Rule

by Alaska Angelini

  “You’re telling me you’ve killed two Masters?” A man rose from the back row. “That’s impossible.”

  “I assure you it is not. I killed him and paid a price for it. His blood got in my mouth. A lot of it. I can never get rid of it. Made someday it will fade, but with the vampire’s status, I doubt it will in my lifetime.”

  “Status, what do you mean?”

  I squeezed tighter to my wrist. “He went by the title, The Black Prince. His name was Sayer. He was a member of the most elite vampire circle there is, Axis. Ten members are all that fill this circle and they are the strongest vampires in the world. He … attacked me for reasons I will not disclose. During our fight, I managed to stab him in the heart repeatedly with a dagger that was blessed by my uncle, a priest. It worked. I decapitated him afterward. I wasn’t going to take chances. If you’re faced with a Master and manage to pierce his heart, I suggest you do it, too. Their healing strength is amazing. No bullet will do the job. A stake, a knife … it has to break the skin. Bless everything you can. Carry a rosary or cross. Prayer will stop them in their tracks. It’s also a time saver if you need a few seconds to attack.”

  Wide eyes stared at me. I glanced at Johnson, taking a step back. “My best advice—find God. You’ll need to if you decide to continue this.”

  Chapter 12

  Tessa

  “More!”

  Heat raced from the core of my stomach and through my limbs as I let the power explode from my body. Sweat was drenching the red dress I wore and the more Aetas tested me, the weaker I was becoming. I wasn’t ready for this. I’d barely just got out of bed. If it weren’t for Marie’s blood, I would have been on death’s doorstep.

  The walls and floor shook around me as Marko’s gift rippled the shield around us. Aetas was protected from the blast, but I could see the toll it was taking on him, too. He was sweating, absorbing the force I continually let free.

  “Perfect. Each time you do this, you grow stronger. Already you’ve made progress. It’s phenomenal, really. The talent you have could bring you right here to the top. Right under me if you kept this up. There’d be nothing you couldn’t do, Princess.”

  “I don’t want to be at the top. I want to go home,” I said, angrily. “You wanted me to learn. I’m learning.”

  “You’ve learned nothing,” he said, exploding. “You feel so confident in your abilities? Take me into your gaze. Show me what you can do.”

  He came forward at a swift pace, stopping before me. I could barely stand, more or less try the mind tricks he was so good at.

  “Do it. Show me what you got. Make it quick or else I’ll take you back into mine. That’s a dangerous place for you to go if you want to be true to your precious Marko.”

  The threat had my eyes rising to his. I pushed into his mind, immediately feeling a wall block me. He was trying to make it impossible for me to enter, but I refused to give up so easily. Darkness began to seep in and I could feel a slight give. Powerful or not, Aetas had cracks in his armor. All I had to do was find a spot big enough for me to squeeze through and I’d have him.

  “Come on, Princess. I don’t have all night.”

  His words were far away, echoing in the distance. The harder I pushed, the more ground I lost. I tried to let myself relax. The need to become one with the void teased my thoughts. I wasn’t sure if it was him slipping the idea in my mind or if it was me, but something within the knowledge clicked. Instead of keeping my energy focused toward a certain point, I let it expand. I could begin to feel myself ooze forward, slipping and sliding through as I grew larger. It was a scary sensation, but one I didn’t balk from. If Aetas reversed our roles, he could use his authority again. I couldn’t have that.

  “You have two min—”

  Like light in the darkness, I surged over his wall, falling right into his mind like a bottomless pit. It was the opposite of what I was supposed to be doing. I was meant to bring him into my mind. To control him that way, but this was better. Here I’d have unlimited knowledge. Here … for the smallest moment … I’d rule.

  Images began to pour their way through, categorized in time. Time … yes … the void was the beginning. I could feel myself in it. Feel myself born as light blinded me. Years bombarded my brain. Centuries. I’d always been a vampire. Always known nothing but the dark.

  As my gifts grew and the population within my kind expanded, I learned. I prospered. Nothing was out of reach. Nothing too hard. Boredom came. Loneliness. So many centuries and nothing I had to look forward to. War. It was always there. Always a game we came back to. One we relied on to kill time. We’d done this before on multiple occasions. We could do it again. Humans were stupid. We could always make them forget about our existence. Our myth would continue after our fun and we’d count down the decades before we geared up again. But this time was different. This time there was more media access. More technology. We could still cover up who we were after the bloodshed and population control, but did I want to? I was tired of this game. Tired of how everything was a never-ending cycle of the same old shit.

  Aetas’ thoughts continued, but I searched for more. More secrets. More information on his gifts. They were there, within me now, but I couldn’t get a good read on how to use them. Just more imagines and sensations. They were my guide. My knowledge.

  Energy raced up my mass causing me to internally claw to Aetas’ mind in surprise. A pull snapped me from the void so hard that I stumbled back into the bed, falling over the corner of the mattress. Trembling shook my entire body as the realization hit me. The call wasn’t from my leader. It was from Marko and he was close by. He was using our ties as a rope to lure me back to him. And I couldn’t deny the order. I would react whether my mind wanted to or not.

  “You…” Aetas dove, covering me with his weight as he grasped my neck. “How did you do that? What made you think you had the right!”

  There was a murderous glint in his eyes. Training or not, I had overstepped my bounds. Saw into what our nature really was. War. It would always be there and he would never allow us to win. We weren’t meant to. He knew what I had from the beginning. If we took over, we’d destroy this planet. The thing was, he was teetering on the brink of allowing it to happen. He was just as unstable as he claimed Marko to be.

  “I made a mistake by thinking you had limits. You’re more dangerous than I thought at this stage.” His fingers eased on my neck, but still held firm. I saw the conflict in his eyes. He may have been threatened by my strength, but it enticed him. Greed. Even Aetas harbored it.

  The pull yanked harder on my being and I fought to get myself loose from my leader. Through the daze, he hadn’t noticed Marko’s presence. I watched as the awareness had his gaze jerking to the curtains. A deep sound escaped his lips and he held tighter to my neck.

  “The two of you are beginning to pose quite the problem.”

  “Let me go, then,” I tried saying.

  Tighter he choked me. My lips began going numb, along with my limbs. I hadn’t seen much of this side of Aetas, but the longer I was here, the more I was starting to see that he wasn’t above any of the other vampires I’d met. We were all cruel. All focused on our own needs. To hell with anyone else.

  “You’ll stay here. I’ll deal with this once and for all.”

  “No, please.” Everything within me wanted to attack him. To fight to escape. I couldn’t. Not if I wanted to live. I would be nothing more than a fugitive. A vampire on the run. And they were good enough to find me. Besides, I was putting Marko in danger. Maybe it was best for him to think me dead. He would be safer. His pain I could soothe when I left here.

  My eyes closed as the tears escaped. I could feel myself closing off. Become just as numb on the inside as parts of me were on the outside. Aetas seemed to feel my submission to the situation. His grip eased and his lips brushed over my cheek.

  “Let me take this urge,” he said, lifting enough to place his palm over my belly. “I will feel his call for you.
”

  The connection from Marko snapped, making me cry out in agony. It shattered my heart the moment the need disappeared.

  “Oh yes, he’s on a mission. I’m going to enjoy this. It won’t take me long.”

  Couldn’t he just leave me be, tonight? I couldn’t take anymore. I was beyond exhausted and hurt. I just wanted to lie in bed and have one good night of crying myself to sleep. Alone.

  Aetas stood just as a panicked knock sounded at the door. The smile he threw me as he reached for the knob had a sickening feeling engulfing me. To him, I was nothing but a new toy. Something to fuck with until he grew bored of me, too. But how long would that be? I was breaking through his walls, physically and mentally. I didn’t think that was a good thing. Perhaps I should have played the fool and pretended to be weak.

  It was too late now.

  The barrier shut and I stood, gripping to my stomach. The emptiness within had more tears sliding down my cheeks. I wanted Marko. I wanted to go home. What if Aetas hurt him? I didn’t trust my leader. He had nothing to lose and he obviously didn’t like Marko.

  My vampire had me heading to the door. The protectiveness I felt had my pulse jumping in a frantic rhythm. I closed my eyes as I grabbed the door knob, searching through the knowledge I had gained from breaking into Aetas’ mind. Warmth sunk into my palm from the energy imprint he had left behind and I was immediately looking through his eyes.

  “Oh my God,” I whispered.

  A smile came, even through my fear. What I had done may have come with consequences, but I wouldn’t regret breaching his trust. If I had insight into my leader, it left me a step ahead. He couldn’t lie to me and that put me at ease.

  Vampires slipped into the nooks and shadows as he passed. As I passed. We were one in the moment and he didn’t even have a clue. There was anger surging through him, just as there was excitement to put Marko in his place. This was my house and no one came here without my consent. But he had, and now I would kick him out, probably weeping and begging for my mercy. Begging for her.

  The emotions that surrounded him as he thought of me were confusing. He wasn’t sure what to think. As much as he wanted to mentor me, to have someone to trust in, his make-up made it almost impossible. He wanted to hurt me, both physically and mentally. He craved twisting my impressionable ways with his own. Corruption was deeply buried within and if he could make me squirm, it’d feed his boredom. If he ruined me and Marko, even better. I deserved to be here amongst the best of our kind. And I’d be closer living here. He wanted me close. I could see him wanting to slip inside my room at random moments. It wasn’t too sexual yet, but it was there. As it was with all of our kind. It was just a part of who we were.

  “Tessa!”

  Marko’s yell echoed through the large space. He was being restrained at the front door, I could feel information feed through me from the vampires who served Axis. The fact that Marko had even made it through left them begging my forgiveness.

  I bounded down the steps, seeing the scene come into view.

  Two vampires clutched to his shoulders, holding him down to his knees. Dark hair was falling over his forehead, messily. He’d been fighting them and not with his gift. No … he wouldn’t dare do that here. It made the joy within flare even more. He knew his place, even in his most desperate state of mind.

  “Aetas! I know you have her. Give me Tessa.”

  I slowed as I approached, soaking in the anguish he held within. His power was a physical force against my skin. It was heavy as I let it feed me information on just how advanced he was in person.

  “You got my letter. I’ve already told you, Tessa is dead.”

  “No,” he said, shaking his head. “She’s not. I heard her. She’s alive. Our connection led me here.”

  I laughed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Of course it did. She’s in the memorial room. Her spirit is strong. You will always feel it.”

  “She’s not dead!”

  I lowered, scanning over Marko’s face as I pretended to think. “I see you’re more grief-stricken then I assumed. Would you like to visit her tomb? Perhaps you will accept this and be at ease.”

  Marko made an agonizing sound and his head dropped, sending more dark hair falling forward. “She’s not dead. She’s not. I feel her here. I feel her alive.”

  “She will always be alive, Master Delacroix. We all are energy, alive or dead. You just have to accept that she’s not going to be coming back to you in this life.”

  “No.” The growl was deep. Marko thrashed his shoulders causing the two men holding him fight for footing. The bottomless sadness that began to fill me had Aetas’ vision fading. I was slipping in my own impatience to leave the room. The battle to ease his suffering played out in my mind. What was better? Did I allow him to suffer until I got free, or disobey Aetas and put Marko at ease with my stay here? If I raced downstairs and exposed myself, my leader may never let me leave. But at least Marko would know I was alive. The biggest question was, would he fight to bring me home, or could I convince him to wait for me, no matter how long it took?

  I didn’t know.

  I eased the door open, focusing more on Aetas’ energy. He was still staring down at Marko. Still trying to figure out how to hurt him and prove a point. I knew I should stop and go back to the room, but my feet wouldn’t stop going forward. God, what was I doing? Aetas could very well kill us both. Maybe when I got closer to the stairs, I’d come to my senses.

  Aetas, let me speak with him. I will stay and do whatever you say. Please.

  The words left me before I even considered whether I could talk to my leader. I should have known I could. He heard almost everything. As I watched his vision jerk up, it was clear he had.

  “You left your room. Go back there now. I will deal with you when I return.”

  “You want me to stay. Marko will never be at peace or leave you alone until you let me do this. Allow me to send him home.”

  “Princess!”

  “No!” I shouted back to him. “Allow me this!”

  Aggravation roared through his head. He wanted to fight me, but he knew I was on the verge of shutting him out completely. He couldn’t afford to lose me. My blood was too strong. Too vital if something unforseen were to happen and he needed me to help protect our kind.

  “Allow me. Please. You will have me at your disposal for as long as you need. But do not cheat me this opportunity to say goodbye to the man I love.” I didn’t have to threaten what would happen if he didn’t. It was evident in my tone.

  “Rise,” Aetas yelled, angrily. “Rise, Master Delacroix and tell your beloved goodbye.”

  Marko’s head snapped up and confusion filled his features as he slowly pushed to his feet. I didn’t wait for Aetas to say anymore. I sprinted for the stairs, taking them as fast as I could. Marko jerked from the grasp that held him and raced past Aetas, toward me. My heart was pounding so fast that the ache was returning, but I didn’t care.

  “Tessa!”

  I kept my eyes on Marko, barely even seeing where I stepped. When I got to the bottom, he had already covered the distance, sweeping me in his arms.

  “God, I knew you were alive.” The grip in which he held me was so crushing that I fought to breathe. He seemed to catch himself as he pulled back, pressing his lips into mine. “I was so lost without you. I…” Again he kissed me. I held around his neck, taking in his scent, trying my best to memorize everything about the smell, even though I already had.

  “I’ve been lost, too. I’ve miss you so much.”

  The sob couldn’t be contained as I locked myself to him tighter.

  “Look at me, ma minette. Let me see you. You don’t look well.”

  I didn’t want to pull back and leave him. If I could close my eyes, perhaps I could convince myself this was just a dream. Maybe I’d be back in his arms the night we were meant to become bound. I could kill Hunter before he killed me and reverse this horrible path.

  Fingers buried in my
hair and I let Marko ease me out of his neck. His brown eyes searched my face for so long, I couldn’t help but wonder what was going through his mind. I couldn’t read it and I knew why. He didn’t want Aetas hearing, but I doubted what he was doing was working. Aetas heard almost everything.

  “You’re not well.”

  My head shook. I knew I wasn’t. I was growing weaker by the minute. Marie’s blood had lasted for a while, but not long enough with what our leader was having me do.

  “I’ll take care of you when we leave here. I’ll make you better.”

  Again, my head shook. “I’m not going, Marko. I … have to stay for a little longer.”

  “Stay? To learn?” he asked, quietly.

  “Yes. Aetas is making me stronger.

  “No, he’s making you weaker. Look at you. You’re sick. You need to be resting and taking in my blood. You need to heal.”

  I wanted to peer around Marko to see what Aetas was doing, but thought against it. Instead, I placed my hands on his cheeks, letting him feel the energy of how much stronger I’d already become. His wide eyes rose to mine and my new knowledge of Aetas pushed through his depths, flashing before his vision. My journey of being here followed. My leader wouldn’t be able to pick it up. Marko was too high in rank to let our information slip though. As long as we didn’t speak internally, we’d be safe.

  “Shh,” I breathed out, under my breath. “You have to give me time,” I whispered. “You have to leave me until I’m ready to be released. Will you wait for me?”

  “I can’t leave you,” he said, pained. “I can’t…”

  “You can,” I assured. “You see I’m here. I’m yours. All I need is your word that you’ll be ready for me when I’m finished.”

  Marko’s arms came around me tightly, hugging me close. “I would wait a million years if it meant you’d become mine all over again.”

  “You just might have to,” Aetas ground out as he walked around to the side of us. “You interfere with what I wish for her to learn. You were a problem before, but you’re an even bigger problem now.”