Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 116875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 468(@250wpm)___ 390(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 468(@250wpm)___ 390(@300wpm)
“Okay.” I lean back and push my hair out of my face. I feel like my whole world has tilted on its axis, but now it’s spinning smoothly. “Sorry. We can go back to your evil ceremony or whatever. I love all this by the way.” I wave a hand around the sanctuary. “Very Dante’s Inferno. Black is the new black, I think—”
Kaiser grips my hand again, and I shut up.
“You ready?” he asks.
“Yes.”
The Devil clears his throat. “Usually, we hold a collaring ceremony at Club Empire first, and then there’s a sacrifice. But you, Belladonna Bosco, have already killed for Fraternitas.” He motions to the Giant’s body. “Your place among us is secure, if you wish it.”
“I do.” I take a deep breath so I really feel it. “I wish it.”
“Kaiser,” the Devil says, “do you vow to love and honor your elita? Will you care for her and keep her, cherishing her above others? Will you fight to protect her and put her safety before all else, even your own life?”
“I so vow.”
“Belladonna Bosco.”
“Present.” I wave a hand. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Elodie bite her lower lip to keep from laughing.
“Do you vow to submit to Kaiser and wear his collar as a sign of your loyalty and love? Will you honor and obey him and give yourself over to him in full and complete surrender?”
“I so vow.” My knees have started hurting because they’re pressed into the hard stone, but I embrace the discomfort. It makes me feel submissive.
Lucy rolls up. She now has a pillow in her lap, holding both the dagger and a silver collar.
Kaiser removes the black ribbon from around my neck and replaces it with the collar. The metal is cool to the touch, and I stroke it, enjoying its weight on my neck. There’s something comforting about being held like this. Forever. Maybe that’s why the submissives at Club Empire looked so peaceful.
Father Francis comes forward and starts intoning something solemn, speaking another language.
Kaiser leans in and whispers, “It’s Latin.”
“What does it mean?”
“You’re one of us.” He nods to the ranks of masked men. “Joined to them through me.”
I close my eyes and let the words roll over me. You are not alone. But it’s a lot to take in, so I just let myself lean into Kaiser’s warmth and his scent.
Father Francis says in English, “Above all, you commit your life to the one you have chosen. You will be bound together by water, by fire, by death, and by blood. So shall you vow.”
“Yes, I so vow,” Kaiser says.
“Yes, I so vow,” I say and shiver, because this feels huge. Like a graduation, a wedding, and a funeral all rolled into one.
Focus, Bella!
Together we dip the dagger into the Giant’s blood, then into a goblet that Lucy holds.
Kaiser helps me up, and we join hands over a silver bowl set on the altar above the Giant’s head.
“Together in life. Bound by death,” Father Francis murmurs, making the sign of the cross over our hands.
The Devil pours the bloody water from the goblet over our hands. I expect it to feel cold, but it’s not. It’s warm, and somehow that’s worse.
I’m a killer. I’ve always been, but now, taking part in a ceremony of death and communion, I get how fucked up I am. But this is natural, right? Life and death flowing in one endless circle. Everyone dies. Sometimes, I just help things along. Trim the diseased limbs and prune the vine of humanity so it bears good fruit.
Someone has to do it. It might as well be me.
Father Francis steps back. So do Lucy and the Devil. Several robed Fraternitas figures approach the altar, where they lift the Giant’s body and cart him away.
I stare up at Kaiser, every nerve ending sizzling with excitement.
“Is that it?” I ask.
“That’s it.”
He lifts me off the chair and sets me right on the altar. Feels a little sacrilegious. I like it.
He grips my hair, pulling my head back. I gasp, and he tugs my hair harder, baring my neck to him. Dom Kaiser is back, and he’s all business.
I lick my lips. “What now?”
“Now I claim you properly.” And he pushes me to lie back on the altar. The silver bowl crashes to the floor, and pink water spatters everywhere. He forces me down on the stone slab, releasing my hair so he can hold me down by my throat.
I love it.
I feel alive.
My hair is soaking up the bloody liquid, and I don’t care. Wash me clean. Wash me bloody.
“Kiss me,” I whisper, and he does. He leans over and tastes my lips like he can’t get enough of the flavor. I try to lean in, wanting more, and he pulls my hair, controlling the kiss. It feels so good to be held down, controlled. He’s trapped me, and there’s no escape. He will never leave. He wants me too much.