Page 46 of Fated to the Damned

My short-lived exhilaration fades as Brinda gestures sharply to one of the guards. "You – begin the process. Bite her now."

The burly guard approaches, his heavy footfalls echoing menacingly on the stone floor. Apprehension trickles down my spine as he comes to loom over me, casting me in his shadow.

As my instincts yell at my body to move, to escape this, disappointment and fear trickle in. This isn't how I imagined the ceremony unfolding.

Before I can react, he grabs my head in a viselike grip between his hands, forcibly tilting it to expose the pale, vulnerable curve of my neck. Revulsion and panic spike through me at his domineering touch.

I try not to flinch away as he leans closer, making my stomach churn. He bares his elongated fangs with a guttural snarl.

Primal fear lances through every fiber of my being, turning my blood to ice. And suddenly I realize that the idea of anyone but Nikolai biting me is utterly terrifying and revolting.

I desperately want to scream, to tear myself away by sheer force of will, but the brute's grip on my skull could not be pried off of me if I tried. I’m stuck between a war, wanting to put an end to this but also not wanting to back down. Either way, I cannot move even an inch as he leans in and inhales my scent and I have to suppress a whimper.

He takes his time finding just the right spot, his touch a cruel mockery of what this should be. Any second now, those razor fangs will pierce vulnerable flesh and it will all be over. Revulsion twists my gut, bile rising in my throat.

I can't repress a gasp as his fangs graze the delicate flesh of my neck, precise and surgical in his perverse task. My eyes squeeze shut instinctively, bracing for the violation to come.

The points of his fangs pressing down elicit a sharp pinch. I clench my fists, nails digging into my palms, as the first hints of pain bloom.

Any second now, he will drive those razor-sharp implements ruthlessly into my vulnerable jugular. My frantic pulse throbs under his touch, the drumbeat counting down my final moments as a mortal.

This can't be happening. Not like this, at the mercy of a stranger's cruel whims. Exposed and powerless before the Council's pitiless eyes. Who is to say he’ll stop in time or that they will stop him. Please, no...

But just as the knife-like tips start to pierce delicate skin, the first beads of crimson rising, a thunderous, commanding voice suddenly echoes through the stone chamber.

"Stop!"

The brute's viselike grip on me goes slack. My eyes fly open, hardly daring to hope at the reprieve. A heavy silence descends on the room as all eyes turn to the open doorway. The air crackles with tension, my heart thundering with anticipation as I turn to see who saved me.

But my body already knows exactly who it was.

26

NIKOLAI

“Don’t touch her,” I snarl, fury pulsing through me as I take in the vrakken holding Jessa. I can smell her fear from here, and my sanity is holding on by a thread at the scene before me.

Brinda is watching with a look of pure amusement on her face while the vrakken still hasn’t pulled back from Jessa’ neck yet. And it’s not lost on me that he’s about to bite her but shows no sign of giving his own blood.

They weren’t actually going to Change her.

The thought crashes into me, and I let out a low growl, my wings expanding as I stalk toward the vrakken holding my mate. “I said don’t fucking touch her.” My words come out rough and inhuman, enough so that he drops her and stumbles back.

The thought of anyone touching Jessa – tasting her as I have – has me ready to rip apart everyone in this room, the consequences be damned. But the fact that they used her to gather intel, saw her as disposable and now were going to kill her despite the fact that she did what they asked, has me on another level.

But as I go to reach for Jessa, ready to drag her from this room and deal with the Council later, she jerks back. “Nikolai, what are you doing?” Her eyes narrow, and I blink, stunned as I realize she looks like she is seething. "I told you I wanted this! I expected that even if you didn’t want to Change me, you would let someone else."

I clench my jaw so tightly it aches, wings rustling and flexing in agitation, as I struggle to rein in my simmering fury. "I won't let them use you as a pawn in their games. You're playing right into their hands."

They are going to kill you! I want to shout, but I don’t dare. We are still in front of the Council, and they still could if they wanted to.

Jessa steps closer, her chin lifted defiantly, strands of her dark curly hair framing her face. She is so beautiful it hurts, and it makes it hard to focus. "It's my choice, Nikolai! This is what I want – I won't let you or anyone else take it from me again."

Frustration wars with desperate urgency within me. Why can't she see the likar’s den she's blindly stumbled into? "Jessa, listen to me. I was wrong to push you away before, I see that now. Please, you have to trust me." I reach for her slender arm, but she jerks back once more, just out of reach.

"It's too late for that!" Her voice wavers even as her hazel eyes flash. "I won't let anyone else decide my fate."

Her words slice through me like an icy dagger. Before I can stop myself, I erupt with sudden ferocity, the words tearing from my throat, "I don't want anyone else Changing you!"