Dangerous (Courting the Darkness Saga) (17 page)

Drake had left the room
an hour ago after Sean had knocked on the door, alerting him to something that
was going on. He left, giving her a quick peck on the cheek with instructions
on where the towels were and to be ready in an hour. He was gone before she
could attempt to read his mind. Somehow she felt that was deliberate on his
part. She had every intention of getting to the bottom of whatever was going on
just as soon as she could find him.

Finding him, however,
in this huge place might prove to be difficult.

She pulled her cell
phone out of her back pocket and checked the time. It had been an hour.
I guess I’ll have to go find him myself
,
she thought as she headed for the door. When she reached for the doorknob a
movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Turning her head,
she stared at the fireplace. The movement came from a small cage on the mantle.
Curiosity at what kind of pet Drake would want to keep prompted her to
investigate.

Sherry was about three
steps away from the mantel when she realized the cage contained a huge rat. The
rat stood on his hind legs with his front paws wrapped around the bars, staring
at her with his red beady eyes, his whiskers twitching as if he were irritated.
She felt the gooseflesh travel up her arms in revulsion. “Why in the hell would
Drake want you for a pet?”

Who for a pet?
she
heard from out of nowhere.

She spun around,
startled.
“Drake?”

I’m on my way. Who are you talking to?

You just took about ten years off my life. Don’t do
that.

He opened the door and
stepped inside. She could see his amused expression, which further grated her
nerves. He nodded toward the cage. “I see you’ve met our prisoner.”

The word ‘prisoner’
took her by surprise. “Prisoner?” she glanced at the rat again, then back at
Drake. “That’s not a pet?”

Drake laughed.
“Not hardly
. That, my love, is Jason Hargrove.”

“The
witch hunter.”

“Yes.”

Sherry shook her head,
then
shuddered in revulsion. “Desiree’s good. I’ll give her
that. She told me she had turned him into a rat, but I guess I didn’t take her
words quite so literally.”

“You’re afraid of
rats?”

She scrunched her nose
then glared at the hairy beast before she answered. “Not afraid, per se…they’re
just disgusting, nasty creatures.” Then she turned back, giving Drake a worried
look. “Rats are nocturnal?”

He nodded once. “Yes.”

“He can
see
in the dark.” Drake nodded again.
“Oh my God, Drake!”
She jabbed her finger at the cage. “He
watched us
.
” She felt the blood rush
to burn her cheeks. “He watched me!”

Drake frowned. “These
chambers are large, love. I doubt he has the ability to see that far.”

She plopped down in a
nearby chair and covered her face in her hands. “I don’t believe that.”

He knelt down and
pulled her hands away, then cupped her face in his hands, placing a soft kiss
on her lips. “I do, love.”

She refused to let the
subject go. “Well, I’m sure he’s not deaf. Sound carries in a large room like
this, and we weren’t quiet by any means.” He shook his head in a placating
manner, so she continued quickly. “You also told me many things that I’m sure
you would prefer to keep between us, a secret.”

His jaw clenched in
anger at himself when her words sunk in. He stood abruptly,
then
snatched the cage from the mantel, causing the rat to squeal in terror. “
Sean
,” he roared. Sherry jumped at the
outburst.

The door flew open, and
Sean rushed in. “Sire?”

Drake shoved the cage
at Sean. “Do something with Hargrove.” When Sean took the cage and gave him a
questioning look, he continued. “Put him with the rest of the prisoners.”

Sean bowed. “Yes,
sire.” He left the room, closing the door behind him.

Sherry rose from the
chair and approached Drake. She smiled,
then
caressed
her fingers lightly down his cheek and felt him relax under her touch. “Thank
you.”

He pulled her to him
and gave her a long leisurely kiss that left her damp and breathless. “No,
thank you. You are a true queen, worthy to rule beside me.”

She smirked. “What did
I do to bring that on?”

“I thought of him as a
rat, not as a prisoner. It never crossed my mind that I shouldn’t speak freely
in front of him.”

“Drake, he
is
just a rat.”

“Yes, at the moment. But
what if something happened and Desiree’s spell was reversed and he escaped?”

“He would know all our
secrets.”

“Exactly.”

“Knowing the enemy’s
secrets gives you the upper hand.”

“Spoken like a true
leader.”

“It’s hard to stay mad
at you.”

He cocked an eyebrow
and looked into her eyes. “You’re mad at me?”

“I’m a little put out,
yes.”

She felt him touch her
mind. “Ah…
you’re wanting
to know how and when I
retrieved your possessions.”

“Yes.”

“You were busy with
little Mica. You remember when I called Sean to come get us?” She nodded. “I
also left instructions with Sean for Jacob and Tracy to remove your possessions
after we left. I knew that you weren’t going back there.”

She frowned. “That was
awfully presumptuous of you. Don’t you think we should have discussed this
first?”

“No, it was no longer
safe for you there, love. We both have enemies, and now it seems Caleb’s
enemies as well. I couldn’t take the chance that you’d get caught in the
crossfire. You belong with me.”

She pressed her lips in
a thin line and glared. “You may be king, but if we’re supposed to be partners,
there are certain things that need to be discussed before you just—”

He smiled and kissed
her forehead, pulling her to him. “Be patient with me, love. I
am
king, and I am not accustomed to
discussing my decisions before acting on them. I’ve been ruling for three
hundred years, give or take. It will be an adjustment for me as well, but I
will try to remember to consider your feelings when dealing with issues that
evolve around us.”

She relaxed in his
arms. “Thank you.”

“We will be together
for eternity. I don’t want to spend the majority of it arguing with you. I’m
sure we’ll continue to have our disagreements, but I don’t want to cause
unnecessary ones.”

“Drake, I saw my
clothes and jewelry in the closet. Where are the rest of my things?”

“I had Jacob and Tracey
move
the rest of your things to our mansion just north
of the bayou.”

“You have a mansion?”

“
We
have a mansion.”

She smiled. “I can’t
wait to see it.”

“Soon.
You’ll have to wait a bit longer to see it. I can
protect you better here. When this is over I’ll take you there.”

“As I said before, it’s
hard to stay mad at you.”

“Good. I’ll remind you
of that later.”

There was a knock at
the door and she frowned, looking up at Drake. “Why, what’s happening?”

“Later, love. I have
business to attend to, and you need to meet your subjects.”

She narrowed her eyes
and glared, trying to read his mind, but he blocked her. “That’s not fair,
Drake. You’re already pissing me off.”

He opened the door. “In
time you’ll understand what I had to do.”

She glanced up at him again
as he ushered her out into the hallway. “Why, what did you do?”

He let out a long
breath as they entered the main throne room. “Only what was necessary for a man
in my position to maintain order.”

A movement to her left
caught her attention as two
vampires
drug a
semi-conscious man to a long beam set up with hanging shackles. They secured
the man’s wrists and let him hang as his knees buckled from apparent despair. One
of the vampires reached up and ripped the shirt from his back. The sound of
shredding fabric filled the otherwise quiet room. From the man’s size Sherry
was pretty sure he was human and she thought he looked familiar, but didn’t
know from where.

It was obvious that he
was about to be punished for some injustice. In alarm Sherry looked at all the
sober faces around the room. She saw Mica and Desiree next to the throne.
Mica’s expression was resolved and unbending. Desiree was weeping openly,
alarming Sherry further. “Drake,” her voice shook. “What’s going on?”

He led her to her
throne next to his, encouraging her to sit. “I’m just maintaining order, love.”

She searched his eyes,
trying to understand. “I don’t understand. Who is he? I can see he’s human, but
what did he do? Why is Desiree crying?” Her voice was barely a whisper.

You must remain strong, love. Others are watching.
Her bottom lip quivered as she looked around the room.
He continued in her mind.
He is Mica’s
driver, Charles.

Her gaze snapped back
to his
. Why, what did he do?

He failed to follow orders, and left you and Desiree
vulnerable to Justin Hargrove.

She mouthed a silent
‘no’ as the tears trickled down her cheeks.

I have to, love. Remember who I am. I am king, and I
must enforce the consequences for failure to obey direct orders. I won’t kill
him, he will live, but neither will I show him leniency.

Why must Desiree and I witness this?

It is our way…every eye must witness the punishment
and remember. Keep your chin up and shoulders back, love. Others will watch you
for signs of weakness. You must not show any weakness, understand? We are
warriors, and being strong will earn you their respect. You are my queen now.
You are their queen now.

She let out a quivering
breath, wiped the tears from her face and nodded.
I understand, and I will try.

He gave her a trace of
a smile before he turned and faced his clan. She watched him stride to the
center of the throne room. He held out his right hand and a Cat o’ Nine Tails
was placed in his grasp. The whip was long with knots tied into the leather
tails. She winced as he flicked the air, testing the whip with a resounding
crack.

“Charles, you are
charged with failure to obey a direct order from your master, Mica, as well as
your king. Your negligence nearly cost the lives of two of our own. Your
punishment is ten lashes. I will administer the first five and your master the
last. Do you understand why you’re being punished?”

Charles openly wept.
“Yes, sire, I consider myself fortunate that you didn’t kill me on the spot.”

“Mark my words, if
either of them had died, you would be dead now. And there are no second
chances. If it happens again, you will not live long enough to see punishment.”

Charles’s head bobbed
furiously. “Yes, sire, I understand.”

Drake reared back his
arm, letting the whip fly, the knotted ends landing on the poor man’s back.

Charles cried out,
arching his back away from the whip, as the knots tore into his bared flesh,
streaking his back in crimson.

Sherry watched as the
whip struck four more times before Drake handed it to Mica. She held her chin
up and her gaze steady as Mica finished the deed. The same two vampires
approached again and unchained the man, laying his unconscious body face down
on the table. They forced him to wake as one of them applied salve to the open
wounds; the other opened his vein and encouraged the injured man to drink. To
those in attendance she appeared calm and in control, but all the while her stomach
churned with revulsion as she watched in horror.

Drake sat next to her
in his throne.
I am proud of you. You
have held up well.

She frowned.
You gave me no choice.

He reached over and
squeezed her stiff fingers.
For that I
apologize, love. I couldn’t tell you what was about to happen before we left
our room. It was important that you were in attendance, and if I had told you
ahead of time I don’t think you would have left the room.

Probably not.

Be proud. You have earned the respect of your
subjects.

She glanced around the
room before responding, swallowing back the bile in the back of her throat
. Fine, whatever, may I go back to our room
now?

Why, what’s wrong?

Do you think I’d lose their respect if I puked my guts
out in front of them?

He cut his eyes at her.
Fine, go back to our room, but try to be
discreet about it. Lie down and try to get some rest. I have a few things to
finish up here. Later tonight, at midnight to be exact, you will be coroneted
as their queen.