Simple? Simple? It has tied my arse up good and proper and I can’t get out of it. Not even trying to puffport my way out of it works.
“Vito!” I warn him, suddenly going still. I have realized that the more I struggle, the tighter the binds become. “Get me out of this.”
“Get yourself out,” he says, steadily. “If I can hold you, you can break it.”
Makes sense. I am supposed to be better at this than him. But, I can’t goddammit. I am stuck!
“What is this meant to achieve?” I ask, trying to keep my dignity intact.
“Well, other than putting you in a submissive position that is very tempting…it is to teach you to escape in case you ever need to. Basic magick, Aefre,” he explains.
“I don’t need to learn this,” I squeal. “I need to learn how to protect myself and my family!”
“And how can you do that while you are tied up?”
Good fucking question. Smart arse! Grrrrr!
I let out a howl of pain as the binds go tighter, causing the muscles in my arms to bunch up and strain against my dangling weight.
“Ow! Vito, please,” I beg him, when after a few more minutes of trying, I am still bound up.
“No,” he says firmly. “You can do this, Aefre. You just need to find it within yourself. Like you did with the Dragon magick.”
“That was easy,” I spit at him. “It required no concentration. This is…this is…STUPID!” I add with a roar.
Just at that moment, Frederick appears in the barn doorway and takes in the situation. Me bound up like a delectable present and Vito standing there leering at me. Yeah, it doesn’t look good, but I don’t expect the thunderous expression to cross Frederick’s face.
Nor do I expect the headlong run he takes at me, wrapping his arms around me and forcing me with all the strength of an ancient, and unbelievably angry, Vampire, to break the tie of the Faerie magick and send us both careening through the barn wall and down the side of the small hill to land in a heap at the bottom.
“Fuck!” I cry out as Fredrick lands on top of me. Déjà vu all over again?
He huffs at me and then in a flash he is off me and battling with Vito several feet away.
“What do you think you were doing?” he cries. “Trying to rape her? Is that it? She doesn’t want you, so you take her anyway?”
Wait? What?
“Frederick, no…”
“I was teaching her…”
“Taking advantage of her!” Frederick roars and punches Vito in the face hard enough to break bones.
And what happens next is pretty much what I expected...
They are brawling with each other, shouting and yelling and cursing each other till they are blue in the face. Blood is flying in all directions and as I scramble to my bare feet, I try to put a stop to this.
“Frederick! He was teaching me…or at least trying to…don’t…stop it…” But it is useless. He doesn’t hear me. Or, more like he hears me, but isn’t paying me any mind whatsoever. Wonder where he got that from?
Grunting. Sweat flying. Bodies tangled.
“Stop it!” I shriek, but it is to no avail. It is like this has turned into the fight of the millennium. These two beasts fighting over every single thing since they have known each other.
Or someone.
I narrow my eyes as I hear my name.
“You never had what we had,” Vito yells. “We were in love.”