Page 44 of Bound By Love
Now that he could finally see better, he took in more of his surroundings. They were in a large, cavernous space. Assorted debris, such as concrete blocks, pallets, and anything else the Savages could find, propped up the dirt walls surrounding them.
Tree roots dangled from the ceiling twenty feet over his head. Lanterns cast shadows around the space as their flames danced from where they hung near the walls.
Those tiny flames did little to penetrate all the shadows, and he sensed countless others hiding in the shadows, waiting. Kirkau was the only one he could see, something the demon had intended to try to unnerve him. It wouldn’t have worked if Caro wasn’t here, but he couldn’t deny that it did.
He purposely kept his gaze away from her as he smiled at Kirkau.
“You’re pathetic,” Kirkau hissed.
“What can I say? I aim to please,” Saber retorted.
From beneath Kirkau’s hood, Saber couldn’t see much of his hideous face, but the demon’s white-blue eyes gazed out at him as it issued a throaty chortle. “And you always did, until you turned against us.”
“I don’t kill children.”
“You should try it one day; they’re quite a delicacy, so tender, especially when they’re terrified. But you won’t live long enough to get that chance. I can’t thank you enough, as not only did you bring me my sword andyou, but you brought your mate to me too. How kind of you.”
“Like I said, I aim to please, Kirkau.”
He tried to remain casual but couldn’t stop himself from tensing when Kirkau turned his attention to Caro. Shifting on his chair, he tried to judge how solid it was. The thing was made of metal as thick as his thigh; he couldn’t break it.
Caro kept her breathing steady as dirt crunched beneath the weight of the footsteps coming toward her. The pounding that rattled her head when she first woke had dulled to a throb, but her senses still weren’t running at full capacity.
She could hear and smell enough to know one of those things approached. She suspected it was the demon talking to Saber… Kirkau.
Though she didn’t move and showed no outward reaction, her heartbeat doubled when a massive hand rested on top of her head. It was so large it encompassed her entire skull as its claws slid through her hair before biting into the base of her neck.
It took everything she had not to flinch when they pierced her flesh. This new discomfort was nothing compared to her numerous others, but as blood trickled down her nape, the bitter taste of fear filled her mouth.
A warm, fetid breath tickled her ear a second before that awful voice whispered, “I know you’re awake.”
Caro didn’t know how to respond. If she shot up now and recoiled as she yearned to do, he would think she was scared of him, but if she remained meek and immobile, he would believe the same.
In the end, she decided playing possum wasn’t for her. Lifting her head, she glared at the hooded figure beside her as every part of her shrieked to RUN!
Adrenaline flooded her until it pounded in her temples. She forgot all her injuries in the face of her desperation to evade this thing. Its white-blue eyes made her bladder clench, and for the first time, she glimpsed the revolting face hidden beneath the hood.
Its face was so pale it was nearly translucent, and its humanlike features were distorted. It was like someone had taken silly putty and spread it across its face to make its features less discernible but still recognizable.
Two hooked fangs jetted out from its nearly lipless mouth when it smiled at her. This thing would have no problem devouring her, bones and all, and would probably use some smaller bones as a toothpick afterward.
And then, before she could say anything more, it struck. Those abnormally long fangs pierced her neck so deeply she swore they hit bone.
She’d been adamant she wouldn’t show any weakness or fear to this thing or the others she sensed watching from the shadows. No matter what they did, she’d remain strong. She would not cry, scream, or beg.
And while she didn’t humiliate herself by releasing the scream lodged in her throat or pissing her pants, it was only because the demon’s strike and the intense pain accompanying it was so unexpected. She couldn’t react as all her muscles and bones went ramrod straight, and her throat closed.
A little piece of her withered and died as fire scorched her veins and torched her bones as he drained her blood against her will. This monster could destroy her by just doingthis.
Her mind recoiled into the darkness, where it attempted to hide, but the demon wouldn’t let her go. She could never escape this.
The chair thumped against the rocky, dirt floor as Saber yanked against his chains, but he couldn’t break free. “Get off of her!”
He jerked at his restraints as he threw all his weight into trying to break free. He’d forgotten all about trying to remain nonplussed when this beast attacked his mate. Kirkau was feeding onhismate.
It was something he wouldn’t let stand under any circumstance, but her anguish radiating across their bond made it worse. They still weren’t completely open to each other, but her pain was so severe that it battered him.
When he leaned forward and strained against the chains behind his back, something in his shoulder cracked as it dislocated. The relentless battering of her pain buried his as he twisted to the side while trying to use a different angle to break free.
