All The Queen's Horses {Myrnin, Morganville Vampires}

My Exotic Butterfly

Chapter 41 - My Exotic Butterfly

Awareness came to me slowly. My head was pounding. I groaned, exhausted by the effort it took to open my eyes. My throat burned with thirst. Where the hell was I?!

And then I remembered - Professor Silver!

I violently thrashed to get up and was stunned to find my arms and legs were chained tightly, restraining me to a bed. My writhing caused the thin sheet that covered me, to slip down, exposing one of my breasts. I held perfectly still as a new horror dawned on me - I was naked.

"Oh good, you are awake," Professor Silver murmured as he tugged the sheet back in place, covering me.

Fury rolled through me. My eyes blazed crimson as I hissed, "What did you do to me, you sick son of a bitch? Is that what you brought me here for? To get me naked and chained to your bed?!"

His expression was unfazed as he replied, "Certainly not. I have no concern in using you for my own sexual gratification. I have no need to force a woman to be with me, and that type of behavior is beneath me. Taking you was a spur of the moment decision - a golden opportunity - so I did not have time to gather appropriate clothing. Quite frankly, you are vampire now, so I did not suspect you would care."

So many things about his response caused my head to spin. "So kidnapping and torture are perfectly okay, but you draw the line at violating my body sexually? And you assumed there could be any part of this process that I would not care about?" I snapped sarcastically. "Well, I do care... About all of it! I do not want to be chained to your bed - for any reason - and I do not want to be naked!"

"If you agree to work with me, I may be able to rectify your situation somewhat to make you more comfortable," he placated me calmly.

I narrowed my eyes at him, and then looked around for the first time. We were in some sort of cabin. I suspected I would find woods outside because I could smell pine from the trees. And it would make sense that he would want this place to be isolated from the general population. "Where are we?"

"Montana. I keep labs in various cities and countries around the world, so that I have all of the necessary tools on hand whenever needed." He nodded behind him, toward the wall of high-tech lab equipment, computers and weapons.

I inhaled sharply and decided to try to keep him talking for as long as possible. "How did you break free from Myrnin's compulsion?"

"I can't be compelled," he responded simply.

"You can't be compelled..." I repeated him quietly. Myrnin had worked alongside of him for years, on multiple projects, but he had obviously not known the professor was immune to compulsion. It didn't make sense. I asked, "Are you that powerful?"

"No, I am that smart," he smirked expectantly, like he was waiting for some sort of affirmation from me.

I planned to give him something, but it definitely wasn't accolades. I seethed, imagining ten different ways to tear his creepy green eyes out of his skull. But if I wanted to overpower him, I needed to know what I was up against. With great effort, I choked down the stream of obscenities that kept climbing up my throat, and feigned professional curiosity instead. "How did you accomplish that?"

I knew it wouldn't take much prodding to get him talking. He obviously enjoyed his topic, and shockingly assumed I would find any sort of value, just because I had an interest in science. Maybe if I were not the lab rat, I would.

As expected, his expression lifted as he rattled on, "I have spent centuries perfecting concoctions, created from thousands of elements, found all over the globe. Making myself impervious to compulsion had been a long time goal. I found it quite necessary, given the company I kept." He raised an eyebrow at me knowingly, making an obvious reference to Myrnin and Gwion. "It burns like hell going down, but I have gotten used to it over the years."