“I know you don’t mean that.”
He might be right. But he also might be wrong.
“Iwastaking you to Elizy where you could live worry free from the Cidris and your mother. Ireallydon’t know how they were able to track me down when I was in the hills with you that day. I was devastated, Ripley! I waspretending.”
“I bet the money helped,” I said flatly.
His lack of response once again tempted me to look up at him. I’d hurt him and I was desperate to see how much.
“It was the only option I had. If they knew I had feelings for you and knew I was a traitor… god, there would be so many terrible outcomes where we both ended up dead.”
Impulsively, my eyes lifted back to his hand that was still planted on the blanket in front of me. “What about the outcome where you drink my blood and torture me day in and day out for two fucking months, Fletcher!” With my words, pressure built in my head, straining the veins in my neck as spit came off my lips with his name.
He withdrew his hand with a groan. “Ihadto drink your blood. I had to keep you drained at all times so no one else got their hands on it.”
“Why? Why not share me with all your buddies? They all looked at me anyway. Daydreaming about being with me. Did you just relish in the way they stared at me?”
“Stop what you’re saying, right now.”
I didn’t. I just spoke louder and faster. “They lingered on me longer than any other woman. They fantasized about me. Fucking me with their eyes.”
“Rip—ley,” he ground out of clenched teeth.
“And I felt every second of it.”
“Please,” he urged, a noticeable lilt in his voice surprising me, “stop.”
“They wanted to do more than just drink me.”
His hand slapped the mattress with a loud thump. “Stop, Ripley, and look at me!” The new grit that entered his tone was both torturous and satisfying.
“Or did they already taste me? Huh? Did you share me with them?”
“I wouldnevershare you with anyone.”
“Did you guys go back to your rooms, have a heyday of all different bottles of blood? How many other women did you drink from?”
“The only blood I have ever drank is yours. And the only reason I did it was because your blood is vastly different than everyone else’s because of your royal bloodline.”
“Bullshit,” I screamed.
“Your royal blood doesn’t just heal like all those other Elizians. It lets the drinkeruseyour magic. I was keeping your secretsafe. If I didn’t… you…” that lilt made itself present again. “If they found out they had Princess Ripley in their midst, they would have taken you… they would have bred you relentlessly, drained you until you withered to dust. They would have tortured and used you as a bargaining chip to get the king and queen to lower the barriers around Elizy, to capture the entire kingdom. I had no other choice. I had to protect you and your magic.”
I sneered, “How righteous of you to say after drinking my blood to use my magic.”
“Please, Ripley. I can’t go on like this anymore. You have to believe me.”
I had thought by now he’d be back to his gritty-textured voice of the corrupt Fletcher, but it remained soft, like the man I’d traveled with two months ago.
“I had to drink enough at all times in case I had the opportunity to get you out safely. Those cages are magic proof. I couldn’t go in and grab you or I would have the second I had your magic. I had to wait until you were out. I needed to use your magic for when that happened. And I’msosorry. I didn’t know how else to get you out safely.”
I listened more than I had anticipated I would. I hated that his voice was what caused me to soak in his words. But, it did nothing to squash the anger—the trauma he’d bestowed upon me. “How many Elizians have you damned to that place?”
“I don’t want to talk about them. I want to talk about you.”
Through my clenched jaw, I said, “How many?”
He was quiet, like he was repeating the number in his head, trying to get it out of his mouth. Finally, he muttered, “Eighteen.”
