They stared at each other, their gazes locked in silent battle. “Where. Is. She?” he ground out, his control dangerously dangling on the edge of sanity. This was all rushing at him like a force of nature.
“Nickolas has her, I’m afraid. Since she wasn’t of any further use to us,” she choked out, her lips still set in that smug grin. “He decided that he wanted to play with her. He was quite fascinated with the fact that he couldn’t compel her. The poor thing must have suffered something so very tragic to be able to close herself off like that. It’s quite rare.”
Marcus felt his heart clench at her words. “Did you ever have a shred of decency in you?”
Josephine laughed, and it was a sound that caused a deep clenching in his gut. It was cold and heartless. “I would have to say…no,” she choked out, her voice low and raspy, and Marcus squeezed his fingers a little tighter.
“Brianna,” he roared, his eyes blazing. He had to find Liz! He couldn’t waste any more time on this waste of flesh.
Marcus heard a thumping on the stairs, and in the next instant Brianna burst through the door. She stopped short when she saw her friend holding the woman up against the wall, and had to do a double take to make certain that it was not Elizabeth.
No, she surmised with the shaking of her head, this woman was pure evil–she could feel it radiating off her like a dark, toxic cloud. That was definitely not Liz.
“Marcus?” she asked in confusion, wondering just where Liz was. “What in the hell is going on?”
“Brianna, I need you to listen to me very closely,” he pushed out, his voice low and deadly, his eyes never leaving Josephine’s. “I need you to put a binding spell on this bitch, but before you do, please run and get me the silver chain you keep in the house.” He glared at Josephine and took some small comfort in the fact that her eyes widened slightly in what had to be fear.
“I…, sure,” Bri blurted out, knowing that whatever this was, it was so not good. She dashed back out of the room without another word.
“Marcus,” Josephine gasped, her eyes darting around the room in desperation. “You can’t do this. You loved me once.”
“Watch me,” he spit back. “What I felt for you wasn’t love,” he seethed, his body trembling with his fury. “It wasn’t until I met Elizabeth that I truly knew what love is. So, let me tell you this–I would end you in a second, but I’ll let Desmond decide what to do with you. I’ll only ask him that I be the one to take your miserable life if he so chooses to do what needs to be done.”
With those words, he saw pure terror flit across her features. He knew that Desmond’s reputation was known everywhere, and that he would be almost as furious as he was when he found out that Josephine’s death had all been a lie. That she had lied and conspired against them since day fucking one!
“I had to mean something to you once,” she whimpered, and he knew that she was grasping at straws. The knowledge that the tables were turning was hitting her, and she was becoming desperate. He realized that she was truly a heartless, evil witch who had never cared for anyone but herself.
“That was all an illusion,” he replied quietly, his voice dripping with venom. “It was never fucking real!”
Brianna came back carrying a length of chain in her hands. She snapped on the overhead light and ran over to where they stood, her eyes taking in the situation. “Who is this?” she asked breathlessly.
“Josephine Castile,” he ground out between his teeth, still not taking his eyes from the woman in question, and he heard Brianna gasp.
“Holy shit,” she choked out, her mouth dropping open. “You can’t be serious!”
“Brianna,” Marcus said evenly, although his entire body still shook and trembled with his rage. “I need you to secure her hands with the chain.”
Brianna stepped up beside him and tried to give him a small encouraging smile, although her eyes were still wide with shock. She pulled something from the pocket of her shorts and held it up. “These might work better,” she whispered as she dangled a pair of silver handcuffs in front of him.
He nodded quickly, that muscle in his jaw still twitching dangerously. He took a step back and pulled the now silent Josephine away from the wall so that Brianna could secure her hands. She went into motion immediately and snapped the cuffs in place, taking silent pleasure in the fact that the bitch moaned in pain as the silver made contact with her skin. She then took the chain and attached one end of it through the cuffs and the other to the bedpost.
“I…holy shit! I thought she was dead,” she murmured as she worked, and Marcus finally met her eyes. The fear she saw in his expression caused a deep sinking feeling to hit her full on in the chest, as if she had been kicked by a very large, very angry mule. It was raw…deep.
“Yeah, well…so did I,” he replied softly, his voice husky, and she knew that he was absolutely terrified. “The binding spell please, Brianna.”
“Yes, of course.” She began chanting, lifting her hands up and facing her palms towards Josephine, who stood there silently glaring at the pair with nothing less than pure contempt. Her dark eyes snapped and crackled with her anger and a hiss passed her lips at she snarled at Brianna.
There was a sudden pop of light and Josephine groaned, collapsing to the floor in a heap. Brianna took a deep breath and nodded.
“There,” she said proudly. “That should keep the bitch out for a while.”
Brianna looked around the room, trying to think of some way to help Marcus. Her eyes lit up as she took off running out of the room, only to return a few moments later.
“Quick,” she called to Marcus, “Give me something of Elizabeth’s.”
Marcus seemed to snap out of whatever stupor he had been in and grabbed the nearest thing that he could find. He handed the pair of panties to Brianna. She worked quickly and Marcus felt an inkling of hope spring up in him. She was going to scry for her, just as Kat had done that time to find Abby. A small part of him felt relief, yet he couldn’t push back that growing sense of doom that was assaulting his senses.
Marcus remained silent as Brianna worked, and it was only a moment later that she looked up at him and nodded. “Got her,” she whispered triumphantly. She looked over toward the bed to make sure that Josephine was still out, and smiled. We got her, you bitch!
She turned back to find Marcus dialing his phone, his body now shaking full force. She watched helplessly as he paced the room, wound up tighter than a coiled spring. She prayed that he would be able to get to Elizabeth in time, knowing that if he didn’t…it would kill him. Her hopes that Elizabeth would be the one to help him find love again seemed to have worked, she just didn’t want to have to watch that love destroy him, and if he lost Liz…it would.
“Des,” Marcus breathed into the phone, his voice finally breaking with his anguish… and it was heart wrenching. “I need you.”
Chapter Thirteen
Elizabeth opened her eyes very slowly; her head pounding with such brutal force that she felt certain that she was going to be sick. She looked around, trying desperately to get her bearings. Her body tensed as a rush of adrenaline shot through her when her eyes fell on the man standing across the dingy room, staring at her intently. His lips twisted up into a grin that caused her blood to run cold and a shiver to run up her spine.
Oh, my God! What was going on? She tried to clear her mind and remember. Her heart clenched in her chest as the vision of Marcus standing in the kitchen, drinking from a bag of blood pulled her into its grip. Marcus, begging her to listen to him…the silver eyes…the fangs, her turning and running to her room…this man… Oh, God! Just what kind of nightmare had she stumbled into?
The man took a step towards her and Liz cringed, her body beginning to quake. He was one of them! But what were they? A sob tore through her throat as she realized that every damn thing that she had grown up believing was an absolute lie. There were supernatural beings. Vampires! Marcus was a vampire! This…man was a vampire! She had seen his fan
gs and silver eyes! The realization hit her once again like a ton of bricks as everything came crashing down around her. Monsters were real. God, help her…they were real!
“Where am I?” she choked out, tears rolling down her cheeks as she watched him in horror. “What do you want with me?” She couldn’t grasp everything that was happening, and her mind kept going back to Marcus, the look of pain in his eyes as he begged her to listen to him, and telling her that he would never hurt her.
“You are at my humble abode,” he replied, his voice dangerously low. Liz was consumed with a shot of pure fear as he stepped up beside where she lay sprawled out. She unsteadily leaned up on her elbows and pushed herself against the back of the sofa, her body beginning to shake uncontrollably now. “And, as for what I want with you…” he laughed, his silver eyes flashing with a sick, twisted humor, and Liz had never felt such terror before, not even when Paul had come at her with that knife. Dear God that was child’s play to what she was experiencing now. “I find you quite…unique. You intrigue me.” He reached out and skimmed her cheek with his finger and Liz visibly flinched, which only caused his smile to widen. “Your fear smells delightful, and I can’t help but wonder how you will taste.”
“What are you?” she croaked, her teeth beginning to chatter. She knew that she was going into shock, but there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it. She was living a nightmare! And as screwed up as it was, all she could think of was how much she needed Marcus. No matter what he was, he had always made her feel safe…and protected. She knew that because she had fallen in love with him, that her instincts where most likely not to be trusted, but her heart cried out for him. She so desperately needed to feel his strong arms around her. To know that safety that only he could give.
“I am sure that you have most certainly guessed by now, my dear,” the man whispered. “I am your worst fear come to life.”
“What do you want?” she asked again, trying hard to sound confident and failing miserably.
The creature seemed to consider this a moment and Liz felt her terror growing. She had never felt such evil before. Even the horror that she had had to face at the hands of Paul on a daily basis didn’t compare to the nightmare that was now standing in front of her. She was so scared that she actually felt faint.
Finally, he spoke. He voice smooth and calm, yet his eyes belied the heartless arrogance beneath. There was no denying it. This man planned to kill her. She only hoped that he would make it quick. “Why, I plan on playing with you while we wait for your knight in shining armor to arrive with his entourage.” He laughed, his eyes gleaming in nothing less than pure malice. “You see, your love and his little band of do-gooders are jeopardizing my very existence. And I just can’t have that.” He took a step closer to her, his eyes studying her face closely. “As an added bonus, you stumbled into the middle of all of this. I must admit, your resistance to my compulsion is fascinating. What happened to you to cause you to build up such strong defenses?”
Liz tried to regain some semblance of control as she quickly glanced around the room, looking for a means to escape….anything that might help her. She might be in the middle of a nightmare, but she was damned well not going to throw up her hands and surrender. She knew that she had nothing at all left to lose.
She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and squared her shoulders, praying for the resolve that she needed. The strength that she knew was inside her. She was not a quitter!
“You don’t frighten me,” she lied, giving her chin a defiant lift and glaring at him.
He seemed to consider this a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter. “Oh, my precious little human…I should!” In a flash, he grabbed her arm and viciously pulled her up against him, his breath against her ear. “I plan on showing you things that would put your most terrifying dreams to shame,” he whispered, and Liz trembled, her body turning to ice.
“Do your worst,” she responded softly, only the slightest of tremors in her voice, and she said a silent prayer of thanks. He could do his worst, but she would be damned if she would give him the satisfaction of seeing her break.
“I actually plan on doing just that.”
She felt him turn his head, and then suddenly, she could feel something piercing her neck. A scream flew past her lips as the room began to spin around her and a wave of nausea swept over her. She could feel his mouth pulling the blood from her body and felt the bile rising in her throat before the room around her went black.
Marcus crashed through the door, stopping just inside the entryway as he caught sight of Liz being held up against that bastard, one hand around her throat, and the other her waist–his grip so tight that her lips were turning blue.
He noticed in an instant that her eyes were glazed and she seemed nothing more than a rag doll in his hold, her body limp and unmoving. Her beautiful eyes–eyes that he loved so much, were unfocused and dull, and her skin deathly pale–almost translucent, and he felt his body vibrate. There was a dark, ugly bruise on her cheek, her lip bloodied and swollen, and he felt his fangs descend in a rush of pure fury.
“Let her go, you filthy son of a bitch!” he snarled, his entire body trembling now with the need to kill. He noticed the bite marks on Liz’s neck as he scanned her body, and his anger only grew. The son of a bitch had been feeding from her! No wonder her eyes were glazed, she was weak from being nearly drained.
A rage like Marcus had never felt before swept over him and he glared at the vampire, his body shaking now with the tide of pure hate rushing over him.
“Now, don’t be hasty,” Nikolas laughed, tightening his grip on Liz. “I know you wouldn’t want anything to happen to your lovely little mortal.”
Marcus clenched his fists at his sides, his entire being crying out for Liz. He needed her in his arms–he needed to keep her safe. He would not lose her!
“Let. Her. Go. She had nothing to do with this,” he hissed, a feeling of complete and utter terror causing his body, already strung tight with anger, to tense up.
He saw Liz stir slightly and his heart clenched in his chest with the force of a nuclear bomb when her eyes sought him out.
Liz tried desperately to focus on what was going on around her. Just the very sound of Marcus’s voice pulled her from that fog that was becoming her mind and soothed her. He is here she thought, her heart jumping around in her chest. He had come for her. She only wished that it hadn’t been too late.
“Marcus,” she whispered, her voice barely more than a croak. It was raw and weak…and it hurt so much to talk. She wanted to tell him to run…to leave, but her throat just wouldn’t allow it. The precious little air that she was getting into her lungs was far from what she needed to tell him that she loved him–no matter what he was.
As much as she needed to tell him all of that…all she wanted to do was to sleep. To lose herself to the darkness that was toying with her very soul, telling her to give in and rest… She was just so tired.
“I swear to God, you will beg for death if you don’t let her go…now,” she heard Marcus growl. He sounded so angry, she thought, her eyes starting to slide shut. She fought it with all that she was worth. She needed to tell him…let him know… she couldn’t die without him knowing that she loved him. That she wasn’t afraid of him. Not him. Never him.
“So sure of yourself, LaGrange,” Nikolas crooned, his mouth turning up in a smug sneer. “Perhaps you might be able to kill me… but I wonder at what cost?” His eyes slid down to Liz and he licked his lips. “I must admit, she fascinates me. I have never before had a problem compelling a human. It was quite interesting for a while, but now…she is merely a means to an end. Although, a rather tasty one I will admit.” He looked back at Marcus, his eyes glittering dangerously. “Are you sure you wish to save this mortal?” he asked. Marcus had to fight the urge to lunge at him with every ounce of restraint that he possessed. The need to kill was a deep, burning hunger that was consuming him. “She must have had a very hard life,” he
went on coolly as he watched Marcus take a step towards where they stood. “Ah, I wouldn’t if I were you,” Nikolas laughed. “I could snap her pretty little neck in an instant. It’s such a delicate, fragile little neck.”
“What the fuck do you want?” Marcus ground out.
“I want to end this nasty business once and for all,” he replied softly. “You see, I can’t have your brother’s child or the Wolf’s, roaming around to fulfil the prophecy. It just wouldn’t do. And if I have done my research–which I have–I am certain that you have called your dear brother by now, begging him to help you find your precious human. They will of course, bring their mates with them. They are both much too pig-headed and arrogant to believe that anyone else is capable of protecting them. However, they will certainly never allow them to risk their safety by coming into my home. At least, that is what I’m counting on.” He paused, gazing down at Liz a moment before looking back at Marcus. “The only question is will she last until the Calvary arrives. I’m afraid that I may have taken just a bit too much, but restraint was never my strong suit. And, her heartbeat is growing so very faint.” He sighed dramatically, and Marcus’s fury only swelled. “It won’t be much longer, I fear. I can hear her delicate little heart fluttering away as we speak.”
“You demented son of a bitch,” Marcus hissed, trying to think of something… anything! “I have Josephine,” he blurted, praying for just a little something to bargain with.
“Of course you do,” he chuckled, shaking his head slightly. “That is what I was counting on. I needed a diversion so that I could spend a little time with the lovely Elizabeth. Josephine means nothing to me. She was a convenience of sorts.” He glanced back down at Liz and smiled wickedly. “I only hope your brother arrives before you lose her. My friends are most likely getting restless, but…Demons do have a tendency to do that. They lack patience, I fear.”
Marcus' Mortal Embrace (Book 3) (The Supernatural Desire Series) Page 18
