by L. E. Wilson
“She’s the Hunter. Leeha ordered us to bring her straight here.” Gangster-dude appeared to be the only one brave enough to speak.
“I won’t use her, if that’s what she’s planning.”
“I wouldn’t know. She just told us to wait.”
The cloaked man pulled one of his hands out of his sleeve, and held it up to the raven so it could hop onto his arm. He stroked its feathers with strong, sure strokes, and then set it down on top of the bloody altar as he paced around it to join them. The bird hopped across the surface, staying as close to him as it could.
He stopped directly in front of Shea, and she stiffened, staring up at him defiantly. Though only about a head taller than she was, or maybe even less, he exuded a dark power that gave her pause. But he wasn’t a vampire, or a werewolf. A witch, maybe? But he felt different than the witches she’d known. The witches normally used the forces of the earth and nature to conduct their magic. It was a part of them. You could practically smell the natural elements in them.
But not this one: this one was different.
She searched the shadows under his hood, trying to make out his features, but he kept his head lowered, and his eyes downcast. Even so, he seemed to be studying her somehow.
“What’s your name, vampire?”
“Shea.” She felt compelled to answer him, whether she wanted to or not.
“You’re a Hunter. Of Luukas’?”
“Yes.” She saw no reason to try to lie to him. The rest of them already knew. Besides, lying wasn’t her thing.
“Are you not afraid of me?”
“No. Should I be?”
He didn’t answer, but his lips curved up at the corners. “Do not try to escape, vampire. It will do you no good.”
“Yes, well, I’m a little chained up at the moment, so...” She shrugged.
Still directly in front of Shea, he dismissed the others. “You may go.”
Her four captors didn’t argue, but sped on out of there like the hounds from Hell were after them.
And maybe they were.
“So, what are you, exactly?” she asked with genuine curiosity.
He didn’t answer her, but she hadn’t really expected him to give up his secrets that easily. The raven flew back to his shoulder, and contemplated her with the same curiosity she did it.
“What’s the bird’s name?”
“Her name is Cruthú.”
“She’s your pet, huh?”
Reaching up, he stroked her feathers with long fingers. “She’s my friend.” There was a wistful quality to his words.
“She’s beautiful.” Shea meant it. The bird was beautiful. Her feathers were so black, they looked almost blue in the flickering light of the torches, and there was an eerie intelligence in her beady black eyes as they studied each other.
Suddenly, the bird hopped over to Shea, landing solidly on her shoulder. She watched, amused, as it made itself at home, pulling strands of her hair through its beak, and plucking at her diamond stud earring. Ducking its head, it rubbed against her cheek before it went back to the man. She chirped in his ear, then ruffled her feathers and settled in on his shoulder.
“It seems she would like to return the compliment,” he professed.
“Uh, thank you, Cruthú.”
Abruptly, he turned away and strode over to the other side of the altar. Shea was confused at first, but then she heard the footsteps. More people were coming.
How did he hear them before she did?
Leeha swept into the room, her sheer blue gown billowing around her. A young, dark-skinned vampire followed closely on her heels.
With hardly a glance at Shea, she stomped across the room, facing off with the cloaked male across the altar. “Why is she still standing there?”
He regarded her calmly. “I won’t use her. Find another.”
She pulled back, surprised. “But it must be her. The new ones are rotting away before they can be of any use to me. She is old enough, and she is one of Luukas’, just like the others who survived.” She turned to the dark-skinned male who’d come in with her. “Josiah, chain her to the altar.”
The cloaked male was in front of Shea before Josiah could begin to carry out her order, protecting her. He had moved with the speed of a vampire or wolf, yet he wasn’t either of those. How had he done that?
“I said. No.” The raven spread her wings, squawking loudly in agreement.
It seemed she had a champion, or actually two of them. Good. She had a feeling she was going to need them for whatever it was Leeha had planned for her.
However, she wondered if she was really all that much safer in the cloaked one’s hands.
Leeha fumed with silent rage. “You dare to disobey me? Who exactly do you think you are, witch?”
“I’m not a witch, and you would do well to remember who it is that you are dealing with, vampire.”
Shea shrunk back against the cold, stone wall behind him as the air became rife with malevolence. She would almost swear she could hear evil voices from another realm shrieking around the cloaked one, in unity with him, as he dared to stare down the horrors that swirled in Leeha’s red eyes, unaffected.
No human could resist the pull of her eyes. They would drag them into their own worst nightmares, and have them on the floor, gouging their own eyeballs out, never to be sane again.
Leeha appeared to regroup, not backing down exactly, just trying a different tactic.
“You seem fond of this one. May I ask why?”
“No. You may not. But I’m not using her. Find another.”
Leeha lost her patience, and spun away from him. “The others will be coming, if they survive, but I cannot wait until then! I need her for tonight!”
Calming the raven’s ruffled feathers, he held his ground. “You will have to do without.”
Leeha studied him with narrowed eyes, and then suddenly smiled sweetly. “I believe I can manage. I’ll just have to think of some other welcome gift for my visitors.”
She headed for the door. “Bring her along, Josiah.”
“She stays with me.”
She swung around to face him. “What for? No. She comes with me. Josiah!”
Josiah didn’t move a muscle as the cloaked one turned his attention to him, daring him to try.
“Why don’t we just leave her here, mistress? Maybe she’ll annoy him enough that he’ll change his mind.”
Shea almost laughed at his pathetic attempt to avoid challenging the other male, but Leeha didn’t find it quite as amusing.
Without a word, she gave the cloaked one a tight smile, then turned on her heel and slithered out of the room. Her young pet followed closely behind.
He waited until they were well and truly gone before he relaxed his stance and stepped from in front of Shea, dropping his head down again so she couldn’t see him.
She stiffened her spine, wondering what he planned to do with her, and gave him a wary look. “So, what are you going to do with me?”
Ruffling the raven’s feathers, he appeared to think about it.
"I don't know."
Chapter 6
Keira
Keira’s arm shook with the effort to hold Luukas elevated, until she was certain he wouldn’t come out of it again for a while, and then she gently lowered him down again, easing his body weight back onto the chains.
Fucking Blondie. He’d taken too much blood. Her lightheadedness and growling stomach urging her on, she made her way back over to the door, hoping they hadn’t switched guards for some reason. She sent up a silent thank you when she saw his straw colored hair. She needed to eat.
“Psst. Hey, bloodsucker. I need some food. And some water.” She waited for a response, any response, but it didn’t seem like there was going to be one forthcoming.
Glaring at the back of his head, she wished she could zap him, and force him to cook her a gourmet meal. But it wasn’t good to stretch your magic around too much. It became less effective that way, an
d made a witch too vulnerable. And she was already spread thin keeping up the cloaking spell on everyone in the fortress, the incombustible spell allowing them to use fire on Luukas, and having the heavy burden of possessing his power.
Not to mention the recent blood loss.
Deciding her need for sustenance was more important than not angering a vampire, she stuck her hand through the small window opening and poked him hard in the back of the head.
“Hey!” she whispered loudly, “I’m talking to you.”
Very slowly, the blonde vampire turned his head just enough for her to see his exposed fangs and the displeased look on his face.
Good, she’d finally gotten his attention.
“I need food, jerkoff. You took too much blood. And if I get too weak, so do my spells, and you’d better believe I’d throw you under the bus in a heartbeat when Leeha wonders why everyone suddenly knows we're here, and her prisoner goes up in flames. Besides,” she added in a matter-of-fact voice, “If you feed me now, you’ll be able to have some more nice, fresh blood tomorrow. Provided you leave me your bagged stuff again, of course.”
He didn’t respond for so long she began to worry she’d pressed her luck too far, but then, with a quiet hiss of displeasure in her direction that made her hair stand on end, he strode off to get her meal.
Keira breathed a sigh of relief when he'd gone, and leaned back against the wall to await his return. She hoped he’d bring enough water to allow her to clean the ugly wound he’d left. She could practically feel the germs crawling off of the filthy blanket to infect her, but it was better than slowly bleeding to death she supposed. At least with an infection, she’d have a fever, and with any luck would be completely out of her mind with delirium when she died.
Footsteps echoed down the corridor outside the cell and she pushed herself up off of the wall, not wanting him to see how vulnerable she actually was.
The bolt slid back and the door was cracked open. A bowl of mush was shoved at her through the opening, followed by two water bottles tossed onto the floor. The door slammed shut again, and she listened carefully for the bolt to be replaced back into the lock before she gathered up the bottles and took her meager meal over to the corner.
Sinking down onto the floor, she sat cross-legged and scarfed down the lukewarm contents before the taste – or lack thereof – could register. Once it was scraped as clean as she could get it and rubbed with dirt to prevent the local rats from seeking it out, she drank down half of a water bottle, saving the rest.
Belly full and thirst quenched, she stood up and crossed to the only semi-private recess in the room. Digging another hole, she relieved herself, using her blanket to hide her bare ass from anyone peeking in the window of the door. Finished, she yanked up her shorts, kicked dirt back into the hole, and went back to her corner.
Wrapped in her blanket, she curled up on her side and examined the vampire. He hung limply from the silver cuffs around his wrists, passed out cold. Thick chains led from the cuffs up to a wooden beam in the wall that could be swung out from one end, allowing him to be beaten on both sides, front or back. It disgusted her.
The blood she’d given him had healed the worst of his wounds that she could see, but he still looked like shit. That was good. She wanted to help him as much as she could, but she didn’t want Leeha to suspect that she was doing so. If that happened, she’d get thrown right back into her own cell, and Keira had decided years ago that she liked having a roommate.
Plus, by being in here with him, she could do what she could to ease his pain a bit until she could think of a way to get them both out of there.
She must’ve dozed off, for she awoke to find the vampire's eyes on her, his expression unreadable.
Immediately alert, she sat up with a wince, and put her finger over her lips. Grabbing the half-full water bottle, she tiptoed over to him; quickly checking back over her shoulder to make sure Blondie wasn’t paying attention. She didn’t know if he’d really care what she was doing, as long as he got his fresh meals, but she figured it wouldn't hurt to be a little cautious.
As she unscrewed the top, she shot a quick glance up at Luukas, and her heart splintered inside of her chest at the utter desperation on his bruised face for that water. Hurriedly, she lifted it up to his lips.
He chugged it down in just a few swallows.
“More,” he whispered urgently.
“I have more,” she whispered back. “But let’s allow that to settle first. If you drink too much, it might all come right back up.”
His eyes silently pleaded with her, but she shook her head stubbornly. “Give it a little time, vampire.”
With a huff, he turned his face away, and clenched his teeth together so hard she could see the muscles jumping in his jaw.
She scowled up at him. “Don’t you go getting all surly with me. We have to be very careful. If the she-bitch suspects that I’m helping you, she’ll throw me back into the cell next door, and I won’t be able to get you anything from there.”
Still not looking at her, he gritted out, “Don’t feed vampire again.”
“But, that’s the only way to get you a blood bag…” she began.
“Don’t care,” he growled. “Don’t do it again.”
She shook her head. “I have to. I can’t let you feed from me. You’re so starved. You’d kill me.” She lifted an eyebrow. "And the fact that you completely hate me wouldn’t help things.”
“I don’t need it.”
“Oh, really?” she scoffed. “Have you looked in a mirror lately?”
He shot her a dirty look from the corner of his eye: a semi-sane dirty look. Her lips twitched. Someone was obviously feeling a bit better.
A myriad of emotions crossed his face before it settled into just one: stubbornness. “No more feeding, witch.”
“My name is Keira.”
“No more. Keira.”
“Why do you care anyway?” she wondered. “As hungry as you must be, I would think you’d take what you could get.”
Confusion crossed his pained features. “I don’t know,” he admitted.
“Well, sorry, vampire, but I’ll do what I need to do. There’s no other way to get you more of that crap. I can’t steal it. They never let me out of here.”
Managing to get his feet under him, he braced his legs apart to hold himself up, standing spread-eagle against the stone wall behind him.
“Told you. Don’t…need…it.” Sweat trickled down his face as he struggled to hold himself up of his own violation.
Keira stepped forward to help him, but stopped as he ground out through clenched teeth, “Don’t. Touch. Me.”
That’s appreciation for you, she thought, but allowed him to do it on his own, understanding his need to not appear weak in front of her.
Panting heavily through his open mouth, the extent of his efforts was obvious as his eyelids fluttered and he fought to stay conscious.
After a few moments, he looked at her from underneath his dark lashes. “Please,” he rasped out. “Don’t let him feed.”
“We’re still on this?”
He shot her another look.
“All right,” she finally promised. “I won’t.”
Crossing her fingers behind her back, she told herself it wouldn’t really be a lie if he didn’t actually see it happening. Right? She'd just make sure he was knocked out again.
A look of such relief came his features, that Keira felt a surge of guilt for misleading him. But, dammit, it was for his own good.
“More water,” he demanded.
Grateful for the change of subject, she spun around to get the other water bottle off of the floor, but she moved too fast. Throwing out her hands as a wave of dizziness hit, she barely managed to catch herself before her face smashed into the dirt floor.
She heard Luukas’ indrawn breath along with the rattle of chains and sat back on her haunches. “I’m fine. I’m fine. Not getting an award for being graceful anytime soon,” sh
e jested sarcastically. “But I’m fine.”
Grabbing up the water bottle, she carefully rose to her feet and shuffled back over to him. “Here you go.”
He clenched his lips together into a flat line, staring at her with burning black eyes.
She gave him a look of disbelief. “What? You’re not thirsty anymore?”
“Promise me. No more. Don’t lie.”
So he’d figured that out, huh? Guess she needed to work on her duplicity skills. She looked him directly in his fathomless black eyes. “I promise.”
He must’ve believed her this time, for he gave her a sharp nod and opened his mouth for the water. After just a few swallows, he turned his head away. “The rest for you.”
Screwing the top back on, she buried the bottle in her corner, hiding it from Leeha. Sinking down to the floor, she pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, pulling the thin blanket close.
“I can help you, if you’d let me,” she told Luukas as she watched him struggle to keep his weight off of the chains.
His eyes skittered over her way. “No! No magic.”
“Ok," she relented. "No magic.”
She hated just sitting there passively while he struggled, but she understood his fear of her. It was her fault that he was suffering. No one else’s. Only hers. Leeha would have absolutely no power over him if it weren’t for her and her magic. Not even with her army of rotting, demon hybrids.
Oh, yeah. Keira knew all about those things. Being locked up for years with nothing else to do tends to really sharpen your eavesdropping skills.
Multiple footsteps coming down the stairs outside the cell brought them both to sudden attention. The lock slid back and Leeha marched into the cell, followed by Blondie and that faithful dog, Josiah.
Keira quickly pushed herself up off of the floor, trying not to panic. She pulled the blanket up around her neck to hide her makeshift bandage.
What were they doing here so soon? They never came down twice in the same night. Gods, was it even the same night? She’d fallen asleep…but it had to be. Blondie hadn’t come back to trade for more blood yet.
She watched as Leeha strode directly over to Luukas. Watched as Luukas lifted his lip in a snarl. Watched as Leeha realized he was standing on his own.
