Lord Vandergrift Awakened

Lord Vandergrift Awakened Lynn Marie Chapter 1 Kianna's POV “Come, pet.”, Elder Jensen takes my arm, pulling me from the floor. The girl attached to me scurries further back, as far as the chain allows. “Elder… please… I just want to go home. I… please.”, I try to stop the tears rolling down my cheeks, but it’s of no use. He kisses my jaw, nipping at my cheek. “Your home is gone, pet.”, he squeezes my breast, pressing me back against the wall. “I can make you feel better.” “No… please, no.”, I beg him, turning my face away from him, trying to slip out of his hold. He adjusts his grip to pull me back in front of him. “Stop being so squirmy, pet.”, he warns. His grip is bruising as he pins me to the wall, using the chain for leverage to keep my arms down. He twirls the wet strands of my hair around his finger. “You want to please me… this nonsense is not good for you at all.” They’d forced us into the shower room together, took all we had, and gave us jeans with matching pale teal t-shirts. We’d only recently found ourselves discarded here. Within hours this morning, my entire world has been turned upside down. He gently lays the strand against my breast, letting the cool water from my hair soak my shirt. I feel my n****e pebbling as he intentionally saturates the fabric. He cups my breast again, squeezing and kneading. The tears continue to spill as I try to control the trembling. I plead softer, begging him not to touch me. “Shhhh, pet.”, he coaxes, unbuttoning my jeans and slipping his hand down the back. He presses his body against mine as he prods at my underwear, trying to move it aside. “Please… please don’t.”, I beg him. He slips his fingers into me and I scream, using my power to make the sound unbearable, “HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!”, he scoffs angrily, withdrawing from me. He shoves me backward, and I trip over the other girl cowering beneath me. I fall clumsily over her, tangling us both in the chains. The back of my head smacks the concrete hard, taking my vision momentarily. “Ridiculous.”, he mumbles, walking out of the room. She helps me sit up, and move back around her to untangle us. “You mustn’t anger them.”, she whispers, almost sounding as if she were under water with the pulsing in my head. I take a deep breath, closing my eyes and steadying my mind before looking up at her again. “I’m Kianna…”, I return, using my gift to hide our conversation. “Nile.”, she whispers back. “Listen, I know you’re new to being a familiar. That is not what you want to do at all. Angering your owner is a very dangerous game.” “I don’t want to mate him.”, I return. “You mate him, or he will force you to mate twenty other men so you learn not to deny him again.”, she whispers. “What?”, I question, fear and shock gripping me. “When a familiar isn’t compliant, she gets passed around to be broken. That way, you’ll be grateful for only one owner… if he chooses to keep you. If you don’t please him, you may end up being for common.” I search her eyes, finding only truth. I can still mate with only him, or has he already decided to pass me? How do I know? I remain silent, letting this new information soak in. Throughout the day, I watch women working around the kitchen, though the refrigerators seem to contain no food. Other women enter, unchained, wearing the same thing we are. They take seats around the room. A woman enters, the others call her Yursal. She’s checking on everyone, and getting us water. She unchains me and takes me to the bathroom, then takes Nile. We are chained again once we are both seated. As the sun begins to rise, a scream echoes through the halls, startling several of the women here. A shutter rolls through the room. Those like Nile, remain unmoving. As if they’d trained their bodies not to respond or react. I notice the women sitting, unchained across from us chancing glances down the hall; frowns etched on their faces. I lean forward just enough to see a girl crawling down the hallway, naked and bleeding. I feel the blood draining from my face and the nausea rising. The eldest Jensen exits behind her, stepping over her to call Yursal. She hurries to the girl, helping her up and supporting her weight as she takes her away. He looks over at me, and I hurry back against the wall. “Kelt!”, he calls. “Yea.”, I hear the answer further into the hall. “The little auburn pixie, she’s for common tonight?”, my heart stops. “I’m going to give her another chance after tonight. If she’s still being difficult, I’ll let you break her in.”, he answers. I look over at Nile. She frowns at me, whispering, “You’d better submit the next time the Elder comes for you, Kianna.” “Even if she is more receptive this next time, I still want her.”, he calls back. “You can sample her, brother. Just let me play with her a little first.”, he answers. Those words replay in my mind endlessly. The hours going by in a daze of fear and lightheadedness. I can’t find the calm the women across from me have. They read their books, gossip softly, and study us. “Nile… I’m afraid.”, I confess. We’ve had toast for breakfast, and an apple for lunch. Even with so little, my stomach churns, threatening to evict its contents. The entire day, Elder Jensen has not come back for me. That must mean it’s too late. “It will be okay, Kianna. Just take deep breaths.”, she whispers back, squeezing my hand. Night is beginning to fall now. I can hear movement further up the hall, elders awakening and shuffling about. “Yursal, ready them for transport. It’s almost time to leave.”, I hear a male out front calling into the house. The lady with Yursal unchains Nile and takes her to the bathroom. Yursal squats in front of me. “This is not the coven you want to be in, young one. You’re going to a commons party. Many Elders from different covens will be there. You must find a coven with mostly mated Elders. You’ll see them together in groups.”, she hands me a bottle of water and a small bag of dried fruit and mixed nuts. “My gifts shield our voices. You may speak to me, no one can hear us.”, I assure her. “Yursal… I… I don’t want to go. Yursal, please.”, I try to stop her. I’ve heard her ordered to ready us for transport. “What’s your name?”, she asks. “Kianna.” “You must go, Kianna.”, she says kindly, but firm. “No… no, please.”, the tears spill over my cheeks. Night fall is coming. Where we are going, it can’t be good. “Listen to me very carefully, Kianna…”, tears well in Yursal's eyes as she grips my chin, forcing me to look at her. “Your absolute best chance at having a tolerable existence in this awful world you’ve found yourself in… stop this crying and begging not to be touched… you’ll push the decent ones away and only the wicked will still come for you. You find the strongest Elder you can; from pretty well any other coven. You do whatever you must, hold onto him. You must get a male that will not allow Jensen to bring you back here.” “How do I know which is a good one to accept?”, I ask her. “A Grand Elder, a possessive one.”, she answers. “I don’t know how to find one… I don’t know what to look for!”, I argue, knowing that too soon, I’ll be taken to this party. “Calm… shhh… calm, Kianna. You can find one. You’re still young and beautiful. Look for the male the other Elders are either eager to please or cower away from. He won’t ask for anything; he demands, and it is so. The possessiveness is most easily spotted when he blocks you off, or corners you, to obscure view of you. If you can find one like that, you want to be his alone; get his claim. Accept being one of his familiars… just get his claim.” “How do I get away if another finds me first?”, how do I get his attention at the party? “Kianna… you try for whichever male seems least comfortable with what they’re doing. You can’t stop it. Desperately try for the male that appears to dislike it. Only another Elder can pull you from the commons room.”, Yursal answers, defeat in her voice. “Surely… it’s safer in the crowded room.”, I think aloud. She shakes her head. “No. They will strip you, feed from you and release their urges, then pass you to the next male that wants you. You can go with one, or stay with the collective group that choose to pass women around the edges of the room.” “Do you know where I’m going?”, I ask as we hear the Elders speaking in the front hall. “No… Only that it’s a party in a commons room. If you can’t capture and keep the attention of a single male, Kianna, you will be passed around to dozens tonight. Here… drink this now so you don’t fall pregnant.” “I’m… I’m a virgin.”, I argue as she forces the vial into my hand. She frowns, still pulling the cork. “You won’t be anymore… not after tonight.” Nausea grips me as she presses the vial to my lips. I drink on autopilot, trying to stem the panic that has come back to life. Lose my virginity… to dozens of men in a single night… if I can’t find one that is somehow both feared and decent… “Kianna…”, her voice is forceful. I refocus on her. “Crying and begging will only lure all the predators to you. Stay strong, and be watchful. Get yourself seen by the powerful Elders. The first opportunity you get, you take the strongest one you can and get out of there. Go wherever he wants to take you, just get out. If he wants to leave with you, he’s already better than most that will be there.” I nod shakily as I hear the driver calling for Yursal to start sending us out. “I… thank you.”, I tell her. She hugs me tightly and begins calling all the women that have been gathered here into the truck. “I pray for you, Kianna. Go.”