A quick look around the room revealed the dark truth. Hidden in the shadows, other "blood-pets" knelt on the cold marble floors like dogs.
Their black latex outfit clung to their trembling bodies, offering neither warmth nor protection from the harsh winter and the painful blows of their masters.
Worn around their neck were thick silver collars; long chains extended from them, leading to the hands of vampire masters that sat above them.
Sasha's eyes returned to the female lead. Her pale neck untouched, free of chains and collars.
"Sweet bird, don't tell me you are here to plead for this stupid blood pet life?" Bran looked down at Elena.
A dangerous glint flashed in his eyes, "Because if you are, I am very disappointed with you."
Bran stared at his darling little pet, disappointment written clearly on his face, but such emotion soon turned into something else.
His expression twisted in rage, blood-red eyes locking onto Sasha with unrestrained fury.
By the sneer curling his lips, Sasha knew he was cursing her and wanted her to pay for what she had done to his lover.
In the story, Bran had always been the most affected when it came to Elena.
Such as the scene when she was stabbed, he monologued endlessly about how he couldn't forget his sweet bird bleeding in his arms, apologizing for her wrongdoings and stating that he had only started accepting her importance in his life and wasn't ready for her to leave him.
While other humans were a waste of space and disposable items to be used and discarded by him, he had stated that his 'sweet bird' was different, despite her weak human flesh.
Her being his 'soulbind' was only proof of such a declaration.
A 'soulbind' was a privilege and honor. A bind that could not be broken, no matter how much one tried. Even in death, their souls will be tied together.
Bran eyed his little sweet bird possessively. He was also the more unhinged one when it came to Elena.
"Please let me talk before you decide to judge me," Elena said softly, her voice trembling, but to her lovers' surprise, there was a hint of resoluteness in her eyes.
When she spoke, all eyes in the room were drawn to her.
'She is truly beautiful,' remarked Sasha, eyes taking in her alabaster-white skin, hair white as snow, cherry apple red lips, and eyes of liquid silver.
Even amongst other vampires, Elena was regarded differently because of her status and beauty.
Compared to the beatings, scorn, and humiliation forced upon other humans and 'blood-pets'.
She and they lived worlds that were far apart.
"We will allow you to speak, but note that whatever you say will have minimal sway with that 'disloyal dog' fate."
Cassius kept his words firm and without emotion.
For Cassius, who loathed humans, seeing them as a wasteful peck of space. Greedy beings who deserve such pitiful fates.
It took a bit more time; unlike his twin brother, before he fully opened his heart to Elena.
Right now, Elena was nothing but a possessive item to him. An item that brought interest and entertainment, such as her body and blood.
Cassius saw a naive and soft-hearted woman. Something he took great pleasure in. He enjoyed the way she seemed to seek his protection and how her body yearned for him.
But as Cassius' nickname implied, even if she was his soulbind, he believed there were bridges that she should not cross.
"I'm not as naive as you think, " Elena sniffed back tears, voice trembling.
"She stabbed me! A pain I have not forgotten."
Elena clutched at her chest, remembering the pain she felt when the blade stabbed into her lower left side. The fear, as she recalled that moment, was plastered over her pale face.
Sasha saw this and rolled her eyes, remembering what she had read about Elena when she had tried to flee from the kings.
In the book, Elena regrets running away and calls her actions rash, placing blame on the soulbind for weakening her heart and body.
Barely a day passed before she had found herself missing the king's presence and touch.
In her inner monologue, she even insisted that despite everything, there was kindness in them.
But Elena had forgotten or refused to release one particular thing-such kindness was only reserved for her.
Everyone else, especially those who were vampires, got treated like mud under a shoe.
Sasha glared at this fake saintess.
'In my honest opinion, this indecisive and crybaby heroine deserves whatever came to her. Her actions had killed nine people. Nine innocent people were gone, and here she is crying about how scared she was. Yet the script of the book was never going to allow her to die.'
She wore the halo of the female lead.
This meant that no real harm would ever come to her. The only adversary she faced throughout most of the book was petty jealousy and the two monsters she called her lovers.
Other than that, she walked a flowery path to happiness. While everyone else, especially humans, met tragic fates.
She was blessed, but everyone else was damned.
'Yet she is the one trembling in fear and pain?!' Sasha's old anger felt like it was coming to life again.
'Nine people had died because of her. And not just them, countless others were suffering for her lack of sense, and inability to harden her heart against the men she claimed to love, yet all allowed them to walk all over her.' Sash vented.
'If she wanted to be submissive and dormant, that's her business!'
Sasha thought bitterly.
'But don't drag others into your mess and endanger their lives. Not everyone wears the same shield of protection you do.'
The longer Sasha glared at that angelic face, eyes brimming with tears, lips trembling with sorrow.
The more her hate for this woman burned.
'Like they say, a pretty face is a weakness. I am weak to this fact, but my self-worth will always come first!' Sasha admitted to herself.
When Elena glared at Sasha with those silver eyes, glittering orbs that shimmered like moonlight, wide and pitiful, she looked so aggrieved, so heartbreakingly beautiful.
That Sasha almost pitied her… almost being the keyword.
'But I refuse. She deserves no sympathy from me.'
Sasha met Elena's gaze head-on, refusing to back down.
"Will you not apologize?" Elena asked, voice soft and trembling, yet daringly commanded.
"Is that a question? If so, it is a stupid one." Sasha shot back, her tone sharp enough to cut.
Oh, how she itched to give Elena the bird, or better yet, a slap to her face, but her arms were shackled and held behind her.
A single tear slipped down Elena's cheek. Right before it could touch the ground, without warning, a shadow stretched across the floor, coiling upward like smoke come alive.
Before anyone would react, a shadow hand had wrapped around Sasha's throat. Elena grasped as she watched the shadow choke Sasha.
Now it was Sasha who felt like she was about to cry.
The sound of her choking filled the air. She felt like her windpipes were about to burst, her eyes bulged, desperate to regain oxygen in her lungs.
"Dumb little fool! I should end you right now!" Bran snarled.
"No! Wait!"
Elena cried and looked towards Bran with a pleading look.
Tears shone on her cheeks. Bran drew ragged breath, frustration warping his face. Reluctantly, he gave in to Elena's pleas and commanded his shadow puppet to stop choking the prisoner.
When Bran released Sasha, she collapsed forward, gasping as air rushed back into her lungs
Gulping in the air, greedy and happy to read again, Elena directed her attention to Sasha. While Sasha was sucking in air, Elena bent down so that she could look at Sasha.
"Though I know I played a part in your friend's death," Her eyes flashed with quick guilt that left as soon as it came.
"I was reckless and regretted it. But I did not deserve to be stabbed! I could've died. If I had died, that would've been all your fault!"
Elena swallowed back her tears and tried to appear firm and brave as she locked eyes with Sasha.
"I cannot forgive your betrayal. You have served as my personal maid for a long time. I am grateful for the help and kindness you have shown me. Which is why I plead that your life remain intact, but that you suffer ten times the pain you inflicted on me."
For the first time, Elena's voice was resolute. Not weaving or trembling.
"You have deeply wounded me, Sasha."
Elena looked at Sasha with pain and disappointment in her eyes. Sasha sucked in a deep mental breath, exhaling as she tried to keep her chaotic emotions under control.
'And those were the ominous words I had been waiting for.'
Sasha knew they were coming, but to hear them out loud and have them thrown in her face made her want to double slap the female lead across the face.
Still, Elena's words confirmed what Sasha had already begun to suspect. But not only had she landed herself in that stupid, wildly, fucked up novel…
'But I had somehow transmigrated into the body of the personal maid who once served the female lead, suffering a fate worse than death—the maid whose name was never mentioned, until today, and it was the same as mine.'
Such a revelation had drained her, causing her to mentally shake her head.
'The fucking irony.' Sasha cursed.