She waited, suspended from the ceiling.
A single breath in. A single breath out.
All I could hear was her racing heart as it filled the room. I stepped in, watching as she flinched from the sound of my footsteps. Branches scraped over the window outside, making her spin her head in the other direction.
She squirmed where the other witch had helped her string herself up, and I could just imagine the ache that had built in her shoulders. I’d kept her waiting, wanting her dread and anticipation to simmer in her blood before I came to her.
It made it taste all the sweeter.
She’d lost sight of what the Vessels were, of who we were meant to be. She needed the reminder of what I was capable of and what I was not. A Vessel could never love her. She’d never be anything more than a convenience and a toy.
She swallowed loudly, struggling as her toes slipped out from under her. She gasped, her breath coming in deep, shuddering breaths as her mouth dropped open in panic.
What the Hell?
I took another step toward her, watching as her body went perfectly still. I resisted the urge to speak, keeping my voice silent because of the knowledge that she would recognize it. Even though I wanted to comfort her, to calm her racing heart, I knew that once I spoke, the game would be over.
And I so very much wanted to play.
The blindfold remained tightly fastened around her head despite her best efforts. I stepped up behind her, letting her feel the weight of my presence. She managed to get her feet beneath her once again, pressing up into her hands just slightly and taking some weight off her shoulders.
I rested a hand on her hip, my fingers gently stroking over the silken fabric as she stilled. It pleased me that she hadn’t chosen the lace nightgown, refusing to allow a stranger to take what was mine. It didn’t matter to me that I would have been the one to fuck her, despite her intent.
Her plan to give her body to another would have been enough to make me punish her.
I wanted her as obsessed with me as I was with her. It would be the perfect karma for the way she’d slithered beneath the surface of what made me, making herself at home in my soul.
Her breath raced, wheezing out of her lungs as she headed toward a full- blown panic attack. “Just get it over with,” she growled, trying even now to regain some of the control I’d taken. Her heart throbbed in tune with her words — pounding so hard and fast that I felt it in her hip.
I wrapped my hand around the front of her body, pressing my palm into the bare skin of her chest and feeling her pulse. Her heartbeat.
Her body shook, trembling with fear of that which she could not see.
In the time I’d known Willow, I had only seen her afraid in the moments when the Covenant threatened to put her into the deep sleep. Whatever had caused this fear, I vowed to learn the cause.
A woman like Willow was not meant to be afraid.
My other hand rose from her hip as I moved beside her, leaning into her arm as I trailed delicate fingers up her spine. I traced the addictive tree tattoo there, tickling over the trunk through the silk until the fabric ended. My touch shifted to bare skin, her warmth seeping inside me in spite of the distinctive chill to her.
She sighed, releasing a slow breath. Her next inhale shuddered, her lungs filling completely finally. Sweeping her hair to the side, I revealed a shoulder and her nape as I curved my body around to her back and removed my hand from her chest.
I buried my fingers in her hair, tugging her head back firmly as she gasped. I trailed my nose over her jaw for a moment, offering her a single moment of affection and trying to shove away the remnants of her panic.
Of the fear I didn’t understand.
She’d been fed from before. She’d given blood before.
None of it made sense, but I knew without a doubt I would do whatever it took to get to the bottom of it.
Using my hand in her hair, I guided her head to the side. Twisting it to give me a better angle to reach her neck. My breath wafted over her skin, sending a shiver through her body. My fangs trailed over her skin for a moment.
Taunting. Teasing.
I sunk them into her, the sweet taste of her covering my tongue. I drank as she went lax in my grip, moaning her pleasure.
Pleasure I wouldn’t allow her to reach when she thought I was someone else. I bit down harder, incapable of controlling my anger at her being aroused with someone else. This was the reminder I’d wanted.
All witches were the same, and only good for one thing. The more of her blood filled me, the more I felt renewed. Awakened, somehow, and I never wanted it to end.
 |
The witch wrung her hands as she stepped into the open door. She reached up, knocking on the doorjamb as if I wasn’t already
looking at her.
“You asked for me, Headmaster?” Della asked, her nerves pulsing off
her.
“Close the door and take a seat, Miss Tethys,” I said, returning my
attention to the paper in front of me. The conversation at hand would require delicacy, and I knew I needed to tread lightly if I wanted to have any chance of not revealing myself to the witches.
Only Susannah knew of my dominium over Willow and the fact that none of the others would be feeding on her until I relinquished my claim on her. I’d hoped to watch Willow squirm, to torment her and make her realize she wasn’t above feeling pleasure from the very creatures she hated.
I wanted to know if it was purely me who made her react so viscerally, or if she solely had a high sex drive and needed contact. “I want you to tell me about what happened last night.”
The witch took her seat, her face paling as she looked at her lap and continued to wring her hands. “I-I fulfilled my duty in the Reaping, Headmaster. I swear, I did what was expected of me.”
“Not with you. With Miss Madizza. The Vessel who fed from her indicated she was distressed beyond what he deemed normal for a first Reaping,” I explained, dropping my pen and leaning back in my chair. Della swallowed, her eyes pinching closed. “As Headmaster, it’s my duty to make sure he didn’t do anything that crossed any lines. If he frightened her—”
“No. No, I don’t think it was the Vessel at all,” she said, sitting up straighter. I watched indecision war on her face, watched her debate whether or not she should tell me what she knew. “She asked me not to say anything, but Willow was distressed when she saw the cuffs, even more so when she realized she would be blindfolded.”
“Did you explain the process to her? Surely if she’d understood…” I trailed off, letting my words hang unspoken.
“I did. She knew what was going to happen. I don’t think there’s anything anyone could have done to calm her, Headmaster,” she said, glancing off to the side. She sank her teeth into her bottom lip. “I’ve never seen anyone so afraid.”
Everything in me stilled. By the time I’d reached her, her fear had coated the room. It had left a distinctive chill in the room, as if Willow had tried to summon the grave to swallow her whole. Such things were impossible, but that didn’t stop me from pausing before I’d entered the room.
The distinctive taste of magic in the air had been unmistakable, but there’d been very little plant life for Willow to summon to her aid.
“Willow Madizza?” I asked, feigning ignorance to get her to tell me more.
“I know. She’s always fearless. Seeing her like that…” She trailed off, turning back to face me slowly. “I think something happened to her. Something horrible.”
The pen snapped in my hand, and Della’s eyes widened as ink spilled onto the pages atop my desk. “See what you can find out for me.”
“I… What?” she asked, her mouth dropping open in shock. “Surely you can’t be asking me to spy on my friend and report back to you? If something did happen, her trauma should be hers to share.”
“The students of this school are my responsibility, Miss Tethys. If there is something I need to know about to make special accommodations for future Reapings with Miss Madizza, then I’d like to be informed, and I do not think I can trust her to be honest,” I said, standing from my desk. I moved toward the door, watching as she hurried to gather her pack of books and sling it over her shoulder to follow.
“You know she doesn’t like the dark, and she doesn’t like being restrained. Isn’t that enough?” she asked, reaching out to touch a hand to my forearm. “Please. Let her keep her secrets.” The fact that she’d dared to touch me spoke to her desperation to help Willow, and I realized it wasn’t just my skin the witchling had worked her way beneath.
She’d found a friend, a true one from the looks of it, when I’d thought such things would be impossible at Hollow’s Grove.
I shrugged off her touch, making my way back to my desk and nodding in dismissal.
“There can be no secrets in Crystal Hollow.”
