The latter was said with such disdain that I flinched at his words. I thought I had seen him angry in the past, but that had been child’s play compared to his wrath now.
Pierce yanked Anthony up from his spot on the ground. “This is what happens when you upset me. Learn from it. Do not repeat it unless you wish for more people to die.” Before I could protest, his hands twisted around Anthony’s neck, and an audible crack rang through the room.
A choked cry escaped my lips as despair poured into me and hot tears ran down my face. Pierce hadn’t even given me the option to make it right. He just took the boy’s life without a care in the world. I sank to the ground and crawled over to Anthony’s still form that was now crumbled on the floor.
Pierce stood above us, smirk in place. “Do you understand now? You can’t run from me. The more you do, the more people will get hurt. You are mine. The sooner you accept it, the sooner we can all move forward. I’ve decided that, until Prime arrives, you’ll be spending some time alone.”
Rough hands grabbed my hair. “Get up. You don’t deserve to weep over his body. You’re the reason he’s dead.”
Anguish coursed through my body while I struggled to stand and avoid the hair from being ripped out of my scalp. Pierce didn’t slow or give me time to adjust; he dragged me behind him as if I was an object of little worth instead of a person.
“You’re the reason he’s dead…” The phrase repeated in my head as I continued to struggle behind Pierce. He was right. I had tried to save Anthony, but instead, I got him killed. All I had wanted to do was help, but I’d made everything worse.
Any stride I’d made in feeling better about myself and whatever I was turning into was gone. Darkness crept in as depression crushed down on me. I might not have been a vampire, but I was something else other than human.
I wasn’t good anymore.
Leaving with Pierce yesterday had been the right choice. The others were safer without me. Jameson might have thought I made him a better person, but I probably would have hurt him, too, if we had managed to get away.
As I continued to berate myself, Pierce went on a tangent about how ungrateful I was and what an abomination I had become. He was too late with that speech. I already knew I wasn’t normal.
He opened a door that led down to his personal cellar. I’d been down there once, when he tried to impress me with his private collection of treasures. What I hadn’t seen before was another door behind a Victorian painting, which took us down another staircase.
My shins slammed into the wooden steps when I lost my footing. Whatever extra abilities I was receiving, seeing in the dark was not one of them. My tears had finally stopped while I attempted to get my bearings and figure out where Pierce was taking me. There were no windows or lamps, and I couldn’t see well, but I heard water dripping from somewhere. It was cold and damp, and very much underground.
Metal hinges creaked, followed by a loud banging sound, which I assumed to be a door hitting the wall. Pierce pulled me up, bringing his face level to mine. I could barely make out his profile, but nothing else in the dank room.
“Your punishment for lying and getting my favorite blood slave killed is two days in my dungeon. No food or water. There is no bed or bathroom. Maybe some time alone in the dark will straighten you out. If not, Prime will, and I’m looking forward to it.”
He tossed me onto the dirt floor before slamming the door shut. I crawled forward as I heard his footsteps retreating. My hands touched the iron bars that enclosed me. I followed them until I made a circle around my cage. Two walls were made of dirt, while the other two were the bars.
One of the corners had water leaking in somewhere. I tried to trace where the water was coming from, but I couldn’t see anything in the dark. Half of the dirt floor was mud and I was covered in it. I stood blindly, reaching up to see if I could feel the ceiling, but my fingers touched only air.
Crawling to a dry corner, I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes. I almost missed Pierce’s raging and yelling. Being alone with my thoughts was not a pleasant experience at that moment.
I had gotten an innocent boy killed. A mother’s son. Possibly someone’s brother. They would never see him again because of me.
I was an abomination. I couldn’t be turned into a monster like Pierce, yet I was one in my own way. Normal people didn’t heal. Normal people couldn’t withstand the venom of a vampire. I was not normal, but I had no idea who or what I was anymore.
Tears built up again, and I let them fall freely as I wept for the family I had lost. For the love I might have had but would never know. For Nettie and all that she had to endure and witness. Faces of people I’d never see again ran through my head as I forced myself to rest.
A little voice inside me coaxed me to sleep, reminding me that tomorrow would bring new light and new life. I could weep now, but I needed to start fighting again tomorrow. My aunt wouldn’t want me to give up, and neither would my parents. The knowledge that Jameson would want me to fight gave me strength, and I would try. For all of them, I would try, but most of all, for myself.
For once, that voice I so often ignored gave me hope.
It was all I had left.
When I woke, I had no sense of time. I had no idea how long I had been out, or even what day it was. But I hoped enough time had passed that Jameson and the others were off the island. At the same time, my heart broke, because it meant I would likely never see them again. I had no idea where to find the safe haven Jameson and the others spoke of. I didn’t even know how I was going to survive if I managed to escape Pierce again.
My arms and legs stretched out while I groaned at the tightness I felt. Standing up, I felt better than I ever had. I expected to be sore from sleeping awkwardly against the wall, but once I began to move my extremities, my body awoke, feeling more alive than ever.
I walked the length of the cell again, counting paces this time. It was maybe ten feet deep by twenty feet wide, plenty of space to move around, so I decided to walk and burn off some of my newly-acquired energy. That did nothing to quell the vigor that was building. I needed an outlet for it, but I didn’t know what else to do.
My hands shook as I focused on the sounds of the dripping water, trying to calm my racing heart. Something was happening to me, but I didn’t know what and was beginning to get frightened. The pacing took over again until I stopped at the barred door. I wrapped my fingers around the iron, squeezing as I took a deep breath.
My heart stopped when I realized the metal beneath my fingers was bending. I was mangling the door with my bare hands, without even breaking a sweat.
What the hell is happening to me?
As my brain caught up with all that was happening, I realized I had found my way out. I was going to get out from under Pierce’s grasp and maybe even make it back to Jameson. My hand slid over the metal, feeling around for the hinges until my fingers connected with them. I bent down, working on the bottom one first. There were three in total, but they were awkwardly placed, giving me little to no leverage. I didn’t give up, though. Darkness might have been drowning me, but I was seeing a light. The fog of depression that hit me yesterday was dissipating, and I had a new will to survive today.
Within minutes, I had broken off the first hinge, and I took a moment to send a silent thank you up to whoever was watching out for me. Before this moment, I considered whatever change I was going through a bad thing, but if it saved me from Pierce, I was going to figure out how to use it for good.
Just as I began to make progress on the middle hinge, a light lit up the stairway, and soft footsteps could be heard coming down. I scrambled to find the broken hinge I had ripped from the door and tucked my hands behind my back as I receded into the corner.
Eve came around the corner, a sneer in place on her blackened face. Pierce must have beat her just bad enough to leave her breathing if she still had marks on her body. She had likely been unrecognizable when he was done with her.
&
nbsp; “Not such a high and mighty damsel now, are you?” Eve taunted. “Pierce threw you down here like a rat he couldn’t stand the sight of.”
I tilted my head. “Hmmm, he may have done that, but at least he didn’t disfigure my face.”
A menacing snarl left her throat, but she didn’t scare me. If she had come down hours earlier, I might have entertained her threats, but not today. She had missed her opportunity, and now I would show her how wrong her opinion of me really was.
Her hand slipped into the front pocket on her dress and pulled out a key. After unlocking the cell door, she set down the lamp. The small light cast an eerie glow around the caged room, but I was ready. Only one of us was going to walk out of the dungeon. I knew I couldn’t kill her on my own without a dagger like Jameson’s, but I could make her wish she was dead and that was almost the same thing.
Moving further into the corner, I trembled, letting her think she had frightened me.
“Look at you! You’re nothing but filth, and he wants you when he could have someone like me.” She laughed. “Well, for now. Once you’re no longer in the picture, I’ll be there for him and show him how good he could have it with a real woman.”
I wanted to laugh at the absurdities pouring from her mouth, but I managed to hold it until she got closer. When she was within striking distance, I pulled my arm back and punched her with everything I had.
I’d never hit anyone before, and I must have done it completely wrong, because it seemed to hurt my hand more than it did her face.
She charged back at me. “You’re going to pay for that.”
My reflexes must have been quicker than normal, because I sidestepped her and watched in satisfaction as her fist connected with the wall instead of my face. We danced around each other, but I didn’t have time to play around.
Using the hand with the iron hinge in it, I moved in and slashed it across her neck. Blood dripped from the wound as shock ran through Eve. I didn’t stop there, though. Taking advantage of her distraction, I sliced the other side of her neck and her stomach before she could move an inch.
I punched her once more, this time not hurting myself as much as the first time, and I took pleasure in the cracking sound her head made as she slammed into the wall.
Wasting no time, I closed the door behind me, taking the key as well as the oil lamp to help me navigate the stairs. Eve’s screams could be heard as I made it to the top, but I ignored her, slipping through the wooden door, halfway to freedom.
Sun shone through the windows in the room I entered, and I let out a sigh of relief. Sunshine meant less vampires and a higher chance that I would escape successfully.
I walked calmly toward the front door, not wanting to draw attention to myself if someone did see me, but thankfully, it wasn’t necessary. I didn’t see a single soul when I opened the front door.
Once outside, I didn’t stop. I used the pent-up energy I had acquired when I woke up today to run as fast as I could, for as long as I could.
Grass and branches slapped against my skin while I ran through the fields, but I didn’t care. I had the smallest of hopes that the others would still be waiting for the boat, that maybe I could still leave with them, and we would all be safe.
That hope left me the moment I arrived at the abandon pier to find both row boats gone and only one pile of food left.
My frantic gaze searched the open bay, looking for a ship, but saw nothing.
My heart sank. I was alone with no way off the island and nobody around I could trust. I had no idea what I was going to do next, or if I’d even survive the nearing night on my own.
Chapter 8
Slumping down in the sand at the pier, I sighed as hopelessness seeped into me. Luck had been on my side only to be ripped away again. Sure, I had escaped Pierce, but I was alone and had no clue where to hide or run to, even if I found another ship to take me off the island before Pierce could find me again.
As I closed my eyes, I let my thoughts drift to Jameson, Nettie, Alice, Nathan, and Henry, finding their freedom on the boat. It made my heart swell, knowing they were safe, even if it meant I wasn’t. I wouldn’t be regretful of my choices thus far if it meant they would be better off.
I was thinking about them so deeply, I began to hear Jameson’s voice calling my name. It brought a smile to my face and gave me renewed strength to figure out another way. Opening my eyes, I stood up just in time to see a man running toward me.
My heart stopped as I scrambled to come up with a plan. I was not prepared to fight another vampire. I had left the hinge in the dungeon, and I had nothing else to protect myself with, so I decided to run.
“Lavinia, stop!”
My body froze as my mind took a moment to catch up. I hadn’t been imagining Jameson’s voice. He was still on the island. He had waited for me.
“Jameson,” I whispered, trying not to hope or even believe that he was there until I turned around to confirm it with my own eyes.
Before I could consciously decide anything, I was running as hard and as fast as I could toward him. It wasn’t fast enough, and it seemed his semi-vampire strength was far greater than mine.
We crashed into each other, my arms wrapping around his neck, while his clamped around my back, holding me to him. He buried his face in my neck and inhaled my scent, causing me to shiver. Slowly, he sank to his knees and pulled me with him as we held on to each other. I ran my fingers through his hair, still marveling at the fact that he hadn’t left.
I leaned back, wanting to see his face, but he kept it pressed against my neck. After a moment, I noticed that he was trembling.
“Jameson,” I breathed, grabbing his shoulders in an attempt to push him back from me. Finally, after several moments of pressure, he withdrew.
I gasped as our eyes met. His were a ruddy red color, not the bright red of Eve’s or Pierce’s, but still red. “What’s happened?”
“I don’t know,” he answered truthfully.
Fascinatedly, I watched as his eyes bled back to their normal cobalt color, causing something in my chest to ease. “Jameson, your eyes were red, but now they’re back to blue,” I whispered, astonished at what I had just witnessed.
“They turned red as I watched you being dragged away from me.” His fingers traced my face. “I thought the others would be afraid or leave, but everyone stayed, even when they realized what I was.”
“You would never harm them,” I replied vehemently, wanting to erase all doubt from him.
“When you left, I thought I would. I wanted to.” His eyes studied my face, searching for something.
“But you didn’t.” I smiled.
His gaze drifted down my face to stare at my lips. I drew closer to him, placing my hands flat on his chest while his head bent closer. He was going to kiss me. I hesitated, considered pulling away, but I realized I wanted his lips on mine, almost as much as he seemed to.
The memory of how he had pressed himself against me when he hid me from the vampire under the pier flitted across my mind. I wanted to feel that again. I needed to feel it again. His presence was slowly erasing the revulsion I had felt when Pierce had touched me. It chased away the dark depression that had settled over me in the dungeon. I was somehow able to calm the monster inside of him, but he had a way of making me feel alive.
My eyes fluttered shut as his head dipped closer. His hands gripped my waist, pulling me flush against him. Rough lips brushed against mine, causing me to draw in a breath at the fire it ignited within my chest before spreading to every part of my body.
“Lavinia,” he whispered against my cheek.
The chaste kiss ended too soon. Still, my body trembled at the way he said my name.
With reluctance, he leaned away, glancing down at my face while still keeping me close to him. His rough hand brushed my hair back, causing a bubble of happiness to expand within me. It wasn’t a true emotion I had experienced in many years, and even though I was nowhere near safe, I decided to let my heart be
taken by Jameson.
“How did you escape?”
I started from when Pierce had dragged me back to his plantation home. When I had to revisit Pierce attempting to turn me, it was more difficult than I thought it would be.
Jameson inspected my neck, looking for marks, then placed his hand against my chest right above my heart. “I don’t understand. If he turned you, then how are you alive?”
“I don’t know,” I replied before continuing the story. I glossed over the part with Anthony, because that was too raw to talk about still.
“And you ran here after you locked Eve in the cellar?” he asked, and I nodded, feeling lighter now that I had told someone what was going on with me. “You’ve been turned twice, but both times were unsuccessful,” he mused, glancing at the horizon where the sun had almost finished its descent into the sea.
“I’m not sure what it means or how it works, but I’m still alive even though I should have died twice.” I leaned my head against his chest, reveling in his strength and unyielding determination.
“We need to get going,” he added after a minute of silence. “We caught the ship before it entered the bay. It’s anchored a little way off the western shore, hidden from sight. I convinced the captain to give me until the sun completely set to try to find you.”
“It’s almost dusk now.” Panic gripped at me, causing my hands to shake. “We need to get on the ship before it leaves us behind.”
“I have a boat waiting not far from here,” he explained, rising to his feet before enveloping my hand in his and pulling me up with him.
While we ran, we stayed close to the pier and then slipped into dense trees, staying out of sight as much as possible since dusk was nearing. I remained next to him, periodically squeezing his fingers to reassure myself that he was there and I wasn’t alone. He glanced at me more often than was normal for him, almost as if he was reassuring himself of the same thing.
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