Page 50 of Blood Moon Bound

“What the fuck do you mean gone?”

“Some of her things are missing. And one of the guards saw John’s car outside the grounds.”

My mind roared, and the monster exploded to the surface. I was already running for the car, Veera right behind me. “I’m on my way.” I jumped in the car, started it, and planted my foot on the gas. I’d fucked up. Delphine wouldn’t leave me for another male, but I’d watched her grow in confidence. My brave little female would leave if she believed I’d abandoned her, and I could guarantee John had positioned himself to be the one to help her.

I had thorough background checks done on all my staff before I hired them. John’s had been clean, but then some fuckers would do anything for money. It’d explain his sudden departure.

“You think this John works for Douglas?” Veera asked.

“Yes,” I growled and almost tore the steering wheel off. There was no aging relative who needed his help, of that I was now certain. He left before I found out who he worked for. He was no assassin, there was no chance he could get the jump on me, but he could spy and report back, he could get in Delphine’s ear and spread poison. I was going to find him and tear his throat out.

Douglas had Delphine, there was no doubt in my mind that’s where John had taken my mate. Her stepfather might have a buyer for Delphine, but he’d take his pound of flesh from her first. He’d make her pay, even though she had no control over any of this, because he was a sadistic fuck.

He’d been careful with her up until the night of the blood moon ceremony because he’d had to be.

He didn’t need to do that anymore.

Delphine was fair game, and that sick and twisted male was capable of anything.

Fifteen

DELPHINE

The iron manacles around my wrists dug in as I fought against them. “Please…don’t.” A scream burst from me as Douglas tore the white cotton dress from my back, exposing the deep cuts.

He’d used his whip on me earlier, and because I hadn’t fed in several days, my wounds were slow to heal.

He grabbed a thick white bandage and wrapped it around my torso roughly. “You had one job, Delphine, to marry someone wealthy and influential. All you had to do was spread your fucking legs and mate with the right male. That’s all. Instead you bond with a male who would leave us without our due.”

A sob burst from me. “I—I had no control over who...m-my mate was.” He knew that, logically he knew that. But he didn’t seem to care about logic at all. His main focus since I arrived here two days ago had been to make me scream in pain, and I had, so much, my throat was raw.

He closed the distance between us. “It’s only a matter of time before Constantine is dead. Thank fuck he didn’t actually want you. Sir Bentham wouldn’t take you if you’d been plowed by that monster of a male.”

John had been reporting to my stepfather, telling him everything we’d talked about. He’d drugged me to get me here. I’d heard them talking before Douglas handed him money and he left.

My stepfather thought me still a virgin, that I hadn’t mated, and I hadn’t corrected him. The way he spoke of it, it was important to Sir Bentham. And I knew in my gut if I admitted I’d mated with Constantine, he’d be furious; that he’d end my life, but not before he’d tortured me far worse than he had already.

And even now, I couldn’t help but hold out hope that Constantine would come for me. Despite everything, I believed he cared for me. Maybe not in the way he’d cared for Samara or Veera, but he’d been protective of me, territorial in the way of all older male vampires over their possessions.

Or maybe that was wishful thinking? My own mother hadn’t come to my rescue, and she had to know I was down here. She knew everything that happened in this house. She just chose to turn a blind eye.

Douglas undid my manacles and pulled me down. “You need to look the part,” he said and set my limp body in a chair, then pulled a blue ball gown over my head, dressing me like a doll. “You need to look good, and smile, or you’ll pay for it afterward.” He dragged a brush through my hair, dabbed blush on my pale cheeks, and smeared red lipstick across my lips.

He stood back. “There, that’s better.”

There was a knock at the door and Douglas smiled. “This will be Sir Bentham. He wants to inspect his purchase.”

I’d met Bentham before. He’d looked at me in a way that’d made me want to run upstairs and scrub my skin, even when I hadn’t understood what that look meant. Douglas opened the door. I couldn’t hear their muttered exchange, only Sir Bentham’s heavy footfalls and the tap of his cane as he walked toward me.

“Stand,” he barked at me.

His cold voice would have made me shiver if I hadn’t already been trembling. I tried to lift my head, but I didn’t have the strength.

“She’s not fed for several days,” Douglas said. “Like you requested. She’s weak.”

Bentham scowled, but nodded. “Makes this part a lot easier. Strap her to the table. No money crosses hands until I check the female’s still intact. I need an heir, but I won’t breed her unless she’s untouched.”

I struggled as best as I could as I was carried to a wooden table and strapped down on it, arms and legs wide. Bentham walked over slowly, gripping his cane in his fist, his cold gaze moving over my body. He didn’t actually need the cane, but I had seen him beat someone with it.