Chapter Eighteen
Madison’s eyes fluttered open to a room full of darkness. She tested her legs, feeling around with her hands to gauge her surroundings. She was on a bed of sorts.
A subtle sound caught her attention, so faint she couldn’t place its origin. She held completely still, closing her eyes to feign sleep.
The noise came again, followed by the soft glow of a light. “I know you’re awake.”
Madison opened her eyes and blinked up into the face of a young male vampire. He held a tray of food in his hands. “You are to eat this.”
He set the tray on a small table near the cot she lay on and disappeared, the clink of a door closing behind him.
Madison attempted to sit up, but her body felt sluggish and weak. She scanned her surroundings to find she’d been locked in a silver cage.
Panic threatened, but she held it back. The last thing she needed was to lose control. She had to think.
An image of Svetlana forcing Simon to the floor skated through her mind. The evil monster had Simon.
Pushing herself to a sitting position, Madison waited for the nausea to pass and lifted trembling fingers to her neck. She’d been bitten.
Another door opened across the room and Svetlana’s face appeared in the dim light. “I was told that you were awake.”
She stepped into the room, a behemoth of a man tight on her heels.
“You haven’t touched your food.” Svetlana nodded for the giant to unlock Madison’s cage.
Madison struggled to her feet as soon as her cage door opened. “Where is Simon?”
“I should think you’d be more concerned with your own fate.”
“Answer me,” Madison bit out.
A malicious smile split Svetlana’s lips. “He’s chained to my bed where he belongs.”
Madison’s stomach tightened. “The only one who needs to be on a chain is you.”
Svetlana was instantly in her face. “You are alive because of me, and if you think to remain that way, I suggest you keep your tongue behind your teeth.”
“He doesn’t want you,” Madison taunted. “He despises you for what you did. You’ll never win his love after murdering his wife and child. So why don’t you move the hell on?”
Svetlana moved so fast Madison didn’t have time to react. A scream trapped in her throat with the feel of Svetlana’s fangs penetrating her neck. Madison’s body abruptly went limp, and any fight she had in her left with Svetlana’s mental invasion.
Madison wasn’t sure how much time had passed when the vampire suddenly released her. Her knees buckled, leaving her no choice but to fall unceremoniously onto the cot.
“Simply delicious,” Svetlana remarked, lifting a finger to wipe a smear of blood from the corner of her mouth. “It’s easy to see what Simon sees in you. Your blood is like ambrosia.”
Madison wanted to point out that Simon had never taken her blood, but her lips didn’t seem to work. She lay there, in a haze of disgust, unable to move.
Svetlana laughed and released her hold on Madison’s mind. “Now, eat. I will be back tomorrow to feed.”
“Fuck you,” Madison wheezed through clenched teeth.
Svetlana stepped from the cage and waited for the giant to lock it behind her. “That, my dear, is Simon’s job. One he does well, I might add. I have an hour before the sun rises; an hour of pleasure in Le Blanc’s arms.”
She blurred her way from the room before Madison could respond.
A feeling of despair engulfed Madison, bringing with it tears of rage. She’d been mentally raped by the female vampire, forced to endure her touch while she took her life’s blood against her will.
What were Svetlana’s plans for her? Did she think to slowly drain her and then turn her into one of them? Madison would rather die than be owned by that psychopath.
She couldn’t wrap her mind around living an eternity as a monster, especially not one created by Svetlana.
Simon had, she mentally whispered, a tear dripping from her eye. He’d somehow lived over two thousand years under Svetlana’s control.
A new respect for Simon blossomed to life. Madison had spent so long antagonizing him, she’d never bothered to understand him. He’d been forced into vampirism against his will. He’d lost everything at the hands of Svetlana, including his freedom.
“I’m sorry, Simon,” Madison whispered as her eyes drifted shut. The last thought she had before sleep claimed her once again was of Simon chained to Svetlana’s bed.