“Because what’s the fucking point, you crazy bitch? She’s just one girl. You have others willing to do exactly what you want.” I struggled for a way to reason with the creature who’d proven to be even more sadistic than Cyrus. And more easily entertained. She wouldn’t care if the girl died quick, while Cyrus would have wanted to put on the best possible show for his guests.
But she was also more likely to make rash decisions if a better opportunity was offered.
“Let her go.” I took a deep breath. Squared my shoulders. “Use me instead.”
“Oh, Lydia, you really do like sacrificing yourself, don’t you?” Rosali smirked, tapping her bottom lip with one red tipped finger. “But you belong to Cyrus and he won’t let me play with you. Isn’t that mean of him? I let him play with all my toys.”
Cyrus leaned forward, meeting my eyes as I looked back at him. He steepled his hands on the table. “I swore I wouldn’t let her have you again, but you’re asking for this.”
“You know I can’t just sit here and watch her whip that girl to death.”
His lips curved slightly. “I know. And you’ll survive anything she does to you.”
I wet my bottom lip with my tongue. “Almost anything.”
He inclined his head and stood, regarding Rosali, his expression hard. “I do like to indulge my pet, so I’ll give her this. But she is to be returned to me in one piece, Rosali.”
“Define one piece?” Rosali giggled when Cyrus frowned at her. “Oh, all right. You’re no fun.”
Shaking his head, Cyrus motioned me toward the stage. My pulse quickened, loud in my ears, my throat tightening as I made my way across the room. This had to be one of the stupidest things I’d ever done, but my life had lost all meaning. I had no purpose other than to stay alive for Alrik’s sake.
Sparing the girl made me feel like I could still do some good. Like the part of me that fought so hard to stop these monsters from harming the innocent was still in here somewhere. Maybe I couldn’t take them out, guns blazing, like I once had.
But I could do this.
The guards released Kimmy from the chains and she lunged forward, throwing her arms around my neck, her whole body shaking as she sobbed. “Don’t do this. Thank you—god, thank you so much for helping me, but you can’t let them hurt you.”
I hugged her tight, whispering in her ear. “You have one shot. While they’re focused on me, you fucking run. Run and don’t look back. If they catch you, force them to kill you quick.”
Her tears wet my cheeks as she nodded and drew away.
A guard reached for her.
I slammed the heel of my palm into his nose. Drove my elbow into the second guard’s throat. Rammed into both and pushed them off the stage.
Kimmy ran.
“Cyrus!” Rosali stomped her foot, looking from me to the side stage door Kimmy had bolted through. “She’s messing up everything!”
Cyrus folded his arms behind his head and smirked. “You wanted to play. Aren’t you having fun?”
“No!” Rosali backed up as I stepped toward her. “Make her stop!”
Fear filled Rosali’s eyes and I smiled. No way would I get close enough to actually do anything to her. Her guards were already closing in and the crowd was grumbling, likely ready to come after me themselves if I went too far. But knowing she was afraid of me was fucking satisfying. She was strong enough to fight me, but too terrified to try. Maybe no one else had hurt her before. Managed to hunt her down. Made her fear for her life.
I wished I could remember the look in her eyes when I’d shot her. When she’d realized I could end her. Those memories were gone, but at least I’d always have this beautiful moment.
A fist slammed into the side of my head. I dropped to my knees, shielding my face as the guards hit me again and again. Blood filled my mouth. Blurred my vision. My ears rang and the excited murmur of the crowd rose around me as they encouraged the guards to beat me to death.
“Control your dogs, Rosali.”
Cyrus hadn’t shouted, but his voice cut through the noise and the room went silent. The guards hauled me up and shackled my wrists above me.
Every inch of my body throbbed with pain, but I still smiled, blinking away the blood in my eyes as Rosali finally approached me.
“You’re pleased with yourself, aren’t you?” Rosali bit her bottom lip, reaching up to smooth my hair away from my eyes. “You know I’ll make you suffer more for what you just did, but you’re still smiling. Why?”
“Because no matter what you do to me, you can’t escape those nightmares where I’m waiting for you. Where you’re weak and powerless and my face is the last one you’ll ever see.” I was guessing, but the way she swallowed, her skin losing all color, told me I was right. “Even when I’m dead, you’ll think of me. And that makes me so fucking happy.”
She nodded slowly. “I guess I will. But you’re not going to die, Lydia. Because between those nightmares, I’m going to have the most wonderful dreams. Dreams filled with the sweet sounds of your screams.”
“Screams caused by someone else?” I laughed, loving the way she winced at the sound. I was so gonna regret this, but it was worth it. “Yeah, I’m sure that will be very satisfying.”
Tossing the whip aside, she stepped up to me, hissing between her teeth. “So fucking satisfying, because this time, I’ll be the one making you scream. You’ll beg me to stop, but I won’t. And Cyrus won’t save you this time. I know him a lot better than you do, Lydia. He wanted this. He knew you couldn’t sit there and watch that girl suffer. But keep telling yourself you acted on your own. That you’re more than his new favorite performer.”
My lips parted, but I didn’t have a smart retort this time, because her words sounded too close to the truth. Cyrus had brought me to Rosali’s party, where the attention was supposed to be on the girls she’d trained, and rather than letting her have the spotlight, he’d made her look weak. The pet he’d trained—which would be me—was too much for her to handle. But I’d come in by his side, looking tame and completely under his control.
I’d walked right into a power play between them.
This was not going to end well.
“Keep smiling, pretty girl.” Rosali’s lips curved as she stepped away from me, holding her hand out to her guard, who placed an ivory handled dagger in her palm. “Show the audience how pretty you are before the tears start to fall.”
She cut through my shirt. Sliced open the sleeves. Let the material fall. My jeans were next. Goosebumps rose all over my skin as the cool air brushed my naked flesh. I stared straight ahead without blinking, bracing for the pain I knew would come. No matter what she did, I wouldn’t scream, or whimper, or cry. Even if putting me up on stage had been Cyrus’s plan all along, it didn’t matter. He was watching me, expecting me to prove he was better than her, more capable of taking someone strong, someone who’d been born to hunt and kill creatures like him, and turning them into the perfect pet.
Not a label I wanted, but who was I fooling? This was all I could be so long as he had me, and I couldn’t see any way out. Pleasing him would spare me much worse pain in the future. And would piss her off, which was an awesome bonus.
So long as I could make it through the next few minutes. Then maybe hours.
However long it took for Rosali to realize she’d lost this round.
Her gaze locked on mine. “We’ll see about that.”
The first cut caught me by surprise. A sharp pain low on my stomach. The next over my ribs. I didn’t wince. She circled me, brushing her fingers along my side. I inhaled roughly when she touched me. The graze of her nails had my body bracing for pain, all my nerves tingling, oversensitive to the slightest touch.
She lifted my hair off my back and laid it over my shoulder. Traced her finger along the scars there. “These must have been so beautiful when they were fresh.”
A cut and I bit into my cheek. A slice of agony. My skin parting under the blade. Warm blood spilling down my back. My thighs
. Pooling at my feet.
The blade left me.
Returned.
Another cut.
The chains rattled. I shivered as the throbbing ache spread. Every inch of my back split open. A raw mess. I bit hard into my tongue. Tears wet my lashes.
She came around in front of me, tipping my chin up with the flat of the blade. “You’re good at this.”
The dagger sliced down across my chest. Over my left breast. Then my right.
I tipped my head back as the pain surrounded me. Inhaled roughly. Opened my eyes as her footsteps sounded in front of me again.
Her lips form a little pout. “This isn’t fun anymore.” She brought the dagger to her mouth, flicking her tongue out to catch a droplet from the tip before tapping her bottom lip with the blade. “I think you’re enjoying this too much, and I have guests to entertain. Shall we end this now?”
Deep breath in. Letting it out, little at a time. My body was healing slowly without the strength of my blood. My vision blurred as more spilled with the languorous beat of my heart. I didn’t answer her. Nothing I could say would make this any easier.
One of the guards stepped up to Rosali’s side, a smirk on his lips as he handed her something I couldn’t see. He folded his arms over his chest, dragging his eyes up my body, licking his lips as though looking at a feast spread out before him that he couldn’t wait to devour. I ignored him, following Rosali’s every move instead, refusing to let her catch me off guard. If she’d moved on from the knife, if she planned to use the whip, or some other tool for torture, I needed to prepare myself for the pain to change.
She raked her hand into my hair. Jerked my head back.
“Rosali.” Cyrus’s tone was firm. Sharp with warning. “Watch yourself.”
Rosali snickered, pressing a kiss to my cheek. “Don’t worry, my love. She’ll still be pretty when I’m done.”
She lifted her hand. Tightened her grip on my hair. Pressed something against my face, right where she’d kissed.
My skin sizzled. My whole body jerked. Intense heat, eating into my flesh, billowing out until agony paralyzed half my face.
I screamed.
And Rosali smiled.
Chapter Fourteen
It was good to see the hunter again. Even though the lazy fucker was lying on the floor, half asleep, Elah was still the best shot either Daederich or Lydia had to get out of here. He was weak, with barely enough blood to remain conscious, but the second he drank his fill he’d recover quickly.
Daederich settled on the floor by the bed, eyeing the glove trapping Elah’s hand, and considered anything he might have on him that would break the lock. Unless he freed the hunter, he couldn’t risk opening a vein for him. Not with his son in danger and Lydia who the fuck knew where.
Elah opened his eyes to slits, struggling to sit up when he saw Daederich. “Why are you here? Where’s Lydia?”
“I was about to ask you the same.” Daederich clenched his jaw. “When did you see her last?”
“It must have been a week by now. Rosali has her.” Elah’s dirt-smudged brow furrowed. “She’s alive. You’d know if she wasn’t.”
“Yeah… I can feel her. But faintly. That’s happened more and more lately. As though part of her is cut off from me.” Daederich stood and began pacing. “Cyrus told me she hates me. Could she shut me out completely?”
Shaking his head, Elah struggled to pull himself onto the bed. He didn’t resist when Daederich helped him. Simply sat on the edge of the mattress and braced his hands on his knees. “No. You’re her sire. She might learn to hide some of her thoughts, but breaking the bond between you is almost impossible.”
“Almost?”
The hunter inclined his head. “There are some out there with the power to do it, but they’re not fans of bloodsuckers.”
“That’s something at least.” Daederich sighed, taking a knee by the bed to inspect the metal glove. “We can’t help her unless we get this fucking thing off you.”
Elah’s lips quirked. “Never thought of that. Damn, problem solved. Looking forward to a hot shower. After I eat about three pedophiles. Maybe a drug dealer for dessert. Treat myself a little.”
“You’re fucking hilarious.”
“I like to think so.”
Rolling his eyes, Daederich removed his belt, then snapped the flat, brushed-steel buckle free. He folded it in half until the edges of the metal formed a sharp point. He dropped it on the cement floor and flattened it under his boot, focusing on the ends. He was strong enough to warp the metal into a rough blade, but he hadn’t before because even if he killed a few of the guards, there was no guarantee he’d make it to Lydia and Elah in time.
Now that he was with Elah, they could take out all the guards without breaking a sweat—of course, that expression didn’t really apply, but the point was they had no time to waste.
Holding still, Elah watched him work the steel into the closure of the metal glove. “You never answered my question.”
Daederich forced the edge of the metal against the base of the lock. If he could put enough pressure on the welded piece, he might be able to open it. “Which question?”
“Why are you here?”
Grinding his teeth, Daederich glanced up at Elah, sensing some suspicion in his tone. “I don’t know. I had a fucking nice room too. Rosali’s guards usually leave me alone—she insists I be given time to heal. One of them told me I was being moved. I didn’t argue.”
Elah inclined his head. “Fair enough.” He adjusted on the bed, careful not to block Daederich’s light. “I don’t doubt you, by the way. I haven’t been touched since that first night. Haven’t seen anyone. I thought you might have some insight.”
“No. All I know is Rosali is just as twisted as Cyrus, but lacks his restraint. She likes playing with knives, and bled me out one night just to see what would happen.” Daederich cursed as the metal slipped, slicing into the side of his palm. He dried his hand on his jeans and continued. “When I couldn’t move, she let the guards play with me. Then came back and yelled at them for not treating me better. She’s not stable.”
“Jesus.” Elah pressed his eyes shut. “We have to get Lydia away from her.”
“I’m trying.”
“That’s not going to work.”
Slamming his fist into the floor, Daederich glared at the hunter. “Then tell me what will! I don’t have your strength or your skill. I’d love to save her myself, but I won’t risk her life for my fucking ego. I need you.”
“I know.”
“Then come up with a better plan or shut the fuck up.”
He continued working on the clasp.
Elah wrapped a hand around Daederich’s wrist. “My hand may be too damaged. The spikes don’t hurt anymore. The wounds have healed around them. I think parts of my fingers were completely severed.”
No.
No fucking way.
He couldn’t ask Daederich to—
“Give me the metal. I’ll do it myself.” Elah’s jaw hardened. “I’d considered the mirror in the bathroom, but I can’t reach it and I couldn’t ask Lydia. She would have refused and she was already so close to the breaking point. Making her watch me hack off my own hand would have destroyed her.”
“But you think I can watch you do it and feel nothing?” Daederich stared at the clasp on the glove, which hadn’t moved. The metal was stronger than the steel he was using. He could waste all night doing this and get nowhere.
Elah reached out and took a firm hold of Daederich’s jaw. “I know you love your son. You loved him enough to send him away with someone who could keep him safer than you could. And you love Lydia. I’m a threat to Rosali. To Cyrus. That’s why they keep me from feeding, even though they’ve crippled me. They know they can’t handle me at full strength.”
“Your hand might heal.”
“It won’t.”
“You don’t know that!” Daederich pried the metal out of the glove, palming it as he strode acros
s the room, fisting his hands and rubbing them against his face. He considered Elah a friend…maybe more. The man irritated him, challenged him, showed him his weaknesses and forced him to face his flaws.
He’d taught Daederich so much. And he’d stood by his side when Lydia had been taken by Cyrus, just as determined to get her back. They loved the same woman, but at some point, that had become natural. They understood one another in a way no one else could.
Lydia loved Elah back and, while the knowledge had grated at Daederich’s male pride at first, he’d shoved that aside and looked at the man through her eyes. How could she not love him? She’d had nothing and Elah had helped Daederich fill the holes in her life. They hadn’t spent much time with other hunters, but when they did, they were both accepted as…as family. A family Lydia couldn’t remember having and had lost the moment she’d found them again.
Daederich lifted his head, meeting Elah’s steady gaze. Elah had taught him a kind of strength he’d never known. And he was waiting for Daederich to show that strength now.
“You don’t have the power to make it quick.” Daederich returned to the side of the bed and took a knee. “You’ll never get through the bone.”
Letting out a light laugh, Elah eyed his wrist. “It might take me some time, but I’d eventually get it done.”
“I can’t watch you suffer.” Daederich bowed his head. “Not again.”
“Then you know what you have to do.”
This almost felt like another lesson. How far was he willing to go to break them all free? To return to his son and make sure no one ever put him through what they’d suffered. He’d raped the other man. He’d done it after swearing he’d kill him first.
Compared to what he’d done already, this was nothing.
“If you feed from me, you’ll heal fast. This won’t even slow you down.” Daederich positioned the metal in his hand. Stopped and began grating it against the floor. If the edge was sharp he could finish the job fast. The job. This was part of the job. A necessity. “We won’t have much time.”
“I know.”
Elah sounded calm. Much too calm. He held his wrist still, his eyes on Daederich.
The End (Deadly Captive Book 3) Page 14
