*****
“Come on you stupid ass board.” Marlee was almost done with breaking the post when a commotion started to sound outside her small door. One more kick and she could make it out of there. Taking a deep breath, she reared her leg back and kicked with all her might and the post broke just right. Sighing in relief, she pulled the metal ring off the board and went to the window, making sure she didn’t jingle the chain too much. The window didn’t look too bad, she was only two stories up, but the fall was going to hurt. She banked on the hurt being nothing compared to what awaited her if she just sat around twiddling her thumbs. The window's base seemed to be rusted shut, and Marlee did her best to start to move it up. When the window budged a small amount, she almost wanted to jump in excitement. She worked the window up inch by inch until she had it completely open. See you can save yourself. The window sat next to a small ledge, but as she looked at it, she thought she could climb onto the next roof and wait to give herself some time to rest before she jumped down and headed out of dodge. As her leg went out the window she felt someone grab her arm yanking her back.
“So glad you’re a feisty one. This is going to be so much fun, but, my dear, I fear it is show time.” He took a piece of hair that had fallen in her face, tucking it artfully behind her ear. “See now you’re all pretty for your big debut.”
Fuck me, I’m too late. Marlee sent a silence prayer at whoever the hell was listening because this time she was in deep shit.
Chapter Fourteen
Sin had made it to the small village that housed several disheveled houses. It was dark and only the moon lit their way. His vampires paired off in every possible area of escape. Sin could feel the tension in Marlee escalate as he got closer. It seemed she too was on edge. He wanted to send comforting feelings back to her, but the truth was, he needed to concentrate on what he was going. Watching with his keen eyesight he spotted two of his men take out three other vampires as a wake of dust filled the air. He wasn’t sure what house she was in when he got closer to the larger ones. His heart broke as he walked around remembering the devastation that was thrusted upon these poor people and the many who died because of a hungry vampire on a power trip.
“Stop right there.” His head shot to the right as someone in the shadows spoke.
“Come out and face me, coward, and meet your fate.” A deep chuckle resonated as Marlee soon became visible as the soft delicate moonlight shown on her face. A mix between fear and anger filled her eyes.
“You don’t seem to understand, I have something you want. But I don’t seem to understand why? She is a skinny, tiny, little thing with a smart mouth. I think she is better gagged.”
“You will not hurt one hair on her head,” Sin said through gritted teeth.
“Oh, come now, you don’t mean that. Who says that nowadays? Hurt a hair on her head and I kill you, what, like you're not going to kill me if I do. See this is why I need her, I want you to see the life leave her face.” Sin moved to try to get a better look at the man who was holding Marlee captive as the fucker's teeth glinted in the light dangerously close to her neck.
“What’s wrong? Too afraid to come out of the shadows and face me. Only a true coward would stay hidden and not face me. And a coward you are to hide behind a woman.”
“I’m not a coward.” Sin watched as a vampire he had never seen before step out of the shadows. He had always assumed that this unknown threat would be someone he knew, not this half of a man. “And we are not alone either.”
Just then, a group of vampires appeared out of nowhere and started to attack them. Cillian shouted as one jumped out of the window above him with a stake aimed at him. He moved with quick speed, but just as he did, Dante moved once again in the shadows, pulling Marlee with him.
“Kill them, kill them all, but Dante is mine,” Sin growled to his men as he ran around the building, unable to find him. Another vampire, this one with short blonde hair, ran to him. Sin moved, but not soon enough as another came behind him biting into his arm. Sin howled in frustration, but he knew no one was coming. They might be outnumbered with manpower, but he and his team were very skilled and capable of handling this situation all by themselves. He grabbed the head of the one biting him, and with one swift twist, managed to pull his head off. No sooner than his opponent turned to dust, the other lunged toward him with his arms stretched wide to grab Sin, instead Sin swung around, grabbed the other's wrist of each arm, spreading them as wide as he could move them. The vampire grunted in pain, but his shrill scream could be heard over the other fighting noises when Sin sprung over him in a flip, landing behind the man, bringing his arms with him in the move and tearing them from their sockets. Throwing the wounded one to the ground rolling in pain, he turned to watch Cillian get a spike shoved into his leg. Sin ran to his second, killing every vampire that got in his way. Once the vampires who attacked Cillian were dead, he faced his friend.
“You okay?”
“Never better, feels like old times, old man. I will be fine. We will clean up this mess, you find Dante and get Marlee back.” Sin nodded and took off, trying to follow the faint scent of his mate.
*****
Marlee squirmed in the freak’s arm. He spat on and on about getting revenge and taking out Sin, but when the opportunity came, he did nothing—the chicken shit. Either way, Marlee needed to find a way to get away from him or at least lure him back to the fight so Sin could totally kick his ass.
“What’s wrong? Did you get too big for your britches and get scared. Are we running back to mommy now?” Marlee saw the location he was taking her, and suddenly a thought popped in her head. It was an old paper mill, and if paper was made there then surely she could find something to kick this sorry ass’s ass.
“Shut up you blood slut. You are nothing but a pawn. I have every intention on killing your beloved vampire, though I must say you both have terrible taste.” He had a hold of her waist lifting her around like a damn rag doll. Marlee tried to take a few steps but her feet didn’t seem to touch the ground to get any momentum.
As they entered the building, it was easy to tell it hadn’t been used in a really long time by the sight of several spider webs and the musky smell. The dust tickled her nose and she couldn’t help but sneeze. He seemed to be disgusted by this and released her, only holding her arm while she covered her sneezes with her hand. She bent trying to get some control over her sudden active allergies before she spotted an old screwdriver on the ground. With planned precision she sneezed, bending over just enough and picked it up before he saw her.
“Oh, he is good, finding you already. But there is something you should know, I’m so much better.” She cringed at his words, trying to get him to release her arm once again.
“Come out. Come out. Wherever you are,” he cooed in her ear, knowing Sin would hear him.
“Just finding a more scenic place to die, is that it, Dante?”
“You might say that, or maybe I want to avenge my master who you killed, before I take everything away from you that you care about. Starting with this dessert here.” He grabbed her hair with lightning speed, forcing her neck to the side, exposing the main vein to him. She whimpered enough to make him think he had the upper hand while the sicko ran his teeth against her skin.
“Let her go, you have me.” Sin was negotiating with him, well trying to anyway. She knew Dante had no plan on letting her go. She had had enough of this shit, when Dante moved and started to bit her neck, she screamed, brought her arm up with the rusty screwdriver in her hand, plunging it deep into his chest, at least she thought it was, until she noticed she hit his shoulder. He hissed in frustration, stopping to look at her, but it was just enough time for her to push away and take off, away from everything.
Sin watched as Marlee brought an old tool up and stabbed into the shoulder of Dante. He howled in pain, pulling the tool out before he lunged for him. Sin was ready and braced for the impact. Dante hit his chest, sending them both flying back into a small
beam that supported the building. He reached up and punched Dante in the face, as Dante struck him in the side. Blow after blow, both seemed evenly matched in hand to hand combat, but Sin had the advantage of being a lord and used his power to add to his last punch, sending Dante soring across the room.
The vampire lay still for a minute, Sin took the moment to grab a piece of wood from the structure. He was going to end this once and for all, but within a flash Dante leaped up and struck Marlee with something in his hand. Sin watched as Marlee turned to the noise behind her and the piece of steel Dante had launched toward her, was lodged in her chest. A surge of rage soared through him as he watched his mate look at him before falling to the ground. He reached Dante and without a second thought brought the wooden spike down into his heart, creating a pile of ashes before him. He quickly ran to Marlee who was laying very still on the ground. Blood pooled around the steel rod that still stuck out of the upper part of her chest.
“Marlee, can you hear me, Mo Chroi?” he whispered, moving the hair off her face. He could hear her heartbeat and knew she still lived. Not sure what to do, he sat there yelling for help as Cillian and the other came.
“Sire, we have to move her.” Cillian went to grab her and he hissed his displeasure. He didn’t want anyone touching her.
“Call the doctor, now. She will live, but we need to hurry, she is losing a lot of blood.” No one said a word as they hurried and followed him as he carried his mate in his arms. He could feel the life in her fading with each step he took, but he would fight for her.
While in the SUV he took a rag out and covered the area he could to keep the blood within her body. Not sure what else to do, he watched her, counting each breath she took. She never once opened her eyes, and he didn’t realize how much he missed staring into their blue depths.
“Please, Mo Chroi, stay with me,” he whispered as he kissed her lips softly.
“We are here, Sire.” The door opened and the doctor he used when one of his humans got sick stepped up.
“Shit, she's bad, we need to hurry, and, Sin, I need you to stay with me.” He nodded and followed the good doctor. He walked with Marlee in his arms into his chamber while the doctor started to bark out orders to the others to get him hot water and other items.
“Sin, I am going to need your help. I don’t know how bad it is until I remove the rod. When I disinfect the area, I want you to pull the rod at the angle it entered, nice and slow and I will take a look at the damage,” the doctor commanded. Sin nodded, he was out of his element and grateful he had the doctor here to help her.
Watching with fascination, the doctor went to work pulling on gloves and cleaning the rod and other areas on her body. “Okay, Sin, nice and slow at this angle.” He showed Sin the angle he needed to pull. Sin held his breath while he did it. Slowly the rod was removed from her body. But just as he was happy it was out, the doctor cussed up a storm.
“She is bleeding out. She needs blood, someone get me some.” A nurse he had seen before took off running down the hall and he watched as Cillian too looked concerned. He needed to do something. Marlee was now fighting for her life. He had just found his mate and now he might lose her. That was when it hit him.
“Give her some of mine.”
“What?” the doctor looked at him puzzled.
“She’s my mate, she can take my blood. It should help heal her,” Sin persisted.
“I don’t know. Does she want to be turned?”
“She won’t be turned, she is my mate, not one of my children. She must try—we must try. This may be her only hope.” The doctor seemed resigned to his fate and nodded. Sin once again didn’t waste a moment when he sat down next to her before biting into his wrist and bringing it to her mouth. She didn’t seem to respond. Pushing his wrist more firmly against her lips, he let his blood drip and run along the seam, seeping between her loosely sealed mouth. With a zing she seemed to respond, parting her lips and then she sucked slightly on his wrist. He felt the small pull as blood left his body to try to fix hers. He did his best to try to ignore the sexual feeling that was beginning to pulse through his body.
“That seems to be helping. Her blood is clotting,” the doctor said in awe. Sin removed his wrist from Marlee, licking the wound clean, sealing it. “I am still going to give her some blood just to make sure she doesn’t have any issues with her heart. But it stopped the bleeding and as long as she has no infection, she should be okay. I gave her a shot that will help with pain and will make her sleep for a while. I suggest you too sleep, the sun will be up shortly.
Sin nodded this thanks to everyone, and once he locked himself and Marlee in his chamber, he turned off the light covering them both. Her breathing was steady as was her heart. He lay next to her careful of her injuries.
“I’m sorry, Mo Chroi, so sorry.” He never meant for her to get hurt, and yet she had. Closing his eyes, so many things played through his mind before the sun took him, the last one was—Marlee.
Chapter Fifteen
Marlee woke feeling stiff and sore with her entire body aching. Her mouth felt like sandpaper and she had a pressing need to pee. Trying to open her eyes, the lids heavy as if weighed down, with a concentrated effort they fluttered open, and she blinked several times to remove the blurriness in her sight. She shifted and moved her legs, happy to find they worked just fine. She looked at her surroundings, becoming aware she was in Sin’s chamber. That’s when everything shifted and hit her. She had been shot, no, not shot. She reached up and felt the bandage on her shoulder, which hurt like a mother. The fucker had hit her with something. What the hell happened? When she moved to sit up, pain shot through her upper body, hurting to the bone. A deep breath hissed through her clenched teeth, filling her lungs. The added oxygen eased the lightheadedness, but didn’t do much for the pain.
Not wanting to think too much on it, she forced herself to tune out the pain, her full bladder taking her mind off enough to know that waiting wasn’t an option. She rose from the bed, feeling every pinch of pain radiating through her body. Finally on her feet, she headed at a slow pace toward the bathroom. Once there she flicked on the light, instantly regretting the decision and smacked the switch off again. It was so bright the dizziness turned into tunnel vision. Passing out wasn’t an option. She stopped, closed her eyes, and breathed in and out gently until thankfully it lifted some, leaving a throbbing in her temples. Awesome. Deciding she would rather deal with dizzy than pee down her leg, she hit the light again, this time covering her eyes some blocking a little of the brightness radiating from the bulbs. Quickly, okay, not as quick as she wanted, she did her business before chancing a glance in the mirror. As she did, she gasped. She had been covered in blood and dirt. She looked at her shoulder and even though that looked clean, she felt dirty and didn’t know if she could physically handle a shower. She turned and spotted the giant bath and wondered if she should even try.
“Marlee?” She heard her name and realized Sin must have been up. How long was she out?
“In here,” her voice gravely, as if it had been used in quite some time.
“Can I come in?”
“Umm…yeah, I am pretty much done,” she stated. When he opened the door she saw the look of regret on his face.
“Hi,” was about all she could squeak out. "Did you sleep well?”
“Surely I should be asking you that. Are you hurting any? Can I help you with anything?”
“I hurt some, but I can handle it. I do have a small question. Can I get this wet?” she asked pointing to her bandage.
“Not for a couple of days. But I could draw you a bath and help you in and out. You might feel better once you’re clean.”
Really liking that idea, she agreed, nodding her head. She watched as Sin moved about the bathroom, starting the water and adding something in it before he turned to her. Looking down, she was in the same clothes she was in the previous day. Well, she hoped the previous day, she was unsure to how long she had been out.
“Sin, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” his voice seemed clipped. Not wanting to be pushed away, she reached up with her good hand and cupped his face.
“It wasn’t your fault you know. I don’t blame you, so stop blaming yourself, okay?” This time his eyes pierced hers. He just looked at her for the longest time.
“I just found you, and then I almost lost you because of what I am, who I am. I don’t know how to feel. I am filled with confusion,” he confessed to her.
“You don’t think I am. This is new to me too, but you need to know I wouldn’t change any of it, Sin. The good or the bad.”
Sin looked into the blue eyes of Marlee as she tried to reassure him that everything was okay. She had been the one who was hurt and here he was feeling sorry for himself because he couldn’t control a situation for once in his life.
“You are a brave woman, Marlee Hicks,” he joked, trying to lighten the mood some. “It’s one of the things I love about you,” he confessed. Her eyes widened at his words, but he needed to finish. “There is so much you and I need to talk about and discuss, but right now, I just want to look at you and be thankful you are still with me.”
He washed her and took care of her, and when she stood, she could see the desire in his eyes. Marlee looked at him through her eyelashes, wondering if she could get him to touch her the way she needed him to. They had been apart for too long, she wanted him, she wanted to show him how committed she was to him. She knew without a shadow of a doubt, she belonged with him. There was no way she would be able to leave, they were mates, and connected. How her life had changed from the woman who wanted to be on her own and took a holiday, to the woman who had been put through hell and had found the man who turned her boring everyday life into so much more.
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