and now this?

"This human smells enticing," a voice said beside me.

I turned to see another man, his face too close, his breath hot on my neck. He was smelling me, like an animal.

"Looks like someone already tasted her," he finished, his voice laced with a disturbing amusement.

I saw his fangs glint in the dim light. I felt them graze my skin, a terrifying prelude to what he wanted to do. I tried to shrink away, pressed against the unforgiving car door.

"Don't!" The driver's voice was sharp, a warning.

The man beside me sighed, visibly annoyed. He moved away, but the predatory gleam in his eyes didn't fade.

The car ride was silent after that. I was shivering, both from fear and the cold. Everything felt distant and unreal, like a nightmare I couldn't wake up from.

Then, I felt a sharp, sudden pinch in my arm. I looked down and saw a needle in the man's hand.

"Nighty nighty," he whispered, the words blurring as darkness crept in.

And then, the world faded away.

The world swam into focus, a dizzying mess of gray. I could feel myself being carried, jostled roughly, but my eyelids felt like lead. Whatever they injected me with had a tight grip on my senses. The scrape of metal against concrete clawed at my ears, a grating, unbearable sound. Then, a sudden, brutal descent. I landed hard, the thin mattress offering little comfort against the unforgiving floor.

Footsteps receded, echoing in the vast emptiness, followed by that agonizing metal-on-concrete screech again. My head spun, nausea churning in my stomach. I fought to open my eyes, the world a blurry watercolor painting. There was a single lightbulb above me, casting a harsh, unwavering glare. But something blocked the light, a dark, geometric shape. Metal.

Focus sharpened, slowly, painfully. Realization crashed over me, a wave of icy dread. I looked around, my breath hitching in my throat. A cage. I was in a cage. Roughly eight feet tall, maybe five feet wide, made of cold, unforgiving metal bars.

A grimy mattress lay beneath me, and beside it, a single, stained toilet. The room itself was a bare concrete box, barely bigger than the cage. A lone couch sat against the wall, a silent observer to my terror.

I stumbled to my feet, adrenaline jolting through me. I lurched towards the cage door, grabbing the bars, pushing, pulling with desperate strength. It wouldn't budge. A padlock. A heavy, gleaming padlock secured my prison shut.

The fight drained out of me, replaced by a crushing wave of despair. I sank to the floor, my back against the cold metal, and sobbed. "Kaelen... Lucian..." The names were a broken plea, a desperate hope whispered into the uncaring air.

They would save me, wouldn't they? Technically, I was theirs now. Last night, the passion, the claiming, felt like a dream—a distant, beautiful dream now tainted by this nightmare. The only reminder of it was the aching emptiness between my legs, the lingering memory of their touch, their taste.

Time blurred, marked only by the gnawing fear and the cold seeping into my bones. Then, a sharp BANG, the sound of a heavy door slamming shut. I scrambled to my feet, adrenaline surging again. I retreated to the far corner of the cage, pressing myself against the back of the mattress, my heart hammering against my ribs.

A tall, bald man walked into the room. He was built like a brick wall, muscles bulging beneath his skin, and just as terrifying as the ones who had taken me. He sauntered over to the couch and sat down, his eyes fixed on me, like a predator sizing up its prey.

He looked me over, a slow, deliberate appraisal that made my skin crawl. Then, he took a deep, exaggerated sniff of the air, his nostrils flaring. A monstrous smile stretched across his face, revealing long, predatory fangs.

"You smell delicious," he said, his voice a low, guttural growl. "I may just have to have me a taste." He flicked his tongue out, a crude, suggestive gesture that sent a wave of nausea washing over me.

Disgust and fear warred within me, twisting my face into a mask of revulsion. The bald vampire's smile widened, a flash of cruel amusement in his eyes. He stood up, the movement swift and predatory, and walked towards the cage door. The clink of metal as he unlocked the padlock was deafening. He swung the door open, the metal groaning in protest, and stepped inside.

My eyes darted to the open doorway, a beacon of hope in the suffocating darkness. But I knew, deep down, that I was no match for him. He was too strong, too fast.

"If you can get past me," he said, his voice dripping with malice, "I'll let you leave. If you don't... I get my taste." The smile didn't reach his eyes. It was a promise of violence, a threat hanging heavy in the air.

I took a deep breath, steeling myself for the inevitable. Then, I ran. With a desperate scream, I launched myself at the open doorway, pushing past him with all my might.

But he was too quick. In one swift, fluid movement, he scooped me up, his hand clamping around my waist like a vise. I screamed, kicking and punching, but my efforts were futile. He laughed, a cruel, mocking sound that echoed in the confined space, and effortlessly tossed me back onto the mattress.

"You lose," he said, his eyes raking over my body. "Now, time for my prize."

He moved with blurring speed, pinning me to the mattress, his weight crushing the air from my lungs. "Please!" I begged, tears streaming down my face in hot, desperate waves.

"That's it, beg for me, baby!" the vampire hissed in my ear, his breath hot and foul against my skin. Then, a searing pain ripped through my throat. His fangs pierced my flesh, tearing and ripping. It was nothing like the gentle, almost reverent way Kaelen and Lucian had taken my blood. This was brutal, savage. He drank deeply, aggressively, sucking the life out of me.

I was starting to lose consciousness, the edges of my vision blurring. But I could still feel him, his hands tearing at my clothes. I felt the rough scrape of fabric against my skin as he pulled off my pants.

The world went black at the moment I felt him force himself inside me.