Her face softened. “I know this may seem excessive and a little inhumane, but you went against the Order.” She paused for a moment before continuing, “We can’t let our friendship get in the way of protecting the human race.”
It was pointless talking anymore.
Turning away from her, I strode to the back of the cage and sat with my knees bent, done with the conversation. Done with Lana.
She was a legacy, and her allegiance would always be to the Society. She didn’t understand what it was like to have lived in the outside world, to have people we cared about who weren’t within the confines of these walls.
As much as I liked Lana for being the only one to give me a chance at becoming a hunter, it didn’t change the now. Things were different, and they could never go back.
“I’ll come back and see you later.” She gave me a pitiful smile before leaving me alone in the cage with the vegie chips and that smoothie of hers.
Time seemed to drag on in an endless loop. Without any TV, phone, or even a damn window, I had no idea what time it was or even how much time had passed. I was in an endless loop of solitude, and my thoughts were playing havoc with my mind.
I kept seeing my mother’s transparent body, warning me, trying to reach me before being sucked away into the Shadow Realms where the demons waited.
My heart ripped a little bit more with every deluded vision I had of her until I was practically going out of my mind. She was haunting me from the grave. Maybe ghosts were real. After all, vampires and demons were. It wasn’t so much of a stretch to think ghosts could be, too.
And if that were true, then what was she trying to warn me about? Probably the very circumstances I found myself in. She’d stood on that road, blocking our way. Well, not really. She was only a ghost. She couldn’t block anything.
Lifting my head, I stared directly into the camera pointed at my cage, willing for whoever was on the other end to come down here so I could rip their damn head off.
Maybe I was selfish for not wanting to hand over my life to save the human race, but there was a part of me that stirred with a fierce protectiveness for my soul every time I thought about it.
I had to be the most selfish person on earth.
Snorting internally, I couldn’t believe I was prepared to become a vampire to save Mason yet I wasn’t prepared to disappear into a void to save the world. Not that I knew if it were a void I was destined to be sent to. And no one could tell me differently. There was no handbook when it came to me. Only a bunch of vampire hunters who thought it was their right to dictate the war between humans and demons. I was supposed to be the demon hunter, the one who would eradicate the demons from this world, and in doing so destroy the vampires as well, yet I didn’t have a say in one single aspect of my life.
The door opened, breaking me from my thoughts, and Max entered the room, holding another damn shake. He strode up to the glass, his usual pissed-off gleam in his eyes. His gaze swept over me as I sat at the back of the cage, in the same position I’d been in since Lana walked out however many hours before. “You need to control yourself in there. Letting your desires get the better of you will only hurt you and those you care about. You need to let go. You need to have faith.”
Anger coursed through me as he made his way over to the door. I’d thought he believed in me, and now he was telling me I was wrong. The fierce, disgusted look in his eyes wrenched at my heart. No matter how much I knew he and I would never be, it didn’t change how much I wanted him or the fact that I wouldn’t be alive to see it through. Even if there was a chance I could change his mind about me, it wouldn’t be fair to start something that would only end in heartache.
Max lifted the little door, maneuvered the smoothie through, and placed it next to the one Lana had brought me and the uneaten zucchini chips.
My pupils dilated the moment he placed it on the ground, bringing a fierce desire to devour every last drop. His words replayed in my mind, taking on a whole new meaning as I fought my very makeup.
Blood.
There was vampire blood in the smoothie.
Max’s steely gaze landed on me again as he righted himself. “Remember what I said. Keep faith. We are looking out for your best interest.”
It took everything in me not to race over to the cup as soon as he was gone. The aroma of the blood was all-consuming, eating away at my insides like an addict desperate for their next hit. But I couldn’t let whoever was on the other side of the cameras see my desire. I had to play it cool. Max was risking everything for me, and I could barely understand why he was going against the Society. Him of all people.
Every nerve in my body felt as if it were on fire as I waited for the appropriate time to pass. But what was that? Five minutes? One hour?
I had no idea.
For all I knew, it had only been a few seconds since Max had left, not the twenty minutes it felt. But I couldn’t hold out any longer.
Plastering a scowl on my face, I stood, strode over to the smoothie, and snatched it off the floor, making sure I didn’t look too eager.
I made my way back to my spot and sat, knees bent, leaning my back against the wall.
Avoiding eye contact with the camera, I dipped my head and brought the stainless-steel straw to my lips, thankful that Lana was all about the environment and reducing waste, giving the perfect cover for the blood.
My mouth salivated as my fangs elongated, ready to devour a beast. Except there were no vampires around. Only the blood of one who wasn’t like the others. I could smell his essence entwined with the blood I’d drained from him.
Closing my lips over the straw, I steadied myself as I took my first sip. Blood spilled into my mouth, a tingling sensation spreading through my body as it made its way down my throat, entwining the vampire’s essence with mine. I snapped my eyes closed, trying to hide the euphoria I’d slipped into, unable to drag myself out. Plus, I had to hide my eyes from the camera now that they were changing color.
Next came the hit of green goop that was the Lana approved meal. As much as I wanted to throw the rest of the smoothie down the toilet, I continued to drink the vomit-inducing crap, getting rid of any visible evidence left in the straw.
For the first time since I’d woken up in the cage, I had hope.
But that hope dwindled with every hour that passed, the vampire blood all too quickly depleting from within as if magic were still at play. I was tempted to try to break out of the cage, but I needed more. What Max had given me wasn’t enough to allow me to escape. For all I knew, no amount of blood would help me break out of this cage.
My eyes drifted closed as exhaustion took over. I didn’t know how long I’d been awake, and I was desperate for sleep.
Even a super-charged vampire hunter needed sleep.
Cursing every single person in this compound for not at least giving me a pillow, I lay against the concrete floor, cold and uncomfortable, knowing I would wake up aching if the blood had completely passed through me.
17
The click of the door opening startled me awake. I was up on my feet before the person had entered the room, and I realized I shouldn’t be that quick. I needed to slow down, pretend I was the weak girl they wanted me to remain.
Mason walked in holding another smoothie. He looked a little worse for wear with a portion of the side of his head shaved and three stitches covering an angry slice from where I presumed he’d hit his head in the accident.
A pang of guilt erupted inside of me, growing in intensity with every step he took toward me, until he was standing under the bright light, a foot away from the glass, and all of his bruises across his neck and face were painfully visible.
“I’m so sorry.” Tilting my head down so he couldn’t get a good look at my fangs, I looked at him through hooded eyes. “I shouldn’t have grabbed the wheel.”
“Yeah, you shouldn’t have.” His left eye twitched, a sure sign he was lying. Which didn’t make any sense.
Scrutinizing
him, I wondered if it was the hit to his head that was causing involuntary spasms, yet another thing I was responsible for. But apart from that one twitch, he appeared fine. “How are you?”
He gestured to the side of his head. “The stitches come out in four days, and then I get to see the hot nurse again.” Keeping my back as much to the camera as I could without seeming obvious, I rested the side of head against the glass and rolled my eyes as I bit down on my smile. “Good to see you’re back to your chauvinistic ways.”
He feigned being hurt, clutching a hand over his heart. “Such hurtful words for your injured brother whom you’re responsible for.”
I chuckled. “I’m sure you loved the attention.”
Mason leaned a shoulder against the glass. “You know me.”
I dropped my smile. “How are Dad and Ash?”
“Dad will be fine. Just a broken wrist. And Ash broke her collarbone and got a concussion. Her parents have taken her home.”
Gut-wrenching sickness and guilt enveloped me at the thought of what I had done to my best friend. She didn’t deserve this. She didn’t belong in this world of hunters. But I had gone ahead and dragged her in for my own selfish needs.
I hated myself for it.
“She doesn’t blame you,” Mason said.
“She should. It was my fault.”
He shook his head. “No. It was the cat in the middle of the road that Max swerved to miss.”
There was no cat in the middle of the road. It was our mother, who was nothing but a figment of my imagination, a desire of what I no longer had and missed more than anything.
Not wanting to lie to him, I dropped my gaze to the smoothie as my stomach lurched with hunger—for blood. “Did you bring me breakfast?”
“Dinner actually.”
I drew my brows together in confusion.
“You’ve been locked in there for the past three days.”
My eyes widened in horror. That meant I only had two weeks to go, and I was spending the remainder of my days in this shit box. “Mother fuckers.” I slammed my hand against the glass.
Mason did everything he could not to laugh, which made me even more furious.
“How would you like to be in here? I’ll happily trade places with you.”
His eyelid did that twitch thing again. “Maybe you should try showing you’re a team player and can be trusted to do the right thing.” He glanced up at the camera. “Who knows? Maybe they’ll let you out of here for good behavior.”
I didn’t bother pointing out that he practically begged me to take him with me. Actually, there was no practically about it. And he also added blackmail to the mix. But who was keeping score?
Mason walked over to the door and placed the smoothie through the flap, sending my insides into a frenzy of desire.
He’d brought me blood just as Max had. Which got me thinking why Mason’s eye was twitching. I replayed his words in my head, but for the life of me, I couldn’t work out any clues.
“Drink up.” He righted himself. “You need to keep up your strength.” He gestured in the direction of the camera that I didn’t dare look at. “Show them you care.”
Care I did. And I drank every single smoothie they brought me—including the one void of any blood that Lana had given me on her latest visit. She’d tried her best to break the awkward energy between us, hoping we could go back to the way we used to be. But the problem was, I no longer trusted her. She stood for a law that did shit like this to innocent girls. Okay, so maybe I was the first, but it stung nonetheless.
Over the next few days Kade, Max, and Mason had regularly visited smuggling me vampire blood in the smoothies, but still, I hadn’t heard from Finn. He was ghosting me. Typical overbearing brother, wanting to teach me a lesson or some shit.
I would teach him a lesson the next time I saw him.
The constant supply of blood was good for the soul. It took away the emotional ups and downs I had been accustomed to before. Now, I could think more clearly, and I was plotting a way to kick Lana’s parents’ asses the second I got out.
Orphelia was going down as well. She’d said she was there to serve me. What a load of shit.
The door clicked, and Mason walked in holding another smoothie. I could almost taste the vampire blood contained within, which was something considering I was stuck behind one-inch thick, bulletproof glass.
My senses were either getting stronger, or I was delusional after all this time spent in solitary confinement. Sure, I had visitors, but they never stayed long. Their visits were always brief, just as I knew this one would be.
Mason stopped in front of the cage, his bruises almost completely gone. “How are you feeling, Kali?”
“Hungry.” I eyed the straw, trying to catch a glimpse of the blood. But it was too well concealed. “How’s Dad?”
“He’ll be getting out later today. Finn’s over there with him to make sure Dad doesn’t head straight to the liquor store as soon as he’s released.”
Yeah, that would be right. Drying out our father wouldn’t work without fixing the cause of his issues. And I was pretty sure none of the doctors were into raising the dead. Getting over mom’s death was the only thing that would help him, but that wasn’t going to happen. Dad wanted to die along with her, refusing to acknowledge that life did go on—no matter how hard it was.
I nodded. “Where will Finn take him?”
“Home. The Osmonds won’t let Dad stay here.”
Mother fuck… It took everything in me to stop myself from slamming my fist into the glass. Everything I’d done was for nothing. Ashley had been hurt and was now back with her parents, Mason had survived with a few well-healed injuries, and my father was being sent back home, where the vampires would probably rip him limb from limb after what I did to them. And I was stuck in this damn cage, unable to help him. “Finn can’t take him home. It’s not safe for him there.”
“He’ll be fine. Finn will take care of him.”
I waited for the twitch in his eye, but it never came. He was telling the truth.
That didn’t make any sense. Finn couldn’t protect him without leaving the Society, and I couldn’t imagine Finn leaving the group that he was so passionate about.
Frustration boiled inside of me, and I wished I could have a minute with my little brother without having to worry about people listening to our conversation.
Mason opened the latch and placed the smoothie on the ground, the smell of blood assaulting my senses, wishing I had more than what was in the straw. I wanted to drain the life out of a vampire, devouring every last drop of their tainted blood.
But it would have to do.
“I’ll be back later.” Mason gave me a small smile and retreated out of the room.
I casually walked over to the smoothie and snatched it off the floor. Putting the straw to my lips, my mouth watered, ready to consume the very thing my body craved.
Turning away from the camera and heading to the wall, I sucked a mouthful of blood, trying to contain the euphoria that came with it.
I needed to play it cool, but damn, it was hard.
Sitting down, I leaned my back against the wall and forced myself to drink the remainder of the gooey green crap that tasted a whole lot better than Lana’s version.
I was halfway through the drink when my eyes became droopy, my lips breaking away from the straw as my head swayed, unable to keep still.
My vision became blurry, and the lights stung against my eyes as I tried to keep them open. It was then that it hit me.
I’d been drugged.
18
With groggy eyes, I woke up to the top of my head smashing through a pane of glass, shards slicing through my delicate flesh. The strong arms that were holding me were somewhat comforting despite the situation I was finding myself in.
My body jolted as whoever was carrying me landed on the ground. Then I was being flung over a broad shoulder as blood dripped down my face. Only it wasn’t my blood. And the s
mell didn’t arouse my demonic desires.
My vision was a blur as I tried to focus on the grass passing below me, my head bouncing from the lack of control I had over my body. Thick, dark clouds moved beneath me, snaring my kidnapper’s feet as the sound of gunfire exploded around me, jerking me awake. Well, partially. I was like a drunk, unable to focus on anything for too long, and everything was coated behind a thin layer of “I don’t give a shit.”
I had to break free. I had to snap out of my drug-fueled daze.
Blood exploded into the air above me as a bullet whizzed past my head, the smell arousing another part of me I hadn’t felt since the day we rescued Mason.
Anger and fear rippled through me, along with the desire to protect the ones I loved. But I still didn’t have control of my body, and we were going down as the thick tendrils of smoke snaked their way up my runner’s legs, en route to enveloping me.
Falling to the ground tuffs of grass exploded around us as more gunfire blasted through the air.
Lifting my head, I swiveled it to the side, my eyes bugging out when I saw my assailant.
Max.
Rolling to the side, he let go of me, got to his knees, and crawled over to me. Blood dripped from a nasty cut to his face, and his upper chest had a hole in it. His desperate gaze scanned me as he scooped me into his arms, ripping me away from the cloud of smoke spreading a thick veil over my body.
Standing, he stumbled into a run, only making it a couple of yards before smacking into a thick wall of black smoke, which was growing denser by the second.
Max spun around, allowing me to see my attackers.
Orphelia
She stood at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the building, her arms outstretched and a devilish smirk on her face. Guards flanked her sides, slowly moving forward as Orphelia floated toward us. “Your efforts are futile. You can’t take her. She is ours, and I am too powerful for you to win.”
Almost as soon as she spoke her last word, an explosion rippled through the wall behind us, sending the smoke billowing into the air.
Shadow Realms- The Complete Series Page 27
