Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 563: The last straw

Cedric just glared down at Arabella until Zarah left the room and closed the door behind herself. Though he instructed the guards to stand behind him and out of his way.

"You truly thought you had it all figured out, didn’t you?" he chuckled, "You thought you could just come in, bring in some of your bootlickers along and topple my reign?"

The blood had long since curdled in her veins, dragging the temperature of her core beneath surviving lows...

He knew. They knew!

"There it is!" again, he chuckled, "There is that face that tells me all I need to know," the chuckles turned to laughter, "I was right... You truly thought you would score,"

The laughter stopped at once, but his expression only shifted gradually, earning his face a sordid, frozen in time glare in the end. The sort that announced nothing good was on the way.

Her chin quivered as the words just died in her throat, still debating on whether making a sound would simply make things worse for her and her family.

"Don’t you worry," he nodded, "Your little friends are just cosy as we speak... Well, for now, at least,"

"What have you done?" the words shook just as much as the rest of her body did.

Cedric did not like that one bit. It was quite easy to tell, seeing the manner in which his features contorted into a glower that would scare the dead.

But that wasn’t all. No, the biggest indicator of his displeasure was the fact that the back of his hand connected straight with her nose in a sudden and brutal manner, sending her to the ground, onto her already damaged back.

As if that wasn’t enough, he walked around her to pick her dazed head by the hair, only to bang it against the edge of the metal cage next to them.

When her body fell to the floor a second time, the prince walked around in order to place his foot right on her neck and press downward ever so slowly.

"You filthy slut! Twice now, I have underestimated your cunning. I can at least admit to that," he stared down while gradually crushing her windpipes, "I am not making the same mistake a third time,"

The doors opened again for Atticus to walk inside. Through her foggy and fading vision, the General did not seem particularly bothered at the sight of her in that situation.

"I did not summon you here, General," Cedric’s voice turned drier, expression becoming colder despite his eyes remaining on Arabella who continued to choke for a breath.

"This isn’t what we agreed upon," Atticus, with his steady tone very much reminded her of Silas’ tendency to keep his cool even when discussing the most riling of topics.

"Well, I assumed you were already informed that there’s been a change of plan,"

Cedric pressed on his words harder than he did on her neck, null doubt, trying to prolong her suffering for as long as it was possible.

"Perhaps we can agree on a different arrangement," the General walked forward, but seeing the way Cedric pushed his foot down harder all of the sudden, he halted in his tracks.

"Why?" that was all the prince asked.

In response, the General merely tilted his head as though the question wasn’t clear enough.

"Of all the whores that will throw themselves at your feet! Why this one?" there was more emotion, more aggression in Cedric’s voice.

"We can’t help what we yearn for," Atticus said simply, "I am sure you understand that more than anyone else in this room, your highness," his eyes went from Cedric to Arabella’s fluttering eyes.

The longer that torment went, the darker the space around her grew. Their figures were becoming shrouded by flimsy veils that rendered them harder to distinguish with every second that passed and as for their voices... Well, they echoed further at the back of her mind as though drawing away as time slipped by.

What rang weirder was the fact that Cedric was even entertaining Atticus’ whims. Normally, he was the one being catered to and not the other way around. The fact that he was engaging further in that bargain with him instead of simply ordering the guards to drag him out was quite fascinating.

"You’ve heard of what she was trying to do, didn’t you?" Cedric swayed half of his face towards the General without fully turning back.

"I’ve heard indeed,"

"Then what is it you want with her? She is nothing but a-"

"If anything I want her more now,"

He dared cut the prince off and he was still standing!

But at that point, even Arabella started wondering... Why? Why would he want her even more after clearly expressing that he was on Cedric’s side?

Ultimately, even though she never professed her undying loyalty to them, what she dared do still qualified as betrayal in the eyes of people like them. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Then again, what did it matter?

All that truly mattered was that they got them...

But wait! Did they round all of them up or... Just some of them?

As heart wrenching as the thought was, Ada was sure to be among those that were caught. Her encounter with Zarah in the training room earlier that morning must have sprouted suspicion in them.

Enraged, Cedric bent down to grab Arabella by the hair then hauled her up by nothing else. Needless to say, her scalp begged for release that did not come too soon.

"This?! Is this what you really want?" he shook his arm and her along with it.

Without missing a beat, the General looked him dead in the eyes and calmly retorted, "Yes, that is exactly what I want,"

The prince pushed a bitter chuckle before tossing her back to the ground, "You... You sure are something special, Atticus," he laughed, "In any case, she is not allowed out of this room until we sort things out... Until I say so! Do you hear me?"

"I hear you," said Atticus.

"Put her in that cage where she belongs!" he ordered the guards that stood at the door, but not before landing a final kick right in her ribs.

That was it. The last straw that pulled the black curtains over her eyes for the night.