by Michelle Fox
Devon was gone for a long time. Ivan never stopped molesting me with his eyes. The only time I got a break was when he escorted me outside the trailer to a port-a-potty that appeared to be new and unused. I assumed its presence had been arranged with me in mind.
Ivan was a devious bastard. He kept my hands chained in front of me and seemed to enjoy shoving me ahead of him so hard that I stumbled. Then he would feed out lengths of chain to give me enough room to walk only bring them up short with no notice. The first few times he did this, I went sprawling in the dirt. He thought this was hilarious and guffawed loudly. I quickly caught onto his game though and was able to anticipate him and keep my feet under me.
He didn’t like that and instead of staying behind me, matching my pace, he zig-zagged around me with vampire super speed. At one point, he wrapped the chain around my feet until I tripped.
“Stop it,” I yelled at him, pushing myself up on all fours.
He just laughed some more and smacked me on the ass. Sick bastard.
Well two can play at this game, I thought grimly. Instead of standing I stayed on my hands and knees and crawled toward the port-a-potty. Now it was harder for him to trip me up although I would have preferred a position with more dignity.
Odd to think the last time I’d had much dignity was back before I’d become a blood courtesan. Ever since I started hanging around vampires, my life had gone to pot.
Pushing the thought away, I stood at the door to the port-a-potty, waiting.
“Go.” Ivan gave the chain an impatient jerk.
I shot him a quick glare, careful not to look into his eyes long enough to be captured. “I can’t do anything with my hands tied like this. Unless you want to pull down my pants for me, I suggest you untie me.”
Ivan growled as he released the lock holding the chains around my wrists. “Don’t try to run.”
“I’m not stupid,” I said. “You could outrun a car, what chance do I have?” My head held high, I entered the port-a-potty. In the process of pulling down my pants, my hand grazed the handle of the dagger. I froze for a moment. It was just me and Ivan, but was I fast enough to take him? And, if I was, would I be able to find my way out of my subterranean prison? Further, once I got out, how long could I run from my father? We had a bond that would make it easy for him to track me down again.
I fingered the dagger, debating my options.
None of them looked great. Lots of steep downsides and very little upside.
Ivan banged on the door, making the entire port-a-potty shake. I jumped and quickly finished up, yanking the jeans back over the dagger.
I washed up and then stepped outside. Ivan made to put the chains back on me, but I held up my hands. “I thought we established those weren’t necessary?”
He thought it over for a second and then shrugged, casting the chains to the side. “You run, you try anything and I’ll—“ He raised his fist in a threatening gesture. Charming.
I cut him off. “I won’t get away, I got it.” I gestured to the underground cavern we stood in. “Why don’t you show me around? I could use some exercise.”
He bent down and snagged the chain. For a second I thought he had changed his mind and was going to restrain me again, but to my relief, he just coiled the chain around his forearm. “After we walk, I will chain you back to the bed.”
I kept my face neutral not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing my panic. I had hoped he would abandon the chains altogether, which would give me more time to formulate a strategy. Now I had to figure something out before our little walk ended. Was I going to make a run for it or not? Time to decide was running out.
Ivan let me lead and I slowly ambled around the perimeter of the cavern. “What is this place?”
“New York underground,” he said his voice short.
Well, duh. Undeterred by his lackluster response, I kept trying, “How long have you lived here?”
“We’ve been preparing for your arrival for the last two months.”
That brought me up short. All this had been in the works long before I’d gone to Madame Rouge. My dad had known about me all this time? “How did he find me?”
Ivan smirked at me. “He’s been watching you since you were born, waiting for you to be old enough to claim.”
The idea of Devon lurking in the shadows of my life made me shiver. “Why now?” I asked confused. He could’ve taken me years ago.
A cocky half smile split Ivan’s lips. “You forced his hand by becoming a blood courtesan.”
I grimaced at his answer. It made sense. Daddy Dearest wanted to build a new master race with me and it wouldn’t do for some other vampire to knock me up. With horror, I realized I had set this mess in motion. “So what happens next?” It was optimistic of me to ask, but I figured it didn’t hurt to try. Maybe Ivan would tell me something useful.
“We bring in more trailers, then the doctors.”
I looked out into the empty cavern, confused. “Doctors? What for?”
Ivan reached out and grabbed my hand. With one tug he spun me back against him. “We’re going to make lots of babies, girl. Devon has promised that some of them will even be mine.” Keeping a tight grip on my wrist, his other hand roamed my body, tracing the outline of my breast and then down and around to squeeze my backside.
I gave a little squeak of horror.
He smiled and pressed his lips against my throat, tongue flickering out to stroke my pulse. “If I could, I would take you to the trailer and make you bleed for me, but Devon has forbid it.”
“Just like you did to Jacques?” I asked, unable to stay silent. There was no way there were two repulsive vampires named Ivan in existence. This had to be the same guy.
Ivan chuckled. “Oh you know Jacques, do you? He was a lovely morsel but weak. His flesh was wonderful, but his spirit didn’t hold up. He only lasted one night with me.” Ivan kissed his way down to the hollow of my throat, his tongue applying light pressure against my windpipe. His other hand was fisted in my hair now, painfully holding me still and at his mercy.
“Something tells me you would be more fun than Jacques. You’re stronger just because of your father’s blood, yet still innocent enough to scream so prettily. I would break you in very quickly.” He wrenched my head back even further and rested the tips of his fangs along my pulse.
My breathing quickened and I tried to push him away, but he was immovable. “I don’t think my father would approve of you feeding on me,” I said keeping my voice mild.
He held me in place for a long moment and then abruptly let me go. I stumbled and dropped to one knee as I lost my balance.
My hand went to the hilt of the dagger. “When will my father return?” I pulled the dagger out of its sheath and keeping it hidden against my side, I pushed myself back up to my feet. A loose plan began to take shape in my mind.
“It’s four hours until sunrise,” he said his voice strained. He wasn’t really paying attention to me and appeared more focused on gaining control of his own blood lust.
“He’ll be gone that long?” I infused my voice with surprise trying to hide the relief that I would have so much time.
Ivan gave a curt nod.
Hoping the vampire had more blood lust than brains, I walked over to him, my hips swaying seductively as I went. He froze as I approached, confusion flashing across his face. I smiled and bit my lip in an effort to sell the lie I was about to tell. The small gesture always ignited Kristos’ desire and I hoped Ivan wasn’t immune. From the way his gaze locked on my mouth, he wasn’t. Good. I needed him to forget that just a minute ago I’d wanted nothing to do with him.
I put a hand up to his neck and pulled him close. “Maybe when my father is done with all this master race business you and I could...” I trailed off and kissed him.
His arms wrapped around my waist and he groaned against my lips. Before I could lose my nerve, I thrust the dagger into his eye as fast and as hard as I could.
He fought me
during the few seconds it took for the dagger to breach his brain. One hand clawed around my neck and squeezed until it felt like my head would pop off. His other hand yanked on my hair threatening to scalp me with brutal strength alone.
With a garbled yelp, I pressed the button. Immediately he went limp and fell to the ground, mouth open in a silent scream. For a moment, I just stood there hand on my throat, trying to take in what I’d just done. Then, with grim determination I went to where he lay and sliced the edge of the dagger against his throat. Black blood oozed up like tar, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t chance Ivan telling Devon what had happened or coming after me. I had to make a clean getaway. So I sawed and hacked at his head until I separated it from his body. My wrists throbbed with the effort by the time I was done and I was pretty sure I would be sore later.
With Ivan dispatched, I wiped the dagger on his pants along with my hands and then dragged his body off behind a trailer. I’d thought that maybe vampires turned to dust when they died, but if they did, it was a slow process. Ivan’s head I just kicked and rolled along to the spot where I’d dropped his body. I didn’t want to leave any obvious evidence. Let Devon wonder what had happened.
The last thing I did before I left, was lift Ivan’s wallet. There wasn’t much cash in there, about fifty bucks, but between that and the credit cards I should be able to get somewhere.
I ventured into the dark tunnels that had brought me to Devon’s lair, pausing to quickly vomit. While I’d handled Ivan’s decapitation better than Arlo’s, my stomach was still delicate about the whole thing.
With one hand on the wall and the dagger clutched in the other, I tried to remember the twists and turns we’d taken on our way down. It didn’t matter if I found the exact manhole we’d used, I just needed to find a way out, any way out would do. I was way past being picky.
Please just let me get out of here and somehow find a place to hide where Devon can’t find me.
What seemed like forever later, I got lucky. I could hear traffic overhead and a metallic clang as vehicles bounced over what I decided must be a loose manhole cover. Picking up my pace, I tracked the sound and sighed with relief when my hand bumped into the rungs of a ladder. I sheathed the dagger and began to climb.
Something heavy rumbled overhead, a truck or a bus, and I winced as the vibrations telegraphed from the street down the ladder. It sounded like I’d found a busy street, maybe too busy for me to safely climb out of the manhole.
At the top of the ladder, I pressed both hands against the cool metal of the manhole cover and pushed. It shifted ever so slightly, but resisted my efforts to lift it up and to the side. A horn blared and the weight of a car passed directly above me. More horns sounded along with screeching wheels and then a truck lumbered through.
I thought about moving on and looking for another way out versus poking my head out of the ground for a game of human Frogger. Neither option sounded appealing, but I decided I would at least get the manhole cover off so I could see what my options were. Or weren’t as the case may be.
Mustering all my strength I heaved the cover up. I wasn’t strong enough to lift it, but I could raise it high enough to tip it over. It rolled off the hole and dropped to the street with a booming clang. I risked a peek out and promptly ducked as a delivery truck came barreling down on me. I watched it pass over head along with the steady stream of cars that followed, wondering how the hell I was going to climb out without being hit.
At least I’d managed to catch a glimpse of my location, but that didn’t mean I had any idea where I was. I knew so little of New York City’s geography that my ignorance might actually end up killing me at some point. All I could tell was that I’d managed to find a very busy road.
I risked another peek and realized I was next to a crosswalk, one with a light. At some point there would be a red light and the traffic would stop. I just had to wait it out.
It was the longest light in history.
I could have grown and harvested crops in the time it took for the light to go red. It probably had something to do with the tiny cross street that had hardly any traffic. When the light finally changed, I started the process of hoisting myself up. Despite all the people milling about, no one gave me a second glance. This also meant no one offered to help. Giving the throng of people a dirty look, I pulled my torso out and planted one knee on the pavement preparing to pull the rest of me out.
At the same time, a phantom hand grabbed my ankle and with one powerful yank I was falling back into darkness.
I screamed even though I knew no one would come rushing to save me. I couldn’t help myself. The freefall only lasted a few seconds though and I landed in the hard embrace of strange arms.
“Going somewhere, daughter?” The low hiss of my father’s voice filled my ears. He squeezed me tight. “You thought I wouldn’t notice Ivan was gone? You’ve been blood bound to how many of us now and still don’t understand how it works?”
I remained silent even though he shook me a bit. Fear and anger crashed through me, vying for space. I had come so close to escape only to fail. The damn blood bond would be my downfall so long as my father was alive. I thought of the dagger then and my fingers flexed, involuntarily reaching for it.
Maybe I had to die, but now I knew my father did too.
Keeping a tight grip on my arm, he dragged me back through the dark labyrinth to his lair, which had become a hive of activity while I was gone. Two new trailers had arrived and there were people there unpacking all sorts of equipment. One box was labeled ultrasound equipment and several others bore the name of a pharmaceutical company. They must’ve come in from another tunnel system as I’d neither seen nor heard them during my getaway attempt.
“What’s happening?” I asked as he shoved me back toward the trailer I’d been imprisoned in earlier.
“My plan is falling into place. You see, I’ve found a way to be efficient.” He smiled, lips curling into sharp points on either side of his angular face. “You have one womb but many eggs. With a hundred surrogates, I will have a small army within twenty years.”
“You’re going to take my eggs?” My eyes went wide. I hadn’t seen this coming. Egg donor to vampires was not something I’d ever thought to add to my resume.
“As many as I can get. One hundred just to start.” He waved a hand toward a group of men in surgical scrubs. “I have a medical team all set.”
“What do they think they’re doing? Did you tell them the truth?”
“No of course not. It’s a secret government project with generous funding. Patriotism and money lower the ethical bar so that no one asks too many questions.” We had arrived at the trailer now and he opened the door. Before I knew it, I was tied up on the bed again.
I yanked on my chains even though I knew they would hold. I couldn’t help myself. “Where are you getting the surrogates?”
He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, completely relaxed as if he hatched evil diabolical plans on a regular basis. Given what I’d seen so far, he probably did. “Why so many questions, daughter? Surely the details don’t interest you?”
“Just trying to understand,” I said lamely. In truth, I hoped to learn something that would help me escape again.
“Well, if you must know, the surrogates have been harder to find than you. It’s a niche industry. I couldn’t find enough to pay for their services so I’ve resorted to recruiting women with my own methods.” He winked at me and my stomach sank when I realized he had captured them with his eyes.
“Where are they now?” I hadn’t seen any of these women in the lair, just an assortment of medical professional and people carrying boxes.
“They’ll be here when we need them,” he said. “Right now, we’re focusing on getting you to make as many eggs as possible for our project.”
I grimaced suddenly feeling like a prize mare. Pulling on my bonds again—it was beginning to be a compulsion—I said, “You don’t have to tie me up. It’s not like yo
u can’t find me wherever I go.” I held my breath hoping the ruse would work a second time.
He shook his head. “Maybe if you hadn’t killed Ivan I would have considered it, but you showed your hand there, daughter. You’re too ruthless for me to turn loose. I’ll keep my head, thank you very much.” He put a hand in his pocket. “Oh and I found something you might like to see.” He tossed a crumpled piece of newspaper on the bed.
I squinted at it. “What is it?”
“A news story about your protector Kristos. I know you think you’ll see him again and it seems he did survive the car accident.” He flashed an evil grin and adjusted the chains holding my hands overhead so that I could rest them at my side and reach the newspaper. “Read it and understand, you are mine.” He leaned over me then and planted a kiss on my cheek, his mouth cold and hard.
I cringed, my lips curling in disgust, but he was gone before I could say anything. With a sigh I smoothed out the newspaper. He’d said Kristos had survived, but, as much as hope filled my heart, I had a strange feeling that wasn’t good news. Daddy Dearest had been too happy about it, which didn’t make any sense.
It turned out my instincts were right. Kristos may not have died when my father snatched me, but he did not live much past that moment. My heart sank when I saw a picture of a fireball in the sky. A caption underneath said, “CEO Kristos Anastos died yesterday in a helicopter crash near the site of Med Enterprises’ new headquarters.”
My chest convulsed as if I’d been hit and tears dripped from my eyes. Had Kristos been trying to find me?
The article went on to say that he’d held a short press conference about the new building and the company’s hopes for its future home. Then he’d boarded a helicopter which exploded for some unknown reason. Police and the FAA were investigating, but foul play was not suspected.
Hands shaking, I smoothed the newspaper over and over, finding the repetition soothing. I hadn’t felt our bond since the car accident, but I’d held out hope that he was still out there looking for me. I knew he could survive a bullet, but an explosion wouldn’t leave anything behind to regenerate.
