Vampire Enslavement (Lords of Bondage) (34 page)

“Lucius could be killed. Something could happen to Cabrian.” Cassia screamed in frustration. “I can’t stand here and do nothing!”

Kiera knew better than to reason with the Roman woman when she was in a state of distress. The scene was one of chaos and visibility was limited due to the smoke. She didn’t think any of the other Romans were paying any attention to them at the moment. She opened up a portal and pushed Cassia through it. It was time to return to the villa.

When she returned to the chamber that she had grown to know so well, she noticed with shock that Lord Ross stood at the foot of the bed with his arms crossed at his chest. He fixed Kiera with a glower that made her feel her life was in danger. “Please forgive me, Lord Ross. I took Cassia out for some air.”

“You didn’t have permission to leave the villa.”

“I know, please forgive me.” Busted. She was so busted. “It was my doing. I just had to get away for a few minutes and I thought your slave may feel the same. I did bring her back to you.”

“Where did you go?”

“To the outskirts of the city. We were only gone for about fifteen minutes.” It would be more accurate to say that half an hour had passed. “Hardly anything happened.”

“Both of you could have been killed!” Lord Ross clenched his fists and his eyes glowed red. “You say nothing happened. So why is Cassia crying?”

Cassia collapsed on the floor. Her shoulders were shaking. She looked up at Cabrian and said, “The Red Light Brothel is on fire. I know that is where Diermont took Lavinia. They burned her alive.” She shivered as if she was in the middle of a blizzard. “Lucius was there. The governor ordered him to carry out the burning of the brothel.”

Cabrian’s eyes burned with rage. “What the hell were you doing taking Cassia there? She didn’t need to see that.”

“How the hell was I supposed to know the Romans would burn the brothel? We saw the smoke and wanted to know what was on fire.”

“So like an idiot you went to investigate. You weren’t supposed to leave the villa at all, yet you did anyway and took my property with you. It is a miracle both of you made it back in one piece.”

Kiera shuddered. Cassia was hardly in one piece. Emotionally she was a mess and Kiera was responsible for it. “I am so sorry. I never would have gone there if I had known it was the Red Light Brothel.” That was a lie. She was like all others who rushed to the scene of an accident when told a chariot wreck was right up the next hill. She wanted to be in the middle of the action. She hadn’t thought of how that would affect Cassia.

“Diermont is an evil, sadistic bastard. He sent Lavinia and Calpurnia to that brothel knowing what would happen. And he struck gold. The governor’s sons were killed by blue rot infection.” Cassia’s eyes were accusing as she stared at Cabrian. “Your people are monsters.”

Cabrian directed his anger at Kiera. “Look what you’ve wrought. My female is hysterical because you took her into the middle of a warzone.” His voice was deadly and chilling. “The city is too dangerous. You went unescorted. Even the warriors don’t go into the city without at least a dozen men. What were you thinking?”

“I had no intention of staying long enough to encounter any of the native population. Like I said, I took her for some air.”

“You both smell like barbeque and you speak of fresh air. You took her to the burning of a brothel knowing that her stepsister was in there.” His eyes flared red and his fists clenched. “I will have a talk with Lord Halloran about your behavior. You defied orders. You risked the life of my future mate.”

“Please do not tell anyone what I did. I wasn’t thinking straight. I’ve been in distress.” Tears rolled down her face as she attempted to persuade the enraged lord. What were the odds of Lord Ross returning to the room during the brief time they were gone? He was generally gone during the day light hours when he did the prince’s bidding. “I would never do anything to endanger your female. I was extremely careful.”

“Leave this room and do not return.” Lord Ross glared at her and said, “Leave now before I give in to my urge to kill you.”

Kiera transported out of the chamber. She had screwed up this time. She had fleeting thoughts of running away, but she knew she wasn’t ready to leave just yet. She would have to get more specific information from Cassia regarding Marly’s whereabouts. She also needed maps. She wouldn’t make the mistake of asking Cassia to go with her again. She would do the rest of it on her own. If Modez didn’t kill her first.

Chapter 21

“I should have killed her.” Cabrian wasn’t sure why he hadn’t. The hybrid had taken Cassia into New Babylon where anything could have happened to her. The city wasn’t safe and there were slavers on every corner searching for flesh to sell.

“You’re involved in this atrocity. Are you going to tell me you didn’t suspect what would happen to those ladies when Diermont sent them to the brothel?”

“Atrocities are a part of war. It’s inevitable. I’m sorry for it, Cassia.” It pained him to see her upset, but he couldn’t bring himself to care about the two Romans in the brothel. “You didn’t even like Lavinia. She was a selfish, cruel bitch.” Lavinia had destroyed Cassia’s marriage to Janus. He couldn’t understand how she could cry for the duplicitous female.

“I didn’t wish her dead.” Cassia shook her head and the sadness on her face made him feel guilty. “This will destroy Lucius. He’s not like Flavian. He’s a decent, caring person and he doesn’t deserve this.”

“If you are determined to be angry with someone, direct it toward Lucine. She’s the one who got into the business of enslaving hybrids. None of this would have happened to your family if Lucine had not waged war against us.”

“Diermont isn’t going to stop until every last Maximus is destroyed.” Tears welled in her eyes. “I am a Maximus.”

He wished he could take Cassia out of Rome. It was too painful for her to witness the effects of war. Unfortunately he couldn’t leave. Not until Diermont was done with him. “Don’t think about Lavinia or the brothel. It’s upsetting you and there is nothing that can be done about it.” He sighed when she continued to shed tears. “What do you want me to do, Cassia? I cannot dissuade Diermont from this mission. He has the support of the king.”

“Of course he does. He is the king’s son. One of his favorites.” She sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Don’t be mad at Kiera. She was only trying to help me feel better by getting out of the villa for a while. She didn’t mean any harm and she took me back.”

He held Kiera responsible and no amount of pleading would change this. “She was up to something. What did she want?”

“She wants to find her human grandmother, but do not repeat that to anyone,” she said with a voice that was barely audible. “No one else knows.”

Human grandmother
. He hadn’t expected that one. “Who’s her grandmother?”

She gnawed on her lower lip with her blunt, white teeth. “I’m not sure exactly, but I believe she comes from a patrician family.”

Cabrian shook his head. “I didn’t take her for a mongrel. I’m surprised she can transport with such diluted bloodlines.”

“I am fully human. Our children will share even less hybrid heritage than Kiera. If you cannot accept her, how will you ever accept me?”

“It’s not like that.” Damn, his little human was way too insecure. Years of emotional abuse and neglect had taken its toll. “Kiera’s physically weak and doesn’t possess much in the way of special abilities. Her sire was no warrior. Our children will be strong because they will have my blood.”

“If you make me your mate.”

He was reluctant to bite her, and although he wanted more than anything to make her his, he had reservations about using his mating fangs on her. His mating fangs gave every indication he could breed with her—the reaction to her proximity was undeniably strong. But what if he was wrong? She could breed but he wasn’t a hundred percent confident in his own abilities. If he failed to initiate the bond he would be forced to offer her to other males. That he could not do. He couldn’t lose her and he wasn’t about to share her. “I will make you mine,” he swore to her. “As soon as we return to Asstrumnia, I will do that very thing.”

He caressed her face and lifted it to kiss her sweet lips. She was hesitant and not as welcoming as usual. He ran his hands down her borrowed tunic, molding his hands against the breasts that threatened to spill from the low neckline. The tunic’s tight fit left no doubt to her curvy figure. “I don’t care that you’re a Maximus. You’re mine, Cassia. I’m not going to let you go.” His hands lifted her bottom to pull her body against the erection that strained the limits of his trousers. It bothered him that her family connections still threatened to tear them apart. He wanted to bond her to him, both physically and emotionally. When she was ensconced in his home he would make her his in every way possible. The bite would take, and if it didn’t, he’d keep trying until it did. Once on his own lands, no one would dare threaten to take her away from him. “I want to be with you again.”

“We cannot.” She rubbed against him in the most provocative manner and her breathy tone tantalized him, and despite her whispered words of caution, her every motion urged him to take action rather than restraint. “Diermont’s rules still apply and we’re both subject to them. Unless you are in a position to do something about it.”

He wished he could murder the crazy prince. Then they wouldn’t have to worry about his dictates. Unfortunately he couldn’t rebel against the current leadership or his family in Asstrumnia would suffer. The king thought nothing of executing entire families when punishing a single traitor. “I’m not going to let Diermont destroy what is between us.” He lowered his mouth to hers and coaxed her to open to him. She was warming to him again. Slowly. “I need to be with you. Inside you. I’ll find a way.”

“I want you to take me to your home. To Asstrumnia. Make me yours.”

It was too risky to initiate the mating bond with Diermont present. The bond would make him dependent upon Cassia and that would make her a threat. “Newly bonded couples must spend a lot of time together. In bed. We cannot do that here.” His mating fangs extended just by talking about the mating bond. They ached. Pained him terribly. “I want nothing more than to make you mine but we have to be cautious. I’m hoping we can at least find a way to be together physically.” His hands gripped her luscious bottom and pulled her closer. “Modez is the key. He is the one who performs the inspections.”

“Can he be bribed?”

“Anyone can be bribed with the right incentives.” It was a risk, though. Diermont could at any time demand to perform the inspections himself. And since Cassia was at times paraded around nude, it would be difficult to conceal the evidence of staining.

Cabrian gave her a quick kiss on the lips and broke away from her. Kneeling on the floor of Kiera’s closet, he searched her belongings for a second time. There had to be something useful.

“What are you doing?”

“Kiera’s hiding more than her human heritage. I can sense it.” Cabrian flung tunic after tunic onto a pile on the closet floor. He had been through every stitch of clothing and hadn’t found the missing key. The only thing left was the satchel itself. He tore the case apart, ripping the fabric. Stuffed inside the lining were folds of linen. The extra material had been sewn into the lining of the satchel. He tore the cloth apart and inside was a gold key. He held it up in front of his face to peer at it closely. “This will fit the collar around Modez’s neck. I’d bet my life on it.”

Cassia gasped. “Kiera really was the one who victimized Modez.”

Cabrian stood up and pocketed the key. The extra weight of the metal in his pocket elated him. He had the evidence he sought, proof that his suspicions were correct. And with it, the means to control the willful, intractable hybrid female as well as her equally bull-headed guardian. “I guess she isn’t as weak as she appeared.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to have another talk with Lord Halloran. He’ll be indebted to me for providing proof of Kiera’s crimes against him.”

“But he’ll kill her.” Cassia’s eyes were wide with concern. “Modez treated her like an ass. He deserved what he got.”

It irritated him that Cassia was so quick to defend Kiera. The defiant hybrid recklessly disregarded the rules and placed others in danger. It chilled him to the bone to contemplate the horrors that could have befallen Cassia. “He won’t kill her. He’ll have a different punishment in mind.”

“Like what?”

“What do you think? He’s a male and she’s an attractive female.” The two were hot for each other and one could almost see the tension in the room when they occupied the same space. So much passion simmered beneath the surface when they interacted with each other, and despite what they might claim, Cabrian knew it wasn’t fueled by hate. “I’ve seen the way he watches her. He pretends to dislike her but I think he wants her for himself. That was the real reason he barred her from inclusion in the mating tests.”

“Kiera’s bitter about that. I’m not sure she’ll willingly go to Modez’s bed.”

“Once she’s in heat she will not deny him. She won’t be able to.” She would literally go insane if deprived of sex.

“But how does this help us?”

“I made a deal with Modez. If I supply him with proof of Kiera’s guilt, he will no longer search you for signs of staining. He’s an honorable male and he’ll keep his end of the bargain.”

She lifted one golden eyebrow. “But could we risk actual intercourse?”

“I would have to pull out.” There was still risk of staining, but if he was careful, it would be limited. Her forced nakedness made the situation high risk, but he had managed to keep the others at a distance. Most of the time Cassia stayed secluded in this chamber. She only emerged from it when ordered by the prince to attend special events. Thankfully, those occasions were limited. “Modez is the only male who gets close enough to see signs of discoloration. As long as he doesn’t talk, we should be okay.”

“And you’re sure he won’t talk?”

“Quite sure. Kiera will be enough of a distraction for him, and once he starts fucking her behind Diermont’s back, he’ll become used to keeping secrets from the prince.”