Chapter 8

Evelyn s POV Escaping the dining room, I had only been in the shower for a few minutes when I heard the bathroom door s handle snap and fall to the floor. My heart skips a beat when I look over my shoulder, and Thaddeus standing in the doorway making me scream in fright. I watch as his chest rises and falls heavily with each breath he takes, a growl escaping his lips and a look of pure desire gracing his face. Fear consumes me as his eyes glaze over, turning pitch black. His fangs protruding, forcing his lips to part. Trying to cover myself as best I can, I keep my back to him. Thaddeus walks in, reaching for the handle on the shower screen. "Orion," I scream out to him, hoping he will make him go away. Orion steps in leaning on the doorframe, a bored look on his face. "Thaddeus," he calls to him. And I watch horrified as Thaddeus snarls, his face distorting in anger as he turns to Orion. Orion straightens up just as Thaddeus lunges at him. My scream echoes and bounces off the tiled walls as I frantically turn the water off. I can hear fighting and things getting broken. Grabbing my towel, I wrap it around myself before stepping into the bedroom. Thaddeus has Orion on the ground before Orion shoves him off. Ryland walks in and pinches the bridge of his nose. I look to Ryland, but he just shrugs, and I can tell he isn t going to help Orion, I watch as Thaddeus punches Orion before flinging him into the dresser. Orion shakes himself off, getting to his feet when the lights flicker. My heart hammers in my chest and I find it hard to breathe as I watch both of them fight each. Thaddeus kicks Orion, and he smashes through the wall. Orion doesn t even have a chance to get up before Thaddeus stalks toward him. Rushing forward I grip Thaddeus arm trying to stop when he shoves me away, making me fall onto the carpet at the end of the bed. My body hitting the floor with a soft thump. I gasp and I see Ryland go to help me up when Thaddeus s eyes snap to mine. His entire body turns as he reaches down, grabbing my ankle. I kick at him before scrambling backwards, clutching my towel to me. Thaddeus growls and I look to Ryland for help, but he just stands there confusing me. Thaddeus lunges at me. I try to shove him off and he growls low, making my hair stand on end. His face in the crook of my neck as he inhales. When he pulls his face back, I see my reflection mirrored in his demonic eyes. Fear flooding into me as I see Orion stand. I scoot back on my hands, but Thaddeus just stalks me, following me before he knocks me flat on my back, his hands clawing at my towel, as his lips and tongue go to my neck. I try to shove him off. Panic consumes me as I watch Orion and Ryland step closer but do nothing but watch as he pulls me around like a puppet on strings, forcing my hands above my head. I watch as he lifts his head, his nose running across my cheek. I feel my breath get caught in my throat when I realise, he isn t a man in this moment but the monster lurking beneath the surface. The monster everyone fears, The Dark King. I can feel my heart bumping my blood around my body, hear my pulse in my ears as he leans his weight on me. Tears brimming in my eyes as I watch horrified as his fangs graze my lips and I feel my blood trickle down my chin. When he drops his head into my neck, I know he is going to bite me. My heart thumps against my chest erratically, and I struggle against his hold on my hands before dropping my face, trying to shield him from my neck when he growls. "Orion, please," I plead with him to help. He goes to step forward when Ryland s hand to stop him. "Leave her," he tells him, making my blood run cold. Why won t they help? I struggle against Thaddeus, but his grip just gets stronger as he tugs my towel down before palming my breast roughly. Crying out when he squeezes it, I feel his fingers bruising my skin. I try to free my hands that are trapped in one of his. Thaddeus face leaning closer, his eyes not leaving my neck, and I can tell he wants to feed on me. He was gone too far gone, in this moment everything that makes him part human gone. His growl was feral, and I see Orion hesitate, but Ryland s hand gripped his wrist, tugging him back. "She needs to learn," Ryland s says, making eyebrows furrow. Learn what? How to fucking die? I think I am a master at near-death experiences. Thaddeus watches me curiously, his head tilting to the side as he examines my face, like he is trying to remember who I am and what I am to him. His eyes flicker oddly between their hypnotic green and the black orbs. My eyes dart to his razor-sharp fangs, so close to my face, making me wonder if dying will hurt when he sinks them into me. Adrenaline courses through me I watch as he sniffs the air closing his eyes relishing my scent, and I do the only thing I can in the position I am in, completely at his mercy. I kiss him, his fangs slicing through the skin on my lips. He froze for a second, and I could practically see the wheels turning in his head, trying to decide if he wanted to kill me or take me. I went to pull back from him, unsure, when his hand gripped my hair tightly, making me scream at his viciousness. His tongue plunges into my mouth, swallowing my scream as he hungrily devoured my lips, pushing himself between my legs. His hand grips my hips and his nails bite into my flesh painfully as he continued his brutal assault on my lips before finally letting me catch my breath as his lips moved to my chin and I sucked in much needed air. His lips biting and sucking on my flesh savagely as he used his hand to tug my towel down, exposing my breast before he bit into it. Tears brim and fall down my face as I tried to get him to loosen his grip, his nails cutting into me everywhere he grabbed me, his fangs grazing my ribs as he hungrily devoured my skin. The pain becoming too much, and I knew I was covered in bite marks and was bleeding onto the carpet. I feel his fangs sink into my other breast and I gasp, choking on air at the searing pain. "Please stop, you re hurting me, Thaddeus," I choked out, and he froze again. My hand shakily touches his face, pulling it away from my chest. He looks at me and it is like it is the first time he noticed me. Really noticed what he was doing to me. He sat up on his elbows and looked over my body, and I could see the fear in his eyes at what he just did. His hand going to the bite mark on the top of my boob, and I wince when his fingertips brush it, making his eyes dart to mine. "I m sorry, I… I…" He doesn t finish, just gets up before looking down at me as I clutched the towel, trying to wrap it around me and cover myself. He then turns on his heel and leaves the room. Ryland and Orion watch me as I sit up. Orion offers me his hand and I slap it away. "Why didn t you help me?" I ask, feeling tears run down my cheeks. My skin was stinging, and I could feel blood running down my thigh from my hips as I stood up. Orion looked hurt by my words before he turned and glared at Ryland. Ryland s POV Helping her would have just frightened her and caused more damage. Plus, she could get hurt in the process. Orion, I could tell, wasn t forgiving of what I just did, leaving her at his mercy. She was terrified of him, and she had a good reason. Thaddeus was more monster than man. More instinctual and ran purely off emotions. Evelyn needs to learn her fear only entices him, makes him crave her like a drug. She doesn t realise how much her fear perfumes the room, how strong her scent becomes when she is in this state. Some may think what I did was cruel, but she needs to realise that being around Thaddeus she needs to control her emotions. We wouldn t have let him rape her, would have stopped in when he tried. We could both see he was hurting her, but I wanted to see if she could reign him in, bring him back from the darkness that had a hold over him. Orion and I have tried for decades to help him remain in control, both of us given up hope of taming him. I wanted to help him become a better man, but the lifestyle I must admit is addictive, taking what you want when you want it. Orion never agreed, but to me it was just easier than putting up with his wrath. I knew Thaddeus loved us in his own way, as much as the dark Tribrid can. With Evelyn, I could feel him fighting himself more, trying more with her. She just saw him as a monster, yet if she knew him before we saw her she would be right in thinking that. But he is always holding himself back with her, even if it doesn t seem like it. Trying to be what she wants, so she doesn t fear him. Anyone else, he would have just fucked them and ripped them to pieces when he was done or drained them. Humans were mere toys to him, something to fulfill his needs and a food source, but with her he struggled to not take what he wants. A struggle it was, but at least he was struggling. If she weren t our mate, she would be dead already, and the fact she was ours gave me hope that there was still a part of him clinging to the shred of humanity he has left. When Evelyn cried out that he was hurting her, I watched his back tense. Could feel him trying to bring himself back at the sound of her voice, like a switch being flicked he sat up. Looking down at her bruised and battered body, his guilt hit me like a tonne of bricks. I watched as he stuttered over his words, and in the entire thirty-seven years I have been with him, I have never seen him try to apologise to someone, let alone ever felt guilt or fear through the bond from his actions. Even when he hurt us, he never apologised, just became angered. Evelyn brought back emotions I had never felt from him before. Emotions that I know, Thaddeus sees as weakness. The merciless monster feeling something not even Orion or I could bring out of him. Decades we tried and failed, she has been with us for just over twenty-fours and got more emotion out of him then we have. She may think he is a monster, may fear him. But little did she know she would have him wrapped around her fingers in no time. She has the power the change him and witnessing this moment gave me hope. He wasn t gone completely. Wasn t lost to the darkness, maybe he could be saved. Maybe she could be the one that saves him.