Free A Shade of Vampire 13: A Turn of Tides by Bella Forrest Page A

my fate. Even if it did mean inviting an early death to my door.

Chapter 10: Rose
    I was both relieved and frightened when the door finally opened an hour later. I held my breath as Anselm stepped into the room after Bella.
    He wore a long dark cloak over his lean shoulders, and his hair was slicked back. His face was clean-shaven, revealing his sharp jawline, and his brown skin smelt of a faint musk. If I didn’t abhor him so much, I would have almost described him as handsome.
    His orange eyes settled on me.
    “Arabella tells me that you wanted to see me.”
    I stood up as he closed the distance between us and stopped a foot away from me. I hovered my hand over the knife beneath my dress. I flinched as he slid his hands around my waist and placed a kiss on my neck. It was all I could do to stop myself from spitting in his face as he drew away, but I had to be careful. For now, if I was to have any chance of taking my revenge on this monster, I had to play a longer game.
    “Yes,” I said, focusing on keeping my voice steady.
    His eyes roamed my body. He turned on Bella. “How many meals per day has she been eating?”
    “Three,” she lied.
    “Increase it to four, and feed her more fats.” He turned back to me. “You’re privileged, girl. Not everyone who stays here receives the treatment you’re getting.”
    I forced a smile. “I appreciate it,” I said, fixing my eyes on his. “But I was hoping that I might persuade you that I’m better off alive than a meal on your plate.”
    He cocked his head to one side.
    I cast a glance at Bella and nodded toward the door. “Leave,” I ordered her.
    She looked at me as though I’d gone mad. She remained standing, waiting for Anselm’s reaction. When he nodded toward the door, she exited.
    Curiosity sparked in the man’s eyes.
    I stood up on the bed and, reaching for his hands, replaced them on my waist. “You said I’m a princess, did you not?”
    A smile curved the corners of his lips, though it looked more like a sneer than a smile. “Indeed you are.”
    “And you are a prince.”
    He nodded.
    “Then”—I leaned closer to his ear, dropping my voice to a whisper—“wouldn’t it make sense if we remained together?”
    Smirking, he pushed me back on the bed. “I’m not sure you could earn your keep. Whatever it was you offered me would have to be very, very good to forgo the taste of your tender flesh.”
    I shivered as he leaned over me, his eyes locked on mine. He lowered his head and pressed his face against the crook of my neck, taking a deep breath as he breathed in my scent.
    His body was almost flat against mine now. As discreetly as I could, I raised a knee so that he wouldn’t flatten me completely and I moved one hand down toward my right thigh. With the other hand, I gripped his collar and pulled him closer.
    “Perhaps you underestimate me,” I said softly.
    “I rarely underestimate people.”
    Parting my dress, I slipped the knife from its sheath and brought it slamming upward. He choked, his eyes growing wide as he stared at me, dumbstruck.
    “Is that so?” I look advantage of his momentary shock to grab the keys from his belt, roll him off me and leap out of the bed. I lurched toward the door.
    Throwing a glance over my shoulder, I swore beneath my breath. I had thought I’d rammed it right into his stomach, but due to his proximity, I’d missed my mark. Instead he had a stab wound near his hip. Clearly not fatal, as he staggered toward me, fury filling his eyes. Now that he was alert to me, I dared not go near him again in case he wrestled the weapon out of my hand.
    He let out a hoarse laugh as I fumbled with the keys, opened the door and began racing along the corridor.
    “So you like things rough, Princess?” he called after me, his voice rasping as his footsteps sped up. “I can accommodate rough.”
    My blood was pounding in my ears as I reached the end of the corridor and skidded round the corner. I ripped out the