Bound By Desire

Chapter 5: Cruel Master

Hunter’s POV:

I could tell Father was angry the minute I stepped back onto the palace grounds. I had taken it upon myself to leave and visit an old friend for a while but had neglected to tell anyone. Oops. Guess I’m in trouble again. That thought alone was enough to crack a small smile and I snicker softly to myself as I enter the palace.

Strangely, it’s silent. I frown and try to locate my siblings, to ask why the palace appears so silent when it should be full of noise. Finding Selene and Morana in their rooms, I look for any of my brothers but can’t find a single one amongst the many people milling around. Weird. Shrugging off my bad feeling, I move down the main corridor and climb to the second floor, sensing the same eerie quiet as downstairs. Sighing, I keep walking until I walk straight into Selene who glares at me. “Sorry Sel, didn’t see you there.” I smile slightly and she softens.

“Uh-huh, I noticed.” She scowls playfully and rubs her shoulder. “Where’d you go? Father was looking for you earlier.” She frowns in my direction and I shoot her a quizzical look.

“What’s wrong?” I ask. “Selene?”

She blinks and shakes her head, smiling in my direction. “Nothing, just curious about where you went and since you weren’t telling me…”

“You decided to try and look for yourself.” I laugh, wondering what she’d seen to make her pull such a strange expression. “All I did was go visit Eris–” I stop when Selene shoots me an angry look. “What?”

She huffs angrily, “Don’t play dumb, Hunter. I know you know about the rumour of war. Don’t make me spell it out for you why you shouldn’t be visiting witches. Especially on their territory.” She gives me another glance and I have to work to hide my frustration. The rumours of war had been circulating for at least 1,000 years but still, nothing had happened.

“The war’s just rumours, Sel. Nothing’s happened since people first started talking about it over 1000 years ago when father became King. No one is doing anything about it and Eris and I are good friends.” Selene raises a brow and I sigh. “She’s neutral, meaning she doesn’t hold a grudge about the last one, she wasn’t even involved. She’s safe. I promise.” Selene looks unconvinced and I push my anger down. “She won’t do anything!”

Selene mumbles something under her breath that sounds suspiciously like “that’s what they all say” which I choose to ignore, instead of asking her the question that had been bugging me since I’d returned. “Why’s it so quiet, Sel, what’s going on?”

She shoots me a bemused look before realising that I had been absent for a few days so had missed what was going on. “It’s the Auction today– you know, the slave Auction that comes around every few months. Though this one’s a little more special.”

“Why?”

She rolls her eyes, laughing quietly to herself. “Cause it's the Auction following the Hunt and Gathering.” She rolls her eyes again and I look towards the window with a displeased frown.

The Hunt and Gathering is a special night held once a year where supernatural species can ‘add’ to their numbers. For werewolves, this means they can bite or scratch a human and get away with it without the High Council of Elders getting involved. For witches, the new ones they spend years training finally choose a power to specialise in. For us vampires, however, it’s the one night a year where we can go and kidnap anyone off the streets and bring them back to be sold as slaves in the lucrative black market of selling humans, witches and werewolves into slavery. Occasionally, the odd angel or demon makes an appearance, but neither has been seen for years.

I sigh and Selene shoots me a weird look, still not understanding my attitude towards the subject, like my other siblings and parents. She snickers to herself and hugs me before continuing down the corridor to the stairs. Shaking my head in confusion, I continue to walk down when Hesperia, the vampire in charge of the slave process, passes with three girls chained in a row. My eyes quickly pass over sandy brown hair and hazel eyes, as well as the next girl who has platinum blonde hair and startling green eyes the colour of emeralds. Instead, my gaze is fixed on the last person.

Tall and curvy. I look away from her figure and up to her face. She has her head bowed but it’s as if she can sense my lingering gaze and pulls her eyes away from the floor. Beautiful olive skin is complemented by long dark brown hair threaded through with soft caramel highlights. Shifting my gaze to the girl’s eyes, I’m met with an intriguing pair of hazel eyes with flecks of amber and a dark, smoky, brown mixing to create a spellbinding and hypnotic colour that seems so familiar to me. Frowning, I watch as Hesperia pulls on the chin binding her to the other girls and her eyes are pulled away from mine. Though the image of their bold defiance remains lodged in my mind. It’s only as she’s pulled away that the familiarity of her gaze clicks.

The girl is Rosalia.

Rosalia’s POV:

I’m silent as Hesperia drags me, Mara and Chalice down the long, looping corridors. To start with, I try to map my way around, but all the corridors look so similar that I eventually give up with that plan. Instead, I keep my head down and focus on walking in a straight line, not wanting Hesperia to punish me again if I fall for a third time. Dizzy from lack of sleep, I almost trip over my feet again, only to be saved by Chalice’s hand on my arm. Smiling weakly in her direction, she does the same before moving her eyes back to the floor in front of her.

Keeping my own eyes lowered, I keep walking but suddenly feel someone staring at me out of the corner of my eye. Strangely defensive, I risk looking up and coming face to face with an alluring pair of eyes that seem to be analysing me with a small puzzled frown. The figure before me has naturally olive skin and the facial features hinted to me that he was royalty of some kind. Wavy ashy blonde hair falls around his face with clear streaks of golden blonde running through it. Focusing my attention, I shift to look more at his face. Fixing my eyes on his, I note the unusual dark emerald green colour with tones of violet and gold over the green that perfectly replicate a pair of eyes that seemed familiar to me. Wrapped up in my thoughts, I drag my eyes away from his gaze as Hesperia drags me away down the corridor. Pushing my thoughts back, I focus on the current situation.

Eventually, Hesperia stopped in front of a large wooden door and reached for a set of brass keys. Unlocking the door, she pulls it open on reluctant hinges and ushers us inside, shutting the door once we’re all in. Soft gaslights flicker on as she moves towards a staircase, instantly sucking the air out of the room, leaving it stifling and airless. Breathing shallowly, I make my way behind the others as Hesperia leads us to another identical door. Shoving us through, she locks the door behind her before she pulls us in the direction we had been heading. As slaves have to keep their eyes to the floor, I couldn’t see much of our surroundings, but what I could glimpse looked expensive and spoke of affluence and wealth. Preoccupied with my thoughts, I don’t realise Hesperia has stopped before I notice three pairs of feet in front of us. Swallowing back fear, I keep my eyes on the ground until the chain my hands are attached to is yanked hard and I straighten up, fiery vengeance smouldering in my eyes.

“The girls, your Highnesses.” Hesperia’s tone is polite, respectful. Luckily, I’m not required to speak as my current temper would probably have resulted in me making a disrespectful comment and being punished for it. Biting my lip harder, I taste blood but still manage to keep my anger in check. Somehow. My eyes refuse to fix on any of the three faces but rather switch between.

The first is the oldest and has dark auburn hair coupled with porcelain skin and glowing silver eyes. The second is slightly shorter than the first and has a slightly bizarre appearance. With glowing orange-crimson eyes and a pale complexion, it’s his hair that captures my attention. The ghosted hair shade is between platinum blonde and white and changes to show strands of purple, blue and silver in changing levels of light.

However, it was the third man standing in front of me that caused me to blink twice and recoil. With curly dark hair and the golden eyes of a lion, the sight of him freezes me to the spot as memories of my last encounter with him flood my mind. Mute with terror, I fix my gaze over his shoulder and try to contain my fear. Catching his expression out of the corner of my eye, I notice his slight smirk and my anger bubbles up again, causing my hands to curl into fists. Seething with rage, I scowl over his shoulder and he laughs softly before he speaks up, pulling my focus back to the present.

“I’ll take mine now. Thanks, Hesperia.” His voice is soft but I can hear a malicious undertone that sends shivers down my spine. I can sense him looking me up and down but refuse to react. Hesperia nods and unlinks the chain between my wrists from Chalice’s. Chalice shoots me a sympathetic look and I try to smile in return before I’m pulled over to face my Master.

“Can we persuade you to share, brother?” The middle one asks, motioning for Hesperia to pass him Mara from where she was still chained. I catch Mara’s eye and see the fear rooted in her gaze. Trying to comfort her, I flash her a small smile and she does the same to me and Chalice. “She does look beautiful.”

My Master looks thoughtful for a second. “Maybe, Raphael. After all, we all live in the palace, so maybe I will.”

The pale-haired figure, Raphael, shoots my Master a pleading look. “Please, Ash, she looks so delectable.”

“Depends on how good she tastes.” Ash smiles at Raphael and moves to pull me away. I watch Raphael out of the corner of my eye and he scowls playfully at his brother before turning back to where Hesperia stood with Mara and Chalice.

Choking down my nausea and fear, I watch Chalice and Mara being pulled away by the other two people who had been standing next to the golden-eyed male who was currently dragging me behind him like a dog. Rage simmered inside me, filling my veins and spreading through me like fire. Scowling, I try to look up from the floor only to feel him yank on the chain between my wrists so I’m forced to look down to check my hands. Ouch. My wrists were beginning to ache from the tight cuffs and I attempted to wiggle my wrists around to regain the blood flow to my hands. Wincing from the pain, I risk speaking up.

“Master, stop pulling, please. It hurts.” I notice him stop for a moment before carrying on, pulling harder this time so the cuffs dig into my skin until they draw blood. Gagging at the slippery feeling of my blood dripping down my arm, I close my eyes and let him drag me around until he stops and pushes me against a wall.

“What did you say?” He moves closer, close enough that I can feel his breath rustling my hair. “It hurts, does it?” A soft snicker sounds near my ear and I shiver. “Oh, so you don’t like pain?” He places his hands either side of me and I struggle to move. “Stay still.” I freeze, feeling a flush of fear race through me. Followed by a burning fury.

I glare in his direction, fixing my gaze on his face. “Go to hell.” I snarl, keeping my eyes on his face. He sighs and pulls my arms up. Trapping my hands above my head. Thrashing in his grip, I feel a cold sensation slide under the cuff on my left wrist before vanishing. Closing my eyes momentarily, I hear him sigh before he speaks.

“Damn, you really are delectable..” He inhales deeply, a long slow sniff near my hair. “Mm so sweet.” I struggle to evade his grip, but every time I move he presses me harder against the wall so the metal cuffs dig deeper into my skin. Digging deeper so more blood comes dripping out of my wrists to run down my arms and into my long hair.

“Go to hell.” I spit, my anger bubbling up and replacing my fear. Overcome with rage, I try to attack with my knee but misjudge, so I end up hurting myself more than him. Abruptly, his expression changes to morph from humour to dark anger that makes me recoil in momentary fear.

Seconds after the anger appears, it’s eclipsed by a deceptively calm stare. Gulping with panic, I feel his mouth move closer so it rests just over my ear. “You’re going to regret that, angel.” His soft voice sends shivers down my spine and I instinctively move away. Or at least try to. Frantically attempting to pull out of his grip, another cold wave settles over my skin as I feel my hair being moved behind my shoulder, exposing the left side of my neck. I shiver, feeling another cold wave slowly trace along my neck. Jerking wildly, I catch sight of Master Asher’s face. Instantly my instincts take over and I cower against the wall.

“No, Master, please. I’m sorry, please.” I try pleading but he just laughs and shakes his head. When I catch sight of his teeth, I scream and try to slide out of his crushingly tight grip. The metal cuffs dig deeper into the delicate skin on the inside of my wrists, causing more blood to well up and spill over down my arms and drip onto the floor. Whimpering in pain, I try to pull away when I suddenly feel a double point of pain along the exposed side of my neck. Tensing with pain, anguish rises inside me and I bite my lip to hold back my scream. A strange pulling sensation grips me and after a while, I start feeling dizzy, like the walls are closing in on me. Slumping further against the wall, my head spins and I suddenly feel weak. Softly moaning, I feel my Master grip my shoulders and hold me against the wall for a moment before he speaks again, his voice soft.

“Remember this the next time you want to disobey me. Or challenge me. I own you now. Remember that.” I moan almost inaudibly and weakly try to pull away, but he tightens his grip until I cry out again, more blood dripping down my arms over the already dried blood smears. I whimper and struggle again, causing him to tighten his grip and shoot me an indulgent smile that causes me to freeze. “I guess you didn’t learn your lesson, angel. Do not disrespect your Master. Ever. I f*****g own you and you’ve got to remember that.”

His patronising tone reignites my anger and I struggle again, causing him to sigh. “I guess you need another punishment,” He moves closer so his mouth once again rests just above my ear. “to teach you the lesson you clearly need to learn.” Another wave of cold trails down my neck and I move away, fruitlessly struggling to evade his iron grip. When the pain returns to my neck, I thrash wildly in his arms before the agonising pulling starts again and I start to see black spots at the edge of my vision. Still, he holds onto me until I slump towards the floor as my vision fades to black. The last thing I hear before I black out is his voice.

“Remember who you belong to.”

When I close my eyes, I’m immediately thrown headfirst into a nightmare. Colours and shapes race past me at a blinding speed that leaves me breathless and my head spinning in confusion. Scanning my surroundings, I try to make out what’s going on around me but I keep crashing headfirst into a psychic wall. Sighing, I give up and let the dream continue to pull me along through the shapeless corridors I’m dragged through. Still keeping a lookout, I suddenly see the face of the man I had caught staring at me earlier in the corridor. What surprised me, however, was how I felt when I met his eyes.

“Hunter, help!” I scream, barely acknowledging that I knew his name, the dream already pulling me forward away from him. “HELP!” Cold hands suddenly fastened around me and I struggled wildly to evade the person’s grip. “LET ME GO!”

“Or what?” Master Asher’s voice echoes through the silence and I shiver with revulsion and fear at his touch.

“LET ME GO!” I scream again, preparing to try and wriggle out of his grip, only to feel a blinding agony in my head. I scream, feeling like someone’s trying to split my head in two from the inside. When it stops, I struggle to evade his grip, seething with rage. “What did you do to me?”

He lets go almost instantly and when I turn back he’s wearing a frown. “What do you mean? All I did was stop you from running? Rosalia, what happened?” He sounds concerned, but I’m not falling for it.

“The pain in my head you asshole. Why?” While I was distracted, Hunter comes round the corridor and shares a look with Master Asher. “Hello?” I snap, waiting for an answer. It’s Hunter, however, who comes over and looks at me with concern.

“What do you mean, Rosa? What pain?” He sounds terrified and I open my mouth to tell him, only to feel that phantom anguish flare up inside me again, this time radiating through my whole body. I scream and drop to the floor where I curl up on my side, tears streaming down my cheeks as the pain increases, so I start to see black spots at the edge of my vision.

“Please. Stop..” With blurry vision, I try to find Asher’s face. When I eventually do, both he and Hunter wear matching frowns of puzzlement. “Please, stop. It hurts..” The black spots swarm closer and I scream again when the pain is amped up another notch. “STOP! PLEASE I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!” My pain causes my voice to screech up three octaves as I battle with the anguish threading through me. “STOP!” I turn teary eyes towards Asher’s face but he’s wearing a horrified expression.

“Rosa, I promise you it’s not me doing it.” I see Hunter shoot him an incredulous look before switching a concerned gaze back to where I was still curled on the floor, crying out in agony. He looks fearfully in the direction of his brother who’s still watching me. “It’s not me. I swear.”

“Then who is it?” Hunter’s voice sounds sharp with anger and worry, his concern making me try to hold in the screams. “Who else can do magic like that Ash?” He switches his gaze from me over to where Ash still stands motionlessly. “Who?” He keeps his voice low and I get the feeling he senses someone else is listening to our conversation.

“Our parents maybe,” Ash replies a moment later, a new fear filling his eyes. I can see when Hunter hears him as the same fear flashes across his face. “Think about it. Who else would want to do that to her?” Hunter’s expression flashes to his brother, who shakes his head. “I wouldn’t do that. I swear.”

“If it is our parents, she needs to leave. Now.” Hunter’s gaze never leaves my face, but I know the words are for his brother. Ash nods and Hunter switches his attention back to me. “Rosa, love, do you think you can move? We need to get you out of here?” His anxious gaze searches my face and I find myself trying to nod.

“I think so-” I start to answer him when the undercurrent of anguish I had been battling exploded and threaded through my veins with a new intensity that left me too breathless even to scream. My breathing hitches and I try to force down the rising scream building inside me. I clamp my lips shut to hold it in, my jaw aching from the effort. Both Ash and Hunter watch me with concern but I shake my head.

“Rosa?” Hunter’s worried voice reaches through the fog in my brain from the excruciating pain inside my head and the rest of my body when I try to move. He looks at me with concern, waiting for me to speak. I, however, keep my lips clamped shut. Knowing that if I open them I will unleash the scream building inside me and I can’t cause him that pain. “ROSA! PLEASE SAY SOMETHING!” I can hear the fear in Hunter’s voice and try to keep my lips shut. Shaking my head, I feel the pain increase until I can’t hold back the scream any longer.

“What’s happening to her?” Hunter’s voice is muffled to me, but I still hear Asher’s answer clear as day.

“They found her.”

Bolting upright in bed, I can see I’m in a room full of about 20 sleeping girls, each on a simple mattress and a cold iron bed. Drawing my knees into my chest, I take deep breaths, feeling the ragged burn in my throat that speaks of screaming in the night. Sniffing, I wipe my eyes to feel tears catch in my eyelashes and streaming down my face. So it was real then. Bewildered and terrified, I feel along my neck when the memory of Master Asher’s ‘lesson’ flashes through my mind. The injury was still there. Under the dried blood on my neck, arms and crusted in my hair.

Terrified, I lie back down on my side when I hear someone walk past the door, shutting my eyes and trying to pretend I was asleep. Hardly daring to breathe until the footsteps vanish.