by Mandi Casey
Aunt Judith took a deep breath into the phone. She wasn’t buying it, but she didn’t argue. “Okay, honey. I’ll get your things together, and I’ll see you tomorrow. Oh, before we hang up, Blake came over. He seemed quite disappointed that you weren’t here.”
“Oh, geez! Aunt Judith, we just got so caught up in talking that time just got away from me. I’ll give him a call tomorrow and tell him I’m sorry about the change of plans.”
Aunt Judith was supposed to be at Meredith’s house. What was she even doing home?
I could tell Aunt Judith didn’t believe a word of it. Her voice was steely, and it was possible she knew there was trouble, but she went along with it. Hopefully, she would just go to bed and not get involved. I bet that wasn’t likely to be the case.
The rogue wolf kept the phone on, so I listened while she gathered my things from Aunt Judith.
After closing the front door and getting into a car, the rogue said into the phone, “All right, the old woman is secured. I’ll be parked down the street, ready to act. All you have to do is say the word. It’s been a while since I’ve killed a human.” The female wolf cackled into the phone.
My heart beat in slow, painful, heavy thumps against my chest. Hopefully Aunt Judith would hide somewhere in the house and stay far away from that rogue.
Trevor closed the phone. “So, now you know how serious we are. If you won’t give Kieran your blood willingly, we’ll kill your aunt. The vampire coven leader will be here in a few minutes. All you have to do is let him take a few sips, and he’ll give us some of his blood. Everyone will be happy, and you’ll be free to go.” When he smiled, his eyes sparkled, literally.
Lisa, followed by a rogue wolf and a rogue vampire, came down the stairs. My body reacted like it did every time a rogue was near me, times three. Spasms racked my entire body. Bile and acid began to rise in my chest, threatening the dry heaves.
“Kieran’s here, dearest Selected. He’s come to take you out of our hair.” Glee was all over Lisa’s face. She was finally going to get what she wanted, to become immortal and marry a demon lord. Lisa had odd life aspirations. If I ever got out of this alive, I was going to tell her exactly what I thought of her.
Heavy footsteps sounded at the top of the staircase. When they began their descent, Lisa pulled the door farther open. The rogues stepped away from the entrance as Kieran came into view through the cell bars. As he walked over to the doorway, he stopped before passing over the threshold.
The head vampire wasn’t wearing sunglasses to cover his red glowing eyes. They were like lasers coming out of his eye sockets. When he spoke, the undertone of rage was barely kept in check. “Why are there tainted bite marks all over her body? You were specifically instructed that she was to be left unharmed!
I felt the bass of his voice in my lungs.
Trevor stepped out from behind Kieran. Beside the vampire, Trevor didn’t seem so menacing. Kieran was a few inches taller than the lightning demon, but Trevor seemed a lot smaller now, standing next to his advisory.
Kieran stepped up to the puke-stained mattress holding me in place, gently grabbed my chin, and tilted my head away from him so he could examine the damage on my neck.
“Where exactly do you expect me to take blood from the Selected? It looks like your gluttonous rogue has already defiled all the accessible access sites on her body.” While he spoke, he kept his eyes on me. Didn’t he worry about what they were doing behind his back?
Trevor spoke. “Kieran, my rogue’s misbehavior is unpardonable. He has been punished severely for his actions, and you can be sure nothing like that will happen again.”
Kieran looked toward Trevor, Lisa, and the other rogues standing behind them. His menacing glare would have made my knees buckle if his anger was ever directed toward me like it was at them. If Kieran got me out alive, I’d make sure to never piss off the vampire coven leader on purpose.
Without a sound, Kieran shifted his body so his nose, in a downward position, was a mere centimeter away from Trevor’s face. “You are correct, demon. You will never have this woman in your midst ever. Never again will you be able to harm her. You had my compliance to go along with your deal because it suits my purposes as well. Once this deal is over, I’m taking her out of here, and you and your rogues will remove yourselves from my city immediately. Understood?”
Trevor stepped back from Kieran and nodded. It was surprising to see fear from the lightening demon. Even though he was trying not to show his intimidation, he couldn’t help it.
“I understand perfectly.” Trevor stepped closer to Kieran and said in a low growl, “And you better understand that if you try to betray us, you will never make it out of this house alive. You saw how strong we are in numbers when you were escorted from the street. So it’s up to you how this is going to end.” Maybe my intuition was wrong, maybe Trevor wasn’t afraid of Kieran as much as he seemed to be?
Kieran snarled at Trevor, but remained silent. He turned back toward me and slowly approached the mattress.
“Since you have been so careless with the well-being of the Selected, there is only one site left to take blood from. Her tongue. The thought of putting my mouth anywhere near one of those festering wounds your rogue caused is deplorable. The taint of his vile essence is still on her skin,” he said with clear distaste.
I stared into the vampire’s red eyes, pleading, “Kieran, please don’t do this. They have Aunt Judith right now, and if they don’t get what they want, they said they were going to kill her.” Fresh tears streaked down my face, and my head pounded with the consistency of a drum line.
Kieran leaned over, put his hand on my forehead, then gently patted the top of my head. He was actually trying to console and sooth me.
“Sydney, everything will be fine. You have my word. We’ll just do what they want, and then we’ll get out of here. Your aunt will be fine. I’m sorry for what I’m about to do, but there really isn’t an alternative to the situation.”
Trevor and Lisa approached the cell bars. They were blocked by Kieran’s massive body, but I could hear their footsteps scrape on the cement. Trevor said to his sister, “Lisa, go upstairs and prepare for Andras’ arrival. Take these two with you, and make sure the others are ready as well. We’re going to make this go as smoothly as possible. And there better not be any trouble from either of you.”
Against my will, Kieran put his lips against mine. Blanking out my thoughts, I tried to calm the chaos in my head. They needed me to be agreeable to what was going to happen, and they needed me to be willing to give him my blood so Aunt Judith wouldn’t get hurt. My family was my biggest priority. What was a little blood? The rogue had taken blood already; a few drops more wasn’t a big deal.
I told myself not to think of Blake, Morris, or the rest of the Midwestern Werewolf Pack. They would probably think of me as a traitor, and that the vampires convinced me to go behind their back and help them. Blake might not understand there’s nothing else that could be done to make sure Aunt Judith stayed safe.
Would Blake ever talk to me again? Would he hate me? I’d have to try and explain things to him, if we ever got out of this mess. Blake was kind, caring, and sexier than any warm- bodied man I’d ever had the pleasure to look upon. His gaze on my body made me weak with need. The fact that he was able to smell it on me just made the situation more hot, intense, and sensual.
If Blake ever forgave me for what was about to happen, he would hear just how much he was growing on me, and how I loved being with him. I’d even tell him how hot it was when he pressed his firm body against mine, wrapping his arms tightly around me, and how much I liked it when he kissed me.
Kieran opened his mouth against my lips. My breathing stopped. I waited for the sharp nick of his fangs against my tongue. It never came. Ice-cold liquid dripped onto my tongue from Kieran’s mouth.
The vampire wasn’t taking my blood.
He was giving me his.
I tried to shake my head to the side to
get away from what he was doing. A cold hand clamped onto my jaw, holding my head in place. He locked his lips to mine. I knew screaming wouldn’t do anything.
Kieran lifted his head and stared deeply into my eyes. He smeared his own blood over his mouth and fangs. He told me with a wink that he wasn’t going to force me to give my blood to him. In that moment, the possibility of survival blossomed in my heart. We may get out of the jail cell alive. As long as Kieran didn’t go along with Trevor and Lisa’s plan to complete the prophecy of the Elders, there was a chance.
Trevor came halfway into the cell. Kieran turned and snarled at him, baring his fangs to show the blood smeared on his mouth, and to make the lightening demon believe that he had just taken my blood.
Trevor smiled. “Good, now half of the deal is done. All you have to do is give me some of your blood, and you and the Selected can be on your way.”
“Untie her. You will not get anything from me until she is out of this cell.”
Electricity resonated in the air, and Trevor sneered. “I don’t think so. You give us your blood, and you’ll both be free to go.” He crossed his arms over his chest and widened his stance. He didn’t seem to be bothered by the aggression pouring from Kieran.
“How do you want to make the exchange?” Kieran took a step toward Trevor. When his foot hit the cement, Trevor stepped back and grabbed the door of the cell. Kieran was too fast. Before Trevor could slam the cell door shut, Kieran had one hand on the doorframe, the other on Trevor’s neck.
Smoke started to rise from Kieran’s flesh.
Screaming in frustration, Trevor said, “Take your hand off me, you fool!”
Kieran pushed his body passed the cell’s entrance taking Trevor, still gripped in his hand, with him. Smoke billowed all around them as Kieran slammed Trevor’s body down against the cement floor. The vampire grabbed something out of his jacket and uncorked the small plastic container with one hand. Kieran lifted his fist high up into the air and brought it down on Trevor’s face, knocking the demon senseless.
Kieran opened the container and shook a white powdery substance over Trevor, covering the length of his body.
The white powder seemed to have a mind of its own as it traveled over, then disappeared beneath the demon’s clothing. Kieran took a step away from Trevor and put his hands up to block his face, just in time.
The shell of what was the demon burst into a cloud of white dust. The lights in the ceiling of the basement highlighted the fine particles as they slowly floated to the floor. Nothing was left except Trevor’s clothes.
Back at my side, Kieran grabbed the leather straps binding me to the mattress and yanked them, one-handed, away from me. He put an arm underneath my shoulders and gently helped me sit up.
“Sydney, we must be away from here. It won’t be long before they realize what has happened. There are a few of my Knights outside of the compound’s perimeter, and they are waiting for Andras. If he should come before we escape, they will distract him for as long as they can. But for now, we are on our own.”
He tried to reassure me with his artificial vampire smile, but the dread in the pit of my stomach wasn’t going to be placated by the glimpse of a fang from the vampire coven leader faking optimism. Aunt Judith was still at the house with that rogue just waiting for a reason to kill her. If I had the opportunity, that rogue who dared to threaten my aunt would have one coming to her. No one hurts my family and gets away with it.
Kieran helped me stand. I was still a little wobbly from being strapped in the same position for...I’m really not sure how long.
He lifted my hair away from my neck. “Those bites should heal quickly. With my blood now in your veins, you will be able to heal all injuries faster than ever before.”
Anger blossomed in my chest. Renewed strength started taking over my body. Somehow, from deep inside my Selected power, my body knew it would be okay. The paranormal community wanted the abilities they could only get from me, and what those abilities were was unknown. It was clear, however, they would do anything to keep that resource available to them.
I looked into his red glowing eyes, and asked, “Exactly what does it mean to me now that I’ve consumed some of your blood? Can you communicate with me like you can with the members of your coven?” The possibilities were endless, and downright scary.
Humor and something else glinted in his eyes.
“I think we’ll save that discussion for a later time. Right now, we need to get you out of here.”
We passed the mound of white powder, all that remained of Trevor’s body.
“What was that stuff made of to disintegrate Trevor like that?”
Kieran laughed. “Unfortunately, that may not be the last we see of the demon. They are able to reincarnate one another. He may not have the same vessel to cause trouble in, but he may be back. That powder was compliments from your Aunt Judith. You must give my thanks to her.”
A gasp escaped me. He’d spoken with my aunt?
“She called me before Trevor did. We were already aware you had been taken. When Blake told her you weren’t at the house where you told the wolf you would meet him.” He paused. “Your aunt told me about the rogue waiting outside. She and her friend came up with a flour mixture that would dissolve a lightning demon’s skin like acid. Her friend, Meredith, had some at her dwelling. We picked up the powder before coming here. So far, it has all worked out pretty well. Don’t you think?”
I thought he looked pretty smug with himself. In reality, he and Morris had bigger fish to fry than petty land disputes. Vampire and werewolf rogues were working for the lightning demons, who were hooking up with the bigger, scarier demons that controlled legions from Hell. Yeah, they definitely had big problems coming their way. Now that Kieran had dissolved Trevor’s current body, the lightning demons were going to want revenge.
Chapter 23
“We’ll see how good your rescue plan works when we both get out of here alive.” Stepping away from Kieran’s supportive arm, I brought my wrist to eye level to study the rogue vampire’s bite marks. The bones in my wrist were distorted, like they had been crushed by the vampire’s jaw, but the bites didn’t appear to be oozing with pus or be as swollen as they had before Kieran gave me his vampire blood. He was right. My body was healing faster than it normally would before his blood dripped in my mouth. Right now my mind didn’t want to process the fact that his blood didn’t taste all that bad and how disturbingly refreshing it was.
We quietly climbed the stairs. Kieran took the lead, opening the door into what looked like a mess hall in a military institution. My Selected senses picked up the rogues down the hallway before we heard them talking about the great demon, Andras. Their words were filled with awe and fear. From what they said, they were afraid that if Lisa wasn’t turned immortal from the vampire’s blood, they may all perish from the high demon’s wrath at being deceived by his betrothed and her people. Andras wasn’t known for his mercy.
Off the mess hall to the right was a door leading away from the rogues. We both crouched, trying to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible, and ambled to the exit. Just before we made it to the door, a loud boom erupted from down the hallway. A rogue screamed in agony.
A flash of light flickered, filling the hall. We looked at each other and had a silent conversation. He said, Andras just arrived. My response to the news of the big scary demon was Yeah, we should hurry up so we don’t have to meet him. It was definitely time to get out. Together, we scrambled through the door.
Outside, we were met by the chill of the Wisconsin night air in February. I only had on a torn sweatshirt and jeans. Kieran took off his leather jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders.
“Let’s get out of here. The coven needs to set up a meeting with...” Before he could finish what he was saying, a giant black boot connected with Kieran’s face. His body vaulted into the air, landing in a pile of snow.
We were in serious trouble.
“Kier
an!” Someone grabbed me by the arm before I was able to go over to him to see if he was okay.
I looked up into death’s eyes.
Andras.
The high demon tightened his grip around my bicep and squeezed. From his strength, he was clearly capable of crushing my bones, but he didn’t. He only squeezed hard enough to make tears burst from my eyes.
When he spoke, my body shook to the core. Never before had I heard anything as evil as the demon’s voice.
“Selected. My woman has unfinished business with you.” He yanked me from my crouched position.
Andras, with his white hair, stormy blue eyes, and massive frame, dragged me back toward the door we had just exited. Before he grabbed the door handle, I heard a thumping noise. The pressure on my arm released, and the big demon fell to the ground with a whomf.
Kieran was back at my side.
“We must hurry.” He enveloped me in his arms, and we disappeared into thin air, like traveling on a magic carpet, without the carpet.
In the blink of an eye, we were standing outside of my house. My chest heaved, and I gasped for air and tried to catch my breath. Kieran’s leather jacket was still wrapped tightly around me to keep the cold air from chilling me to the bone.
“If you can do that, why didn’t you just snap your fingers to get us out of there in the first place instead of killing Trevor?”
Kieran looked down at me from his great height. “I would have, if that were possible. The walls in the basement where they kept you were lined with iron. I had to wait until we were out in the open.” He lifted his head and closed his eyes. “Your boyfriend is in the house, waiting for you.”
I eyed him suspiciously. “How do you know who’s in my house?”
The coven leader of the local vampires grinned mischievously at me. “Blake called after your aunt did, and we agreed he would come to the house since he was already close by. It was my blood they needed to make that woman immortal. Your aunt is fine, by the way. They are waiting for you inside.”
