Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 53656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 268(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 268(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
“Tell me about it,” he said, stepping closer and cupping my cheeks. “Tell me about what you were thinking right after she said the mate thing.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, the memories threatening to swallow me whole. “I've never told anyone before,” I said as if that would be answer enough.
“Tell me,” he said, catching my gaze. “Please?”
The way he said please cracked something open inside of me, and I sighed, shifting myself away from him, walking past him and sitting in one of the chairs we had shoved against the wall in my sitting area.
He followed me, sitting on the couch that was shoved next to it.
“The day I came of age, my parents hosted a ball,” I said, speaking the words out loud but seeing the memory play behind my eyes as if it’d been yesterday. “They talked about the event for months. Built it up as this incredible celebration of me entering the last stage of my life in vampirism. I had the finest custom-made silk dress. Although there wasn't much to the fabric, I didn't question my mother's direction when she helped construct the gown. I wore it proudly, delighting in the way it made my adult body look.”
“Every prestigious vampire had been invited to the ball, and no one dared deny the invitation. Not even the king himself. He arrived graciously and politely with his band of assassins, and I remember thinking how wonderful things must be at court because they all looked so happy. I foolishly thought that coming of age meant my parents would finally love and accept me, that I would finally have earned their respect. Having the hope cut out of you for a century can turn you into a pathetic creature,” I continued, shaking my head.
Talon remained silent by my side, his eyes intently on me as I continued.
“The king had been kind enough to take my hand and plant a kiss on the back of it, my parents watching with greedy eyes the entire time. I thought they were interested in whatever mutual friendship that might arise from it. I didn't know they were looking for something specific.
“The party was everything my parents had promised—extravagant and luxurious—and it absolutely made me feel like royalty. I felt like I’d finally done whatever mystical thing I needed to do to be accepted in this family, to be a real Zorin.
“But as the dawn drew near, I noticed the only guests who remained at the party were some of the most powerful families that I’d been forced to learn the histories of from a young age. And not the entire families, just the males. The sons of prestigious heads of households.
My mother had examined the hand that Alek had kissed, almost with a microscopic air about it. I didn't understand the disappointment in her eyes, or the hope as she shoved me into the study, where all of those males had been gathered.”
My heart clenched at the memory, at the way they had all filled the room and sucked the air out of it. “It was the first time I'd felt like that youngling again, trapped in the Night Thistle closet. And it wasn't until they all started touching me, at my father's behest, that I begged to be put back in the closet.”
Tears streaked down my cheeks, the memory sweeping over me and making me feel wretched all over again. “They were testing me,” I said. “They were letting every male touch me on various places of my body, the very reason my dress had been so inappropriate that night. They took turns, each one hoping their mating mark would grace the skin of the only Zorin daughter.
“I begged them to stop. I begged my father and mother to make them stop, but they didn't. And by the time dawn broke over the horizon, I was hollow on the inside, scraped raw and violated. But on the outside, I had nothing but completely smooth skin. Not a mark in sight. The scars I had were invisible and have never healed completely.”
A low, threatening growl poured from Talon, and I wiped the tears off my face. Did my best to shrug. “That's the day they decided I wasn’t worth much to them. And years later, my mother would hold me down while my father tattooed Alek’s mating mark upon my skin, claiming that if he hadn't found a mate by then, he likely wasn't going to, and that I could play the part well enough. That if I didn’t, he would delight in killing my favorite brother, Warrick.”
I blew out a breath, the admission setting something free in my chest as I met Talon's eyes. They were wide with shock and disbelief.
“It really was a relief when Lyric came along. The fact that Alek found his true mate freed me from the role that I’d been forced to play, and I was genuinely happy he ended up with who he was supposed to. I'd had to keep up the facade for a little while, enough to convince my parents so they wouldn't hurt Warrick, but finally, they let it go once she became our vampire queen. Warrick has no idea. No one does. I've never told anybody.”