by Dannika Dark
Then he heard it, the gentle ticking of Raven’s heart. He recognized that sound as if it were his own. His feet carried him toward a narrow hall straight ahead, the walls made of painted cinder block. There was a large opening on the right filled with tall pieces of furniture, old bicycles, tables, more boxes, and chairs. All that wood made him nervous.
He stared at a door on his left, a small window of iron bars allowing him to see inside a candlelit room. What he saw filled him with immeasurable rage, and his fangs punched out.
“Did you leave this door open again?” Fletcher yelled out.
Chapter 24
The manacles had loosened because of my weight loss, but not enough to remove them. My hip bones poked out, and though last night’s meal had restored some energy, it wasn’t enough. Fletcher had come in that morning to test me—to see if I’d continue fighting or give in. When he stripped away my blanket, I broke his nose and possibly fractured his leg. He didn’t mind. After all, he could heal outside or by taking light from Rachel.
I, on the other hand, was forced to watch my black bruises turn green and then a sickly yellow. My cuts never faded, and blood stained the floor. He brought in his breakfast that morning to eat in front of me, making sure I smelled his delicious sausages while he licked his fingers and delighted in his new method of torture.
Fuck him.
I tucked my arm beneath my head as I lay there staring at the wall, watching a bug slither into a crack in the floor. I briefly wondered what insects tasted like. Fletcher had just been down, and the vileness of what he’d done still snaked inside me. Blood trickled across my forehead, the wound refusing to close after he’d come close to juicing me unconscious.
My God, how did I ever survive the first time? His beatings were as cruel as the ways he found to humiliate me. The months I’d spent with him back then felt like years, and I shuddered to think he might actually keep me down here for decades. My one hope was finding a way to get into Rachel’s head.
Had she delivered my message? What if they’d given up their search and moved on? They didn’t exactly have any clues to go on. I needed to let go of the notion that someone would save me and instead turn my attention on how to save myself.
Maybe now was the time to see if I could pull his core light. I’d been waiting for the perfect opportunity to pin him, but it hadn’t come. I needed to plan it right and execute the move with such finesse that he wouldn’t have the chance to break contact. That meant somehow pinning him down, and he was so much stronger.
A tear rolled across my nose, my eyes blurring. “I hate you,” I whispered.
All those years ago, I’d drawn motivation by hating the Vampire who’d gotten me into that situation. Now, for the first time, my anger was shifting to where it rightfully belonged. Fletcher was an animal—one who didn’t deserve my forgiveness or fear. He deserved every ounce of my hate. Houdini had given me that gift.
A draft suddenly blew in. Fletcher’s familiar footsteps neared, and the hinges creaked as the door opened. My stomach turned.
What was he doing back so soon?
“Have you been putting ideas into my Rachel’s head? That’s not very smart, turning a Mage against her Creator. She’s a punctual creature, and last night she left early. What did you two prattle on about?”
He nudged my back with his boot. When I peered up over my shoulder and gave him a look of defiance, he unzipped his pants.
“Someone wants to play,” he said darkly, unable to mask his delight.
Blood snaked into my eyes from the gash on my head, blinding me for a moment.
Fletcher kicked me unexpectedly, and I yelped from the pain. He never held back. His punches and kicks were unbridled and oftentimes unrelenting. This time the pain was gripping. He’d either broken a rib or lacerated a kidney. When I rolled over to fight back with what little energy I had left, my eyes went wide.
Christian loomed behind Fletcher like a dark shadow from the underworld, murder in his eyes. I’d never seen that look on him before, and it was as if the chill in the room were emanating solely from him. He stood so impossibly still that I wondered for a moment if I was hallucinating.
When Fletcher ran his finger over the clasped button on his pants, Christian’s fangs elongated. I swung my gaze back to Fletcher, uncertain if I’d just given Christian away.
The moment Christian’s arm hooked around to grab him, Fletcher disappeared. One minute he was standing in front of me, and the next, by the toilet.
Christian turned, arms straight and fingers splayed.
“He’s a Jumper,” I rasped, stating the obvious.
Any Mage could flash, but Jumpers could literally move from one space to the next within a short distance. It used up a lot of energy and had limitations. Fletcher couldn’t travel through walls, but it made catching him next to impossible.
“You’re mine now,” Christian growled.
The hair on my neck rose. No matter how ruthless Christian was, I couldn’t underestimate Fletcher for a minute.
Snuffing out the candles would blind Fletcher. I crawled toward the bucket of water by the wall, my legs dragging behind me.
“And who might you be?” Fletcher inquired.
“I’m Christian Poe. You should know the name of the man who’s going to make the last moments of your life the worst hell you’ve ever imagined.” He backed up toward the door to prevent Fletcher from leaving.
“I’ll pay you.”
“Aye. You’ll pay me in screams.”
When I reached the bucket, I scooped up a handful of water and threw it at the candle. It flickered but didn’t go out. There was no way I could lift the bucket, so I did it again.
Fletcher jumped behind me, and his arm locked around my neck, cutting off the circulation. “Get away from the door, or I’ll break her neck and pull her head clean off like a chicken.”
And he had the strength to do it.
“You mean that incredible woman you’ve created and worked so hard to ruin?” Christian took a step forward. “After your bones are in the ground, I’ll come back once a year to piss on them.”
I gripped one of Fletcher’s hands and locked my fingers with his. With everything I had in me, I pulled at his light. One hand wasn’t enough, but it made him gasp and jerk back.
Christian eyed one of the candles, but putting it out would mean moving away from the door.
The sharp blade of Fletcher’s dagger threatened to pierce my skin. “Is this your maker?” he snarled.
I turned my head and bit into his cheek with my fangs.
“Don’t even try it!” Fletcher roared, locking my head so I couldn’t move.
My eyes bulged, and I felt on the verge of blacking out until I glimpsed movement in the hall. Light glinted off an object that swung in the air, and Christian bent over, his blood streaming onto the floor.
Rachel stood behind him, holding a shovel over her head.
Fletcher let go and jumped to the far corner by the door. “Better get her before she bleeds out. Unless you’re thirsty.” He flashed his teeth at me. “I’ll be seeing you again, my little pet.” He laughed maniacally and disappeared from the room.
Rachel stumbled backward, eyes wide. The shovel hit the floor with a clang, and she bolted out the door.
It took me a minute to realize what was tickling my neck and chest. Fletcher had cut my neck with a pocketknife.
Christian surged toward me and dropped to his knees.
I swayed, dizzy from the blood pouring out of my jugular. He bit his wrist and forced it into my mouth, and sweet Vampire blood flowed across my tongue and down my throat. Every swallow lessened the pain and invigorated me with so much of Christian’s emotions that my head spun.
It wasn’t enough. I clawed my way up to his neck and sank my teeth into his skin, deep enough to access that river of life inside him. Wrapping my arms around his shoulders, I drank deep until my old wounds healed up. I shouldn’t have gone that far, but once I started
, it was impossible to break the connection.
And he gave. Not once did he draw back or tell me it was too much, even at the risk of my weakening him.
Christian gripped my chain and yanked it clean out of the wall. When I stopped drinking, he abruptly pushed me away and held my shoulders. “Sweetheart, I’m here now.”
I recoiled and slapped him. Sweetheart? If he hadn’t left me alone at the bar, I wouldn’t have gotten into this mess. It infuriated me so much that I slapped him again.
Christian pulled me into his arms. “Jaysus, I’m sorry. I never meant for this to happen.”
I tried to push away, but he wouldn’t let me.
“You can slap me all you like once we’re home.”
“I’m dirty.” My voice was a hoarse whisper. “You need to go after him.”
“Worry not. They’re on their way.”
“Who?”
“Keystone. Who else?”
I looked back at the empty doorway. “Go after Fletcher.”
“I’m not leaving your side.”
Trembling with anger, I stared at the cuts and bruises on my knuckles. “He needs to pay.”
Christian removed his coat and draped it around me. “I’ll make your Creator suffer a thousandfold for what he’s done.” He held up his bleeding wrist. “I vow it on my blood.”
Hot tears burned my eyes as I looked down at myself. “I don’t want anyone to see me like this.”
As I sat there in that cell, all I could think about was how clean Christian’s coat smelled. I breathed it in, and it wasn’t just his scent in the fibers, it was freedom. So unlike the smell of captivity, which was a distinct blend of sweat, urine, mold, concrete, and humiliation. I hated Fletcher. Wanted him dead. Wanted to set him on fire and put him out repeatedly for the next fifty years.
Or were those Christian’s thoughts?
I wiped the blood from my lips.
Christian glanced back at the door. “Niko’s waiting outside. If you don’t want anyone else to see you, then we’ll go home without them. Niko can stay here and watch the girl. Fletcher’s already taken the car and left her behind. She’s sobbing upstairs.”
I nodded, unable to look him in the eye.
Christian collected me in his arms and stood up. Though Vampire strength ran through my veins, I felt weak in his embrace. He pressed his forehead to mine, his voice a soft caress. “I never stopped looking, Precious. Never.”
Chapter 25
Cold water from the shower beat against my head. A curtain of wet hair surrounded my face as I looked down from my seated position in the shower stall. For whatever reason, standing in that shower made me feel normal again, and I wasn’t ready to feel normal.
“Where have you been, Christian? She’s been in there for over four hours,” Blue said in whispers. “She’s not talking. Shepherd wants to look her over. He said she needs an IV.”
“For feck’s sake. The girl’s been in a dungeon for over a month. Give her a chance to breathe before you accost her with sharp needles. I’m her partner, so let me take care of it.”
The door slammed.
When I looked up, a dark shadow appeared on the other side of the glass door. I’d been sitting in here a long time under a stream of lukewarm water just to get used to warmth on my body.
A knock sounded against the glass. “You can’t stay in there forever,” Christian said. “Are you sure you don’t want me to call Niko in to restore some of your light?”
“No,” I blurted out. “Tell them to stay out.”
My core light would replenish soon enough with time, food, and rest. Though my wounds had already healed from Christian’s blood, I still felt phantom pains all over my body.
Christian drew a circle on the glass. “You have nothing to be ashamed of.”
Mortified, I covered my head with my hands. Why did Christian of all people have to see me like this? Even more confusing was how tender he’d been when he found me. What could possibly have come over him?
The door clicked open, and he reached in to shut off the water. I slicked back my hair and watched with an absence in my heart, as if all my emotions had run down the drain.
Christian knew what I needed without asking, and the last thing I’d wanted when we got home was to talk. He lifted me as if I weighed nothing, the lanterns on the wall flickering as he carried me to the claw-foot tub. I looked down at the steaming water inside. That explained why the glass on the shower door was fogged up. When he lowered me into it, I grimaced from the hot water against my cold skin.
“You’ve lost weight,” he said, the anger in his voice barely caged.
I glanced at the candles in the recessed wall to my right. “I guess your blood wore off. I feel so weak.”
Christian dragged a small stool to the edge of the tub and sat down. His black T-shirt had a small hole near the collar, but he was never one to care about such things. “I’ll have Kira bring you up a plate of food. Real food. Not that shite we were eating months ago. I think you get a free pass from eating downstairs for as long as you need. She makes a decent roast.”
“She’s still here? I thought you all would have scared her off by now.”
“Shepherd does a fair bit of frightening the poor lass, but she doesn’t take nonsense from anyone. Leaves us alone, just as Viktor promised. Doesn’t have any desire to learn English or mingle. She was introverted when I found her. Well,” he said, rubbing his chin, “maybe introverted isn’t the word. She doesn’t seem to want any part of living in the real world.”
“Maybe you two should date.”
“I desire no one else.” When he touched my hand, I jerked it away.
Christian poured a dollop of shampoo in the palm of his hand and reached over, gently massaging it into my scalp. Not a lot, just enough to clean my hair and add a milky film to the tub. I bent my head forward, knees drawn up and arms hugging them. When he finished rinsing my hair, I raked it back and wiped the suds from my forehead.
Christian dipped a sponge into the water and started washing my arm from the wrist up. “Do you want to tell me what happened? The whole of it?”
I couldn’t even verbalize all the things running through my mind. “What happened to Rachel?”
He didn’t remark on my dodging his question. “Viktor questioned her and then turned her over to the Mageri. Since she’s a Mage, she has to answer to them instead of the higher authority.”
“She was traumatized by him, you know.”
“Aye. She looked pretty traumatized swinging that shovel.”
“Don’t act like that’s the first time a woman has ever done that.” I essayed a smile.
“The girl has a mean swing.” He moved the sponge to my knees. “If he brainwashed her to the point of no return, there’s no hope. They’ll put her down. But who knows—they might have pity on the lass despite her being complicit in his crimes. Best-case scenario, they pull her core light and scrub her memories. Not just of Fletcher, but all of them. Shame.”
“Why? Forgetting would be the best gift.”
He squeezed the sponge. “Memories make us who we are, for better or worse. I don’t mean the frivolous moments, but the ones etched in our souls. If you don’t know where you’ve been, you won’t know who you are. Given all the minds I’ve tampered with, I understand how valuable that is. But no one leaves the Breed world remembering it, and there are too many years to erase. They’ll have to give her a clean slate. Most of those scrubbed end up in asylums.”
Steam rose from the tub. If Rachel’s fate was either death or full memory wipe, execution might be the kinder option. I’d rather die than have my memory wiped—to forget my father’s laugh or the feel of my mother’s hug would leave a hole in me the size of a cavern.
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
His brows furrowed, and he dropped the sponge in the water. “Do you want to tell me what happened? You’re quiet and reflective. You can’t know how much that vexes me.”
; “I was going to leave Keystone if you won the bid.”
“Don’t be telling me fibs. This is your home now.”
“Not if it means knowing I have a price tag. At first I didn’t care, but the more I thought about it, the more it bothered me. I don’t expect you to understand, but Houdini did me a favor by selling me to someone else. I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on what I want.”
Christian’s expression blackened. “Did you just say Houdini? The one who’s been writing Viktor those letters? Jaysus. He knew who you were all this time. It wasn’t a coincidence.”
I wiped my forehead. “Of course he knows who I am. He’s my maker.”
Christian launched to his feet, the stool tipping over. He turned away and gripped the sink, but the mirror was too fogged over for me to see his reflection.
I stretched my legs out, my arms folded beneath the water. It was hard to normalize when the cobwebs of a nightmare were still clinging to me. I remembered the mental anguish I suffered my first time around with Fletcher, but that girl was dead and buried. I still needed time to process everything, but I wouldn’t let it consume me like it had once before.
“Did you drink his blood?” he finally asked.
I opened my mouth but hesitated before giving my answer. “No.”
He peered at me over his shoulder. “It’s taboo for a youngling to form a relationship with his maker when they’re the opposite sex. It’s dangerous. Makers have a power over you.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
Christian turned. “Then exactly what was it like? Because I’m not hearing anger in your voice anymore when you speak of your maker.”
“It was my idea for you to lose the bid, but I didn’t know Fletcher was the buyer. It doesn’t matter anyway; Houdini was right. I’ve spent years running from my past when what I really needed was to face it. I’m not afraid of Fletcher anymore. And someday I’m going to make him afraid of me. He was the monster in my nightmares, and the more time that went by, the bigger and badder he got. You don’t know how that messes with a person. Now that I’ve seen him again, I realize he’s not as powerful as I once believed him to be. He plays psychological warfare, and he’s good at it. He knows how to find a person’s emotional triggers.” I stared down at the water. “That poor girl never had a chance.”
