I swallowed nervously, my eyes flitting around the room looking for signs of my sister. She wasn’t there. Utilitarian in style, there was little furniture. Two couches, a coffee table, a kitchen area. All normal. It didn’t even look lived in.
Every surface was clean. There wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere. It was a bit unnerving. There were a few closed doors. I imagined some were closets, others might be bedrooms, but I couldn’t tell. I turned back toward Radock and the expression on his face was one of victory. His eyes darkened to a chilly black. My stomach twisted into a big knot, and I began to feel sick. What had I done?
“Where’s my sister?” I asked, unable to stop my voice from wavering with sudden anxiety. My eyes searched for her, any sign of her and found nothing. Something was wrong. Very wrong. What was going on?
He started to laugh, a bone-chilling sound that left me feeling frozen in fear. He grabbed his belly with his hands and shook with amusement. My heart pounded in my chest and I wound my arms around my shoulders, trying to protect myself whichever way I could.
Radock advanced on me, still chuckling before his arm shot out, gripping me around the throat with a sudden terrible harshness. I choked and struggled to free myself, but he stood well over a foot taller than me. He was heavy set, probably pushing close to three hundred fifty pounds. He was an alien, a Drugan with skills I wasn’t familiar with, other than the fact he could shift into a dragon at will. And he was royalty, meaning he had money and power.
I put my hands around his wrist, trying to tear his grip away from my throat, but it was like trying to break through a metal wall. Everything I did was useless against his strength.
I was powerless, and I hated it. Slowly, he lifted me up and my toes scraped against the floor. I kicked and struggled, but it was no use. It was getting difficult to breathe and the look of glee that passed through his eyes terrified me to the core. He wanted not only to cause me pain, but he wanted to shatter me completely. I could see it deep in the pit of his soul.
He was evil.
“She’s not here. She never was,” he said, his voice rumbling, gradually increasing in volume. He started to laugh again, a reverberating sound of gleeful victory, and I shuddered with fear.
“Where is she?” I pressed, my voice straining with exertion. I tried to breathe in as much air as I could, but the pressure on my throat was too much. My vision grew hazy for a moment and I tried to calm myself.
Once I quieted my panic, I met his eyes. And sneered in his direction.
“You fucking bastard,” I replied.
“I never took your sister. Just made you think I did,” he grinned haughtily.
“How the hell did I get matched to an asshole like you?” I whispered, tensing.
He just laughed.
“Money gets you whatever you want in this dark little world of ours,” he finally answered. “Everyone has a price, you just have to be willing to pay it.”
Well, that explained a lot. It also pissed me off. Fury like no other brewed up from deep within my belly. I wanted to hurt him for what he had done, for tricking me and forcing me to leave my one chance at happiness, my Vakarrans.
I swung my right leg back and kicked him square between the legs. His mouth opened in the most satisfying ‘o’ shape and he made a surprised, strangled crying noise. He dropped me a little so that my feet gained purchase on the floor and I was able to swing my arm over my head and break his hold by slamming down into his wrist. He released me.
When he finally recovered, he glared in my direction.
I looked around for an escape and rushed back to the door we came in. He followed.
“You’re going to fucking regret that,” he yelled.
The door didn’t open. I pounded on it as I heard his footsteps pound on the floor behind me. He grabbed my hair and jerked me backward, hard and my fury blazed even brighter.
I yelped in pain as I fell against his chest. He whirled me around, released me, and backhanded me hard across the face. It threw me off balance and pain exploded across my cheek. My vision wavered, and I fell backward with shock, my hand cupping my throbbing jaw.
“You’re mine, Mya. And I’m going to teach you that you fucking submit to your future king,” he growled, and I cried out in fear. He advanced on me, grabbing my hair roughly.
My cheek burned hotly from the slap. My scalp ached as he yanked at my hair, pulling hard as he controlled me. With one hand, he tore away my shir
t.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
I didn’t want to see what was going to happen next.
A strangled cry tore from my lips. I had walked straight into a nightmare.
Chapter Ten