Take Me Once, I'll Bleed You Twice novel Chapter 32

BEATRICE

It took all of Beatrice’s willpower to stay still, forcing her body to relax as Riaghaire stared down at her with eyes that glowed a crimson red.

She’d known he was a vampire, known he was dangerous, but it just hadn’t clicked in her brain until the moment she’d opened his cell door. He was suddenly standing over her with those eyes freezing her in place, his mouth open just enough to show his fangs.

This was an apex predator, top of the food chain, and, being human, she would be his first choice for a meal.

What she didn’t expect was that he, too, seemed frozen. His crimson eyes were locked on her neck where she was certain he could see blood coursing through her veins – courtesy of her pounding heart. Why wasn’t he doing his thing? Maybe she didn’t smell right, now

that she was marked? Beatrice wasn’t sure how to feel if that was the case.

A groan came from Lora as she began to regain consciousness. “…Lu–Luna…” she muttered as she opened her eyes.

One second Riaghaire was standing over Beatrice, the next he was crouched by the maid, his teeth sinking into her neck. The sound of him feeding wasn’t nearly as nauseating as it’d been with the rat, but Beatrice still felt queasy as she watched the colour drain from the

she–wolf’s skin.

“…Riaghaire…?” Beatrice began, hesitant at disturbing him while he fed. This was probably his first proper meal in eighty years and who knew if he’d lash out at her for interrupting.

His body tensed at the sound of his name and he slowly turned to look at her out of the corner of his eye. Riaghaire’s mouth was still latched onto Lora’s neck, his eyes still crimson.

“I–I know you’re starving, but you need to leave before they realize what happened. If she mindlinked with anyone before passing out

He reacted like a dog with a ball who’d heard the command, ‘drop it‘; the vampire opened his mouth and Lora’s body fell the short distance to the floor.

Riaghaire watched Beatrice for what felt like an eternity before slowly standing up. Blood dripped from his mouth but it diin i seem to bother him as he closed the distance between them with his abnormal speed.

only a couple inches it meant she was now staring at his nose Feeling awkward about that, Beatrice With their height difference lowered her gaze until her eyes fell on the shackle fastened around his neck “Let me get that off of you,” she told hun.

With a purpose in mind, whatever had kept her frozen in place was gone, as was the tear of him drinking her dry. When she found something to focus on it made everything around her become irrelevant There was no more fear or anger, happiness or sadness, it was a wonderful state of mind that allowed her to exist in this comfortable place where only one thing mattered. Right now, that one thing was the shackle around Riaghaire’s neck.

1/2

56

18:52 Tue, Jun 16

Chapter 32

56

Beatrice reached up and ran her fingers over its edge, barely noticing when the vampire tensed as she brushed against his cold skin. “Can you kneel down a bit?” She asked after a moment. There had to be a trick to this thing, so she wanted to get a good look at it from all

angles.

There was a moment where she wondered if he’d do it or not but, eventually, he lowered himself into a kneel.

“Thanks,” she murmured, walking behind him to see it from the back. His hair was as long as he was tall and matted in the worst possible way. There was no saving most of it; he’d need to cut it off just to get rid of the clumps. It moved like a single sheet of hair when she pushed it to aside to reveal his neck.

On the back of the shackle was a type of lock she’d never seen before. It looked like some kind of puzzle. There was a circular c dial – with notches sitting in a depression whose edges were also notched. Was this some kind of rotary lock?

“Are you wearing other shackles?” She asked, already knowing the answer. Alise had said he wore multiple, after all. Beatrice hoped see the others would reveal some kind of clue on how to open the lock.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify