Rapture by L.V. Lane
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Jacob
HER CONSCIOUSNESS STABS like a knife through my thoughts.
Soon, I will be freed from the ancient laws of binding.
She knows.
Darkness welcomes me into its arms, along with bitterness and a sweet yearning for revenge that I hitherto did not know was part of my makeup. I will not hesitate in applying myself dutifully to the arduous task of redress. A giddy fever builds at the thought of taking Winter’s rich blood from the vein at her throat.
They have given me some blood from a Feeder. While still torturing me, it was just enough to prevent me from dying. After the tether was snapped and their questions were answered, I was free to have as much as I wanted.
I don’t want it, though. I want only hers.
The imprinting did not serve me well upon reflection. In my fool heart, I was halfway in love and near bonded to Winter. I would answer no questions, instinctively knowing it would harm her should I tell the truth.
As time passed and the torture gained both inventiveness and cruelty and pain became my endless friend, I would have told them anything and everything.
But the imprinting and Meld worked against me. My mouth might as well have been sealed shut.
Whispered rumors tell me Winter has never been drained and that she lets warriors die rather than give her precious blood.
She nearly let me die. Memories of a sweeter version of Winter are overwritten by the image of her leaning over me, watching me slip into unconsciousness.
Everything will change now.
The Meld and the tethering of our imprinting are already torn away. Soon, the ancient binding will be gone too, by the king’s decree.
Once a warrior and slave, now I will be free.
Free to destroy her as she has destroyed me.
How many times will it take before she shatters? I want her to break so badly that I barely recognize the monster I have become. The memories are still fresh of both our perilous quest and the subsequent torture after our return. My body still bears the bleeding remnants of gashes and scars, where tools probed my delicate internal organs to the point of madness.
They will heal. But it will be Winter’s blood that heals me.
