“I can fix that.” He stood and moved out of sight. I could hear him rummaging through the supplies the vampires had brought with them on the carriage. “Stand back.”
I crawled away from the door and the heavy thud of an axe clanged against the metal padlock which secured me. It took three more strikes before the lock gave way and Magnar heaved the barred door aside.
I hurried out of the cage and leapt onto him, knocking him back to sit on the grass. I managed to hook my arms over his head despite my bound wrists and wrapped my legs around him too as I buried my face against his broad chest. Relieved tears squeezed from my eyes as he wrapped his strong arms around me.
“I’m so glad you’re alright,” I whispered as I breathed in the scent of his skin and pressed my ear against his thumping heart.
“I’m glad you are too,” he replied, holding me tightly.
I leant back to look up at him, my chained wrists behind his neck keeping our faces close to each other. His breath danced across my skin and words fled me as I lost myself in the depths of his eyes. His hands slid lower on my back, finding their place at my hips.
Seconds stretched endlessly before the heat building in my cheeks made me drop my gaze. I pulled my arms back over his head and clambered out of his lap feeling embarrassed at my overt display of emotion.
He got to his feet and looked down at me for a moment, his eyes moving to the chains on my wrists.
“Let me help you with that,” he said, turning away from me but I reached out quickly to catch his hand.
“Thank you,” I said, forcing myself to meet his eye so that he could see how much I meant it. No one had ever done anything like that for me. He’d risked his life to save mine and it meant more to me than I could ever describe.
I pushed up onto my tiptoes, meaning to press a kiss to his cheek but he turned towards me in surprise and my lips met with the corner of his mouth instead. I lingered for a moment as my stomach fluttered and my heart skittered with unexpected intensity.
I forced myself to pull away despite the longing I felt to stay locked in that moment.
I gazed up at him, drinking in every inch of his face as I tried to decipher the thundering pattern of my heartbeat. I half wanted to lean closer to him again but something stopped me.
Once this was all over and we’d gotten my family back out of the blood bank, I intended to run south with them. Freedom was the only dream we had and it only existed away from the vampires.
Magnar’s calling would take him in the opposite direction. He needed to fight against them. He would give anything, including his own life in his pursuit of the Belvederes. He wouldn’t stay with me.
Though I’d decided to let myself care about him, I wasn’t sure if I could cope with opening my heart to him completely. I’d seen how heartbreak had haunted our Dad for fifteen years and I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to bear it.
I didn’t know what I wanted from him but I knew I wanted him close to me.
Magnar watched me intently for several seconds as if he were searching for something. I couldn’t tell if he found it or not before he turned his back on me and walked away without a word.
I watched him go and bit my tongue against the desire to call him back. If I was going to have any hope of surviving after he left me then I had to keep this distance between us.
I just wished it didn’t hurt so much.
My knees ached as I moved and I could feel the blood soaking through the thin t-shirt wrapped around them. Could vampires smell blood? And if they could, how close would they have to be to sense it?
I ran in the dark shadow of the wall, forcing my anxiety away as I moved. I’d gotten this far and that gave me hope. Hope of finding my way back to Callie and Dad. Hope of living the free life we’d dreamed about for so many years.
Someone collided with me so hard that I was smashed into the ground, my face slamming against the earth.
“No!” I cried with a wave of horror. I writhed beneath the vampire, desperate to escape. I flailed like mad and my attacker let me roll beneath them. My eyes locked with Erik's and I took in his fierce eyes and the dark stubble on his jaw that clung to him like a shadow.
Pain welled in my chest. Although I knew I couldn't win a fight against him, I started thrashing to try and free myself.
“Let me go,” I snarled. “Get another human to help you. It's what you want anyway. Just let me go.”
He snatched my wrists, forcing them into the soft grass and bearing down on me.
“Stop fighting,” he commanded, his breath an intoxicating mix of sweet and bitter.
His knees pressed hard on either side of my thighs, forcing me to remain still and I relented, knowing it was pointless.
“I don't want another human,” Erik said, his voice frighteningly level. Did he really mean it? Would he let me get away with trying to escape? Or was he going to punish me for it?
“Please, I don’t want to become a vampire,” I whispered. “I'm no use to you anyway.”
“That's not true, Rebel.” He rose to his feet, tugging me up after him and my heart crumbled like ash.
He kept a tight hold on my wrist, but I pulled back all the same. “I read Valentina's message,” I revealed, certain she had spoken to him anyway. “I know she wants you to get rid of me.”
His brow creased and he shook his head. “I don't give a shit what she wants. Is that why you ran?”
I nodded, my heart still pounding like a drum in my chest. “I don't trust you.”
He sighed then lifted his eyes to the wall. “Get on my back.”
When I didn't move he turned and pulled my arm over his shoulder. With a painful flare of acceptance, I slid my other arm around him and he tugged me up onto his back. As I linked my legs around his waist he jumped, snatching hold of the wall and scaling it with impossible ease. At the top, he rose to his feet and I gazed down into the trees over his shoulder with fear trickling through my veins.
“Wait-” I hissed. “There was someone down there. Someone who attacked one of the guards.”
“What?” he snarled.
“Over there.” I pointed to the tree I'd climbed and Erik leapt forward. I cried out as we plummeted toward the earth. His feet hit the ground with a jolt and he dropped me, snatching hold of my arm.
“Show me,” he demanded.
I trembled as I led him to where I'd last seen the vampires. As we approached the dense woodland, Erik breathed in deep then quickened his pace, dragging me along behind him.
A dripping noise sounded from up ahead and I shuddered as I spotted the source. The red-haired vampire was strung up in one of the trees. His hands were bound in chains behind his back and a knife was dug deep in the centre of his chest. Blood dripped in a steady flow beneath him. His mouth was gagged and he cried against it as he spotted us.
Erik released me, darting toward the man, gazing at the chains holding him up.
“Hold on, Faulkner, I'll get you down.” Erik moved to the tree trunk, taking hold of the chains and snapping them apart as easily as if they were made of thread.
Faulkner hit the ground hard and Erik sped to his side and took hold of the blade's hilt. Faulkner screamed against his gag, shaking his head as Erik yanked it out. The blade jolted against something and didn't come free.
A second turned to an eternity as Faulkner wailed and exploded into dust before our eyes. I stumbled back in horror as the scattered remains of him cascaded around Erik who was left gripping the blade in his palm. My stomach spun as I noticed the end of it had split into four serrated spikes.
“It opened when I pulled it,” Erik gasped. “He tried to warn me.” His face morphed to horror as he gazed down at the remnants of his dead guard. “I should have taken the gag off.”
“You didn't know,” I whispered, shaking from head to foot. I crept closer, urged toward him by a strange pull in my chest.
He turned to me with a dark eyes. “You saw who did this.”
I shook my head, pausing a foo
t away from him. “He wore dark robes, that's all I saw. He was large, muscular.”
Erik's eyes dropped to Faulkner's clothes on the ground, tarnished with the fragments of his body. He gathered them up, rising to his feet with a heavy sigh. “Faulkner was a good man...a friend. I sired him.”
“I'm sorry,” I breathed and he turned to me just as the moon broke through the clouds above.
“Are you?” he asked, seeming lost and anxious. “Why would you be?”
My mouth grew parched as I gazed at him. The moonlight illuminated his pearly skin, making him appear more ethereal than ever.
“It's just...I know what it's like to lose people you care about.” I thought of my mother. Of the people in the Realm who disappeared without a trace. Neighbours, friends, the law-breakers and the elderly.
My throat welled at the memories of so much loss.
“Count Erik!” Several guards burst through the trees and Erik turned to them with a hard stare.
“Faulkner is dead. Search the grounds. His killer may still be here.”
They bowed quickly and Erik thrust Faulkner's clothes into the arms of one of the men. Erik took my hand, guiding me back toward the castle, brushing the dust from his jacket.
When we entered, Valentina came rushing toward us, her black gown floating out behind her.
“By the gods, wherever did you run off to Erik?” Her dark eyes fell on me, drifted to my bag then narrowed. She slowed to a walk, folding her arms. “She ran.”
The statement made my skin prickle.
“She took a walk,” Erik grunted, tugging me along, but Valentina caught his arm.
“She's trouble. Do what we discussed,” she hissed.
“I'm right here,” I snapped, my temper growing.
Her eyes slid to me. “Yes, I see that. But you won't be for long. Perhaps we'll send you to the local blood bank where no one will ever think of you again.”
“Enough,” Erik snarled at her. “Go home, Valentina. The girl stays. One more fucking word about dismissing her and you'll be the one I cut loose.”
She gazed at him in horror and I couldn't fight a smirk as she stormed past us out of the door. Lightning flared in the sky as her fierce mood altered the weather. The sight of her power quickly wiped the grin from my face.
Erik's grip on my hand firmed as he led me upstairs in the direction of my room. He walked me inside then planted me down on the bed, his gaze dropping to the strips of shredded t-shirt around my knees.
He sighed, lowering to the floor before me and starting to untie them.
“Erik,” I gasped. “It's fine, I'll do it.”
“Just stay still,” he insisted, easing the bindings free and revealing the grazed skin beneath.
He frowned, rising from his knees and heading into the bathroom. He returned a moment later with a warm cloth and began wiping the dirt from the cuts with surprisingly gentle hands.
I winced as the torn skin stung from the touch of the hot cloth.
“You wouldn't have gotten far like this. There are vampires in the city who would not have acted so kindly if they'd found you.” His eyes flashed with some emotion I couldn't place.
“And you care about that?” I asked, confused and rattled by the night I'd had.
He surveyed me for so long that my insides frayed and unravelled. “Yes, I care.”
“Then why don't you listen to anything I say?” I breathed, my heart squeezing painfully.
He bowed his head, seeming conflicted as silence passed between us. “I'll listen. Go ahead.”
My throat crushed my voice-box as I fought for the words I wanted him to hear. Really hear. But would he believe me?
“Realm A is a lie,” I whispered. “My Realm is nothing like that. We live in hollow buildings with no heating and rationed electricity. We're given one bag of food a day that's barely enough for a single meal.” My heart thundered harder and the words started to flow quicker, unleashing everything I'd been through and praying he'd believe it. “People disappear and they don't come back. Sometimes we hear the screams from the blood bank in the south. Anyone who defies the vampires are beaten in the street. There were times when they'd tie people up for days and strip their clothes...whip them daily.” I shook my head as tears stung my eyes and blurred away the world before me. “My family and I wanted to escape for so many years. After the testing, we knew we'd be torn apart. My sister and I were going to be sent away and we'd have to leave my father. He's getting older and eventually they'd take him like they do all of the elderly. They vanish. I see it in their eyes, the fear. The worry that they won't live out another day. That they'll be brought to the blood bank and drained for the little value they have left. One way or another the only people in the world I ever cared about were going to be taken from me, and I couldn’t let that happen…”
The tears fell and Erik's cool palm came to my cheek, wiping them away. My vision was restored and I found him before me, leaning in so close I couldn't breathe.
“Is that true?” he whispered, a pain growing in his eyes.
“Yes,” I choked, another tear hitting my lap.
“Fabian runs the Realms,” he revealed with a snarl. “They're his responsibility. I'm not saying I'm not to blame, but if you help me bring him down I won't let those standards continue.”
My mind swam with his words. Fabian was to blame for the Realms' conditions? If that was true, then I had an opportunity to do something about it. A chance that no human had ever had.
I swallowed away my tears as a hard determination grew inside me. For the sake of everyone in the Realms, I had to help Erik. And in return, I was starting to believe Erik would help me and my family too.
Erik leant in close and my breath got trapped in my lungs. He was an inch from me, his mouth so close and the scent of him snaring my senses.
“Don't run away again,” he whispered and my heart started pounding against my chest as if it was fighting to get closer to him.
“I won't,” I agreed.
“Let's pretend tonight didn't happen,” Erik growled and I nodded, unable to say another word. “Including this.” His mouth met mine and my glowing heart fractured into a thousand shards of stardust. I bathed in the light he ignited inside me, scattering into every corner of my body.
As he took hold of my waist and his kiss deepened, three things became clear to me.
I knew I'd stick to his plan.
I knew I'd do anything it took to save my family.
And I knew Erik Belvedere was going to break my heart.
I tilted my face toward the sinking sun, drinking in its pleasant warmth as I bathed in the stream. Summer was in the air, but the first kiss of it had yet to bronze my skin.
My village was far enough away that I could no longer hear the chatter of my people.
“Hey wanderer, why are you off on your own again?”
I turned, spotting the beautiful Kyla on the riverbank, stripping out of her clothes.
“I'm not on my own.” I grinned as she joined me in the stream, sliding her hands around my neck. Her auburn locks brushed against my shoulders as she leant in for a kiss.
“You know we're going to get caught one day,” I said, evading her kiss with a teasing smile.
Her amber eyes sparkled with mischief. “The Earl has five wives, he won't miss one.”
“But you are his most prized wife.” I gave up on holding back, dropping my mouth to the silken skin of her neck. She inhaled deeply, winding her arms around my waist.
“Don't pretend you care,” she laughed and I nipped her flesh as she arched into me.
People rarely came to this part of the stream. It ran into a larger pool further into the trees where most of the village washed. Despite that, Kyla guided me further upstream behind an outcrop of rocks.
“You're worried,” I remarked.
“Earl Haver is in a foul mood today,” she said, but her hands roamed further down my body, telling me she was willing to risk it. As always.
“The Earl is always in a bad fucking mood.”
“He knew I wanted you,” she whispered, digging her teeth into her lip. “He married me out of spite.”
My stomach knotted at her words. I'd never really thought about taking a bride. It always seemed like something men did for power in my tribe. But Kyla would have been my first choice if I'd ever wanted to settle down. Earl Haver had taken that choice away from me, like he did to many men in the village. He took the beautiful women for himself and killed anyone who challenged him. His son, Fabian, was the only decent man in his family. He was like a brother to me, but his father had never liked me. I questioned his rule, never bowing too low or agreeing too easily. If he hadn't been a drunk I might have respected him more.
I was on the verge of losing myself in Kyla's soft skin when someone shouted my name, “Come out, Erik! Quick!”
My friend Clarice's voice filled the air and Kyla's eyes widened in alarm. I snatched her hand, tugging her after me as we waded out of the stream. Clarice thrust our clothes at us, not giving a damn about seeing us naked. She was one of the few people I trusted implicitly and I knew she'd never give away our secret.
Today she looked fierce, her golden hair wound into a tight braid and her dark armour in place. She was one of the strongest shield-maidens in our village. And when she was dressed for a fight, it usually meant there was one coming.
“What's going on?” I demanded, dragging on my clothes despite instantly soaking them through.
I picked up my sword as Kyla pulled on the last of her clothes and took out a knife.
Age of Vampires- The Complete Series Page 23
