Heartbeat (Morta Fox Book 1)

by D. N. Hoxa

  A hiss escaped me, and my teeth immediately turned sharp. Hammer opened his eyes but didn’t move. He was lying in the corner, the piece of silver attached to the truck itself.

  “Stay put or he’s fried,” Marg spit as if all the anger of the world was on his shoulders. I hissed at him, just like the first vampire I’d seen had hissed at me. It felt as if I was cursing him. I was way passed noticing what I was doing. I tried to drag my chained body as close to Hammer as I could without touching him.

  “Hammer…” I breathed, my eyes pinned to the silver around his neck.

  “I’m…I’m fine…” he whispered, and then his whole body jerked as his torn skin touched the silver.

  “No, please, don’t move,” I pleaded. I wished I could at least use my hand to hold his. I could only imagine the pain he was going through.

  The car was already in drive when I made my place next to him, looking down at his white face as blood dripped little by little everywhere the silver touched him. The chains around me made it impossible to control the movement of my body so I had to stay very still from fear I might fall against him and cause him even more pain.

  “M-M-Mohg…” he tried again after a while.

  “Hammer, please don’t talk. Don’t move,” I whispered. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and swallowed, before he started again.

  “Once we reach…Mohg…” he breathed. “Ask…ask for…” And then he let out a moan of pain that made my eyes fill with tears.

  “Hammer, stop,” I begged him.

  “Trial. Ask for…trial.”

  “Okay. Okay, I will ask for a trial. Please, just stop talking.”

  But no matter that he stayed silent for more than another hour, the road was bumpy to say the least. We flew up and down more times than I could count, and each time Hammer would tremble with pain.

  I couldn’t wait to get to that fucker Mohg. I’d show him. How dare he do this? How dare he take us without any reason?

  My feelings sank when I remembered what Hammer’s argument had been for not wanting to go to Mohg. My Lord Everard.

  “Hammer, what if we run into my Lord?” I whispered, tears spilling down my cheeks. He tried to give me what I thought was a shake of his head, but he didn’t open his eyes.

  Finally, I had found something worth living for. Finally I welcomed life with arms wide open, and now the whole world had turned against me. Perfect fucking timing.

  God, it felt like a lifetime ago when Hammer kissed me, and we said all those words. Made those decisions. I was completely happy for the first time in forever. And it all ended, just like that.

  Goddamn it, I was so mad!

  The thought of Hammer, turned into a monster with a thirst that lasted forever, made me break. I couldn’t allow myself to picture it. I never asked for anything, because I never thought wishes, my wishes, could ever come true. But that moment I begged that we wouldn’t run into my Lord. I wished a happy ending to all of this or at least an ending where we both were still alive.

  “I don’t want you to turn into a monster,” I whispered. I would never allow it. Unfortunately, if we were to find my Lord waiting for us right by Mohg’s side, I was going to have to die.

  “I’m not gonna…” Hammer whispered, flinching at the end of every word. My heart ached seeing him like that, so defenseless. So vulnerable.

  “We better pray we don’t see Everard.”

  “No…no,” he said.

  “Hammer, just stay still.”

  “No, I…I l-l-lied.”

  “What?”

  “I won’t…turn. You don’t turn into…” he said right after another agonizing scream.

  I wanted to ask, why did you lie? If you don’t turn into a monster, what happens to you if you break your promise?

  But his screaming lasted longer than it had in the last hour and a half, and I couldn’t bring myself to ask him. Whatever it was, I knew it was bad. I didn’t need to know what it was right away.

  “Hammer, I swear to God if you try to speak one more time, I will kick you until your freaking head falls off!” I hissed. I didn’t want to, but I was glad I yelled at him, because he stopped moving and screaming. Other than a small sad smile tugging at his beautiful, bloodied lips, he didn’t say anything else.

  ***

  I never got to see where we stopped. I was grabbed by my ankles even before the driver could turn the engine off. I tried to kick, but it was no use. Once I was dragged out and fell face first on the ground, someone grabbed the chains on my back and pulled me, keeping a safe distance from my face.

  “Careful, Shag. She bites,” Mitch said, his voice filled with amusement.

  “I can't wait to drink you dry!” I shouted. It wasn’t a smart thing to do, because I got kicked in the ribs so hard, my breath was cut off.

  “Take him down to the room,” Mitch said, ignoring me completely. I knew they were talking about Hammer.

  “If something happens to him, I swear to God I will kill each one of you! You know I can!” I shouted again and another kick to my sides broke at least two of my ribs. I had to clench my teeth as they healed and clicked back into place, because the pain was suffocating. But it didn’t last long.

  “God!” Mitch said incredulously and laughed. “What a sweet little thing. She still believes there’s a God!”

  A knee connected with my nose so fast that it broke, but I held my scream. Instead, I promised them that I really meant it. Screw not wanting to kill anyone. I wanted to kill each one of them for doing that to Hammer. Guess revenge was a much stronger motivator than fear for myself.

  They led us to a bunker—me hanging on the guy’s hand like a freaking purse and Hammer being pushed forward. But at least the silver collar was gone, and his neck had probably healed. Hopefully.

  The place was completely dark. It had one way in, and I counted twenty huge steps before we reached an iron door installed deep in the rocks of the bunker.

  I was thrown inside somewhere. The ground was muddy and the smell terrible. Hammer flew in right after me.

  “Master said to leave them both here,” one of the vampires whispered to the other who had just kicked Hammer on his back.

  “Shit…” Hammer said. He rose to his elbows first before he managed to sit straight again. He crawled to me in a second and grabbed my face in his hands.

  “Whatever happens after this, please know that I…”

  But I didn’t get what he said next because a deafening noise shook the ground. A door on the other side of the hole they put us in opened. We both looked up, completely taken off guard by the suddenness of everything starting to move all at once.

  I wish I hadn’t looked up. I wish I hadn’t seen those bright green, repulsive eyes, zeroing in on me as if I was the only living thing on the planet.

  “My, my,” he breathed, stepping closer to us with Mitch and Marg behind him. They opened the bars for him, and my Lord stepped inside with the ease and gracefulness of a feline. “I was rather hoping you’d be the mystery murderer everyone’s talking about, but I’m still shocked to see you here.” And at that he started to laugh.

  Bile rose in my mouth. I felt like parts of me were leaving my body, running on all fours for their lives. I felt light as air, sitting there, chained from neck to hips, looking up at him in wonder. What the hell did I ever do to deserve this luck?

  My Lord’s face meant that it was the end. It meant that I’d completed my part of the deal. It meant that Hammer was going to have to finish his.

  “Stand her up,” my Lord said to Mitch, ignoring Hammer completely. When I was pulled up on my shaking legs and in front of Everard, I nearly spit in his face.

  “Tell me, my dear, can you feel me in those little bones of yours?” he asked. Everything stood still for a moment, until I blinked.

  In some fucked up, miraculous way, hope bloomed in my chest. Because I didn’t feel anything towards him. No attachment whatsoever. Not even close to what Hammer had described.


  But the thing was, he didn’t know that. He couldn’t know that. And it might’ve just been the best thing that could’ve possibly happened, because maybe I could at least get Hammer out of there.

  I was tempted to smile. Finally, some goddamn luck. So I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes. I was doing this, no matter the outcome.

  “Yes,” I whispered, trying to sound as cowardly as I could. Fear was fueling the anger and the need for revenge, but I kept them in check as well as I could. I couldn’t afford him doubting me. This was my last chance.

  “Would you look at that?” he cheered, clapping his hands in front of my face. “And you have a beating heart!”

  I turned as casually as I could to look at Hammer, who was leaning against the wall and watching me with a confused and completely terrified look on his face. He, too, thought that I was compelled to follow my Lord’s orders. Better that way.

  “Have you ever heard of something like this?” Everard asked the vampires behind him, but he wasn’t expecting any answer. “Isn’t this wonderful? My own child, with a beating heart and a death bite. You make your master proud,” he cooed, putting his filthy palm on my cheek and caressing it lightly, as if he was doing me a fucking favor. It was painful to not jerk my head back and flinch.

  “Unleash her,” Everard said.

  It felt like a dream. My plan worked. It fucking worked, and he believed me!

  Marg immediately came to my side and started tugging at the thick chains, pushing and pulling me intentionally and unnecessarily as he went. I thought I heard him move his lips with a curse, but I was more concentrated on Everard, who finally seemed to notice that Hammer was there, too.

  He stepped forward in front of Hammer’s feet, and it took a hell of a lot of willpower for me not to turn around and bite him. I tightened my fists, and I stood where I was, head down.

  “I hear you’ve been looking for me,” Everard said. Hammer was still weak from the silver collar, but he looked up with his chin raised, a confident look in his eyes and no trace of fear.

  “I have,” Hammer confirmed.

  “In an attempt to find your mate, if I’m not mistaken,” Everard said and took another step closer to him.

  “Ex-mate. And yes.”

  “Well, I can assure you she’s not with me,” Everard said with a bright, mischievous smile.

  “I want to speak to Mohg,” Hammer said. At that, my Lord started to laugh again. My every cell vibrated in disgust.

  “Why on earth would you think to ask me to speak to my enemy?” he said. What?

  “You seem surprised,” Everard said and took a step back. “Good. It’s the reaction I was going for.” He turned around and walked out of the cell. “But don’t worry, Hammer. Soon, no one will be able to speak to him anymore. Very soon, you all will speak to me only.”

  What the hell was going on?

  I thought and I thought, but I couldn’t come up with an answer. Hadn’t Dublin said that Mohg and Everard worked together? Had he lied to Hammer?

  A shiver ran down my back at the thought.

  “Morta, come,” my Lord called. I was stupidly hoping that he’d let me stay there with Hammer. But I jerked forward without daring to give Hammer another look. Mitch and Marg were still watching me.

  I dragged my feet behind my Lord, looking at his back and thinking of how marvelous it would’ve felt to sink my teeth in his neck and just kill him.

  The arrogant prick. He didn’t second-guess my word at all. His ego was too big to think that I could lie to him, or to accept that he turned me into a monster and I had no connection to him. I just hoped to God that it all would work out in my favor at the end.

  Where my Lord led me was unlike anything I could’ve imagined. It was some sort of a laboratory where three big case-like boxes made out of glass stood in the very middle of the room with something formless and glowing silver floating inside. The lab wasn’t big. Only five other vampires were inside and about ten fully functioning computer screens stood on the five desks.

  “Welcome to the future,” my Lord said, waving both hands in front of us. Everyone watched me and my chest. They could hear the steady beating of my heart, and they didn’t know what the hell to make of it.

  But my Lord walked ahead, and I followed him without sound.

  “Seems you’ve come at a perfect time, my pet.” The fucker patted the top of my head like I was a freaking animal. “We have the big, mighty weapons. But a small, charming one like you is like a present from the Devil himself,” he said, grinning like he couldn’t believe the luck he’d been given.

  “Once I prepare you, they will never see it coming,” he whispered, talking more to himself than to me. I kept my mouth shut and urged the curiosity in me to lessen. I knew I wasn’t supposed to ask what the hell he meant by that.

  “Well, Morta? What do you think?” he asked me.

  “I don’t,” I mumbled. I couldn’t tell him that I thought he was mentally ill.

  But he didn’t seem to mind my lack of thought. On the contrary, he was amused by it. He laughed heartily in delight.

  “I’ll never get used to the effect I have on my children.” Children. Ugh. “But never mind. You don’t need to think. I can think for you, Morta.” He pushed my name disgustingly, and then stopped smiling. “Morta. I haven’t known a vampire named so accurately.” And another episode of spooky laughing. “Tell me, what is your real name?” I was growing really tired of everyone telling me how accurately my mother had named me.

  “Morta.”

  “Is that so?” he said, raising his brow.

  “Yes. My mother named me.”

  “I would love to meet such a person,” he said, showing me his straight, small teeth. You’d make a great couple, I thought to myself.

  “She’s dead.”

  “Pity.” The bright smile on his face said something entirely different. “Well, let’s get you settled in one of the rooms. We have plenty here for your convenience. And since you’re so special, I will even let you choose,” he said, probably thinking to himself, damn it, I’m such a generous guy. I kept silent and followed him outside the lab.

  “I’ll only ask for one thing in return, my pet. You shall not bite any vampire within this bunker, unless I tell you to.” Shivers ran up and down my body, but I nodded. I was sure he could see me, though he looked ahead in the dark, muddy corridor.

  “Prepare some blood for her, will ya, Joe?” he said to one of the two vampires that had taken over when Mitch and Marg left; they followed him exactly like the pets he saw them as.

  “Yes, my Lord,” Joe said with a nod and turned back where we came from.

  XXIV

  For two days, they left me in a cave. There was a bed frame with a dirty mattress I refused to sleep on and absolutely nothing else inside.

  I sat on the cold ground the whole time I wasn’t standing. The steel door stood closed, except for once a day when they brought me a metal glass filled with blood. Two, three hours worth of fresh blood. I didn’t have any poison. I only had my cigarettes.

  I was going out of my mind as I tried and tried to sit still and not start yelling, because I was sure he was watching me. I didn’t know how, but he was.

  The hardest thing to do was keeping my mind off Hammer. Everywhere I looked, he was there. Everything I heard, and everything I smelled. All around me, I could feel him. He was all right. Stuck inside a cave, but all right.

  My best bet was gaining my Lord’s full trust. I could take it easily from there. At least I convinced myself I could.

  I heard and learned a lot from the vampires who walked by the door to my cave. What they thought of my Lord. How they felt about him. They all hated and loved him at the same time. Couldn’t imagine life without him.

  On the third night, as soon as consciousness came back to me, the door opened. They never brought me blood so early, so I knew there was something else going on. I stood up and waited by the door until I saw Mitch’s cheerful face.<
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  “Follow me, Morta,” he said after he showed me his teeth.

  I let no emotion show on my face as I lowered my head and walked after him.

  I tried to listen at everything around me to get some sort of sense of what part of the bunker they’d put me in. The low ceiling hallways looked all the same to me.

  Mitch took me back to the laboratory.

  “Morta!” Everard called, seemingly happy to see me. He had a beautiful glass of dark red wine that looked like blood in his hand. I only nodded at him. “I take it you’re rested,” my Lord said, putting his arm around my shoulders when I was close enough. Again, I only nodded. “There’s something I want you to see.” The way he grinned, I knew it couldn’t possibly be good.

  He showed me the table where he’d been sitting. A huge old map lay on it, and a thick, red circle marked only one spot. I looked up at the others before I realized that all of them, one woman and two men, were looking at me like they wanted to rip me apart as much as they were afraid of me.

  “Don’t mind them, my pet. They’re here to assist, nothing more,” my Lord said when he saw me looking. My eyes traveled fast to his face, to those sick green eyes, and down to the wine in his hand that smelled freaking delicious.

  “Oh, how embarrassing!” he cried all of a sudden. “I haven't even offered you poison yet. Do you like wine?” he said and took a small sip, watching my face as if he were looking for something he was sure was there, but couldn't find yet.

  “I do,” I said. “I like everything.”

  “What do you mean? What’s your poison?” he asked.

  “Everything. Wine, vodka, whiskey…” And I followed with a shrug. He started to laugh.

  “Well, have a glass of wine with me, then,” he said, and the next second one of the vampires headed for the door. He hadn’t even looked at her.

  “Now, look here.” He waved at the map and took his seat on the only chair nearby, while I stood above him. I could only make out the name Trinidad written in big, bold letters in the middle of the island he pointed at. “San Fernando, Trinidad. I’m sure you’ve never been,” my Lord said and laughed at his own, pathetic joke. “I have, and let me tell you, it was a miserable place, even before it burned to the ground. It should’ve been left alone, just like the rest of the world.”