“I know that better than most!” he spoke to her harshly and she cringed away from him.
“Have you stopped to think that the Druids should not be matched for biology solely, but for love?”
Eve shook her head. “You know that is not the way of it, Cole. Think with your head,” I watched her press a fingertip to her temple, “not your emotions. You have always been thus.”
“I am not ashamed that I wished to be mated to a Druid and not share her with others.”
“That will never happen,” Eve said. “At the very least, she will have two mates. It cannot be avoided, there are too few.”
Cole let out a frustrated breath and it moved my hair, his arms crushed me to him and I smiled.
Gotcha.
*
I had regained some strength and Eve managed to convince them all that I was ready to partake in the ceremony. Albeit after there was something solid in my stomach.
I approached the cavernous room, noise echoing and bouncing off the walls. There were many women (and some men) lined up at a huge banquet table piling food on plates.
Many of the women were pregnant.
Many looked alike.
Druids, I thought. It was the first time I had ever felt a sense of belonging. Momentarily, I felt a comfort but the life I'd had came crashing down on me. This was some kidnap worship crap and I needed to stick to the plan. I needed to pretend, and get out of here. My eyes flitted around from one person to the next, finally landing on the huge vampire leader, Alexander.
He wasted no time, moving toward me in a rush, his actions a blur. I had a sense of vertigo as he approached and steadied myself against the wall I had stuck close to.
Another vampire, who looked vaguely familiar held a plate of food. Vegetables, roasted chicken and a small amount of fruit sat atop it and he handed it to me without a word, his eyes watching the pulse which beat in my throat as if mesmerized.
“Cole has told me what has happened.”
I blushed a fine, true red. Completely embarrassed about him knowing the intimate details of the sexual encounter that transpired between Cole and I and to a lesser degree, Nathan.
I put my chin down and refused to meet his eyes, he lifted it with a finger. “Let me introduce you, Pureblood.”
He didn't know, I thought. I looked around for Cole and there he was in the shadows of the room, watching me covertly. His gaze was a weight on my body. I shivered at the look he sent me and tried to calm myself.
My body remembered how it felt to have that sultry attention, betraying me even as I angered. I looked away hurriedly, following Alexander out into the center of the room, my hand gripped in his.
“This is Rachel Collins. She is the first pureblood Druid to enter our kiss in one hundred years.” There were murmurings all around. Apparently, it was big news. I stood there waiting.
Finally, Alexander gestured for me to sit and I did gratefully, taking small bites of my meal and realizing I was starving. I ate as quickly as I could.
The food stuck in my throat as five vampires came to stand before Alexander.
“Two of these vampires will be your mates. Maybe... more.”
I shook my head, my stomach lurching in a sickening way. “I didn't say I wanted them.”
Alexander frowned, I guess he wasn't used to a “no.” But I had to play along so I rushed on, explaining, “I want to have a choice.” I looked and saw Cole glower. He thought I'd be choosing someone else.
I was choosing to escape but that was for later, for now I would play along.
“Let us see who amongst these are a good breeding selection for you.”
I stood and walked to the vampires, my heart racing. They were all huge males, vampires. The eyes were the same, they watched me with anticipation and I approached them warily. What would this mean?
Nathan was among them and suddenly I felt cold. I repressed an almost insane urge to look for Cole. Why was he not amongst them?
They circled me. One came from behind and another came forward pinning my arms to my side and crushing his lips to mine. “Submit, Druid,” he said, his hand going right for my crotch. I squirmed against steel bands and struggled, hardly able to breathe. They weren't doing anything, they were no better than the men that Cole had saved me from.
“She has such spirit, look at how she tries to fight.” He tore at my panties and began to dig his way inside me and I threw my head forward into his and he stumbled back, his hand retreating while I was bodily picked up by the vampire behind me, swung around and pressed to the floor. My head was ringing and the vampire I'd hit was coming toward me again to join in some kind of gang-rape.
I screamed and Cole was there, his fangs bared and his arm shooting out. His hand wrapped the throat of the vampire that rode me, his knees spreading my legs.
Cole lifted him by his throat, heaving him into the stone wall and I scrambled backward on all fours until I was pressed against Cole's shins.
“Alexander, how can you allow this?” Cole yelled as Nathan held back the other three that would have rushed Cole.
“Calm down, Reaper. You know she must be used by all so that she may become pregnant right away. Can you not smell her, she is fertile.”
Cole said nothing and Alexander's eyes narrowed. “You do know. Have you been with her?”
Cole shook his head. I whimpered and pressed my face harder against him and he moved his legs apart so I fit more securely against them.
“Let them have her, Cole. She may choose a mate. Afterward.”
The one that Cole had thrown watched me at Cole's feet like a feral animal.
“Please, don't let them have me,” I pleaded up at him, and his eyes held mine and I had a stab of guilt, knowing my intent was to leave this place and use whatever emotional attachment he had for me against him.
“I will check her fertility,” Alexander said and Cole growled, his fangs tearing out of their encasement of flesh.
“You will step away from the Druid, Reaper.”
Cole relented with a grunt of disgust and I was left alone on the middle of the floor as Alexander approached me.
He wasted no time getting down on the floor, between my legs as a hundred people looked on he lifted my skirt and plunged a finger inside me, moving it back and forth. I tried to close my legs but he easily pressed them apart. His breathing came faster as he positioned himself between my legs using his other hand to pull down his pants.
Cole, from so much closer than I thought, said quietly, “You are not to have her either, Alexander.”
Alexander slid his hand out of the slickness of me and I swept my legs closed, knowing every vampire in the room had seen what Alexander had. The vampires had their eyes latched to me, pupils dilated.
Alexander stood, fastening his pants with shaking hands. “I forgot myself.”
All eyes turned to me and I kept my legs together and tried to look as appealing and vulnerable as I could, it was all the leverage that I had. Nathan was especially enthralled, licking his lips and waiting for his chance.
The other Druids looked on with horror as Cole came and lifted me to a standing position on shaky feet. I couldn't stop the naked accusation that filled my eyes. We had managed to stave off the inevitable only because Alexander himself lost control. As the leader, he was looking pretty bad right about now.
I could still feel his probing fingers inside me and couldn't contain an involuntary shudder.
All that talk about what a precious commodity Druid Breeders were was lost before his lust. The female vampires looked at me like something to squash underneath their heel.
Wonderful position I was in. Leaving sooner rather than later would be better.
“She has three days of fertility. You know the rites, Cole. She will have to submit to five Reapers. It is the way. After, she can be mated with two,” Alexander shrugged, his momentary faux pas, like a pink elephant in the room, forgotten.
Cole wasn't going to forget. I could sense it, tasting his rel
uctance to comply like a fine wine on my tongue.
CHAPTER 9
The community supper had been awkward as hell and I had suffered through it while taking furtive glances at the five that were going to gang rape me in front of everyone.
I wanted them in my sights.
I ground through my meal, knowing I must eat in anticipation of fleeing this place. I wasn't going to stay any longer than I must. When I was eating I sat between Cole and Eve, who kept a diligent eye on what I consumed. I covertly scanned the room and picked up on the other Druids. They seemed easy and sure, their vampire males doting on them. Some women seemed to have two or three partners. I couldn't believe they could accept this life. A life where a different specifies held them captive and bred them like prized mules.
It wasn't for me.
Eve and Cole walked me back to my room and I could feel the other vampires' eyes on my back the entire length of the hall.
I turned when we reached the door. “Why in front of everyone?”
Cole understood exactly what I was asking.
“We have had some issues in the past. It is best that a coupling happen in full view initially so there cannot be question as to whom has had a rightful turn,” he shrugged with clear distaste cloaking his face.
I had to ask and I could see in Eve's eyes her burning desire for me not to.
“Why were you not amongst them? Why didn't you warn me?” I thought of Alexander's unwanted fingers inside me and my face leaked my thoughts all over the place.
He looked pained (if a vampire can look that way). “I asked him to hold off. I explained about some of our... activities and the taking of the blood. Alexander indicated he would wait.”
“But he didn't tell you outright.”
He shook his head. “He thinks I've become too attached to you. He thinks I am too 'alpha' to be in a breeding pair.”
“Alpha?” I asked, my eyebrow cocked and I heard Eve sigh.
“Some of the vampires don't have the disposition to share their mates,” she expounded.
Cole glowered.
Eve looked up at him. “You brought it on yourself, Reaper. She is ready, fertile. You stumbled upon her in a dangerous situation from which you extracted her. Don't forget your duty to your race. Do not be as the rogue.”
Cole glared at her but she continued, turning to me, “Alpha is the way they all are, it is a natural disposition for vampires. But some are born with an extra portion.” She was talking to me but looking at him.
“Fine.” He looked at the two of us. “I could not stand by and watch her being mauled. She needs more time. That is one thing that the rogue believe: that she should have a choice.”
“You saw Alexander, he will not give her too much more. She has what? Two days? Leave Cole. Do a mission, find another of Druid blood. Ease the sting from our leaders' decisions by bringing more to this place. Be gone for the rite.”
“Wait... you are what... getting women all the time?” I asked. Wondering about this faction of vampires that did not live with them. That were outcast, that disobeyed rules.
He nodded. “It is what Nathan and I do. We scout.”
“Reapers...” I whispered, my comprehension complete.
He saw my expression and nodded acquiescence. “We harvest.”
And with that, he walked away, his leathers marking his progress in the hollow emptiness of the hall.
CHAPTER 10
I lay awake in my small bed while the moonlight illuminated the bones of the furniture that stood at stark attention in the shadowed corners. Eve had elaborated about the rogue. They did not believe that Druids should be shared, they wished to not follow the “old ways.” But, Eve warned, they also took Druids, and mated with them... and forced them to stay with them. They killed whatever vampires that stood in their way. Vampire scouts like Cole and Nathan would be killed on sight and a small battle would ensue to ascertain their success. The scouts were at their most vulnerable after they'd acquired a Druid. The chance of a rogue on their tail was high.
I deliberated. That was why I had hardly been at the police station for any length of time. If they'd scented me out, the rogue would not have been far behind. Effectively shadowing the trail left by the Reapers.
A soft knock sounded at my door and a female vamp walked in. Taller than I at almost six foot she approached the bed and I warily scooted back against the wall, the pillow between cushioning me from the coldness of the stone.
She held up a palm in placation. “Fear not, Druid. I wish to help you and thereby help myself.” She attempted a smile but when her fangs were revealed I cringed at the sight and the smile faded.
Her lips were terribly red and my eyes latched onto them as my heart beat harder.
She exhaled a shaky breath and I realized that she was fighting her thirst.
She began without preamble, “I desire to be with Cole. I have mixed ancestry and may be able to breed.” She seemed to need an answer so I nodded slowly. The crazy bitch. Who was I to argue?
She took my silence as acceptance and went on, “I have brought some things for you to wear to help you escape this place. You will be unable to return to your rightful home. They will try to reacquire you there...”
She trailed off and looked at me.
Hope glowed in my eyes that was impossible to dim. I so wanted out of here and here she was handing it to me on a silver platter.
An image of Cole entered my mind and I shoved it aside. Stick to the plan, Rachel, I chanted to myself.
She leaned forward and from behind her back she slowly pushed clothing and a small pack onto my lap. I was so thrilled with the prospect I missed her hand as it snaked out, coiling around my throat. My neck felt like a flower stem that had been caught in the mouth of a lion. I didn't move as her mouth lingered over mine and issued the warning, “Do not return, Druid.”
I moved my chin up and down and she released me. Her long fingers trailed softly along my collarbone as she moved away.
It stole my breath.
She backed away from me with her hand planted over her nose. When she reached the doorway she paused with her other hand on the frame.
“Change and go to the furthest door at the end of the hall. It will be unlocked. After you pass through, follow the wall at your left and there will be a gate at its end.” She looked into my eyes and I could feel her pressing her will on me.
It was ineffective because I was a pureblood. I did a mental eye-roll.
She huffed her frustration. “It will be unlatched as well.”
“Wait,” I called after her bravely.
She turned and her pale eyes glittered against the moonlight reflectively and I flinched, thinking again of a lion. “Why do you want him?”
She smiled and it was menacing, not happy. “He is a fine warrior and will breed true, every female wishes to mate with him. He is not like the others.” Her expression changed. She was reconsidering my rescue and maybe substituting it with my death. I saw her mind mulling it over.
I interrupted her thought process, “I'll go.”
“Self-preservation. Very good.” She turned on her heel and silently left the room.
****
I slunk down the dark hall dimly lit with sconces that flickered with candlelight. I knew that every vampire in the compound must be awake but not one was anywhere to be seen.
I let out a shaky breath and continued, the moonlight streaming through the windows lighting the path before me. My hand glided down the wall and the rough texture of the stone tore softly at the flesh of my palm as I neared the door.
Once there I could not see a handle or latch and felt around until I found a cup-like indentation carved along the side where it met the frame. Scooping my finger inside it I pulled.
It didn't move.
I pushed and it slid open soundlessly. The night air rushed in and robbed me of breath. It was so cold that I stood stock still. Huddling inside the parka that the female vampire had given me, I ma
de my way along the outside wall, using my left hand to space myself and the moonlight to secure my steps.
As I came to the end of the wall I saw the gate, slightly ajar and standing in a sea of stone that was a wall ten feet high.
I moved to the door and gave it brief examination as I slid through. It would not have been something I could have moved. It reminded me of stories I had heard about castles with moats and such, it was formidable, tall, rough-hewn and too heavy to swing.
She had left it open, my mind supplied unhelpfully. Better not to dwell on the strength disparity between me and her.
In fact, maybe I should hustle my ass along before she changed her mind.
I did, making my way into a wooded glade with only the moonlight to guide me.
CHAPTER 11
I felt like I'd been walking for miles (I probably had). My feet screamed and I decided that I'd made enough distance that I could safely rest and inspect my pack.
There wasn't a lot I noticed, rummaging around. I had a bottle of water and a sandwich. I was sure it was whatever had been left over from the elaborate banquet. A feeling of unease stole over me as I thought about the female more. She had packed hardly anything. Yet, she hadn't killed me. It was puzzling and my mind felt as if it was circling the answer but hadn't reached the center of the maze yet.
I ate half the sandwich and was recapping the water when I stood and stretched, throwing the pack on my back and readying myself to locate a road. Distantly, I could hear traffic. I'd walked for, I looked at my watch and figured two hours; maybe five miles or so?
A small noise startled me and my heart sank when I saw five vampires exit the woods in a loose circle around me.
None of them looked familiar. But I knew they were Vampire, my body tingled in recognition. Their clothes, bearing, everything was different from the compound I'd just been in.
Their eyes shone like onyx in the moonlight.
That's when it hit me, their irises were not silvered like the others, but shone like blood does in the dark.
Black.
The rogue.
I ran.
The backpack bounced on my back as I fled, the branches crashing and whipping at my body as I pushed through the dense tree cover, the cold biting my hands, nipping them painfully.
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