No reply. Dixon appeared, looking all too pleased with himself. “Oliver cannot save you, pet. Oh, I am sure he wants to, but the odds are against him, in both numbers and power.”
Dr. O gave Dixon hate-filled eyes. Dixon smirked.
“You cannot have her, Dixon,” Dr. O warned.
“Now, now, Oliver, that is the youngling’s line. Must I restate the obvious? You are one, we are many. You are strong, but we are stronger.”
“You always were a cocky fool,” Dr. O snarled baring lengthy fangs I swear weren’t there a second ago. He stepped up close to Dixon, invading the hell out of his personal space. “They’re coming. You will pay dearly for your heinous crimes.”
As if on cue, Brigid shouted something unintelligible from the outer room.
Dr. O’s eyes flashed with triumph and he attacked. The two men clashed in a flurry of limbs and teeth. I took cover behind the coffin, scanning the room for a weapon. Not much to see beyond some metro shelving lined with boxes and crates and that big utility sink I’d gotten to know all too well. I spotted a tall, red, tool chest next to the metro shelves along the back wall. After one last glance at the blur that was Dixon and Dr. O, I ran for it. A hammer would make a handy weapon while I waited for help to arrive.
Locked. “Damn.”
Power flooded the room.
“Princess, watch out,” Dr. O cried.
I whirled. The coffin rolled straight for me. Fast. I wedged myself in the gap between the tool chest and the shelves. The silver juggernaut crashed right where I’d stood. Boxes fell from the top shelf along with an endless amount of silver chains. I sank to the ground, arms over my head.
The hailstorm stopped. But I was trapped.
The Dark One came for me then. His power arrived first, slithering along my skin like an unwelcome hand. The coffin rolled aside. He loomed over me, his smiling face the perfect picture of benevolence, but I saw the truth in his eyes. Submit and die, or fight and die.
Both roads led to the same undead place with me as his eternal slave, so screw it. I’d go down fighting. “Back off, Dark Asshole,” I snarled, fidgeting in the mountain of chains on my lap.
He quirked a brow. “Is that how you speak to your Savoir?” He pulled the pile off me, tossing it aside.
I stood on shaky legs. “You’re no savoir. If anything, you’re the devil incarnate. Evil in a pretty package.”
He barked a laugh. “Ah, stellina, such a delight. Your power calls, of course, but your personal spark is most refreshing.” His big hand cupped my cheek.
I jerked my head and bumped it on the wall. His hand moved to my shoulder. I pushed at it. “Stop touching me. I thought blondes were your thing. You know, evil, blue-eyed, bitchy blondes?”
“I am a man of varied tastes.” His voice was smooth as silk, his amber eyes showing hunger for more than my blood.
“Yeah, well you can’t taste me. Ever.” My breathy voice betrayed my nerves.
“I will have you, Carina of the heavenly waters. I will taste all of you. Your sweet lips.” His power pressed against my lips. “Your supple skin.” An invisible hand brushed my breasts. “The deepest parts of you.” The ghost hand slid down low, where it had no business going.
“You can’t have me like that.” My voice cracked, heart racing. “You’re in my brother’s body. You killed him.” My eyes watered.
He tilted his head. “I promise you, Carina, you will never see your brother’s face again. Only my glory will fill your gaze.”
Pompous ass. “But it’s still my brother underneath your mind tricks.”
“Your brother is gone. There is only me.” He jerked me up against his huge body. My brother’s body.
I squirmed. “Tony!”
“He cannot hear you.” He fisted my hair, stretching my neck to the side. Pain radiated from the bite wounds Dixon had made. I swallowed the pain and stilled in the Dark One’s embrace. Must calm down, must think.
He misinterpreted my sudden passivity. “Yes, Carina, open to me. Yield.” His eyes glowed, his words riding his power, pushing at me, willing me to obey.
“Never,” I croaked.
“Then I take you by force.”
He examined Dixon’s marks. “You heal quickly, but not as fast as one of us. Yet.” He yanked my head in the other direction. “Carina Tranquilli, I ask you once more. Do you surrender to me of your own free will?”
“Never.” My body quaked, my heart threatening to explode from all its frantic beating.
“So be it.” His fangs slid home.
With no glamour, compulsion, or power of any kind clouding my mind, it hurt like hell and I saw stars, a whole galaxy of stars. My body slackened. He pulled me off my feet, mouth working, my blood filling him, warming him.
Power—mine—stirred in my gut. A last ditch self-defense mechanism, I supposed. About time. I put one hand on his head, the other on his shoulder. My power rushed forth, singeing hair and flesh. In my mind’s eye, I surveyed his circulatory system, sending power into that red river.
Burn, Dark One. The river boiled.
He drew back from my neck with a snarl, black eyes flashing with anger. His handsome face was blistered, his chest bright red. He fisted my hair and flung me against the coffin. “That. Hurt.”
My firepower faded, leaving me queasy. “You know what they say,” I panted. “Play with fire, you’re going to get burned.”
He crushed me to his chest. His sun god body was healed, his strawberry-blond hair undamaged. I hoped this meant my brother’s real body was also healed. When my self-defense mechanism had kicked in, I forgot I attacked my brother, driven by instinct alone. Then again, I believed help had arrived given Dr. O’s sudden aggressive behavior and Brigid’s yelling. But, no. So, better to kill Tony outright than let him suffer an eternity as evil’s puppet. If the situation were reversed, he’d do the same for me.
I gave the Dark One defiant eyes.
His lips curled. “I will break you, Carina Tranquilli.”
His power cloaked us in darkness. He drained me with a kiss.
My fire did not go easily but as a roaring thing, a tigress fighting the darkness with teeth and claw, with everything it was because it did not want to leave me, did not want to live in his abyss. No, my power wanted me. It is me. I clung to it but the darkness stole it all until nothing remained but him, L’Uomo Nero, The Dark One, the boogeyman. He was the absence of all that is good and light and love in the world.
I understood now why my father had killed him. Too bad he hadn’t completely succeeded.
He drew back, wiping the tears from my cheeks. “Almost there, stellina.”
He took me to ground, my body limp underneath him. “Am I dying?” I whispered.
His hand sifted through my hair. “Not yet, my treasure. But soon.”
“Water,” I croaked, more an attempt to stay awake than an actual request.
A knuckle grazed my cheek. “Hush, my treasure. Soon you will have no need of water.”
He stretched my arms above my head. Chains rattled. My gut jolted in alarm, but I had no energy to fight him. Cold metal bound my wrists.
He stood, pulled the chain taut, attaching it to the metro shelf behind me. “Perfection.”
The blip in my gut exploded into full-blown panic. He stretched out next to me, a smug, distinctly male expression on his face. My heart raced, making blood leak from the bite wounds in my neck.
“My pale beauty.” He pressed a finger to one of the wounds and added a second finger. Probing. Hurting. I held myself rigid while he played, choking down the scream clawing up my throat. Poke, prod, stir, lick the fingers clean. Repeat, repeat.
“Please. Stop.” I hated myself for begging.
“Oh, but we are only beginning.” His bloody finger traced my lips, trailed down my chin to my chest, his nail as sharp as a razor blade.
He ripped my shirt up the middle. “Let us continue.”
I swallowed another scream. “Let’s not and sa
y we did.”
His nail slithered along my skin from my breasts to my belly piercing.
I tensed. “Stop.” Must stall him, must believe help is on the way.
“Hush now.” He fingered the barbell jewelry in my navel then turned his attention to my breasts, nail pressing into the tender flesh between them. My body quivered, breath trapped in my lungs. His gaze ensnared mine.
And he sliced me open from bra line to barbell.
My screams rent the air.
He pushed my legs apart and settled between them, licking, nipping, sucking the bloody slice he’d made. It seemed to last forever, my body quaking, his mouth working the wound. Eventually, my body stilled, lost to the pain. He raised his head to gaze at me, black eyes glowing with triumph.
I saw my imminent death in his eyes. And the cavalry hadn’t arrived. I made one last attempt to get to my brother. Please be in there. Our last chance.
“Tony. Wake up.”
“You are persistent. I like that.” The Dark One slid lower and gripped my legs, stretching them wider, his face close to my most sensitive parts.
My heart thundered in my chest. I yanked on the chains holding my wrists captive until my flesh burned in agony. “Stop!”
“He is not here, my treasure. There is only me.”
“No!”
“You would do well not to awaken him. He is newly born, and new means savage. You would not survive such an attack. But you are safe with me.” He nuzzled the tender flesh of my inner thigh.
“Tony,” I choked, struggling to free my legs but he was too strong.
“Now, my heavenly star, we end this. So we may begin anew.”
I screamed, willing my cry to break Brigid’s magic circle, begging it be heard by Roland and anyone else on Team Good so they could ride to my rescue.
My family called me special. Strong. A warrior. But I needed help.
My voice gave out. Silence ensued.
Something was off. Specifically, the Dark One. His mouth wasn’t buried in my inner thigh, and he wasn’t, in fact, draining the last of the blood from my already weakened body.
“Merda,” he cursed and pushed to his feet, his black gaze on the door.
The floor vibrated. A subtle rumble. Thuds, too, like someone pounding on a door. And gunshots? I sucked in a breath. Hope surged. Finally, help had arrived.
The Dark One whooshed from the room.
The floor vibrated again, stronger than before and the coffin rolled a few inches in my direction, stopping just short of my head.
Oh. The coffin. Of course.
I was fairly certain Aaron had deposited Alexander in this room, so, wow, stupid me. All this time I was trying to reach Tony when I should’ve called Alexander. Surely our bond was stronger than the pull of daylight.
“Alexander. By my blood, I call you. Wake the fuck up!”
A muffled roar and a thump sounded from the coffin. Two more thumps and the lid burst open. Alexander jumped out. Anger and worry played across his face as he surveyed me. He set to work on the chains without a word. Dark purple half moons hung under his eyes, his skin dulled with extreme pallor.
“You look terrible,” I observed.
“It’s a bit early for me.” The metal clanked in his hands as he worked.
I winced and grunted at the scorching pain in my wrists. “Well, I’d say I’m sorry for disturbing your beauty sleep, but I’m not.”
He snorted at my feeble attempt at humor. “There.” He lifted away the last of the chains and repositioned my arms at my sides.
A moan escaped me. My arms were stiff and sore, hands tingling as sensation returned, but my wrists were the worst. Torn, raw, a bloody mess. Seeing the damage made them hurt even more.
Alexander’s mouth formed a tight, grim line as he inspected my wounds. He prepped to open his wrist, to give me healing blood.
I shook my head. “No time for first aid. Let’s get out of here.”
“Like hell we don’t.” His power rushed over me, familiar, bubbling warmth. It was energizing but not a cure-all, though my wounds did stop leaking. He bit into his wrist. The ground shook and the air vibrated around us, suffused with power that wasn’t ours.
“Shit.” Alexander scooped me up but it was already too late.
The Dark One blocked the doorway.
Alexander’s brows descended. “Tony?” He saw my brother, while I received my usual dose of gorgeous blond sun god.
I shook my head. “Not Tony.”
“Good morning, Youngling. You have awakened early for one so fresh from the grave. Impressive.”
Alexander’s arms tightened around me and his power spiked, tried to call mine, but the Dark One had drained me all too well. Only a feeble spark flickered deep in my gut. On the one hand, I was glad to know I could recharge, but on the other hand, a blip on the power radar wouldn’t help against this mega-powered psycho blocking our escape route.
When we remained silent, his expression darkened. “Youngling. Hand over my treasure and submit.”
“Never.” Alexander put me down, falling into a defensive stance in front of me.
I touched his leg. “Don’t.”
We both knew age trumped youth in vampire-land and this old one had him by centuries. My guy growled, attention locked on the other man.
“Ah, youth,” the Dark One mused, studying his razor sharp nails. In the blink of an eye, he rushed Alexander, slit his throat and threw him across the room.
Alexander crashed into the utility sink, crumpling it like tin foil. A pipe burst. Water streamed over the floor. He lay unconscious in the mess, blood mixing with the water. I shrieked and crawled toward him but the Dark One grabbed my wrist, dragging me to the door.
I flailed in a futile attempt to get free. “Screw you!”
“Oh yes, my treasure. Yes you will.” He jerked me up, one hand gripping my throat. “Say farewell to your lover.”
No, this is not the end. “Never.”
He chuckled. “You will be such a joy to break.”
He tightened his hold, preventing another chorus of ‘never,’ but it didn’t matter. The ground shook, the sounds of fighting drawing near.
Relief flooded me. Finally. The cavalry. Alle-frickin’-luia.
Brigid appeared in the doorway. “Master, we must hurry. I cannot hold the circle much longer. Forget about her. And the new host. We must flee now.”
The Dark One hissed and released me.
I faced him on shaking legs. “You hear that? Time to give it up, psycho sun god. My family is here. So get your smoky ass out of my brother and slither on out of here while you still can.”
I should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy to get rid of him. He had me pinned underneath him so quickly I had no time to panic.
“Yes. I leave you now, with two parting gifts, and a delicious dilemma. Save yourself or save your brother.”
Didn’t understand his comment and didn’t care. The arrival of the cavalry made me cocky. “Tick tock, Dark Dude. Don’t you have a rock somewhere you need to cower under?”
I bucked my hips, trying to dislodge him. No luck.
He grinned, flashing fangs. “I hope you choose yourself. We will meet again if you do. I promise you that.”
“Master, hurry!” Brigid cried.
“Farewell, Carina Tranquilli.” The gorgeous sun god illusion dissolved like melting ice.
A mere millisecond later, I saw my brother’s face and his milk chocolate eyes. He gave me a vacant stare then passed out on top of me, forcing the air from my lungs.
I have my brother back. I hugged him and tried not to worry about his corpse-like state. Cold, not breathing, no heartbeat. A vampire.
Clearly he was one of my two parting gifts. But what was the other?
Magic rippled over the room. I rolled my brother to the side as gently as I could and sat up. Brigid muttered in Gaelic and gestured at the doorway. Up to no good. I toyed with the idea of jumping her, keeping her here until
the cavalry arrived. She read my expression and used magic to glue my butt to the floor.
“Bitch,” I spat out.
“Silence, mongrel.” She raised one hand at my brother. “Dead to the world, unable to fight. Awaken, Tranquilli, let this day be your night.”
A harmless wake-up spell? How odd. But I should’ve known it wasn’t that simple.
Tony’s body shuddered. His feral growl rent the air. Oh, shit. My gut clenched. Every hair on my body stood at attention. He pushed himself to his hands and knees, head hanging low.
Brigid left the room. The door shut behind her, the air quivering with the magical lock she’d placed there. Trapped. My brother’s head snapped up, his throat continuing that bone-chilling growl. His black eyes pinned me, told me the human brother I’d known and loved for over twenty years was no longer home.
Blood lust rode the newbie vampire. It flashed in his wild eyes, that deep, overwhelming hunger, the drive to sink teeth into flesh, to consume that heady red liquid. To kill. I’d experienced it myself, though likely half as intense given my half-breed status.
He didn’t recognize his sister. He stalked prey, dinner. I was about to get eaten.
My brother crashed into me in a blur of speed. We slid across the slick floor and stopped an arm’s length from an unconscious Alexander. He straddled me, lunging for my neck. I braced my forearms against him, blocking his access. He squeezed my shoulders, mouth snapping like a rabid dog, close, so close. Saliva dripped onto my cheek from his sizeable fangs, making me gag.
My arms shook. He’s too strong for me. I tried one last time to find my brother inside this hunger-crazed beast.
“Tony, wake up. Please.”
I barely choked out the words, but he possessed vampire hearing. He heard me. Of course, hearing the words and understanding them were two different skills. Unfortunately for me, the human Tony with language skills was gone, gone, gone.
My arms caved. Tony struck.
It wasn’t what I expected. I’d been bitten by many a vampire, both friendly and unfriendly, but none of them, not even Dixon or the Dark One, had hurt me like this. They controlled their bites, almost surgical in their precision. Painful, too, of course, but this...Tony savaged my neck and shoulder like a wild animal devouring its prey, as if he didn’t know how to bite down, latch on and drink.
Haven Page 39
