by L. E. Wilson
It was worse this time, so much worse. Before, it had just been Josiah and his jealous little knife, his eyes ablaze with satisfaction as he took out his insecurities on Luukas.
But now, now it was the witch, not just holding him still, but torturing him herself without ever touching him.
Rocks hurtled fast as lightening through the air, breaking his bones and bruising his skin. Daggers flew end over end to embed their blades into his organs, ripping him open on their way out again, ten and twenty at a time.
His clothes were torn, soaked through with his blood. Sweat stung his eyes until he couldn't see. His muscles and joints screamed in agony.
And the witch...the witch stood before him, laughing as she broke him.
Fuck that.
He lunged at her with a loud hiss, snapping his fangs, and felt his shoulders pop from their sockets. The cuffs around his wrists and ankles cut even further into his already torn flesh. But he didn't care.
Rip her open! Suck her dry! Kill her! Burn her!
She was the one causing all of this pain.
She was the one holding him here with her fucking spells.
She was going to die. Slowly. Painfully.
He roared in agony and frustration as he was flung back against the wall by an invisible force before he could reach her.
"AHHHHHH!!!"
Coherent thought had left him hours ago. He focused only on her lovely face as he bled, his eyes wild, his hatred for her all consuming.
"Fucking cunt!" he spat at her.
His head was knocked to the side by a force strong enough to bust open his cheek and loosen a few teeth.
He heard her laughing.
He heard her sobbing.
The madness threatened.
Chapter 33
Keira
Keira was forced to watch as the evil one drove Luukas insane without ever harming him. His dark magic was so much more powerful than hers, that he effortlessly held her immobile in front of Luukas as she sobbed, unable to help him.
She tried to talk to him, to tell him it wasn't real, that nothing was happening to him, but he couldn't hear her.
Suddenly, Luukas' eyes widened in terror. "No! No!"
Keira fought against the hold he had on her. "What are you doing to him? Stop it! Stop it!" she screamed.
Luukas threw himself back and forth in his shackles, fighting to escape whatever it was he thought was happening to him.
His eyes flew wildly around the room as he yelled, "Help me! Help me!"
Throwing his head back into the wall, he screamed.
Keira screamed with him. "Please! Stop! Please!"
She tried to find Leeha out of the corner of her eye. "Leeha! Please! You're breaking him! Don't you see? You won't want him like this!"
Leeha strolled forward until she was just visible, her face expressionless as she observed Luukas' reactions. "Whoever said I still wanted him?"
"But, if you don't want him, why are you doing this?" Keira whispered in bewilderment.
"For the entertainment," she told her with a cold smile. "Eventually, he'll be pushed to the point that he'll use his power without even realizing he's doing so, and then he will break free - and he will kill you."
Keira stopped breathing. "But, he'll die without me."
"Yes, he will. Two birds with one stone, as they say."
And then she smelled it, like meat sizzling on a grill.
They were burning him again, or at least he would think they were.
No. No!
His horrified screams were endless now, one flowing into the next with barely a breath in between. As she watched, he threw his body from side to side violently, slamming his head back into the stone, trying to escape the nonexistent flames.
This would break him, of that Keira had no doubt. He'd barely survived it with his mind intact the first time. He wouldn't get through it again.
Leeha watched him for a few moments, jerkily tilting her head to the side in that unsettling way she had, a satisfied smile spreading across her face. "Fun as this is for me, I think I'll be leaving. It won't be long now. Good luck, witch."
Keira heard her heels click-clacking across the floor as she slithered away to safety like the coward she really was.
Blinking away her tears, she tried again to reach Luukas through the terrors of his mind.
"Luukas! Please, listen to me! It's not real! They're messing with your head! It's not real!!"
Suddenly, he stopped fighting and sagged on the chains, breathing heavily. A moment later, the temperature dropped to such a degree, Keira's breath fogged in front of her and she shivered.
Oh no.
The raven called out loudly, her voice blending with Luukas' as he bellowed madly at the ceiling. His entire body began to vibrate then, growing larger before her eyes. His muscles bulged as they strained against the chains. His skin grew taut over his bones as his face changed, becoming tighter, the bones more prominent.
Keira watched, awestruck, at the changes in him, her breath taken away by the awesome sight of Luukas at his most formidable.
The manacles on his wrists and ankles began to crack, tiny fissures appearing in the silver. A second later, they burst open, the cuffs and chains disintegrating into dust.
Luukas caught himself in a crouch as he fell, magnificent in his power. His glowing eyes lifted to hers, and his lips pulled back from his fangs in a snarl as he cocked his head at her.
Her heart pounded out of her chest as he slowly rose to his full height, his hunter's gaze never leaving her face.
"Please," she whispered to the cloaked one behind her, "Release me."
Was he even still there?
Searching Luukas' eyes, she tried to find some remnant of the male she'd grown to admire and love. But there was nothing left of him. All she saw was madness in their soulless, black depths.
She wasn't going to survive this time, and so, neither would he.
She briefly closed her eyes, accepting her fate. Maybe they would meet again in the next life.
He stalked her, taking his time, a fearsome smile sneaking across his handsome face.
On impulse, she tried to raise her arm to hold him off, and found that she could move now. Without thinking, she spun around and ran.
Using her magic against him was not an option, no matter what. She couldn't do it.
He was on her in an instant. Grabbing her by the hair, he yanked hard, and she fell back against his hard chest with a cry.
"Where do you think you're going, witch?" he hissed at her.
Tears filled her eyes as she tried to pull away from him, but he had a firm grip on her. Her eyes shot around the room frantically, looking for help, but no one else was there. Even the cloaked one was gone.
Snaking his other arm around her waist, he held her tight against him as he pulled her head to the side, exposing her neck to his view.
She felt a sharp pain and gasped in surprise as he struck without care, sinking his fangs deep within her. He began to drink with strong pulls, and she felt a tug at her loins, her body burning for him even now.
Goosebumps rose on the back of her neck when he moaned in her ear, his body hardening behind her. He splayed his hand across her lower belly and pulled her hips back towards him, and she felt his erection rubbing against her backside.
He drank for so long, she began to wonder if he was just going to drain her dry. But then a surge of hope filled her as he lifted his mouth and gently licked her wounds closed. Maybe it would be ok, maybe he would remember. Maybe he would listen to her now.
"Luukas," she breathed.
Letting go of her hair, he slid his hand around to the front of her throat, and began to squeeze.
Keira gripped his arm, trying to pull it away, but he was way too strong. Stars appeared before her eyes as she struggled to breathe, and she could feel her face heating as the blood pooled in her head.
He lifted her right off the floor, one arm around her waist and
his other hand around her throat, holding her face next to his almost affectionately.
His hand tightened even as he gently kissed her temple. "Just like old times, huh? Only this time I won't stop. You won't hurt me ever again, witch."
He was eerily sane in his insanity.
No, this can't be happening! Keira thought. He wouldn't do this! He shouldn't be capable of doing this! She was his mate, how was he hurting her?
Unless he'd been pushed too far, beyond the point of being ruled by his instincts.
Unless she wasn't his, as he'd proven the night before. He'd been with others. If she were his, he would have no desire to feed from, or fuck, anyone but her.
She kicked her feet, hitting him hard in the shins, but it didn't seem to faze him. She began to struggle in earnest as she fought to remain conscious.
The sounds of her gagging seemed to irritate him, and he tightened his grip around her throat until she could feel her bones bending under the strain.
Holy shit, he was really going to kill her.
Stars appeared before her bulging eyes, and her struggles became weaker and more sporadic.
Luukas put his nose in her hair, inhaling deeply, and then rubbed his face against hers. She felt his tears on her cheek.
"I'll see you in hell, witch," he breathed in her ear. He sounded relieved, satisfied even.
The blackness descended, and Keira knew no more.
Chapter 34
Luukas
Luukas held his arms straight out in front of him. One hand held a severed head by the neck, the long, dark hair drenched in blood. The other held a fistful of white gown, wrapped around a female's form.
Horrified, he dropped the bloody pieces of Keira's body onto the dirt floor.
He had ripped her apart.
What have I done?
Squeezing his eyes shut, he slammed his palms to either side of his head, trying to erase the sight of her, broken at his feet.
The sound of her laughing as he was beaten and sliced open...and burned, echoed through his head.
Or had she been crying?
No. This couldn't really be happening. It was just a dream, or a trick, or something.
Warily, he opened his eyes.
She was still there.
"NO! NOOOO!" He doubled over in pain, his arms wrapped around his midsection. "Ah, gods! What have I done?"
Falling to his knees beside her, he gathered her up into his arms, and buried his face in her stomach. "I'm so sorry, my love," he sobbed. "So sorry. So sorry. So sorry..."
He rocked to and fro, repeating the words over and over, feeling his mind begin to crack into so many pieces; it would never be whole again.
Tears ran heedlessly down his face as disjointed ideas raced through his thoughts: ideas that would save her. Gradually, one of them stuck.
Maybe he could heal her. Maybe he could put her together and give her his blood and she would heal.
Yes, his shattered mind thought, yes. I'll heal her and she'll come back to me. She has to come back to me!
Laying her gently on the floor again as a whole person, he heard someone enter the room and glanced up to see the cloaked one in the doorway.
"Help me!" he called to him. "Please, help me! I have to heal her...please..." Fussing with her gown, he tried to arrange it so that it covered her decently. He didn't want the other male to see her.
"Help me,” he whispered hoarsely.
"She's gone, vampire. It's too late."
Luukas shook his head erratically. "No. No, it's not. You're wrong. I'll save her."
"You killed her."
His hands stilled on her gown.
"Or, did you?"
Luukas frowned. "What?" He looked up, but the evil one was gone.
He stared at the empty doorway, wondering if he'd really been there at all.
It's not going to work.
It will! It has to!
It won't. She's gone. It's what the bitch deserved.
NO! Shut up! Don't say that!
It's too late.
No. Can't hurt her!
Biting his wrist, he ripped opened the vein and pressed it to her mouth. His blood dripped into her mouth, pooling there. When the wound closed, he reopened it and pressed it back to her mouth, rubbing her throat to get her to swallow.
Sitting back on his heels, he waited...his eyes skittering around the room.
And waited...
She didn't wake up. She didn't move.
A keening cry escaped him, growing in volume as he rocked back and forth, his hands gripping his hair. He didn't feel the pain as strands came out in his fingers, didn't feel anything except for the overwhelming anguish of his loss.
He wept, clawing at his body, wanting to escape this internal suffering that was so much worse than anything he'd gone through before. He wept until there was nothing left to feel.
Finally numb, he laid down on the floor beside her, his eyelids heavy as he memorized her lovely profile.
When he felt up to it, he would take her out of this horrid place, and they would wait for the sun to rise.
He smiled. He hadn't felt the sun in over six hundred years. It would burn, but it would be quick.
A peaceful feeling came over him as he lay there beside his witch. His revenge was complete. The darkness was appeased at last. Soon, he would be with his angel again.
***
The angel's voice came to him through the fog.
"Luukas! You need to wake up!"
He groaned in protest. No, he didn't want to wake up. She wasn't real.
Besides, he knew what he would see when he opened his eyes, knew where he would find himself. He wasn't ready to face that just yet.
"Luukas," she pleaded softly, "Please wake up. I need you."
He wanted to help the angel, but how could he?
It was too late. He'd killed her. He'd overcome the protective instinct for his mate, just like he'd done when he'd killed his Master. That shouldn't have been possible either, but he'd...overcome.
"I can't help you," he whispered.
He felt her soft palm on the side of his face, and he cried out, bolting upright.
It wasn't real!
He was only imagining that she was here, wishing she were still alive so strongly that he'd felt her touch.
His witch.
His angel.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flutter of white, and his breath caught in his throat.
Had she moved? No, that wasn't possible.
"Luukas, please look at me," the angel coaxed in a soft voice, like he was a frightened animal.
His stony stare never left the wall directly in front of him. "I don't want to look. Don't make me look!" he told her forcefully.
Her dress moved again, and he squeezed his eyes shut. Pulling his knees up, he crossed his arms and hid his face between them. She was haunting him now. It was no less than he deserved.
"Luukas." This time it came from directly in front of him.
"I'm so sorry!" he cried, still not looking up. "I'm so sorry I hurt you, Keira! So sorry, I..." He couldn't finish the sentence.
"Luukas, it's all right. I'm all right."
He laughed scornfully. "How can you say that? I fucking killed you! Just go away!"
The angel was silent.
Had she gone?
Good.
Except, he didn't want her to leave. He wanted her to stay with him...stay with him while they watched the sun come up and then he could join her wherever she was now.
Lifting his head, he rubbed at his swollen eyes with the heels of his hands. "I didn't mean it! Come back..." He opened his eyes.
Ah, she hadn't left; she was kneeling right in front of him. So close, he could reach out and touch her if he wanted to. He lifted his hand, and then pulled it back again, unsure. Would his touch go right through her?
Yes, it would, because she was fucking dead.
But, he could smell her hair, could smell her bloo
d, her sweet womanly scent.
He fought down the maniacal urge to laugh.
Instead, he let his gaze roam over her long, dark hair and delicate features. He loved her hair. He wished he'd touched it more often. Her hazel eyes seemed even larger than normal, dominating her face as she stared at him with concern. He didn't move away as she reached a hand towards him, hoping beyond hope to feel her touch him again. This time, he barely flinched when her warm fingers grazed his forehead, pushing his hair out of his eyes.
But, how could she touch him?
Maybe he was already dead somehow, and they were doomed to live out their eternal lives here in this hellish place.
That would be ok. He would stay anywhere she was, if she would let him.
He took a shaky breath. "If this is Heaven, or Hell, or somewhere in between, I would like to stay. I know I don't deserve to, but I can't bear to be without you."
She frowned at him. "You're not dead, and neither am I," she told him sternly. "It wasn't real, vampire. None of it was real."
His eyes skittered around the room again before coming back to land on her. He wanted to believe her words, but he knew better.
"I saw you. I held you in my hands, in pieces..." His voice broke, and tears filled his eyes again as he held his shaking hands out between them. "I saw you..."
Taking his face in her hands to make him look at her, she shook her head. "No, Luukas, no. You didn't kill me. You stopped in time. You let go of me right before I passed out, and I must've fallen to the floor."
"I don't understand..."
"It was an illusion. It was all an illusion. Well, except you did feed from me and choke me," she admitted off-handedly. "But you stopped! You stopped before you really hurt me."
"An illusion? You didn't...? I saw you!" He squeezed his head in his hands as he tried to make sense of it all.
"No! It wasn't me! I swear to you! It wasn't me! The evil one, the cloaked one...I don't know who, or what, he is...he took me from Seattle. He brought me here and put me in this stupid dress, and hung me on the chains. He's powerful, Luukas. I could do nothing against him. Nothing! He made me stand in front of you, made you think it was me hurting you, but it wasn't! I swear on my sister's life, it wasn't! He made you think things were happening to you, but it was all an illusion. Look at yourself. Look!"
