Fate Bound (Fate Bound Trilogy Book 1)

by Madeline Freeman

  “I’ll do it!” I call. “I’ll do whatever it is you want as long as you don’t hurt her.”

  The girl holding the ropes drops her arms to her sides, her shoulders sagging as she gives a disappointed sigh. The guy in the leather gloves broods as he slips his hand into his back pocket and pulls out a bill, which he hands to Xander.

  Xander smiles as he pockets the money. “Kyle here thought I was foolish and overestimated the strength of the bonds that connect you dogs.” He jerks his chin at the kennel, and Kyle and the other guys drag Marisol’s limp body back toward it. “Quickly now. We’ve only got about a minute before she wakes up again.” He glances at the blonde. “Get the other one.”

  My heart pounds as the girl crosses to the other side of the room to another kennel-sized shape obscured by a blanket. “Who’s in there?”

  Xander tilts his head. “Consider him a test subject.”

  I combat the panic rising in my chest as the girl opens the kennel and pulls out a man I don’t recognize. He appears to be about my age, and the dazed expression on his face is enough for me to know he’s been drugged with something to keep him compliant. I inhale. Now that he’s no longer hidden away, I can smell that he’s human. “What do you want me to do?”

  “I thought it was rather obvious. I want you to turn him into a hybrid.” His lips curl.

  “I already told you: I don’t know how.”

  “All you need to do is bite him.” Xander says. “Do you know how vampires and werewolves turn people? Vampires inject a human with their venom. It doesn’t happen every time we bite someone—it has to be a conscious decision. I think that’s by design. If vampires injected everyone they ever bit with their venom, we’d have a lot more vampires on our hands—which in some ways would be cool, until the food supply ran low.” He joins the blonde and helps guide the test subject closer to me. “Werewolves, on the other hand, spread the virus that made them with every bite. But since they don’t go around chewing on humans, it’s not that big of an issue. Now, if I’m right, all you need to do is bite our friend here. Your special venom laced with the werewolf virus should be the special ingredient we need to make him like you.”

  I stare at the guy they bring closer to me. I had thought he was about my age—nineteen or so—but now I think I was wrong. He looks younger, maybe seventeen. He should be making plans for his senior year of high school and figuring out which colleges to apply to. He shouldn’t be here. Rage bubbles inside me. What right does Xander have to rip this boy out of his life? If he wants to go around killing vampires, that’s one thing. But this boy deserves to live.

  Xander’s eyebrows draw together as he nears me. “You’ve got that look on your face,” he says, narrowing his eyes. “That look like you’re trying to figure a way out of this. Let me tell you how this is going to go down: I’m gonna bring this boy to you, and you’re gonna bite him. If you don’t, I’m gonna pull your friend Marisol out of her cage and we’re going to torture her. And then you’re gonna bite this kid. Either way, you’re turning him into a hybrid.”

  My eyes flick toward Marisol’s cage. Xander was right about the tranquilizer wearing off quickly: She’s already awake, watching the events unfold beyond her kennel grate with wary eyes. I know Xander’s not bluffing. I could refuse to bite this kid, but he’ll just hurt Marisol. And if I refuse again, what’s to keep him from killing her? And if he kills her and I still won’t do what he asks, what’s to keep him from finding more people to torture and kill—more friends of mine?

  I lock my eyes on Xander’s. “If I do this, you’ll let me go home?”

  A self-satisfied smirk spreads itself across his face. “That was always the deal.”

  I gulp. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

  Xander glances at his companion, who flashes a grin. The two of them bring the boy within arm’s length of me. His eyes are glazed, and I wonder if he has any idea what’s going on or what’s about to happen to him. Xander and his companion lower the boy to his knees in front of me. He’s tall and lanky, and this position puts him at just the right angle for me to access his neck. At this distance, his scent overwhelms me. His natural odor indicates he hasn’t bathed in a few days, though I detect a hint of a musky body wash on his skin. But that’s not what distracts me. I see the pulse of his vein beneath the flesh on his neck, and the scent of his blood fills my nostrils. The familiar burning sensation in my teeth lets me know my incisors are lengthening. This isn’t like before, when I’ve fed from deer—it’s more like the moment I knew I needed to drink from Jack.

  My mind clouds. How long has it been since I’ve fed? Even if it had been earlier today, before the work my body had to do repairing itself after the car crash and the torture, I get the feeling my reaction would still be intense. It isn’t just need fueling me now—it’s desire.

  My eyes prickle, and even in his subdued state, the boy registers enough surprise to let me know my irises are flashing red. I open my mouth and sink my teeth into his neck. Breaking the skin takes no effort at all, and I begin lapping the thick liquid in an instant. It’s so good—better than anything I’ve ever tasted in my life—human or now. The warm sensation trickling down my throat satisfies me and at the same time makes me want more. I drink long, deep gulps; I hear muffled sounds, but none of them make any sense. Then the boy begins to jostle. He’s fighting me, but that doesn’t make sense. He’s been drugged, and he doesn’t seem to have enough self-awareness to put up much of a struggle. But then hands clamp around my throat, forcing my head backward. I snap and gnash my teeth as the boy’s neck is pulled away from me.

  “Easy there,” Xander says, not quite hiding the smile curling his lips. “That was just supposed to be a simple bite. Don’t want to drain him of too much before he goes through the change.”

  My incisors burn again as they shrink back to their normal size. With a nod from Xander, the person behind me releases me. My eyes land on the boy, whom the two guys have dragged to a safe distance and laid on the threadbare carpet. Blood stains the collar of his shirt, and his neck is smeared with red. Shame settles in my stomach. I did that. And what’s worse, I couldn’t have stopped myself if I’d wanted to.

  Xander’s vampire friends make their way back over to their makeshift gaming area. Xander smiles as he surveys me. “Now we wait.”

  “That wasn’t the deal,” I say quickly. “You said if I bit him you’d let me go.”

  He lets out a short laugh. “Not so fast. First we have to make sure my theory is right. So until he wakes up, you may as well make yourself comfortable.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  I wake to the sound of raspy, gulping breaths. It takes me a minute to get my bearings, but when I remember where I am, my stomach twists violently and I have to swallow the bile rising in my throat.

  I’m still in Xander’s hideout, and the boy I bit—the one I would have sucked dry if not for intervention—is writhing on the threadbare carpet in front of me. I don’t have a concept of how long it’s been, but enough time has passed that I drifted off, still bound to this chair.

  But for me and the boy—and likely Marisol in her covered kennel—the room is empty. I’m not sure where the video-gamers are, and I don’t see Xander anywhere. Is it possible they all left? No, I can’t imagine that’s the case. This boy—what he is to become—is too important to Xander for him to leave us behind. The boy coughs, expelling droplets of spittle from his mouth. But that’s not all it is. Even in this low light, I can see well enough to detect the pink tinge. He’s choking up blood.

  There’s movement in the left corner of the room. Xander rushes in, his face alight with expectation, but as he nears, his expression darkens.

  “No. No, no, no!” Xander kneels beside the boy, smoothing his sweaty hair off his forehead. The look is almost tender—almost. But instead of the sadness in the eyes of someone watching a person they care about in pain, there is only disappointment and anger.

  The boy coughs some more, but each t
ime the sound is weaker. His flailing grows less intense with each passing moment. When his chest rises and falls for the last time, Xander stands, his eyes fixing on me. “What did you do?”

  It takes a minute for me to tear my gaze from the boy. What have I done? Did I just trade that boy’s life for Marisol’s? That poor young human boy. My eyes prickle with tears. What will his family think when he never comes home? “I did what you asked.”

  Xander stalks toward me. He raises his arm and brings the back of his hand down hard across my cheek. “Does that look like what I wanted?” he asks, pointing at the boy’s lifeless body. “I wanted you to turn him into a hybrid, not kill him.”

  My cheek burns, but the pain is no less than I deserve. I blink, and tears spill onto my face. “I told you I didn’t know how to do it. Don’t blame me that it didn’t work.”

  Xander begins pacing, one hand cupping the top of his head. “This should’ve worked,” he says, more to himself than me. “It makes sense it wouldn’t work on a vampire, but a human is a blank slate. This should have worked.” He stops, turning and staring right at me. “Unless…”

  I don’t know what he’s thinking. If he believes I did something wrong when I bit the boy, what might he do to me? More torture, I imagine. Even after this failure, I don’t think he intends to kill me.

  He pivots and strides toward the large storage container his friend went to earlier. He’s going for the tranquilizer gun.

  Marisol. Is he going to hurt her because I failed? “It’s not her fault. She has nothing to do with this,” I say as he crosses to Marisol’s kennel.

  He ignores me. He shoulders the gun and fires it. A small yelp is all it takes for me to know he’s hit his mark.

  “Torturing her will get you nothing,” I continue. “She’s not the one you want—I am. If you think I did something wrong, hurt me. Leave her alone!”

  He completely ignores me as he returns the gun to its bin and removes a pair of leather gloves. After slipping them on, he opens the kennel and drags out Marisol’s limp body. “I’ve been going about this all wrong,” he murmurs. “A human may be pure, but it doesn’t have the strength to become what you are.”

  I begin to understand what he’s thinking. “But I was human, and I survived,” I say. I don’t know what I intend to prove with my observation. I don’t want any more innocent humans to be subjected to my bite, but I don’t like the idea of the alternative, either.

  “I don’t know what it is about you. Maybe we’ll never know.” He drags Marisol’s body closer to me. “Maybe it was when you got bitten or how you were killed, or maybe it’s something special about you in particular. Hell, maybe it was the phase of the moon. But if a vampire can’t be turned, and a human can’t be, that leaves one alternative.” He pulls Marisol and holds her so she’s nearly on my lap. “Bite her.”

  I shake my head. “I don’t want any more blood on my hands.”

  Xander’s eyes flash red. “Bite her, or watch me rip out her heart.”

  I gulp, weighing my options. Only one of those two outcomes isn’t a surefire death sentence.

  He holds up his hand like a claw and brings it down on her back. Even in her unconscious state, Marisol twitches and lets out a moan as his fingers dig into her skin. “I’m not a patient man.”

  I’m out of time. “Fine! I’ll do it—just don’t kill her.”

  Xander smirks, removing his nails from her flesh. “Okay, so get on with it.”

  I stare down at Marisol’s neck, but there’s no burning in my teeth. I’ve never tried to make my incisors grow on command before. Any time it’s happened, it’s been due to hunger or need, neither of which I’m feeling now. If I focus, I can detect a faint smell of her blood pulsing under her flesh, but it doesn’t affect me the same way the promise of human blood did.

  “Come on already,” Xander snarls.

  “I’m sorry, I’m kind of new at this.”

  A muscle in his jaw jumps. “What’s the problem?”

  I pull back my lips, bearing my teeth. He releases an irritated sigh before shifting Marisol’s weight and dragging one nail across her neck. Rivulets of blood spring up in its wake. The simple sight of the blood is enough to make my teeth lengthen. Although there’s no overwhelming desire to bite her, I bring my mouth to her neck anyway. I feel the venom seep from my gums and I hold on, making sure to allow it to pass into her vein. When I’m sure I’ve done my part, I pull away.

  Xander looks down at me approvingly. “This will do nicely,” he says, smiling down at me.

  I run my tongue over my teeth as they shrink down to normal size. “I suppose it’s too much to hope that you’d let me go now.”

  He drags Marisol across the floor and deposits her a few feet away from the boy’s body. “Same deal as before,” he says. “If she wakes up a hybrid, you’re free to go.”

  “And if she doesn’t?”

  He narrows his eyes. “For your sake, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  * * *

  I’m not sure how many hours have passed when the blonde girl approaches me. Her steps are precise, apprehensive, and she holds a red plastic cup out toward me.

  “Do you need water?”

  At first, I’m struck by the way she says it—almost like she’s unsure. It takes me a moment to realize why. Vampires probably don’t need anything but blood to survive. Since I’m a hybrid, the same doesn’t hold true for me. “That would be nice,” I say. Besides the boy’s blood, I don’t know the last time I ingested anything. My mouth is dry, and when she tips the water past my lips, it spills down my throat, offering a reprieve. “Thank you,” I say when she removes the cup.

  Her lip twitches. “I don’t get it,” she murmurs.

  “Don’t get what?”

  Her eyes widen a fraction of an inch, like she’s surprised she spoke out loud. She shakes her head. “I don’t see why he wants to make more like you.”

  I do my best to shrug. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  Before she can say more, Xander reenters the room from what I imagine is a doorway in the left corner. The girl backs away from me as Xander crosses to Marisol’s side. Thankfully, they removed the boy’s body some time ago. My only hope now is that Marisol won’t join him in whatever shallow grave he’s in.

  Xander crouches beside Marisol and checks her pulse. The smile that spreads across his lips is enough to loosen the knot in my chest. “She’s not dead yet,” Xander says.

  I shift in my chair. “Does that mean I can leave?”

  He arches an eyebrow. “I’m optimistic, not foolish.”

  I figured it was a long shot, but given my current circumstances, it couldn’t hurt to ask. “The transition could take days, couldn’t it?”

  “For your sake, let’s hope it doesn’t.”

  The blonde returns hours later with more water and a handful of almonds. After allowing me to drink, she pops a nut into my mouth and offers a faint smile. “It’s been so long since I’ve had to eat food I couldn’t figure out what to bring you.”

  I chew and swallow. “This is fine. Thank you.”

  She pokes another almond through my lips. “I figure Xander doesn’t want you to die before he’s had a successful subject.”

  There’s no one else in the room. Xander has been checking on Marisol regularly, but he and the rest of the video-gamers have been gone for a while. “You don’t seem to care if he makes more hybrids. Why are you helping him?”

  She raises her eyebrows. “I’m not willing to risk the alternative. Sure, right now he’s convinced there’s no way to turn a vampire into a hybrid, but who’s to say he won’t change his mind. I’m not interested in being one of his subjects.”

  My mind spins with this new information. Whatever Xander’s end game is, this girl isn’t a part of it. If her goal is self-preservation, I might be able to exploit it. “Do you know Luke? Are you a member of his brood?”

  Surprise flickers across her face, but she hides it q
uickly. “Yes.”

  I swallow, choosing my words carefully. “He came to my territory and offered to help protect me. In return, he’s been given lodging in the enclave. If you release me—help me escape—I can plead your case to get the same kind of deal for you.”

  Her mouth twitches as she processes the offer, but before she can answer, Marisol stirs. My heartbeat ratchets up. She’s writhing the same way the boy did before he died. The boy. I don’t even know his name.

  The blonde stands and puts distance between the two of us. “Xander!”

  He’s in the room in an instant. He rushes to Marisol, making sure to keep his distance in case she strikes out. Marisol turns from side to side as if stuck in a nightmare. After several moments, Xander reaches out a hand and shakes her shoulder.

  She’s upright in a flash, her hand clamped around his wrist. When her eyes open, they flash gold, and my stomach clenches. Did it not work? At the very least, she’s not dead—so that’s a step in the right direction.

  But before my mind can spin with too many possibilities, her irises shift to a glowing red.

  Simone!” he calls, and the blonde moves a few steps closer. “I think our friend might need something to drink.”

  Simone nods before darting from the room. Xander turns his attention to Marisol and attempts to extricate his arm from her grip. “Hey, now. You need to calm down. I have no intention of hurting you.”