by Maya Daniels
“The human I tasked to watch over her during the daylight hours couldn’t find her at the sewer where she hides, Sire. He found the brother and sister sleeping there, but our girl was gone. I’m hoping she was looking for food or something and that she will be back. I will go wait for her myself.” Marcus speaks through his pain, grinding his teeth. “I waited to inform you myself before I go search for her.”
“I will go with him, Sire,” Andrei adds, head still bowed. “We will find her before the sun comes up.”
“And if you don’t?” My words are spoken slowly, softly, like a blade gliding over skin, cutting to the bone.
“We will find her, or die trying, Sire,” Marcus assures me a little too quickly for my taste.
He doesn’t have time to see me move before I grab him by the collar of his shirt, throwing his body through the wall of the room. Plaster and brick rain down around us as his body flies through the large living room until it hits the opposite wall. He drops on the floor when I walk over the broken piece of the historic hotel. It should be a shame to destroy something that has stood up to the hands of time, but I don’t care about that at the moment. No history or future will be vital if we lose the girl.
Strolling towards him with murder on my mind, I ignore the sound of a door opening somewhere behind me. Bending down, I grab Marcus by the collar again, lifting him up to throw him over the balcony. It won’t kill him, but it’ll hurt like a bitch until he heals.
“La prossima volta che mi deluderai assicurati di essere in un posto dove non posso trovarti.” Marcus cringes at my snapped words.
“Sire…” The warning in Andrei’s voice stops me enough to look over my shoulder.
“Ah, ah, ah…speak English you stubborn Italian.” The woman standing at the entrance wiggles a finger tipped with a long red nail at me.
Irina, one of the Council members, stands at the opened front door. Her platinum hair is tied up in a high ponytail on top of her timelessly pretty face. Red silk covers her porcelain skin, the slit of the floor-length dress exposing one perfectly shaped leg all the way to her hip. Labored breaths raise her breasts up and down, most likely from her palpable anticipation of violence. Red glistening lips are curled up in a feral smile, and her black eyes, lined in smoky shades of makeup, glitter in excitement. Behind her, four human women cower and press their bodies together, staring in horror at my display.
“Next time you fail me, you better make sure to be somewhere I cannot find you,” I amend, repeating what I said, this time in English. Not that she didn’t understand me. It was more of a power play than anything else.
“Don’t let me interrupt your fun, Sebastian.” Her Russian accent is thick, her fangs peeking over the cushion of her lips. “Do go on. I can wait.”
“You have displeased me, Marcus.” Turning my back on Irina, I watch Marcus to ensure that he understands what I’m not saying. “You should thank our Council member for saving your life. Now get out of my face. I tire of you.” Pushing him none too gently towards Andrei, I straighten my jacket, pulling on my shirtsleeves. “Think about your mistakes and come back when you can apologize appropriately.”
“Aww, you are no fun.” Pouting, Irina glides inside the room, leaving the humans scrambling behind her to get out of the way when Marcus and Andrei head out. They better be back soon with the whereabouts of the girl.
“I see you’ve brought something that looks like a lot more fun than me disciplining my subjects.” Giving her my trademark smile, my gaze roams over the humans. My hunger roars in my ears, but I ignore it.
“Ah, yes!” Waving her hand, she doesn’t even turn to look at them. “I brought breakfast. I hoped you’d be famished.”
“I’m ravenous.” Walking to the only chair that is left without dust or broken pieces of plaster, I sit, not offering it to her. Satisfied at the slight frown she doesn’t manage to hide, I grin at her. “Let us taste what delicacy you have brought to offer.”
April
When the asshole leading me to my imminent death starts dragging me towards the beautiful doors of the Millennium hotel, a burst of hysterical laughter escapes me. Tall, sand-colored columns stretch above my head, holding the overhang. Pretty potted plants decorate either side of the large glass double doors. I was standing here just last night, thinking of a way to break in. Apparently, all I had to do was find an idiot to drag me in by the arm.
No one pays us any attention when we pass the elaborate arched doors, but my jaw drops to my chest once inside. Wide-eyed, I look around at the beauty surrounding me. Colorful rugs cover the marble floors. Beautiful pieces of furniture are sprinkled around tastefully without making it look overcrowded. The creams and light browns give me a sense of calm I shouldn’t be feeling at the moment. Transported in time, I pay no attention to anyone mulling around in the lobby, until four bodies, all dressed in black, stop our movement forward.
“I need to see the Italians,” Asshole tells them, jerking me in front of him like a shield.
All four of them take a step back, their faces twisting in disgust. I grin at them like a loon, proud that my stench at least is turning their stomachs. I gave up on fighting the inevitable, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy seeing them suffer. By the green look on their faces, they’re suffering alright.
“No one goes up,” the one on the left speaks, his voice sharp like a drill sergeant.
“They will want to see me,” Asshole growls, clearly angry that he can’t just walk past them. The one that spoke lifts his lips aggressively, fangs flashing in the soft glow of the hanging chandeliers. “I have one of the run…”
Panic surges through me when I realize that he is about to tell four vampires, Guardians judging by the way they are dressed, that I’m one of the few remaining humans still hiding. Stomping on his foot as hard as I can, I tumble on the ground when the asshole’s words get cut off, and he squeals like a cut pig, dropping me at his feet. Scrambling around, I scurry like a rodent towards the only doors I can see on my right. There is a sign next to them of a person and stairs, so I’m assuming that’s where the stairway of the hotel is. Maybe I can get out through the parking lot, if the hotel even has one of those.
“Now you think of running, April, you idiot. You should’ve tried this earlier.” Huffing under my breath, hyperventilating from the fast beating of my heart, I almost fly at the doors in front of me.
The asshole yells something behind me, shouts ring out, and everyone present in the lobby turns around to see what the commotion is all about. I’m so close to the doors that I can feel the metal of the door handle under my palm. Until a body slams into my back, propelling me even faster towards the unforgiving wooden door that will no doubt knock me unconscious when I hit it. Squeezing my eyes shut, I brace for impact, my entire body stiffening in expectation of the pain that will follow. A whoosh of air washes over my face, ruffling my hair a second before my body collides with something hard, but not as hard as a wooden door. A soft oomph reaches my ears before I’m tangled in a heap of limbs. I’m grateful that I’m not knocked out, hoping to untangle myself and bolt out of here as soon as possible. That hope dies when someone snatches me by the hair, pulling me away from three twisted bodies at the door entrance.
“I apologize for this, sir. I didn’t expect them to be so fast,” the Guardian stammers, gripping my hair so tight that a pathetic whimper bursts through my lips.
Two pairs of red eyes lock on me from the twisted heap on the floor. Asshole starts yelling something intangible and the Guardian keeps spewing apologies like his life depends on it, but I can’t look away. Fear tries to rear its ugly head, but an overwhelming feeling pushes it away.
Safety.
How, in the middle of a vampire den my stupid mind finds the idea to make me feel safe, I will never know. Maybe Asshole is right and I am mentally challenged. It’s not like I can tell the difference since I’ve never stuck around anyone long enough to notice. Even Eddie whispered behind my back about my pecul
iar behavior.
A blur of movement pulls me out of my internal debate about my sanity, bringing with it the sharp pain of my hair being ripped out of my skull.
“Release the human.” The deep voice resonates in my chest like the sound of bass, sucking all the oxygen from the lobby. There is a slight accent to it, making me shiver for a very inappropriate reason given the situation.
“I will remove both at once, sir. As I said, I didn’t expect the boy to be that fast.” The Guardian turns around, pulling me along with him. That’s when I realize that he is talking about me. I almost laugh again, but luckily, it’s only an internal reaction. He thinks I’m a boy, which is a good thing. Especially when I’m surrounded by testosterone on all sides.
Asshole finally lifts himself off the floor, jumping for good measure when he straightens, like a fighter that’s been down for only a second. “I’ll be taking the runner to the Italians,” stubbornly, he snaps at everyone, spitting the words I tried to stop from passing his lips. Everyone freezes, and the Guardian’s head snaps in my direction. My head rests at an awkward angle since he is still holding a fistful of my hair. I can’t see anyone’s face, or above their shoulders, but I can feel their eyes burning a hole in my head. The one with the deep voice speaks again, slightly pointing his finger at the asshole.
“Andrei,” he says, his voice soothing my anxiety, “the filth stays alive.”
I’m not sure if he is referring to me or Asshole when he says filth. Not that I can blame anyone if they called me that. My mind doesn’t have time to register what is happening when a gust of air blasts my face. The hand gripping my hair disappears, and streaks of movement dart left and right, making me cross-eyed when I try to catch a glimpse of what’s going on. Thumps and sounds of furniture breaking into splinters still echo around the empty lobby when two sets of black boots stop in my line of sight. Sometime, during the few seconds it takes everything to start and end, I must’ve looked at the floor to stop the spinning of my head. Slowly lifting my face up, my gaze travels over two perfectly sculpted bodies, the fabric of their black military style pants and long-sleeved shirts stretching to its limits, outlining every muscle like it has been painted on them. At five foot five, my eyes are level with their chests, so I tilt my head up, straining my neck to look at their faces.
I shouldn’t have looked.
Perfect, angelic features that have no right to grace the face of a monster are staring back at me. High cheekbones, aquiline noses, and full lips a woman would die for, face me without expression. Just their eyes glimmer with a red glow when my gaze darts from one face to the other.
“She came to us,” the one on my left, with dark brown hair tousled from his fast movement, says as he glances sideways at his friend.
“This is her?” Curiosity is apparent in the warm, musical voice of the blond on my right. He tilts his head slightly, watching me like one would look at an exotic animal in a zoo. The dark haired one grunts in confirmation while they stare at me without doing anything else.
“I need to see the Italians,” Asshole snaps from somewhere behind them, making me jolt out of the hypnotized state I was in while staring at the monsters.
“Shut him up, would you,” the dark-haired one implores his friend softly right before he lets out a heavy sigh.
Without moving his focus from me, the blond turns his upper body slightly, throwing a punch. The crunching of cartilage sounds around us before a loud thump tells me Asshole is out for a while. Some of my rational brain gets online, and my eyes dart around, looking for a way out. It was a bad idea to look around me. Still standing right before the door to the stairs, I can see most of the lobby. The beautiful room that I watched in awe what feels like a year ago is now wrecked chaos with headless bodies tossed everywhere. Not just the four Guardians that intercepted us when asshole dragged me in. Even the bystanders that heard Asshole calling me a runner lay dead wherever they were standing. Blood paints the creams and light browns of the hotel, the master artists that decorated it standing in front of me like statues of gods, not blinking an eye at all the dead bodies. A pathetic whimper is all I can manage when the situation becomes as clear as day. Asshole was taking me to the Italians.
I think we found them.
“Don’t be afraid, little one.” The deep voice doesn’t soothe me like it did a few minutes ago. “We will not harm you. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Unable to control my reactions, with the realization that I’m looking at the bogeyman in the world of monsters screaming in my head, I start hyperventilating. My breathing comes in short, sharp intakes of breath, too loud to my own ears. Tears burn my unblinking eyes, which are darting left and right and making me dizzy. I want to calm down, think rationally so I can find a way out of here. I’m not chained to anything except my own body’s reaction at the moment. I always thought that in a situation when my life was in danger, I’d be one of those people who reacted with action. Apparently, I was wrong. I’m one of those dear in headlights people that freeze and let whatever is coming for them happen.
“I’m not sure she understands you, Marcus,” the blond says softly, like he is trying not to spook me more. What did deep voice call him earlier? Andrei, that’s right.
For whatever crazy reason, knowing their names calms my panic. My breathing slows down slightly, and the one called Marcus tilts his head, watching me with those predatory eyes.
“Speak again,” he murmurs, not taking his intent focus off me. “I think your voice calms her.”
“Is Marcus right, little one?” Andrei crouches painfully slow in front of me, bringing himself below my eye level, and I follow him with my eyes. “Does my voice soothe your worries?”
That comment is so ridiculous that a humorless snort escapes me, making him frown slightly. Do they think I’m stupid, just like Asshole did? Like anything can soothe my worries while staring death in the face, apart from getting out of here. Anger bubbles up under my skin, and I glare at him.
“I don’t think she likes your words, Andrei. Just the sound of your voice.” Marcus grins at his friend like that pleases him.
I must be sleeping and stuck in one of the nightmares I usually have. This is so not happening to me in real life. Two monsters making jokes while I’m standing in front of them where they can kill me and be free of the poison in my veins can’t be reality. As soon as that thought floats through my head, a jolt of excitement shoots through me. I’m poison for these creatures. If I get them to bite me, I’ll be out of here sooner than I can blink, keeping in mind they don’t rip my throat out. Steeling my spine, very slowly, I lift my hand up. They watch me attentively, as if expecting me to do tricks like a monkey in a circus. I know precisely how Mutt feels when I do the same to him. Poor dog. I hope Sara takes care of him if I don’t get out of here alive.
Their expressionless faces cloud in confusion when I pull the nest of my hair out of the way, offering my neck to them. It takes them a moment, but when they realize what I’m doing, both their eyes widen in disbelief. Andrei snaps his head up, staring at Marcus. Uncertainty makes me drop my hand down and plaster my back on the doorframe. They know what type of blood I have. There is no mistaking the look that passes between them. Vampires hate the runners, but they think those like me are all dead. I just gave them the confirmation they needed to kill me. In a last-ditch effort to save my life, I surge towards the front doors of the hotel. I don’t get far, my boots slipping on the blood covering the marble tiles. Pitching forward, head-first towards the ground, my fall is stopped a hairsbreadth away from faceplanting, the tip of my nose grazing the blood-covered floor. Thick arms wrap around me, one around my chest, the other around my waist.
“Careful, little one. You will hurt yourself and we don’t want that,” Marcus murmurs in my ear before lifting me up and placing me on my feet. His hands linger, making sure I’m stable before he pulls them away. His voice is a little nasally, no doubt from holding his breath while hugging me to him.
>
“We can’t stay here with her.” Andrei walks towards us, and when I turn to look at him, I notice that I made it all of three feet before tripping over my own feet. “We need to get her out of the way before Irina decides to leave and finds us here.”
“I’m wondering if it’s smart to take the little one upstairs,” Marcus muses, rubbing his chin. “I’ll stay down here with her while you go let Sebastian know he is needed elsewhere.”
“Irina will not be pleased if her plans are tweaked, and she’s been eyeing Sebastian ever since we stepped foot on their soil.” Andrei grins at Marcus. “I love pissing her off. I’ll be back before you know it.”
“I’ll be at the pool. No one will come there at this hour. Come find me when you get him.” Marcus waves a hand and Andrei disappears, leaving a gust of air in his wake.
My mind is reeling with everything they are saying, trying to make sense of it all. It all sounds like gibberish. Why aren’t they killing me yet? Do they plan on toying with me first? Asshole sounded pretty sure when he gloated that the vampires preferred their food terrified. Something about the fear making the blood taste better. But that can’t be true about me, can it? I’m poison to them, and these two know that. Unless they want to trick this Sebastian I keep hearing about so they can kill him.
A shiver rakes my bones.
“Come, little one.” Gently wrapping his large hand around my arm, Marcus leads me further into the hotel. “Let us get out of the open. There are eyes everywhere, and we don’t want that.”
I follow willingly, my mind spinning. Something is not right here, but I can’t put my finger on it. Since running obviously is not working for me, I go along to wherever this angel of death is taking me. We pass beautiful walls decorated with indoor fountains, heads of lions with water pouring out of their open jaws. My mind creates all sorts of crazy scenarios, turning the glittering crystal water into rivers of blood while the eyes of the stone statues are glowing menacingly wherever we pass. The shiver from earlier strengthens, my body starting to visibly shake. Each step I take further inside the hallways is harder and harder to manage.
