I recoiled as he staggered towards us, grasping at something behind him. He turned, his hand closing on the hilt of the blade which hung from his back. With a grunt of pain, he ripped it free but bright scarlet blood continued to spill from the wound.
Wolfe hissed in pain as smoke rose from his fingers and he flung the golden blade aside. It embedded itself in the ground by my feet and I snatched it into my grasp, relief flooding me as I recognised my violent companion.
So close. Fury sighed in disappointment and I almost smiled.
Magnar shoved the door aside as he exited the building. Blood ran down his face from a wound hidden in his hairline and he was coated from head to toe in grey soot.
“That fall should have killed you,” Wolfe spat angrily. “Next time I’ll make sure you’re dead.”
“You’re not looking so capable of following through on that threat,” Magnar replied with a challenging smirk as Wolfe’s wound continued to bleed. “I wonder what your master will say when he finds out I set his blood bank on fire?”
The stench of smoke filled the air and I noticed flames rising from the building behind Magnar, silhouetting him in golden hues.
The vampire looked between Magnar and me for a moment, seeming to see that his odds of survival were dwindling by the second.
“If you’re thinking of running, you have to know I’ll catch you in your present state,” Magnar threatened as he continued to close the distance between them. “Why not let your eternal torment end? I can give you a warrior’s death. What more can any man ask for in the end?”
“You forget mortal that I am no man. And I have no plans to die. Ever.” Wolfe leapt into motion but instead of heading for Magnar, he turned his murderous gaze on me.
I gasped as Fury tried in vain to guide my muscles into action so that I could defend myself but he was moving too quickly. The moonlight glinted on his sharpened fangs and his dark eyes glittered with malice.
A second before he could collide with me, my dad threw his weight into me instead. I crashed to the frozen ground and my dad cried out as Wolfe’s attack fell on him.
I shoved myself upright again but the General had already leapt off of my father and was running away, a heavy limp in his stride slowing him down.
My dad clutched at his neck as blood pulsed between his fingers and I threw myself towards him with a sob catching in my throat.
Magnar began to move after Wolfe as I prised my dad’s hands away from the wound to try and assess the damage. The bite was unlike the others, Wolfe had ripped into the skin, tearing it jaggedly so that it bled like crazy.
“No,” I breathed as the blood continued to pulse from the wound. “No, no.” I used Fury to slice a long strip from the base of my shirt and wadded it up to press against the bite. It was saturated quickly but I kept pressing down, willing the blood to stay in his body.
“Why?” I breathed, holding my dad’s eye as his gaze flickered. That blow had been meant for me.
“I’d never let anything happen to you girls,” he replied, his voice hoarse.
I flinched as Magnar’s hand landed on my shoulder. “Keep pressing on the wound,” he said. “We need to flush the venom out.”
I looked up at him in confusion as he bent low to lift my father over his shoulder. My dad wasn’t a small man and even with the extra weight he’d lost he would still have been almost impossible for me to move alone. Magnar had let Wolfe escape to help me save him.
“Thank you,” I said, another sob catching in my throat.
I stayed close, pressing on the wound as Magnar started a quick pace back towards the horses. Blood soon coated my hands and began to drip between my fingers onto the frozen grass at my feet despite my best efforts to hold it back.
A freezing wind gusted around us and I shivered as it kissed the exposed skin on my stomach. The air was thick with smoke and I looked over my shoulder to see the blood bank engulfed in flames. Golden light lit up the night’s sky as the fire reached towards the sky, consuming the building which had been the source of my nightmares for so long.
We made it to the horses and Magnar lowered my dad to the ground before hurrying to retrieve some bottled water.
He’d passed out and I leant down, pressing my forehead to his and willing him to stay with me as tears poured from my eyes and ran over his cheeks.
Magnar returned quickly and pulled my hands away from the bite. I couldn’t bear to watch as he flushed it clean but kept my cheek pressed to my dad’s chest, listening to the slow thump of his heartbeat to reassure myself that he was still alive.
“There is nothing more I can do,” Magnar said quietly. “The rest is up to him.”
I pushed myself upright and looked down at the thick bandage Magnar had made from his own shirt and tied around the wound. His fighting leathers lay on the ground beside him and his bronze skin shone in the moonlight that made it through the trees.
“Is he going to be okay?” I asked and I didn’t miss the pleading tone my own voice had taken on. We’d come so far and gotten so close, I just couldn’t bear to lose him after we’d risked so much to make it here.
Magnar hesitated before replying. “Callie,” he said softly, my name sounding like a prayer on his lips. “He’s lost a lot of blood and he has been used for food many times this past week...”
I felt a pain like nothing I’d ever experienced carving its way through my chest at his words and I descended into sobbing again as I wrapped my arms around my dad.
Magnar reached forward to touch my arm but I shrugged him off aggressively. I didn’t want his pity. I just wanted my family to be okay.
“If he is as strong as his daughter then perhaps he can fight his way back from this,” Magnar added carefully and though I could hear the doubt in his voice I clung to his words like a life raft. They gave me the only thing I needed right then; a chance. And I wouldn’t let it go until my dad took his very last breath.
I didn’t remember much about our journey during the early hours of the morning. Only holding my dad’s hand as I walked beside the stallion where Magnar had tied him in place to stop him from falling.
We’d taken shelter in an old barn and I’d made a somewhat comfortable bed for my dad to lay on amongst the old hay bales. The stacked bales also served to block the drafts which found their way into the building, making our shelter relatively warm. I wished we could have found somewhere suitable to build a fire but we’d had to settle for the first place we came across. Travelling on horseback was only making Dad’s situation worse.
I sat on the floor beside the bale I’d made into a bed for him and clung to his cold hand. He hadn’t woken since our escape and I was trying not to focus on the blue colouring around his fingertips. I squeezed him tightly, hoping to lend him some warmth. Not that I had much to spare. He still wore my coat and I shivered in my ruined shirt despite my best attempts to make our shelter draft-proof.
Magnar had been gone for hours. He’d taken the stallion and gone in hunt of supplies despite protesting against the idea. But I’d insisted he go. It was daylight and for once, the sun was shining down, lighting the earth in golden tones and hopefully keeping any vampires nearby at bay. If my dad was to have any chance at all then we needed bandages and warm clothes.
I knew he didn’t want us to stay here for long. Wolfe would have reported back to the Belvederes about Magnar’s return by now and they would no doubt be sending an army of Elite to hunt him down. But Dad was in no state to travel. I knew a day on horseback in the freezing cold would take what little strength he had left from him.
He’d lost too much blood. If I could have cut open a vein and given him some of my own I would have done it in a heartbeat. I’d have given him all of it if that was what it took. I’d sooner die than face the rising tide of pain I could feel coming for me.
I’d seen it in Magnar’s eyes when he’d carried my father into the barn. He wasn’t going to survive this.
Not wanting to listen to the trut
h in his gaze, I’d sent him away from me. But now all I wanted was for him to hold me in his arms.
Dad groaned weakly and I squeezed his fingers.
“I’m here Dad. We’re safe,” I said soothingly. It wasn’t the first time he’d made such a sound and I could tell that his moments of rising consciousness were filled with pain.
His fingers momentarily tightened around mine then relaxed as he passed out again. It was impossible to know if he really understood what was happening. If he really knew that we’d gotten him out of that place. I hoped he did though. I hoped that somewhere deep down he knew he was finally free and that I was with him.
I wished Montana was here too. She deserved to have the chance to say goodbye if nothing else. My heart swelled with worry for her and whatever plan the vampires had in mind. It seemed like whatever it was included me too and I hoped that by staying out of their hands I might be buying her some time.
The sound of hoofs clip-clopping on the concrete path outside the barn made me freeze. I removed one of my hands from my father’s and rested my palm against Fury’s hilt. The blade remained peaceful, a feeling of easy companionship resonating from it in response to Magnar’s swords approaching. I let out a relieved breath and turned towards the barn door as Magnar pulled it open and led the stallion in. The mare whinnied in greeting as she was reunited with her friend and trotted over to nuzzle him.
Magnar pressed the door closed behind them to keep the freezing wind out and took the supplies he’d gathered from the horse’s back.
Magnar approached me, his arms filled with a pile of blankets and I swallowed a lump in my throat as gratitude flooded me. I didn’t know what I would have done if he’d never found me. Even if by some miracle I hadn’t been taken alongside my family that first day then I’d never have been able to get Dad out of the blood bank on my own. And even now, he was still with me. He’d let Wolfe go in favour of helping my father. He was going to hunt down the vampire who had Montana too.
He’d done nothing but help me from the first moment we’d met and I doubted I’d ever be able to repay that debt. I’d never met anyone like him before and I couldn’t imagine myself parting from him now.
“How is he?” Magnar asked solemnly and I could tell he was half surprised to find my father still breathing.
“Good. Better,” I said a little defensively as I took the blankets and quickly piled them on top of my dad. I tucked his cold hand inside them too and stood watching him for a moment, hoping that he might feel warmer already.
I chewed on my thumbnail as I stared at him, wondering if there was any chance that the blankets would be enough to warm him. Maybe even save him.
He can’t die. I don’t know how to live without him.
“Better?” Magnar asked gently and I could tell that his observations meant he didn’t agree.
“He squeezed my hand. He almost woke again,” I said, desperation seeping into my tone. “That’s a good sign, right?”
Magnar looked down at me sadly and reached out to tuck my hair behind my ear. His touch sent an ache of longing through me and I had to fight the urge to throw myself into his arms. If I gave in to the feelings of despair that were growing in me then I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold back the tears.
“Would you like me to check his wounds?” he offered gently. “I found clean bandages.”
“Yes please.” I had no idea how to dress a wound or anything like that but Magnar seemed well trained in such things. I only wished that didn’t mean he was so sure of what was to come. It was obvious he’d seen these kind of injuries before and his prognosis was based on more than guesswork.
Magnar headed back to the stallion and returned with a new coat for me as well as the bandages. He held out the thick jacket and I slid my arms into it gratefully. I hadn’t realised that I’d been shivering until I stopped.
He fastened the toggles and tugged me closer to him, pressing a kiss to my forehead. I leant into him, grabbing onto some of the strength he radiated and taking it for myself.
I blew out a long breath and stepped back so that he could tend to my father.
I backed away as Magnar knelt down beside my dad and pulled his arm out from beneath the blankets.
My stomach knotted as Magnar removed the strips of black fabric he’d used to bandage the bites earlier that morning and I realised they were still weeping blood.
Magnar began rinsing the wounds with bottled water again, his shoulders taut as he concentrated on his work. He finally finished and began wrapping the white bandages tightly around Dad’s arms. I bit my lip as blood seeped through them, slowly staining them red.
“Why is he still bleeding?” I asked desperately. “I thought all the venom was out?”
“He is not slayer born,” Magnar replied sadly. “A human can only stand so much of their vile secretions before their body is overwhelmed. The venom has made it into his bloodstream. It flows within his blood, stopping it from clotting. Slayer blood does not do that. It will not merge with the venom but instead tries to force it from our bodies, keeping it near the surface so that we are able to wash it out. It is possible for him to survive one or two bites but this...” He didn’t finish his sentence but his meaning was clear.
Pain caught in my chest and suddenly I couldn't breathe. I sank down onto one of the hay bales and started shaking my head. This couldn’t be happening. I refused to believe it was happening.
The bale shifted beside me and Magnar pulled me into his arms. I resisted for a moment then gave in to his embrace with a shuddering sob as the tears finally came. I clung to Magnar as he held me and I cried against his chest about all of the injustices my family had suffered.
We’d come so close to freedom. My dad was finally out from under the vampires’ control and it didn’t even matter.
It had all been for nothing.
Morning arrived and I held on tight to the fuzzy moment somewhere between dreaming and reality. Callie was somehow closer when I was asleep and waking always felt like her fingers slipping through mine.
The moment my eyes opened, she was gone and my bitter reality stared back at me. A strange heaviness clung to me, like a weight attached to my heart. I didn’t know why but Nightmare seemed to sense it too, giving off a strange, sad vibe beneath me.
I slid my hand under the pillow, trailing my thumb over its warm hilt and it relaxed at my touch - if a knife could relax.
The door opened and I jerked my arm back, causing a stabbing pain in my shoulder.
Groaning, I curled in on myself until it passed.
“Sorry,” Erik muttered. “I forgot about the knocking rule.”
I tugged my covers up to my chin as I sat upright, taking in the sight of him fully dressed for the day in his royal attire.
“Going somewhere?” I croaked.
“It's the ceremony today. It's customary for us all to attend an opera beforehand.”
“In the morning?” I wrinkled my nose.
“It's past noon,” Erik said with a crooked smile.
As the cogs in my head started whirring, I realised that the ceremony hadn't been postponed as I'd hoped.
“Erik...” I dropped my eyes to the duvet. “I was hoping maybe...things had changed since yesterday. That the ceremony might be put off.”
He sighed, stepping closer with a taut expression. “I tried to buy a couple of days but my family take this time off specifically for the Courtiers. We will return to our homes and our duties once it's over.”
“Oh...you don't live here?”
“Not normally. The castle is equally ours, but living on top of each other is a little suffocating for all of us so...” He shrugged.
My mouth grew dry. “Do you still expect me to choose Fabian?”
The door flew open before he could answer and Clarice stormed into the room with her hair streaming out behind her. “Erik! You're not supposed to spend time with the Courtiers on the day of the choosing. Get out.”
“The circums
tances are a little different today,” Erik snarled as she shoved him, but he didn't budge an inch.
Clarice's eyes whipped to me then widened to saucers. “She's not even out of bed! Where's your stylist? Get her in here!”
“Fine.” Erik pushed her hand off of his arm, threw me a small nod then dragged his sister out of the room.
I gazed at the closed door, a weight crashing down on me. I still didn't have my answer. Was Erik going to continue to use me as Fabian's spy? I'd been a pretty useless one so far anyway. The single piece of information I'd managed to obtain hadn't changed anything. We could have been dead despite it. But poor Brianna and Luke had died instead.
My throat knotted up until I could barely draw breath. Tears stung my eyes and I instinctively reached for Nightmare.
Hush. Be still. Be calm.
I gripped the hilt to my chest under the covers, hugging it tight. Maybe it was stupid, but the thing gave me courage and I needed it badly at that moment.
Nancy soon appeared holding a leather bag, looking flustered as someone shoved her through the doorway. I didn't need to guess who.
Tucking Nightmare back under my pillow, I shifted out of bed.
“Take your shirt off, Montana, the doctor advised me how to clean the wound,” she said gently.
I wrapped my arms around my body, shaking my head. Not because I was embarrassed but because of the mark on my forearm. I couldn't take the risk of it being seen again.
“Don't be silly, I'm not going to look at you.” She released a laugh but I didn't join in.
After a moment, she headed to the bathroom to fetch a towel then held it out to me.
Having no real choice, I turned my back on her and tugged my shirt off, wrapping the towel around me so only my left arm was poking out. I looked like an idiot, but Nancy didn't question me as she opened her bag and took out a bottle of clear liquid and some fresh bandages.
She patted the stool before the dresser, encouraging me over. I sat on it and she shifted my hair aside, taking the cap off of the bottle and pouring it over the wound.
Age of Vampires- The Complete Series Page 44
