by Candy Crum
“If Kailah won’t agree, then we will force her. I don’t want her dying. If this is going to work, she has to agree to it. Otherwise, her body will turn on itself and devour her.”
I looked behind me to see what Jacques’s expression looked like. He looked down at me, and I saw his brows furrow. “You knew this about her Jeff? You knew that she would more than likely die, and you dragged all of us into this mess anyway? You dragged this poor girl here and threatened her life as well as the life of her sister just to try to defy the odds?”
Jacques was now trembling against me because he was so angry.
“If I succeed, this will mean the freedom of our kind. Not just fake freedom, the real thing. Khia will be gone because even she won’t be able to stop Kailah. And we can rule the world as we see fit.”
“Fuck you, Jeff!” I shouted.
“Oh, watch that mouth of yours, sweetheart. That kinda thing coming from you gets me hot remember?” he said.
“I will never bow before you in any way shape or form. And I will not let you try to kill me for your ridiculous, convoluted plan!”
“As you wish. Well, since your sister is from the same bloodline, surely, she has the same potential. Bring her down!” he shouted.
“No!” I squirmed against Jacques.
Wait, Kailah. Wait to see what his next move is, or you will lose this, and I will not be able to save you both, Jacques’s voice fluttered through my mind, and I nodded against him.
They paraded Amanda through the door like an animal, and I felt my blood boiling. They had her gagged and her hands tied behind her back just as I’d been. Her ankles were tied together, and the brutes had their arms laced through her elbows as they dragged her into the room. I began to shiver with rage. Jacques felt my body tensing. Keeping his hands firmly on my hips, he gently dug the pads of his thumbs into my lower back in circular motions, massaging the area and bringing me back to a more tolerable state.
“Kailah, the choice is yours. Consent, or we’ll kill her,” Jeff said.
“You son of a bitch! Let her go!” I said.
Anger welled up inside of me and something snapped. It was like something had broken open and warmth poured through. My eyes began to burn, and I felt something feathery light brush against my skin, but I ignored it. I only had one thing on my mind.
“I said let her go!”
“Oh, sorry. That wasn’t an answer, love. Oh, Byron!”
Byron quickly did as his master commanded of him. He went for Amanda.
“No!”
As I shouted the word, I broke away from Jacques’s grasp and took one step forward as I brought both of my hands in front of my chest and thrust them out with all the strength that I had. Wind poured into the room and slammed into Byron with a force I’d never seen, throwing him across the room and smashing him into the wall in the back. As soon as the surge of power came, it left, and I was no longer able to touch the magic.
That was what had brushed against my hand, and I wondered if it had been my grandfather urging me along. I certainly didn’t know that move on my own and have never been able to control an element, so it must have been him.
“I said… don’t touch her,” I demanded breathlessly.
“Then what will it be, Kailah?” Jeff asked.
I looked over to Amanda, and I could see the fear in her. She violently shook her head no, but her eyes… I couldn’t shake the look in her eyes. As terrified as she was, she was still willing to sacrifice herself to save me. If she could do that, then I could put aside my fear of death to save her.
There were too many Vampires. If Jacques wanted to, he could fight them all off and get one of us out of here, but there is no way that he could fight against eight Vampires and keep us both alive. At least, he couldn’t with me being rendered powerless. If I could at least put up a barrier, Amanda and I might have a chance, but I couldn’t even feel the water anymore and it was still pouring down rain outside. The power inside of me was completely gone for right now.
I decided.
There was no other choice right then.
I turned to face Jacques, and his eyes met mine. “Jacques,” I said softly.
“Yes, my goddess,” he said, eyes full of admiration.
I paused for a moment, a little stunned by the title he had given me. “Promise me that when this is done, that you’ll get her out of here. We both know that I won’t make it. I need someone to make sure that she gets out safely,” I said.
He nodded, his expression softening as I stepped forward.
“Then I choose you.”
“I’m honored,” he said softly. Something in his voice was different. He wasn’t nearly as strong and resolved as he was before. Guilt radiated from his aura.
“Promise me one more thing,” I said softly. His head tilted slightly, urging me on. “Please tell her how much I love her and that I made this decision on my own. Tell her that it was not and never will be her fault.”
He nodded. I took a deep breath and stepped forward again. I rested my hands on his chest, and he rested one hand on my throat and the other on my hip. I took a few deep breaths, trying to brace myself. I had no idea if I was about to die, or if I was about to become a hybrid Immortal-Vampire freak. My heart was racing, and I could hardly breathe. I felt Jacques’s thumb gently stroke my throat as I looked into his eyes. They were warm and somehow soothed me.
I nodded.
“Okay,” I said. “I’m ready.”
Chapter Five
Jacques placed his mouth next to my ear. “Forgive me, my goddess,” he said just before placing a small kiss on my earlobe. I felt him moving again as his mouth came to rest at the hollow of my throat. He placed a lingering, open kiss there before slowly widening his jaw. I felt his pointed teeth resting gently on the skin as he paused. I took a deep breath and nodded against him.
I cried out against him and closed my eyes as his fangs pierced my skin. The pain was instant, but was only a brief memory as the pleasure that he spoke of swept over me. I’d never felt anything like it. It was exactly how I’d imagined it would be all of those years reading and fantasizing about them. I wondered if Aeric’s bite would be as incredible.
He withdrew his fangs and began lightly sucking with every beat of my heart. It took everything I had not to moan as I felt his hot mouth drawing the blood from my throat, and his tongue softly gliding across the sensitive, wounded skin.
His right hand moved around to the back of my head as he tangled his fingers in my hair. I heard him growl slightly, and it forced a small moan from me in response. I tried my best to stifle it, but I knew everyone heard it. After only a few seconds, I began feeling drowsy and my legs suddenly felt like Jell-O. My knees buckled and Jacques’s strong arms flexed gently around me as he easily held me upright.
It felt like I was falling in incredibly slow motion, but I realized that Jacques was lowering me to the floor as he drank from me. He laid my body out under him, and he withdrew his mouth from my throat. He took one last, long lick of me and I wondered if that was him using his blood to heal the wound, or if that was just for him.
Jacques’s gentle hand caressed my face as he urged me to turn my face toward him. I tried to open my eyes, but I could only manage shallow blinks. Though I couldn’t see anything, I felt his long hair fall over me and brush across the bare skin of my upper chest and neck.
“Drink from me, goddess. My throat will be much easier than my wrist. It won’t require you to drink long. I know you feel weak, and I pray to the spirits that give you power that they will realize the power that I see in you. I pray that they will deliver you from pain of death. Forgive me.”
Something warm and soft pressed against my lips, and I instinctively opened them wider. At first, I thought it was his throat, but when I felt his tongue gently glide against my own, I realized that he was kissing me. He called me goddess, but he felt like a god as he moved. His mouth was skilled as it enveloped mine and took away the last linge
ring bit of fear that I had.
I felt guilty as a war waged within me. As he kissed me, part of me imagined that it was Aeric’s lips pressed to mine instead. That my final moments were being spent with him. But the other part of me was grateful to Jacques because, in the end, he turned against the others in spirit. Had it not been for fear for Amanda’s safety, I believe that he would have fought to get me free, and so, as I kissed him, I willingly gave myself to him. He moaned softly against my lips and a sleepy smile spread across my face.
Jacques reluctantly pulled away as something dripped across my cheek. Though it took much effort, I forced my eyes open to see that his eyes were slightly wet. It was a tear that had fallen, possibly the first one that he’d shed in centuries—and it was for me. As my eyes closed once again, I felt the warmth of his throat against me and something hot trickled against my lips.
My mouth fell open and another drop fell on my tongue. The taste exploded in my mouth. It was his blood. I could taste the coppery taste that I’d always tasted from mine when I bit my tongue or jammed a wounded finger in my mouth, but this was different. His blood felt like liquid velvet dripping into my mouth and was filled with so many different flavors that I couldn’t pinpoint.
A god, yes, that’s what this man was.
I felt his hand under my head, lifting it so I would have less of an effort. When my mouth was within reach of his throat, I took one long lick of him, earning another growl.
“Kailah, please. Even in such a situation, I’m still only a man, and you are hard to resist. Please try to hold back your instincts to use your tongue.”
His words barely registered as my lips found the open area on the hollow of his throat. I placed my mouth against the wound, his blood flowing freely across my tongue. I didn’t even need to draw from him, but I couldn’t stop myself. Latching onto him, I drew hard. Jacques exhaled deeply as he once again tangled his fingers in my hair. He pushed my mouth tighter against him, and I drank harder. He trembled against me, and somewhere in the back of the only conscious part of my mind left, I knew it was because he was fighting himself.
I could feel the five hundred years of power in his blood, and it was incredible. I imagined that, given what I am, his blood would burn me relentlessly, but it didn’t. It was very warm going down, but it didn’t burn. I felt his power radiating through me, and I was suddenly able to feel my Immortal power again. I could feel the angered and vengeful spirits around the room watching as they waited for me to call on them for help. I wished that I could, but I wouldn’t know what to do if I could, and I couldn’t risk Amanda’s life or even the life of Jacques.
Though Jacques was a part of this whole mess, he never truly meant me harm. Until the truth came out, he believed that I would be fine. A sharp pain suddenly ripped through my chest, and I broke away from Jacques as I cried out. He quickly pulled away and lifted me from the floor. I found myself lying on the couch as he placed a soft pillow under my head.
“Kailah, what’s wrong?” he asked as he knelt next to me.
I smiled lightly, feeling delirious. “So, you do know my real name.”
I was able to open my eyes again, though I still felt incredibly weak. He smiled at me again, and it seemed to dull the ache in my chest.
“Yes, goddess, I do. Please, tell me what’s wrong.”
“Shit. Is she killing over?” Jeff asked flatly.
Jacques’s beautiful blue eyes instantly darkened, and he disappeared from my sight just before I heard a gurgle and a disgusting crack. “I told you, boy. Have respect for that girl. The next thing that I hear from you better not be anything derogatory against her, or I will kill you instead of maiming you,” Jacques warned.
I couldn’t see anything that happened, but I imagined that he snapped Jeff’s neck since I couldn’t hear anything out of him.
“I’m not sure yet what’s going on,” I told him as he returned to his spot by my side.
“She agreed and completed the task as requested of her,” he said loudly. I could hear the warning behind his deep voice. “The deal is done. You no longer need her sister.”
“Amanda is her name,” I whispered.
He looked down into my eyes, and his brows furrowed as he nodded. “Bring Amanda to me,” he said.
They did as he asked. I looked up and recognized Byron right away and instantly cringed at his presence. He made me sick.
“Jack, you probably shouldn’t get too comfortable with the little bit of power you have. It doesn’t exist. The only reason why you haven’t been ripped apart for Jeff yet is because the girl is still on the couch, and he’ll be fine in a few minutes. We aren’t blind. We know you have a thing for her. As long as she stays where she is, you and the ladies will stay intact. But if you try anything at all…” Byron left off the rest of his threat as a smile spread across his face.
He pushed Amanda down at Jacques, but he easily caught her. He quickly removed her gag and the bonds around her wrists and ankles.
“Thank you,” she said quickly before jumping toward me and hugging me tight. “How could you be so stupid? Why did you do this?”
“I have my reasons. I just couldn’t stand the thought of losing you to them,” I said.
“Well, how do you feel?” she asked.
I was actually wondering the very same thing. I knew that I felt like hell, but I needed to know the extent of it. I looked around as far as my little bit of movement would allow. Dozens of transparent faces faded in and out around me. They were all silently screaming why at me as they watched. They were angry with me, but they didn’t hate me. I could feel the pull they still had toward me as they wished to help. I could feel the power of their elements radiating off of them. My head began throbbing again as a headache set in. I moved my right hand over to my left wrist and felt for my pulse.
“It’s beginning to slow,” Jacques said.
I nodded when I confirmed what he said. Suddenly, I felt very tired. All I wanted to do was close my eyes and go to sleep. I felt something brush against my skin, and I looked up to see my grandfather standing next to me, resting his hand on my arm. He smiled sadly down at me.
“Sleep,” he said.
It was the first time he’d been able to have a voice while speaking in the real world. It was only a whisper, but I could hear it. Regardless, I didn’t have the energy to question him. If he believed that I was safe to sleep, then I probably was. I closed my eyes and unconsciousness quickly seized me.
* * *
I woke up to the door opening rather harshly. Hope flowed through me as my first thought was of Aeric busting through to save me. Unfortunately, it was only an angry Jeff.
“What the fuck is going on? Has anything happened yet?” he asked.
“She is still the same,” Jacques said. “I can smell the battle within her.”
“Ugh, I knew that I shouldn’t have trusted you to do this,” Jeff said.
“She’s still alive! That is the important thing. The fact that she is still alive accounts for more than you could comprehend.”
“Kailah,” I heard Jeff say.
Drowsily, I tried to look at him. “Hmm?”
“How do you feel? Can you tell what’s going on with you?” His voice was soft, and it almost sounded sweet and concerned, but I knew the only thing happening was that he was feeling defeated and was losing the battle for power within himself.
“My soul, I can still feel my soul within me, though it’s struggling,” I said.
“What does that mean?” he asked.
“No Immortal has survived an attempt at being turned because of the battle inside. When the Vampiric blood begins to win, and the body begins to turn, the soul feels the change coming ,and it freaks out before abandoning the body to get away from it. To save itself from being corrupted. Even in evil Immortals this would happen. Without a soul, it leaves a weak human shell that dies when the change becomes too much for them. The fact that my soul is still attached to my body is an anomaly.”
“Anoma-what?” he asked.
I was glad that I had enough energy to speak, but that I had no energy at all to deal with his stupidity. “It’s impossible, but still somehow happening,” I said.
“It’s because you’re strong, my goddess,” Jacques said with a smile. I felt him squeeze my hand and a hint of a smile forced itself to my lips.
“You did it wrong,” Jeff said. The look on Jacques’s face was priceless. “You didn’t give her enough blood.”
“I am five hundred years old, and I have turned many humans. This is a complicated situation. I did not do it wrong,” Jacques said.
“Yes, you did. Byron!” he yelled for his lackey.
Byron wasn’t the only one that I felt coming through the door. Seven Vampires came into the room, and I had a feeling that I knew why. They were planning on doing something that they knew Jacques wouldn’t agree with.
“What is going on?” Jacques asked sharply.
A familiar deathly cold chill ran down my spine, and I felt my weakening soul quiver inside. I found the energy to rise up to my elbows, and I looked around Jacques. There, along the back wall, I saw him. Death was standing there, watching, and I knew exactly what he came for.
“Jeff is going to have Byron turn me instead,” I said. “I can see the dark spirit of Death himself. He is here to collect my soul when this fails.”
“I don’t fucking think so,” Jacques said as he stood. “She’s been through enough. She has my blood in her veins, and I can feel the change trying to take her over, so there’s no reason to turn her the other way.”
“There are eight of us. Do you honestly think that you can take all eight of us and protect both of them? Not to mention the fact that Kailah just said that her body was fighting it off. At least, that’s what I take it as when her soul is still connected, and your blood has yet to take over.”
My vision began to get blurry on the sides before I blacked out altogether. I heard familiar voices, and it was like a light switch came on in my head. I saw the inside of the black Dodge Charger that Aeric drove. I looked to the driver’s seat to see Aeric driving, Rachel in the front seat navigating, Brett sitting behind Aeric, Sayen sitting behind Rachel, and Khanae was even with them. She was sitting in the middle, which for some reason, I found amusing.
