“My Lord, you did what you thought was best,” Justice said quietly.
“It was still not the right choice. Either way, I have lost her,” Arias said, his face twisting with emotion.
He reared back and hit the marble floor, splintering the tile into tiny shards that tore at his fist. He relished the brief stings of pain, self-inflicted punishment that was nowhere near enough.
Venus fingered through the clothes in the enormous closet that Riken had bought especially for her. They were all things that he wanted to see her in, not things that she normally would wear. It added to her depression. No one knew her favorite song, her favorite book, or movie, or color. No one knew her at all. They saw her as a vessel for what they wanted in the end, a child. It made her want to hit something. She took out an outfit that would have graced the covers of Dominatrix-R-Us. It amused her that saint-like Riken would imagine her in it. Venus certainly had a dark humored side and she was in a bad enough mood to play deeply into it. The leather clung to her like a second skin, the zipper barely going all the way up to hold her generous chest in. She stepped into the five inch heeled stiletto boots and stepped into the line of the mirror to appreciate the view. She liked this look actually. Part hunter part seductress. Get her a belt of stakes and she'd be ready to go out onto the town and dispatch more of those nasty Talmidim. Hmmm, she thought to herself. A calling. Perhaps her calling? She exited the room and traveled down the ancient stone stairs to the dining hall where everyone else awaited her. Her boots making a tantalizing click-clack echo on the stone floor. She couldn't wait to see Riken's expression, no scratch that she couldn't wait to see Michael's.
Michael heard her coming, her heels clicking in a pattern that he could imagine matched the sway of her hips. He wanted her so bad and he felt like a complete and utter dick for rejecting her back on the plane. But he just couldn't do it. He was saying no for both of them, saving them both the heartache. But it sure felt like his heart was breaking right now, he thought miserably. Michael heard Riken's gasp and he looked up and cursed. Holy hell, Michael thought his eyes wide, drool surely escaping his lips. Venus stood before them, head to toe in black leather. The flare of her hips, the swell of her breasts, and the roundness of her ass held firmly within the confines of that fabric. She had her hands on her cocked hips, her eyes hard with an anger he felt horribly about for putting there. All she needed was a whip and she'd be one of his dreams come true in the flesh. She stalked past them both and slid into a seat at the far end of the table that Corbin held out for her. Michael glanced over at Riken who too was wide-eyed and his mouth hanging open. Michael turned his attention back and groaned aloud when she crossed her long legs painfully slow. He could only imagine her wrapping those strong, slender legs around his waist. God, he prayed, keep me strong.
Venus felt undeniable pleasure from the male appreciation in the room. But she didn't let herself enjoy it too much as least. She still had yet to crack a smile though how far Riken's jaw had dropped sure did make her want to laugh. She felt powerful and she was going to finally use this power for something she wanted.
“Good evening,” she called out in a throaty purr.
She saw Michael swallow hard and Riken adjust himself under the table.
“You look well little one,” Riken said smiling sending out a flare of his power that he so often used to seduce her, or make her dripping wet.
But she was no longer a helpless little girl from Montana, a girl whose head had been stuck under the sand for eighteen entirely long years. She knew why he did that, to see her swoon for him. To make her beg for him. Like hell, she thought. She threw up a wall around herself to soak in that power. It affected her still but nothing she couldn't handle. Riken's eyes flashed with surprise and begrudged approval as he recognized what she did. Eyes were narrowed on every move she was making throughout dinner so she deliberately made each move sensual, each syllable out of her mouth a tantalizing purr. The two men that mattered most in this game were nearly falling all over themselves for her. However, the male right next to her saw through her game. Corbin. He could see what she was doing and he was not affected by her at all. In fact there were a few times that a smirk graced his face or a laugh turned into a cough over the attention lavished upon her.
“Are your accommodations adequate?” Riken asked lifting a wineglass to his lips.
“More than adequate. I thank you for your hospitality,” she said softly. “However, I don't intend to stay here long.”
Riken stiffened and pushed away from the table. Michael clamped a hand on his shoulder which Riken shrugged off.
“What do you mean?” Riken demanded.
“I mean, I won't be here tomorrow,” she said her eyes blazing.
“The hell you won’t,” Riken grumbled. “You're not leaving this estate!”
“Just try and stop me,” she threatened, rising from her seat preparing to storm out now.
Riken was at her side in a flash, his hand secured around her throat squeezing not so gently. “You will regret those words little one.”
Riken caught her hands easily as she tried to swing at him. He scooped her up, throwing her across his shoulder and left the room. Michael scooted his chair back wanting to stop Riken. He was breathing heavily, the angel affected by seeing the little figure draped over the Vampyre's shoulder, still struggling against him. Riken flashed Michael a look and Michael sank back down defeated. She is not mine, he repeated to himself. Not now, not ever.
Riken held her tight in his arms effortlessly controlling her flailing limbs and savoring each time she got close enough to bite him. He kicked open the door to his bedchamber, closed and locked the door mentally, and threw her onto the bed. She sat there glaring at him.
“How dare you?” she hissed.
She started to get up but Riken dropped down onto her, flattening out her lovely body with his much larger one. She gasped as they made contact. Good, finally a sign she still wanted him. He took both of her hands in one of his and stretched them above her head. She struggled against him and Riken dove into her open mouth. He swallowed the vicious things she was going to say to him but she also refused to kiss him.
“Get off of me,” she said through clenched teeth.
He nipped at her throat, his free hand massaging the fullness of her breast. She bucked harder.
“Damn it Riken, get off!”
He ignored her protests and slid his hand lower towards the heat that emanated from between her legs. He could imagine how wet she was for him. She squirmed as his fingers rubbed against her and he thrust helplessly against her.
Venus was brought back to Montana mentally, years of sexual abuse as he held her down. She knew she could toss him off her but mentally she was paralyzed. Panic rose up and closed off her windpipe. Riken heard a sob and it took him a second to figure out it came from her. He drew back, her face streaming with tears. He let go of her instantly, ashamed at how he was forcing himself on her. Once he was off of her, her sobs came harder.
“Venus,” he said with despair.
She struggled to her feet, her enormous green eyes shooting him a look of hatred. Her hands swiped at the tears carelessly.
“Don't,” she warned. “I'll be out of here tomorrow.”
Venus stormed out of the room leaving Riken’s heart torn in two.
“What are we going to do about Ivan, my Lord?” Justice asked as Arias packed up his belongings.
“What can we do?”
“We should launch a full attack on him.”
“I need Venus somewhere safe first,” Arias said without an inch of give in his voice. Justice nodded.
“Then we are going to France?” Justice guessed.
Arias grunted and zipped up his last bag of weapons. Justice loaded the SUV hoping his master knew how difficult it would be to convince his Queen to come back to him. As they say, Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned. Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned. Venus would surely make the Prince pa
y dearly if she chose to forgive him.
“My Lord?” a lower Mashiach called, bending over in a ceremonial bow.
“What is it?” Justice barked.
“Naylor is back from the States with the package you requested.”
Justice turned toward Arias. “Do you want France to wait for five more minutes?”
Arias smiled and popped his knuckles expectantly. “It may take a little bit longer than five minutes,” he laughed.
Arias took his time to get to the dungeon, thinking of wonderful ways to torture this human that harmed his Queen. He only wished that Venus was here to confront him before he died, or that she knew that he was going to avenge her. She will know eventually. The Dubai mansion had an entire underground level dedicated to the dungeon. Torture devices from the playbook of any sadist sat waiting. It had been many years since they used the dungeon for purposes such as these, too long. Memories of the last time filled his vision. A traitor…what was his name? Arias couldn’t remember. But one of his bloodline was turned in for treason, for sharing information with the Rex Deus. Everyone knew that the punishment for such a crime was death. And death by torture was Arias’ favorite approach. Arias had started the punishment though it got tiresome after the man stopped screaming and left Justice to deal with the end of it. But for this human awaiting in his dungeon right now, Arias alone would complete this task.
The human male was locked in one of the cells, tied down to a wooden chair. A hood covering his whole upper body. Arias’ nostrils twitched as he scented that the human had pissed all over himself. Arias spit on the ground, disgusted with the filth in front of him. The human, known as Richard Campbell sat there shivering and sobbing uncontrollably and Arias felt no pity. He entered the room and pulled the hood from the man’s face. Richard Campbell screamed against the gag in his mouth and swayed back and forth in the chair until he toppled the whole thing over. Arias shook his head.
“Justice, untie him and strip him down naked and hang him from the cuffs for now.”
As Justice worked quickly, Arias paced back and forth from wall to wall of the cell.
“Richard Campbell…I want you to listen very carefully you sack of shit. I am going to remove your gag only because I want to hear to speak, not to hear you scream. If you scream, I will cut off your balls and feed them to you. Understood?”
The man’s wide were white saucers, so big that he thought they might pop out of socket. He nodded and Arias pulled the gag out of his mouth.
“Please,” the man pleaded. “Please I don’t know why I’m here. You must have the wrong man.”
“Richard Campbell, you are here because I want a few answers. If you don’t tell the truth I will know because I can smell a lie. Answer me truthfully and I may show you leniency.”
“Yes, yes…I’ll do anything. Ask me anything.”
“What brings to mind when I say Venus?”
Richard Campbell’s face goes blank, shame flooding it turning his cheeks into a pink that Arias wanted to cut from his face.
“I don’t….”
“Ah, ah, ah Richard. No lies, remember?” Arias taunted fingering a 6 inch blade.
“We had a foster child named Venus. She ran away.”
“Describe her for me Richard.”
“Short, small frame, dirty blonde hair, green eyes.”
“Would you describe her as beautiful?”
Richard’s eyes darted to Arias’ face. “She was my foster daughter,” he retorted angrily. “She was beautiful like any son or daughter is to her father.”
Arias threw the knife and smiled when he heard it slide juicily into Richard’s right bicep. The man let out a shrill scream, his lungs heaving from the burning pain.
He shook his head as he approached Richard. “I thought you were a smart man Richard but it appears you cannot follow the simplest of instructions. Shall we try again?”
Arias yanked out the knife and wiped it clean on the man’s chest.
“Was she beautiful to you?”
Richard gagged and gritted his teeth. “Yes, she was the most beautiful fucking thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Is that why you raped her?” Arias growled.
The man’s jaw dropped and denials formed on the tip of his tongue. “She wanted it, I know she did. I didn’t have sex with her because she was beautiful, I did it because I wanted to feel like something so beautiful was mine.”
Arias backhanded the man, scattering teeth and blood onto the floor.
“You sick fuck…a poor excuse for a man. She didn’t want your pathetic self. And what you took from her was mine. She is mine.”
He hit the man again but restrained himself so he wouldn’t knock the human out.
“Please,” the man begged his mouth full of blood. “I am a weak man. I couldn’t resist the temptation.”
Arias grabbed the sharpened wire cutters and approached the man. The human screamed as the dark price cut off his fingers and toes. He squealed like a girl when he impaled the man with a stake up his anus. When he spoke lies about his Queen being a whore, he cut out the useless man’s tongue. Not until the human was stripped of his skin and dignity did Arias feel a wave of retribution. He needed to get to France…to his Queen. He withdrew a dagger from his belt and took the human’s manhood in his hand and with a downward swipe removed the vile thing that violated his woman. Giving Richard a few minutes to realize the depth of his destruction, Arias plunged the knife through his slowing heart.
8
Venus bagged up a few more clothes and scrounged around for things that may become weapons. Finding very little, she snuck downstairs. Neither Riken nor Michael were anywhere to be seen. They had to have some sort of weapons room or something, she thought in frustration. She cautiously poked into rooms but found nothing out of the ordinary. The last door was locked when she tried to turn the knob. She backed away, her hopes sinking. As she turned to leave, the door flew open and Corbin stood there in the doorway looking arrogant and fearsome as always.
“Did you need something My Queen?” he asked in harsh English.
“Weapons,” she said softly not knowing if he would help her or not. Corbin quirked up an eyebrow, surprised at her request.
“Planning to stake my Prince in his sleep?”
Venus smothered a laugh. “Not at all. I'm going hunting.”
Corbin considered her for several long moments. His look was assessing, not perusing. She thought that he was figuring out if she were telling the truth. He looked around, gave a short nod and disappeared back into the room. She took a step toward the room when he reappeared his arms full of smaller weapons that would be useful in her hands. She opened her backpack and he dumped them in holding onto an assortment with which he began strapping all over her body. After the last weapon, a 5 inch long knife was safely tucked into an ankle sheath, he stepped back and appraised her.
“I never saw you,” Corbin muttered in guttural German.
Venus nodded playing along and before he could turn away, she wrapped her arms around him.
“Thank you Corbin,” she whispered and she jogged silently down the hall.
“Where would she have gone?” Riken pushed out between gritting his teeth. He paced back and forth behind his large desk.
Michael watched him absently, thinking the same question in his head. She knew no one here but he didn’t think she feared being homeless. She definitely wasn’t thinking about how grave of danger she was in. She was a beacon to the rogue Talmidim, her power like a tempting light just waiting to be snuffed out.
“Michael, you need to go track her,” Riken stated stamping his foot and crossing his arms in front of his chest reminding Michael of a two year old spoiled little boy throwing a tantrum.
Michael gave a long sigh as he pulled himself up out of an old leather chair near Riken’s desk.
“The mental state she’s in right now Riken,” Michael said slowly shaking his head. “She’s not going to listen to anyone, especially
not me.”
Riken growled low, his power level flexing and twisting in frustration.
“Summon Drake,” he spat as he turned back towards the large window overlooking the forest.
A cold misting rain blanketed Paris as Venus crouched on a narrow fire escape hidden in the shadows. Five marks were directly below her feasting on a poor young man. The glow of their red eyes in the dark always creeped her out. She wished she could save the handsome man from his fate but if she intervened now she would be another blood donor in a matter of seconds. One of the Vampyre, a small framed female Talmidim sat up from the body first, temporarily sated with her bloodlust. As the female walked in a drunken stupor Venus dropped down silently from her hiding spot. Landing two feet behind the female, Venus wasted no time plunging and then running for another hiding spot. Now tucked neatly among the overflowing garbage dumpster, Venus swallowed heavily with relief that the other Talmidim hadn’t even noticed her. Two more stood up from the body, wiping their mouths on their sleeves and starting towards the direction that Venus lay in waiting.
“Where did Cherry go?” one asked.
“Who cares?”
The first one grunted and took a few more steps toward Venus. She quietly raised her arm in which she had a loaded crossbow. She squeezed the trigger and watched as her arrow thudded through her mark and he crumpled into ash. She hurried to load another arrow as the other Talmidim squawked in surprise. She squeezed again and the arrow pierced his body but Venus had been trembling bad enough that she didn't hit the heart. She cursed herself mentally as she scurried to load another arrow. As she raised it again to fire a death blow, a heavy hand clamped around her throat. In the next instant she was slammed hard enough against the brick building behind her to cause particles of brick to rain down upon them. Two piercing red eyes filled her vision. Her eyes dropped to the still bloody fangs that were outstretched and coming closer to her. Venus slid her hand down her thigh where she carried a slim stake. Palming it in her hand she raised it behind the Talmidim and threw her body against his, feeling the satisfying pierce and then nothing as he vanished with the wind.
Revelations Coming (The Dark Truth Novel Series) Page 8
