Chapter 9 ∣  What Did I Do?

-Eris

"This is all you're worth. You're a fucking cunt and you'll never be anything more, my little fuck toy," he growled into my ear as his left hand gripped my hip harder. He always made this as painful as possible for me, not even trying to alleviate any of my discomforts. No, he had already told me long ago that I would never receive any pleasure from him. He told me I didn't deserve it, being the daughter of two traitors, I was lucky enough to have my life. He said I should be grateful and put effort into pleasing him...as I was bound to him for eternity.

My head was pounding very hard, almost impossible to open my eyelids. Another wave of nausea hit me hard, the world spinning as I tried to regain my control over waking. The first flash of light in my head, that showed Maverick so close to me, that we had some type of knowledge of who each other were...it was real and the vampires within this coven were not lying.

This memory...however...I didn't know how the two were connected...and if that was Maverick who had said such horrible things to me...

I am so confused!

Screaming, I was woken gently by a cold cloth being pressed against my forehead, "Eris, it's alright, everything's okay," this voice belonged to Evie, the worry did not go unnoticed though, unsure of herself whether I really was okay.

That is reassuring.

"At least she didn't crack her forehead open," Lucca's voice was a drawled-out sigh, somewhere distant in comparison to Evie, "I feel like we have a small child again, only this one gets hurt easily," he stated.

When I blinked my eyelids open, I saw Evie's whitish-blue orbs searching mine. She was sitting on the side of my bed, her head tilting to the side when she replied, "Well, maybe you would be a better father the third time around," she smirked at him and he just shot her a knowing glare.

Trying to sit up too fast, Evie's hand touched my shoulder, keeping me down as I shut my eyes tight as pain took hold of my head, "You need to go easy. I'm incredibly surprised you didn't cause yourself any more damage," her voice was calming, and I opened my eyes once again.

I want answers.

"Is Maverick cruel?" My question caused a sudden shift in Lucca and Evie's expressions, uncertain about how to answer my question. When they wouldn't say anything I angrily stated, "Someone raped me...and I'm seeing some type of memories...but they are broken, and I can't fit the pieces together."

"Maverick would never do anything like that," Evie replied appalled by my comment, siding with her son very quickly, though Lucca was trying to figure out what I was talking about.

Lucca and Evie appeared to be having some silent conversation that I was not a part of, attempting to sit up again. Lucca's eyes snapped to me and his voice was gentle when he explained, "Whatever you saw...that wasn't Maverick."

"How do you know? How do you know when even I don't know?!" I felt like crying, the pain of these flooding visions, memories, dreams...whatever!!! It just hurts!

"Maverick explained that...you were once a...sex slave," Lucca's words made my blood run cold, drawing it away from my face and making me feel sick again, "he said, your past wasn't a pretty one and that should probably have remained forgotten."

When Evie finally let me sit up on my own, I couldn't stop the tears from falling down my cheeks. It was hard, trying to believe those while my mind was playing tricks and ruining my sanity. I wanted to believe everything they were saying and that maybe Maverick had been my knight in shining armor or something like that, but with these broken memories...there was no way of telling what was real and what wasn't.

"I want to talk to Maverick," I brought my hands away from my face, looking from Evie and then to Lucca.

"I wish you could," Evie sighed, "but, I'm not sure how long he'll be out for."

My hands gripped the covers that were covering my legs, bawling them as my fists formed, "Isn't that just convenient."

"Eris!" Lucca snapped and I felt a wave of fear plague my body, his voice holding power that made me shake slightly. After he noticed this, he let the anger leave his face and stated, "Just try and understand, we are all stuck. We don't know everything that happened, that's between Maverick and you and yes, he will be back and able to explain everything. You just need to be patient and relax."

"I already feel like I've never been good at being patient, unfortunately," I let out a sigh, releasing the hold I had on the covers.

There was a knock that came from the door, Lucca turning away from Evie and myself, walking to the door and taking the handle into his hand. When he pulled the door open, it was the woman with white irises that stood before him, her voice merely a whisper when she said, "Locaine's near, they're outside the entrance."

"What happened, Annika?" Lucca was just as quiet, Evie looking to me and then to her beloved.

"I'm not quite sure, but he says we have company..." her voice trailed off, the muscles in Lucca's arm tensed that held the door handle. When she looked to me, she fell silent and once again, their secret conversation began. It was irritating, being left out on my own, as everyone was connected within this place...except for me. Not that I wanted to be bound to these vampires...

Evie lifted off the bed, standing to her feet as she said gently, "I'll go make you some soup, that should help you feel a bit better."

Cause apparently soup makes everything better.

Annika stepped back and allowed for Evie to make her way out of the room and downstairs. I was left with Lucca and Annika still communicating, that was, until she stated, "I'm going to prepare for Kenzie."

That left me with just Lucca when she disappeared. He turned to me, the look on his face revealed he was debating something. When he finally decided, he ordered, "Stay inside this room. I'll send Maverick for you in a while."

Sure.

"If I don't?" I asked, seeing the look in his eyes change.

"You're a feisty little thing, aren't you?" Lucca chuckled, taking a few steps out into the hallway, and taking hold of the handle from the outside, "Well, I can't guarantee your safety outside this room."

Crossing my arms and glaring at the wall, I retorted, "I doubt you could ever guarantee safety regardless of the choices I make."

"That may be true in this world," he replied, "but you have a better fucking chance if you just shut up and listen to everyone who is trying to help you."

My temper flared and I huffed out, "Ass-hat."

"Brat," he sneered before shutting the door behind him and just to ensure that I couldn't leave, I heard the lock slide into place.

When I looked down at myself, I noticed I was still wearing the same clothes before I'd knocked myself out. Throwing the covers from my body, I stood to my feet, taking it slow as my head was still extremely dizzy and on the verge of making my vision cross again. Wandering around the room, I finally made my way to the door, tugging on the handle to confirm what I'd already known, trapped inside.

Why bother even telling me to stay in here when you were going to lock me inside anyway?!

I leaned my back against it, my head tilting up and closing my eyes. There are so many answers I need...so many questions and more continue to invade my mind and not leave me alone. I feel like I'm going crazy like I'm living another person's life when the previous one shouldn't have ended the way it did.

"What did you do now?" It was Lucca's voice filled with irritation that I could just barely hear through the door. He was waiting for a response, guess it appeared the once silent home was now filled with people again.

My heart skipped a beat, recognizing the next voice as Maverick's and he almost sounded like he was joking when he stated, "What? It wasn't my fault this time..." his voice trailed off before he continued, "...this is Rook's fault."

Rook.

That pureblood who brought me back to this chaos. I don't know whether to thank him or wish he had been dragged through Hell to know what it feels like, so he'd think twice about doing anything like that again.

There were other voices and I could no longer pay attention, sinking to my knees and clutching the sides of my head. Pain shot through my skull, closing my eyes, and gritting my teeth together.

Make it stop...

If remembering is going to cause me this much pain...I don't want to remember...

Tears came to my eyes, squeezing them tighter together, but tears streamed down my cheeks anyway. I let out a soft sob, trying to shake my thoughts, the images passing by were like watching a movie of my past life and I didn't know where to rewind or skip forward, not that I could control it anyway.

"You won't have a quick death," his voice was angry...but I heard something else...pain? "No, you'll suffer just as my mate did...although, I'll make sure it lasts a LOT longer."

I choked, my eyes crossing as I felt powerless within his hold.

He slowly let me go, allowing me to greedily take in quick breathes of air. I whispered, "I don't know what you're talking about..."

Another fearful scream came from within me as the man released my neck, taking my long hair into his hand from behind my head, glowering down at my neck and snarling, "He's claimed you..."

Is this the one who killed me? Was it because of Maverick that I was killed? What did I do?

I just want help...

Someone...

Please help me...

If I don't get answers soon...

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To Seduce a Mortal by K. A. Young and Laisha C. Gardner

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