Chapter 375: Worthwhile Experiment
"I will go look for August. She shouldn’t be out roaming around the castle. Are you sure she stayed in here and didn’t let her curiosity or her intuition get the best of her?" Nedra asked.
"Who knows," Penelope blew out a breath. "Let me out and I will come with you."
"I can’t do that," Nedra shook her head.
The Winter glared at her. "Are you serious? You will just leave me here?"
"Do you really think it’s a good idea if Zagan comes looking for you and both of you are gone? He will be furious," she hissed. "And after he’s done taking it out on you, he will come find me to blame for it."
"Can’t you do something? Surely you aren’t going to just leave me here like this," Penelope held her arms out again, letting the bangle-like cuffs clatter together as her wrists hit each other.
"I’m sorry, Winter," Nedra replied and walked toward the door.
"It’s Penelope."
"What?" she spun around.
"My name is Penelope."
Nedra paused for a moment in thought. "You know," she started, walking back toward Penelope, "if you like experiments, I have one for you."
Penelope’s eyebrows pinched together at the sudden change in topic, and she tilted her head curiously.
"When Zagan is around you next, see if you can get him flustered. I have not once seen that vampire act embarrassed or unsure of himself. He is always confident and ruthless and cunning," she said.
"Why would I do that?" Penelope frowned. "That doesn’t sound like much of an experiment."
"Let’s just entertain the idea that he could possibly have a mate," Nedra replied. "You are already describing him in a way that I don’t recognize. Perhaps we test the idea."
"You are still thinking I could be his mate?" her face twisted in disgust. "Haven’t we already decided that wasn’t the case?"
"No," Nedra chuckled. "We haven’t decided. You may think it isn’t the case, but I’m not so sure."
Penelope huffed her dislike of the idea and glared at the female suggesting it.
"Oh consider it, Penelope. Would that not be a far easier way of killing him rather than some elaborate unknown ritual that a fae would have to perform? Does August even know how she would go about doing something like that?" Nedra asked. "And then the control of it would be in your hands rather than someone else’s."
"There is no way I am his mate. The chances are..."
"They are quite slim, aren’t they? But then I never thought I would see him sequestering alyko away here in his castle and so close to his personal space. He is a very private, secretive individual. This is out of character for him," she explained. "I only suggest that you test the idea."
Penelope crossed her arms, cutting herself off from the idea and comforting herself at the same time. "It is not something I would like to imagine."
"Has he been back to see you?" Nedra asked, a smile teasing her lips. "Does he know you are in here?"
Penelope thought of the food that was brought and Brandt’s insistence that she eat. Zagan had told him to make sure she ate. Her eyebrows pinched together. Why would he care whether she ate? Her stomach suddenly felt sick as the possibility of him caring for her bloomed to life.
"Yes, he knows I am here. He hasn’t been to check on us since..."
"Since what?" Nedra’s eyes danced with curiosity.
"He must have drank from me, but I don’t remember it," Penelope wrapped her arms tighter around herself, the sick feeling raging stronger.
"He drank from you? And he hasn’t been back to see you since," Nedra smirked. It seemed her theory might be gaining more traction. "If you didn’t remember it happening, he compelled you. And he never compels anyone anymore. He also never drinks from anyone without their consent."
"Why?" Penelope shivered, remembering how his eyes had changed with a sudden predatory thirst when they were in the lab and how he wrestled control over himself before vanishing. "He compelled me?"
"I suggested to him that it would be better for everyone if he asked for permission rather than traumatizing the alyko further with the constant fear that he would arrive at any moment, demanding to be fed by them," she explained. "Which is what he was doing after he stopped compelling them."
"Why did he stop compelling them?" she asked.
"When he compels people, they are so agreeable that he finds it difficult to stop. And he drains them completely," Nedra told her. "He didn’t want to kill any more of his precious collection here."
Penelope’s face paled. She had been compelled and could have been drained of all of her blood? Goddess, this was terrifying.
"Why would he do that to me?" Penelope shivered again, returning to her spot on the bed where she sat. "Maybe that is why I felt the way I did when I woke up."
"How did you feel?" Nedra asked.
"Um. My head and my... my heart. It ached. It felt like there was a cage encircling it," she recalled, clutching her chest at the memory. "That’s how I ended up in here. I awoke in his office and August found me in the hallway. She brought me in here to rest."
"I have never heard of a heart reacting that way afterward. And you were in his office?" Nedra asked. This kept getting better and better.
"Yes," Penelope said quietly. "I haven’t seen him since. And now I definitely don’t want to."
What if he compelled her again? There was no knowing what this vampire would do to her. Had she nearly died?
"I think my suggestion is a most worthwhile experiment," Nedra smirked. "And if you want to take it a step further, try enticing him with your blood again."
"Are you crazy?!" Penelope exclaimed.
"Think about it at least. I will see you again, Penelope," Nedra gave her an encouraging smile and left through the door just as quietly as she came.
