Awakened (A Fairy Tales Novel)

by Melanie Walker

  Trying to remain calm he tried to place any hints that she was able to shift from location to location with nothing coming to mind. He searched the bathroom for a vent large enough to sneak out of, the thought that she had no need to run from him not crossing his mind. When all other options had been weighed and tossed out he settled on the one thing he didn’t want to face. She was after all Sleeping Beauty and the only logical explanation was she fell asleep and god only knew the hell she was in now.

  He grabbed the cell from his pocket and called Ezek immediately. "Manna?" Ezeks voice came through the other line with mild concern.

  "She fell asleep I can damn well guarantee it and now I can’t find her." Fangs ran his unsteady hands through his hair in an effort to calm down his need to shift his body to the one place he knew she was even though he didn’t have a clue to where that was, and the fact it was daylight didn’t even register in all of his holy-fucking-shitting.

  "Are you able to track her?" Ezek asked his voice cutting through the line now with all the command and deliver only his voice would have.

  Fangs cursed. "No didn’t feed from her." Was all he could say knowing damn well the demon would most likely try and take his head for this fuck up of epic proportions. A fuck up Fangs allowed because of his damn feelings.

  "I thought we were clear on the why's and how's of keeping her safe, of knowing where she was at all times. So please explain why you now sound frantic at her loss?"

  His tone was a dead giveaway but his very vague words were the nail. He had humans in the room and they had no clue what he really was. "Let’s say the drive didn’t go well and after six hours of silence and the last hour spent fighting I didn’t think it was appropriate to ask if I could feed from her.” Fangs tone was almost a snarl. Demons had a way of crawling under his skin. “Now I know you have some magic up your sleeve, you demons think being ambiguous is a way of life. Do whatever the fuck you have to and find her instead of riding my ass because I didn’t make your daughter my meal out of respect for her feelings. Christ I thought you cared for her?"

  Fangs knew he was crossing a very dangerous very lethal line here but the truth was, he was able to read enough of Bri on that drive and as badly as she had wanted him to feed from her he couldn’t knowing that she would bring her emotions to the proverbial table and emotions could not be involved here if he intended to leave her in the end with his dignity and balls intact.

  "Give me an hour I'll call you when I have more." Ezek didn’t wait for a response when the line went dead and Fangs was about to lose his god damn mind when he threw the cell phone against the wall and did his best to avoid going ape shit. He hated the sun at this moment more than anything in this world. It was the only true weakness he had besides Bri and it was the only thing that could keep him from her.

  He sat on the edge of the bed his head in his hands and thought of all the Vampires he had Sired in his four hundred and eight years as a Sire. He had Vampires all over the damn nation and depending on where Fil had her holed up it could take him a while to flash himself to her. He would wait for Ezek and see where she was before making calls and getting the darkest most lethal of his seethe out to get her.

  But he would get her and now he was in the fight. Fil had to deal with Fangs wrath now and he better not touch a hair on Briars head or he was going loose his. Taking her from his protection, out from under his nose made him the master in this battle. He was no longer answering to Ezek, he was no longer looking out for a way to keep clean in this fight. The game was now, officially on.

  *

  Chapter Eleven

  With a tremendous force that sent Bri sliding across the cool marble floor she felt the kick after her body stopped sliding. She knew where she was and cursed herself for taking the damn bath. She had fallen asleep and though Fil couldn’t keep her longer than an hour when she got free she would be back in Seattle and a hell of a distance from Fangs. Her father’s words rang through her mind.

  "Humor me Bri. I know you to well too even assume you would listen to me. The cells are for when you get in trouble and need me to clean it up."

  He also knew that if Fil summoned her she would have no choice but go. The cell phone was for getting back to Fangs. Remembering where she was she tried to get up but the pressure of Fil’s foot on her sternum kept her to the marble. “Why Briar were you in Oregon?” He asked and the toe of his boot dug its impression into her skin.

  “Oh you know….” She gasped the pain making it hard to breathe. He had definitely cracked one if not more of her ribs. “Tracking the blessed knife so I can kill your ass.”

  Aaaaaaaaand the hits just keep on coming. Fil bent to her face and back handed her, his insignia ring splitting her lip open. “Do you think I’ll let you get that far?” He asked his face only inches from hers. “I will follow you and I will find you Briar. Give up and perhaps I will let you live when you are sent back to me, don’t and the next time your imprisoned to me you will ride in, in a body bag.” He gripped the back of her head, fisting her golden hair through his fingers as he dragged her across the room for no purpose other than to hurt her.

  “Tell me Briar how long will it take to break you this time?” He laughed and with a mighty swing her body slid into one of the granite pillars. Seeing the pillar she knew at least what room she was in. He must have called her to the front door of his mansion because the granite pillars are located on his front porch. Bri looked around through a swollen eye. She must have hit the granite pillar with her face. She was definitely back in Seattle and like the norm it was raining.

  She tried to crawl towards the rainfall dripping in steady streams from the gutter atop the roof but as she sluggishly pulled her body toward the blessed rain he yanked her by the arm and lifted her, throwing her back through the front door where she landed by the spiral staircase. There was no getting up. She felt her hip pop and knew it was out of place, as was the shoulder he hauled her inside the house by.

  Fil was in rare form tonight she thought as she struggled to sit upright, and would have had the room stopped fucking spinning. “Who is helping you Briar?” He asked his voice calm and she knew this was the good cop portion of the fight, before had been bad cop and she was thankful for the reprieve.

  “Me myself and I.” She said through panting painful breath. She was beyond able to see out her right eye and thought perhaps being a smart ass was not the smartest move. Fil must have agreed because with a potent fist of absolute rage he clocked her in the left. “Bitch I’ll get it on my own.” And with that Briar went down barely feeling the burn on her inner thigh.

  *

  Ezek sent a call out to locate Bri and found her just a few miles from his downtown Seattle office. The son of a bitch didn’t even bother hiding her. Ezek kicked the lawyers from his office and asked Celeste to make sure nothing interrupted him. "If so much as a thought comes through that door there will be hell to pay do you understand?" He all but roared not bothering with her reply because he had been very fucking clear. He slammed the door and pulled his daughter from Fil's clutches hating that he couldn’t protect her.

  Ezek hadn’t been the Arch Demon when Fillip made the deal for Briar's soul. Jeddah had been a lethal ruler, fearsome and had numbers of demon uprisings that even hell couldn’t back up. Ezek had been a young demon madly in love with Queen Hubert and was busy checking in to her chamber every night. When Briar was born the King agreed to take responsibility for Bri in fear of what Ezek might do had he not. Isabelle had fought to be with Ezek and begged him to take her and their daughter away from King Hubert but Ezek needed permission from Jeddah and it wasn’t granted. Hell had to follow their own form of politics and Briar was destined to marry the demon child of King Quintana, Fillip an Incubus shifter whose Father was very good friends with the Arch Demon.

  When he told Isabelle that he had to leave her she made him promise to always watch out for their child and he swore that should any harsh fate befall her that he would avenge her.
The night she and Fil were mated was all it took. He marked her, claimed her as his not knowing that Fil was her father, not knowing that she wasn’t fully human. For five years Ezek plotted Jeddah’s death and upon learning of King Hubert’s death he sought out Isabelle and demanded to know why she hadn’t stepped in, but he was too late. Fil had sent his soldiers in to her chamber while she mourned the death of the king and they slaughtered her before his eyes.

  Ezek had cloaked himself so that the soldier’s wouldn’t see him but as he watched them slit her throat he unleashed a violence that made the depths of hell burn in envy. He went to Jeddah and killed him just as swiftly for even allowing a demon of his pantheon to suffer as Briar had. In that instant he became the Arch Demon and his first day on the job he was sent to Neverland to claim his daughter who had taken her own life to be free of the hell Fil placed on her frail used body.

  He was pulled from the memory as his daughter’s body came crashing down before him. Fil had beaten her within an inch of her sanity this time, and the stench of her anguish made the walls shake in his fury. Calling Celeste for a blanket he wrapped her in his arms and held her close wishing he could heal her. He had been a day late when she had taken her life. Had he killed Jeddah one day sooner he would have pulled Briar free from her fate but he was late. The only choice he had when he retrieved her from NL was let her die or make her stronger. He gave Bri the choice and she chose to fight knowing that by maturing to her demon half she would forever be owned by Fil. Shaking his head he could taste the bile in the back of his throat. She didn’t even know what she truly was, didn’t know what Ezek had made her. She was his strongest weapon and soon, very soon she would learn that.

  "Shhh." He whispered against her forehead before kissing her cheek and fighting the rage as she moaned from the pain. He could feel the brand Fil seared into her thigh and he fought the bile rising as he spread her legs and saw the bite mark. Covering her quickly he closed his eyes and tried to breathe.

  He wouldn’t be able to heal her because of Fil biting her. By staking his claim demon law demanded her punishment come from her owner and though her father was the Arch demon her mate was Fil and old laws were carved in stone and forged in blood. There was no changing them no matter how bad they sucked. Fil wanted her to suffer, her suffering meant that he would grow stronger, and the evil inside feeding off her pain.

  Ezek reached for his phone and dialed up Manna and waited for the Vampire to pick up. The other end only gave a half ring before Manna's voice came over loud and clear. "You find her?"

  Ezek looked down at his daughter and wanted to roar in his rage. "Yes. I have her with me. Come to my office at sunset and make sure you feed again before. She is in horrible shape and you are the only thing that can help her now."

  *

  Fangs showed up an hour passed sunset and wasted no time with the elevator. He materialized in Ezeks office face still flushed from the quick feedings along the way. "I’d have made it sooner but I stopped a few times to replenish the strength I used in flashing myself here." He looked around the office not bothering with pleasantries between him and Ezek. There wasn’t a trace of Briar in the place.

  "She is resting in an office two doors down with two of my personal guards with her." Ezek said not looking at Fangs but staring bleakly into his Johnny Walker scotch.

  "Christ you foolish old man, how do you know he won’t take her again?" He all but yelled having already crossed the line of no return when it came to Ezek. He had never backed down to a demon before, he’ll be damned if he was about to start. He was a Sire, and a pissed off one at that. Nice time was over and Ezek was about to get a lesson on who the big bad really was.

  "I am no fool Vampire." Ezeks eyes flashed red as his stared bore into Fangs d Bring him to push a little farther. Fangs had a sneaking thought that whatever dark place the Arch had inside was a cave that even Fangs was more than happy to enter. He stood there toe to toe waiting to hear the reason that the guy had to allow his daughter to sleep again.

  "I have her cloaked in enough magic that it would take centuries for Fil to find her. They aren’t permanent though that’s why I asked you to come as fast as possible." He stood from the chair behind his desk and walked to the bar pouring another three fingers of scotch for himself, and three for Fangs as well. "I heard a story a while back that if a Vampire feeds another their blood that the immortal power in the blood works similar to chemotherapy or antibiotics, it’s essentially a healing agent correct?"

  The question raised the hairs on Fangs arms and the knot of rage boiling in his gut threatened to explode. There was only one reason to ask such a specific question. "What has he done to her?" He snarled.

  Ezek took a step back and Fangs knew his fangs punched down in absolute vengeance and that his eyes were probably glowing white. Ezek laughed nervously and shook his head. "God you fuckers are a terrifying you know that?"

  He handed Fangs the glass but he shook his head no and stepped back from Ezek. "It will shatter if I take it, set it down please and tell me what happened." His voice was shaking in rage.

  As a Vampire it wasn’t necessary to breathe unless hunting or seeking emotions. In general it was a pain in the ass because the heightened senses of a Vampire meant you got a good whiff of anything by simply talking, small breaths were inevitable for the norm. But he found himself taking in deep gulps of air and pushing the oxygen to his lungs as he tried to calm down but his eyes stayed on Ezek waiting for answers.

  "Her wounds are extensive. Absolutely she has a concussion, her right hip and left shoulder are both out of socket, and she needs stitches above the right eye and below the left. Her lip probably will be fine but a stitch or two wouldn’t hurt. I have a Dr. who specializes in the… extraordinary with her now. He can do nothing but stitch, address the pain and reset her hip and shoulders. The healing however is why I called you."

  Fangs hung on every word but the more Ezek went on the harder it was to hear due to the rushing of all the blood he had on the way in riveting through his body. Death would be too simple a punishment for Fil. Fangs had an endless supply of torture in store for him that would span fucking centuries. "Why can’t you heal her? You have to be stronger than I am in demon department."

  Ezek laughed darkly and shook his head. "Not even close Vampire. Besides the fucker thought of everything." He all but mumbled and Fangs didn’t think he was meant to hear it. "He bit her, marking her so that no demon would heal her or help her shy of me and my guards or Ash though we are limited in what we can do. It is a warning that demons use to impact their point. By biting her he leaves his brand on her and she is helpless and in pain with no choice but to heal naturally. I can not intervene no matter how desperately I want to."

  Fangs could hear the aggravation and the sorrow in the Arch’s voice and judging by his emotions he would do just about anything to free his daughter from the torment she was in. Fangs knew a little about demon laws and didn’t argue the fact that they were seriously fucked up. But he understood the claiming. It was territory plain and simple. In Fil's eyes Briar was his and his to torture and no one was allowed to interfere, well demons anyway. He had no ties to the demon world. He was an undead human plain and simple and fuck the demons he was playing on his terms.

  "Where is she I'll feed her now." There was no pause no hesitation what so ever. Claiming went both ways and if Briar fed off him she would be directly tied to him according to Vampire rights. This came down to bare bones and he didn’t give a damn if she wanted him or not. After tonight she would be his.

  All his...

  Mine.

  *

  Chapter Twelve

  Briar slept like the dead and though she knew she was in pain it was nothing more than a miracle that she was with her father. She remembered feeling his summons but remembered nothing beyond that. She felt warm and her fingers were tingling and then that shudder raced through her body and a thirst unlike any she had ever known consumed her.

&nb
sp; In greedy pulls she gulped the rich warm port that dissolved like sugar in her mouth pulling it down her throat letting it soothe her, sustain her. The overwhelming pain that was Fangs began to swim in her mind. She ached for him but fought day and night to free herself of his memory. Images swarmed her mind, of her beneath him and she saw herself in a way that she never imagined. She was magnificent, breathtaking as she closed her eyes while he thrust inside of her.

  It slowly dawned on her that the thoughts weren’t her own but she was desperate to be in that place again, with him the place where she needed his touch as much as her next breath, desperate for... him?

  She surged forward as the delicious warmth was taken from her mouth and her body burned. No longer was she surrounded in the blanket of her and Fangs but instead she felt a burning that fused her entire body and rocked her back on the couch. Her body arched in pain that she thought would never end. Minutes felt like hours as she was prisoner in the cell of pain until slowly so slowly the pain receded, backed off until it was nothing more than a dull pulse in her veins.