Chapter 34

Elena's POV

My face burned immediately at his words, sent an unwelcome heat coursing through my body. I hated how easily he could affect me, how my traitorous skin tingled where his breath had touched my ear.

"Stop it," I managed.

I needed distance between us, needed to clear my head of his intoxicating scent. "This isn't healthy."

"What isn't?"

"This." I gestured between us, my hand trembling slightly. "Whatever this is. You treating me like I'm just... available whenever you want, for whatever you want." I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly feeling exposed despite being fully clothed. "When campus was buzzing with rumors about me, when Olivia was flaunting herself all over you, where were you? Nowhere."

His expression hardened. "I was—"

"You were what?" I interrupted, "Busy? Uninterested? Just waiting for me to come crawling back so you could have sex with me again?" I shook my head, disgust and disappointment churning in my stomach. "That's all this is to you, isn't it? Sex."

Dominic reached for me, but I backed away, pressing myself against the car door.

"I don't want this anymore," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "I want to take care of my father. I want to finish school. I want a normal life without all this... drama."

"Normal?" He almost sneered the word. "Is that what Ethan was? Your attempt at normal?"

"Ethan was a mistake," I admitted, "but at least he was honest about what he wanted from the beginning."

Something dangerous flashed in Dominic's eyes. "And I haven't been?"

"No. You haven't.You never told me what you really wanted from me. One minute I'm a Lyra substitute, the next I'm your property, then you're ignoring me completely while flirting with my worst enemy."

Dominic was silent for a long moment. Finally, he turned away, starting the car with a sharp twist of the key.

"I'll take you to your father's house," he said, his voice cold.

The rest of the drive passed in tense silence. When we pulled up outside my house, I grabbed my bag and reached for the door handle, desperate to escape the suffocating atmosphere.

"Elena." Dominic's voice stopped me. "Be careful."

The warning sent a chill down my spine, though I couldn't explain why. I nodded once and slipped out of the car, not looking back as I hurried up the walkway to the front door.

The house was quiet when I entered, too quiet. Elaine and Chloe's shoes were by the door, so they were home, but there was no sound of television or conversation, no smell of cooking or cleaning products. Just... stillness.

"Dad?" I called, making my way to his room.

He was asleep, his breathing even, the medical equipment humming softly beside him. Nothing seemed out of place.

I made a simple dinner for myself, eating alone at the kitchen table, straining to hear any sound from upstairs where Elaine and Chloe presumably were. The silence felt oppressive, deliberate somehow. I considered knocking on their doors but dismissed the thought immediately. The last thing I needed tonight was another confrontation.

By the time I finished cleaning up, exhaustion had settled deep in my bones. I desperately needed sleep, needed to shut out the world for a few hours.

With one last check on my father, I finally headed to my own room, flipping on the light switch as I entered.

The lamp illuminated a figure sitting in the chair by my window. I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth to stifle a scream.

An elderly man with unnaturally pale skin and piercing gray eyes regarded me with cold interest. His suit was impeccably tailored, his silver hair swept back from a high forehead. Despite his apparent age, there was nothing frail about him.

"Elena Blackwood," he said, "At last we meet."

My hand fumbled for the doorknob behind me. "Who are you? How did you get in here?"

"Your stepmother was kind enough to invite me." His smile revealed unnaturally sharp canines. "I am Elder Ambrose."

The name hit me like a physical blow. Elder Ambrose—the vampire who had offered to buy me from Elaine months ago, who had wanted me as his "blood bank."

"That arrangement was canceled," I said, struggling to keep my voice steady. "I paid the debt."

"Ah, yes." He rose from the chair with fluid grace. "The sixty thousand dollars. Quite resourceful of you." He moved closer, his footsteps eerily silent on the wooden floor. "But your stepmother has accepted a more... generous offer."

My stomach dropped. "What?"

"One hundred thousand," he said simply. "Cash. Quite difficult for a woman in her position to refuse."

I backed away, my hand searching blindly for anything I could use as a weapon. "I'm not for sale. Not for any price."

"I'm afraid that's not your decision to make, my dear." He moved with inhuman speed, suddenly directly in front of me. His cold fingers traced my jawline, and I recoiled from his touch. "Your stepmother has legal authority over this household. And she has made her decision."

"I'm eighteen," I protested. "An adult. She can't sell me."

Elder Ambrose chuckled, "Such naivety. In the supernatural world, human laws hold little weight." His fingers moved to my throat, tracing the pulse point with disturbing fascination. "Your blood calls to me, Elena. Has done since I first heard of you. There's something... different about you. Something special."

I slapped his hand away, fear giving way to desperate anger. "Get out of my room. Get out of my house!"

"I don't think you understand your position."

He moved again, faster than my eyes could track. Suddenly I was thrown onto my bed, his weight pinning me down as his cold hand covered my mouth, silencing my scream.

"There's no need to make this unpleasant, your stepmother and stepsister have been compensated handsomely for their cooperation. They won't interfere."

I thrashed beneath him, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might burst from my chest. Elder Ambrose's free hand tore at my blouse, buttons scattering across the bed as he exposed my skin to the cold air.

"Such beauty," he murmured, his eyes darkening with hunger, "I'll taste all of you, little one."

Tears burned in my eyes as I struggled uselessly against his supernatural strength. The second assault in one day—was this really happening? I thought of my father, sleeping helplessly in the next room. Of Elaine and Chloe, deliberately ignoring whatever sounds might escape. Of Dominic, driving away, unaware of what awaited me.

Elder Ambrose forced my legs apart with his knee, his hand moving to tear at my jeans. I managed to wrench one arm free and reached desperately for my phone on the nightstand. My fingers closed around it just as he noticed my movement.

"No you don't," he snarled, grabbing for the device.

I hit speed dial blindly, praying someone would answer. The call connected just as Elder Ambrose tore the phone from my grasp, crushing it in his hand with terrifying ease.

"Foolish girl. Now you've made me angry."

He tore my jeans open with a single vicious movement, exposing my bare legs to the cold air.

"No one is coming to save you," he whispered, his fangs grazing my neck. "You are mine now."