Forever Touched (Touch of Vampire #5)

CHAPTER 27

27

ADALYN

The ride home with Mistress was spent in tense silence.

Well, mostly.

When we left at midnight, hours earlier than usual, Everett’s voice had immediately filled my head.

Everything okay? Does she think you’re sick?

I’d debated what to tell him, then finally decided on honesty. No. I quit the club .

Quit? For good? He didn’t bother to mask the relief, the excitement in his voice.

Yep. I’m never going back.

And you’re okay with that?

I am .

I was more than okay. Until now, I hadn’t realized the toll working at Dreamscape had taken on me. How I’d ever adopted an “end justifies the means” attitude was beyond me now. Freedom wasn’t worth giving up who I was. I’d find another way out of this pactum, one that didn’t involve losing my identity.

Are you safe? Everett asked next, his concern clear.

For now. But, Everett? You should keep your distance until the ball. She suspects it was you who stopped me from falling tonight .

I don’t care. She needs to know that I expect you to be alive and at that Masquerade Ball tomorrow night .

Yes, but desperation makes us do stupid things. She needs space. I need space. Please, Everett. Go home. It’ll be safer for both of us.

I waited for him to argue. Instead, he said, If that’s what you wish .

It is , I replied, worried that I’d upset him.

Then I’ll wait. I’ll wait for you to come to me .

I bit my lip to hide a smile.

I spent the rest of the silent ride to Faircroft Manor on cloud nine. I wasn’t free by any means, but I felt free. The darkness I’d lived in for so long was receding, and hope was blooming in my chest. Real hope. I just needed to get through the next day. One more day.

I’d stood up for myself and quit the job that had been sucking the life out of me. I had a soulmate, one who treated me with respect and was doing everything in his power to support me. With each passing day, it was getting easier and easier to genuinely smile. To be myself .

One more day.

One more day of enduring my mistress. She might be angry with me right now, but what could she possibly do to me in one day?

Everett was right. If she harmed me before the ball, she knew her life would be forfeit. She had no desire to become a martyr, even for her precious cause. That much I knew. So I was safe, at least until the ball.

But as we neared the house, something didn’t feel right. The front door was wide open, and I felt a sudden spike of fear. The fear didn’t belong to me, though. It belonged to . . .

Pepper! I inwardly cried. Before the car could finish rolling to a stop, I was out the door and racing for the house. As I barged inside, the most terrifying scene greeted me.

Georgina had my mouse familiar by the tail and was dangling her in front of the stray tabby. Octavia stood behind her like a spectator at a game, her brown eyes wide as Pepper angrily squeaked and thrashed, trying to bite anything that came too close .

When the cat rose onto his hind legs to bat at Pepper, my heart leapt into my throat. But when Georgina cruelly laughed and shook Pepper like a toy , I lost it.

“You freaking psycho! ” With a battle cry, I launched myself at her.

She looked up, but I was already on her, slapping and punching and clawing and kicking. As I raked my nails down her cheek and drew blood, she shrieked and stumbled back into Octavia. Pepper twisted free and dropped to the floor, but I didn’t stop. Six years’ worth of righteous anger was exploding from me, and I used it to inflict as much damage as I could.

“Run, Pepper!” I shouted, grabbing fistfuls of Georgina’s long golden hair. When I yanked a huge chunk out, she finally reacted, shoving me with a roar. I flew through the air like a ragdoll. My head struck the foyer wall, and everything went dark.

I awoke seconds later, crumpled on the floor with a splitting headache. Georgina was screeching at the top of her lungs, but I ignored her and frantically searched for Pepper.

A shadow fell over me, and I paused to look up at Mistress. My heart plummeted when I saw what she held.

“Is this what you’re looking for?” she said, a sneer pulling at her lips. Pepper squirmed in her grasp, and she slowly tightened her fist, drawing a pained squeak from the mouse.

“Please!” I begged, terror climbing my throat. “Please, don’t hurt her!”

“ Kill it, Mother!” Georgina screeched again. “She ripped out my hair .”

The chunk of hair was still locked in my fist, but I felt no satisfaction, only fear as I helplessly stared at my tiny familiar clenched in Mistress’s hand.

I’m so sorry, Pepper , I whispered to her, unable to stop my tears from falling. I’m so so sorry .

It’s okay, Ada , she weakly replied. It’s going to be . . .

Her little eyes fluttered shut.

“She can’t breathe!” I cried, scrambling to my feet.

“Don’t move, or I’ll feed her to the cat,” Mistress threatened. I slowly sank back to the floor. “Good. Now that I have your full attention, it’s time we cleared the air. Did you think I didn’t know about your little pet? I’ve known about your familiar from the very beginning, Adalyn. For years, I’ve heard her in the walls, foraging around like disease-ridden vermin. I let you keep her so long as you cooperated. But that’s not the case anymore, is it?”

“I’m sorry,” I told her, desperation paralyzing me once more. “I’ll cooperate. I’ll do anything . But please don’t hurt her.”

Mistress arched a manicured brow. “Anything?”

“Yes,” I said, meaning it. She had Pepper, and that’s all I could think about. Nothing mattered but ensuring my familiar’s safety. It was my job, my sacred duty to protect her.

Satisfied that she was in control once more, Mistress said, “Octavia, put this thing in a cage. Your job is to keep it alive until I say otherwise.”

“Me? But, Mother, I’m terrified of mice. Their little claws and teeth are so—”

“ Now , Octavia.”

Her youngest daughter rushed forward and flat out blubbered like a baby as she thrust Pepper into her hands.

“Do not let it escape. I’m counting on you, Octavia.”

“I-I won’t, Mother,” she sobbed, then dashed away with my familiar.

I kept my gaze on Mistress, consoling myself with the fact that Pepper was still alive .

“Well, now that we have that unpleasantness behind us,” she said, brushing off her hands with another lip curl, “we can direct the conversation to more important matters. I know Prince Everett has been coming here the past few days. I had a camera installed. Not only that, I can smell him on you, and I’m not referring to the claim. You two have been having sex. Lots of it. Why? Why does he want you so badly?”

All the blood drained from my face.

When I didn’t respond, she crouched before me in a flash and roughly grabbed my chin. “Tell me what I want to know, or your familiar is dead,” she hissed in my face. “ Why does Prince Everett want you?”

As I felt the pull of thrall loosen my tongue, another tear slid down my cheek. “Because . . .” I choked out, unable to keep my voice from breaking. “Because I’m his soulmate.”

“That’s disgusting , ” Georgina shrilly said. “What a terrible thing to say. She has to be lying, Mother. The crown prince couldn’t possibly be fated to someone like her .”

Mistress was silent. Deathly silent. She searched my face, confirming for herself that I spoke the truth. A sudden spark entered her eyes, making me shiver with dread. I knew that look. She was thinking. Planning something.

“Does he know about our pactum?” she finally asked.

The word slipped free before I could catch it. “Yes.”

“Does he know about our mission?”

“He . . . he suspects.”

“Does he know what you can do?”

“No.”

Her mouth curved into a cruel smile. “Of course he doesn’t. He’s blind like so many males are, too drunk on lust to think with anything but his dick. He would never believe that his fated mate could do something so heinous. Is that what the Masquerade Ball is for? To expose us? To demand I release you from our pactum?”

I desperately tried not to answer, but her thrall forced the word from me. “Yes.”

She hissed, baring her fangs at me.

I didn’t say more, already knowing that I was doomed. She was the cat, and I was the mouse helplessly caught in her razor sharp claws. She was unraveling me, ripping out secret after secret. I couldn’t hide from her. Couldn’t fight her. Not when she had Pepper at her mercy.

There was only one thing I could do. One thing that could possibly save us both.

But before I could cry out to my soulmate, Mistress stared deeply into my eyes and demanded, “Can you communicate telepathically with him?”

A scream built in my head. “Yes.”

“Good. Then from now on, you’re going to put on a show for him. Convince him that all is going according to plan. That I am blissfully unaware and you’re perfectly fine. You know all about pretending, don’t you, Star? It shouldn’t be hard. Nod that you understand.”

The command sank into my mind with all the rest, tightening around my free will like a noose, thralling me into being her obedient servant. The scream faded, and I woodenly nodded.

“Good. Then get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.”

As she dropped my chin and stood, she almost sounded chipper. Victorious , even.

She was definitely planning something. Something terrible.

And there was nothing. Absolutely nothing I could do about it.