Age of Vampires- The Complete Series

by Caroline Peckham

  I felt his weight shifting away from me and a wall seemed to build between us. A wall I wasn’t sure I could ever break down again.

  You’re an insult to humanity.

  The tears kept coming and I silently apologised to my dad, pressing the heels of my palms against my eyes.

  Erik brushed my arm and I peeked through my fingers, finding him beside me, looking completely lost. I crawled toward him, wrapping my arms around his neck and tucking myself up against his chest. Tentatively, he slid his hands around me as if he was unsure if he should do so.

  I didn’t want him to be afraid to touch me. I didn’t want things to be like this. I’d ruined a perfect moment and now I could never get it back.

  “Please…talk to me,” he begged, his voice dry.

  “It’s my dad,” I forced out, sniffing as I reined in my tears. “He’d be so ashamed of me if he knew that I…that-” I couldn’t say the words. But I wanted to so much.

  Erik ran his hand down my back to soothe me, but his body stiffened and I sensed I’d hurt him.

  “I’m sorry,” I gasped.

  “No, don’t be,” he murmured, but his eyes were glazed in thought as I looked up at him.

  An ache grew in my heart at seeing him like that. I’d pushed him away and told him my own father would despise us being together. How could I hurt him like that? Even if it was the truth.

  I cupped his cheek, knowing I needed to fix this somehow. The only way I could. “I love you,” I said, the words fluttering past my lips with impossible ease. Because they were true. And he deserved to hear it.

  His mouth parted as he absorbed what I’d said and the intensity of his gaze sent my heart into a wild rhythm.

  “I know as well as you do, I don’t deserve that love. I haven’t earned it,” he said in a low tone, his expression grave. “You’re right to push me away.”

  “No,” I groaned, holding onto him and wishing I could make this okay somehow. But we couldn’t change who we were. We couldn’t rewrite the past.

  He gently eased me from his lap onto the bed beside him. “I should go.” He moved to get up but I caught his hand, shaking my head.

  “Please don’t,” I breathed. If he left, I knew everything would change between us. I knew it would be broken beyond repair. “Please stay with me.” And don’t ever leave.

  He seemed conflicted and he had a right to be. I was split in two. One half of me desperate to give in to my feelings for him and the other half furious over it.

  “Nothing I say can change who I am, Montana. I wish it could, truly. But the fact is, I am the monster you’ve hated your entire life. I am the beast your father warned you of. And you’re right to heed his warning.” He pulled free from my grip and I broke. My heart was obliterated. If he walked out of this room, we were done. I knew it. He’d still help me, but that was it. He’d never come near me again.

  “Erik!” I called, but he moved to the door and stepped out of the room before I could try and convince him to stay. As it shut between us, something shattered inside me.

  I gazed at the door, a bitter acceptance filling me to the brim.

  It was over. I couldn’t be with him. It was the way it had to be.

  My head pounded violently and I had the strangest sensation that I was rocking. I was laying on something impossibly soft which sculpted to my body, cushioning me. A thick duvet lay over me, banishing the cold from my skin.

  My gut roiled and I lurched upright, heaving over the side of the bed. I didn’t bring anything up though; my stomach was pathetically empty.

  I blinked down at the knots and whorls in the wooden floor for several long seconds as I forced my vision to stop spinning. When I was fairly sure I wasn’t going to heave again, I pushed myself upright and looked around.

  I was sitting on a huge four poster bed in what was probably the biggest room I’d ever seen. Dark wooden furniture took up space around the other walls but there was plenty of room between all of it, left empty. There was a single window on the far wall but heavy shutters were closed over it.

  I had no idea what time it was. It could have been the middle of the night or the sun might have been blazing outside.

  I shoved the duvet off of me and scowled at the opulent fixtures which adorned the space. It was so lavish that it was garish. The wood was all decorated with little hand carvings, the walls hung with gothic styled wallpaper.

  Cool air brushed against my legs and I looked down, finding my clothes missing and a thin white robe in their place. I stood up hastily and untied the robe, anger and embarrassment clawing at me as I found myself naked beneath it. Who the hell had undressed me while I was unconscious? My skin was ridiculously clean and I could feel some kind of lotion on my flesh. Every single hair had been removed from my body too.

  A shudder ran down my spine as I imagined some bloodsucker washing and changing me while I slept. I felt violated. I had no idea what else they could have done to me and no way of knowing.

  I have to get out of here.

  I gritted my teeth as I pushed myself out of the bed. My legs trembled beneath me as the last of the drugs they’d filled me with clung to my body. I reached for my gifts and found them harder to channel them than usual; like the fuzziness in my brain was blocking them off.

  There were two doors in the room so I strode towards the closest one, tying my robe closed again as I went. It barely covered my ass and I ground my teeth in anger at the ridiculous garment. To my surprise, the door pulled open easily and I peered inside finding a large bathroom. There was a huge walk-in shower on the far wall and I moved towards it quickly.

  I grabbed the shower head and yanked on it as hard as I could with my enhanced muscles. I strained my arms, ripping the metal hose out of the wall with a surge of victory. Water spurted out of the hole it had left as a lump of plaster thumped to the floor by the drain.

  A large puddle of water began to grow around my bare feet as the burst pipe continued to spurt water everywhere. I backed up, stepping out of the puddle and snapped the shower head off of the other end of the hose before looping it around my fist.

  Feeling better now that I had a makeshift weapon, I headed back into the bedroom and tried the other door.

  Locked. No surprise there.

  I took a deep breath, focusing my gifts on the muscles in my legs. I opened my eyes and kicked the centre of the door as hard as I could. The heavy wood rattled and plaster dust was knocked loose around the doorframe but it didn’t give.

  I kicked it again and again, the door shuddering and groaning as it took the battering. I refused to give up. I took several steps back then ran at the door, bracing my shoulder for impact before slamming into it.

  The resounding crash that followed made the floorboards rattle but the bastard door still didn’t give way. I snarled at it as I backed up and rammed it again.

  After the fourth attempt failed, I let out a scream of frustration.

  I turned back to the pristine room and ran towards an ornate dresser, grabbing it and hurling it over. The legs smashed as it hit the ground but that wasn’t good enough. I stamped on it with the flat of my foot and the wood caved in.

  I ripped the back off of it and hurled it across the room into a full-length gilded mirror which smashed into a thousand pieces.

  I smiled in satisfaction and turned to the wardrobe. I wrenched a door open, tearing it from its hinges and sending it clattering to the floor behind me. I hesitated as I spotted what was inside it; beautiful dresses hung in an assortment of colours. I brushed my fingers over the soft material and pulled a stunning silver dress from the hanger.

  I held it up, appreciating its beauty for a moment before ripping it straight down the middle. If they thought I was going to be dressing up like some walking, talking doll then they’d be sorely disappointed. I worked my way through every item in the wardrobe until I stood knee-high in a flood of shredded material.

  Once I was finished, I threw my weight against the side of the
huge wardrobe and sent it crashing to the ground. It broke into several large pieces and I grabbed a big shard of wood from the centre of the pile.

  I leapt onto the bed, using the makeshift knife to shred the curtains which hung around it. I turned my attention to the duvet, stabbing it repeatedly as I imagined it was one of my captors. White feathers tumbled out of it and I shook them loose, filling the room with fluffy down.

  The whole place was destroyed but it wasn’t enough. I needed to be free. I stormed towards the window and grabbed the edge of the heavy shutters. They were nailed down but I gritted my teeth, throwing every ounce of my enhanced strength into ripping them off of the wall.

  The wood groaned as the fixings resisted but they finally gave out with a splintering crash. I fell to the floor as they came loose but quickly sprang to my feet again to peer out through the glass.

  The pale light of dawn spilled in through the window and my heart sank as I realised I’d lost an entire evening and night. Magnar would be worried sick... or angry as all hell. I bit my lip as I imagined him charging in to rescue me and fear clawed at my heart. What if they’d killed him when they captured me? He’d been fighting a horde of vampires the last time I’d seen him and even two legendary slayers couldn’t stand against an endless tide.

  I forced the worries from my mind. I didn’t know anything about what had happened to Magnar. He might be coming to help me or he might not be. But I’d be damned if I’d just wait here like a damsel in a tower needing my prince to rescue me. I was more than capable of saving myself now and that was what I intended to do. No matter what it took.

  I moved closer to the window and swore as I spotted heavy metal bars on the other side of the glass, stopping me from using it to escape.

  I was high up in some ostentatious stone building. It looked like the kind of place that should only have existed in fairytales. Green woodland spread out behind carefully maintained gardens and glimmering skyscrapers stood in the distance beyond it. At least I knew I was still in New York City.

  I wondered if they were keeping Montana close by too. I tried to reach out to her with my mind like I had after I’d taken my vow, but nothing happened. I wasn’t sure how I’d done it before and if I still held the power I couldn’t access it now.

  I ground my teeth in irritation; if she was here I needed to get her out too. But how the hell was I going to find her?

  Hold on Monty, I’ll figure something out.

  My heightened senses pulled at me as I heard the distant sound of voices and I focused my gifts on listening to them.

  “-don’t know what on Earth she’s doing in there, sire. And you forbade us from opening the door so we didn’t know what else to do. We had no choice but to come for you-”

  “It’s quite alright,” Fabian replied and goosebumps rose along my skin at the sound of his voice. “I’m sure my fiancée will appreciate some quality time with me now that she’s awake.”

  “Of course,” the other voice replied, though he didn’t seem convinced.

  I slipped across the room, keeping my footsteps silent, and grabbed a sharp sliver of glass from the shattered mirror, hiding it in the pocket of my robe. I quickly picked up the shower hose as his footsteps paused beyond the door. I climbed up onto a chest of drawers positioned beside the door and pressed my back to the wall as I waited for him to enter.

  “Well I can’t hear anything going on in there now,” he muttered.

  “I assure you sire, it sounded like she was tearing the walls apart. We were worried she might hurt herself or-”

  I kicked a vase off of the chest of drawers and it shattered loudly.

  The sound of several bolts sliding across rattled behind the door and I reached for my gifts as I prepared to fight my way out of this elaborate prison. Power flooded into me and I was pleased to find the effects of the drugs had finally worn off.

  “I’m coming in,” Fabian called as a heavy lock turned in the door. “And I’d prefer it if you didn’t stab me again. The last wound still hasn’t healed.”

  I smiled gratefully as he gave me that information. I knew exactly where his weak spot was now.

  The door opened slowly and Fabian stepped into the room. “By the gods, you really have destroyed-”

  I yelled a battle cry as I leapt at him from the chest of drawers. I flung the shower hose around his neck as I landed on his back.

  Fabian cried out in surprise a moment before I yanked the hose too tight for him to draw breath. I gritted my teeth, putting all my strength into choking him as he spun around, trying to throw me off.

  He shot backwards, slamming me into the wall. The impact sent pain flaring through my body and drove the oxygen from my lungs. I released the hose and he leapt away from me as I fell to the floor amidst the broken glass from the mirror.

  I inhaled sharply as a sliver of glass cut into my shin and Fabian was upon me again. He caught me around the neck and lifted me into the air.

  I grabbed at his hands, my nails gouging into his skin and drawing scarlet blood. He snarled at me and I kicked him as hard as I could right in the spot where I’d stabbed him with Fury.

  “Shit!” He launched me away from him and I flew into the wall behind the four poster bed before crashing down onto the mattress.

  I scrambled to get upright again but he shot towards me in a blur of motion, jumping on top of me and pinning me to the bed.

  I screamed as I tried to fight my way out from under him and he bared his teeth at me.

  “Stop,” he commanded. “You can’t beat me!”

  I stopped thrashing just long enough to spit in his face.

  Fabian glared at me for a moment then started laughing. I’d knocked his hair loose in our brawl and it fell around his face as he looked down at me.

  “You really want to kill me, don’t you?” he asked.

  “I took a vow to kill all of your kind. You’re at the top of my list,” I replied angrily.

  “Well next time I would advise you don’t waste time choking me; I don’t need to breathe.” He grinned at me and I glared back.

  “Give me my blade and I’ll stab you again instead.” I glanced down at his stomach where blood was seeping through his shirt.

  He noticed my attention and his grip on my wrists tightened painfully. “That will scar, you know,” he growled irritably. “And it hurts like hell... that said it’s been a long time since I felt real pain. So I’ll let it slide, in light of our new relationship.”

  “We don’t have any kind of relationship you freak,” I replied angrily. “I’m never going to do anything you tell me to do and I’m never going to stop trying to kill you.”

  “You know, I haven’t had a woman speak to me like this before and I’m starting to think I like it. Do you know how boring life can become when you’ve lived for over a thousand years? This is quite refreshing.”

  “What do you want with me?” I asked though I feared I already knew the answer. I needed to hear him say it.

  “You find yourself in a very fortuitous position Callie; you are to be my bride.” His gaze dropped to my mouth and he pressed down on me a little harder as if he thought I might be tempted by his proposal.

  “I won’t,” I snarled. “I’ll never marry you and I certainly won’t be having any of your demon children. I’d sooner kill myself.”

  Fabian sighed dramatically. “Who told you about the children? That was supposed to be a surprise... was it Valentina? She often loses her head when she gets jealous-”

  “Can you get the fuck off of me?” I snapped, not wanting to hear another word about that bitch.

  “Look who’s jealous now. She told me she thought you were sharing her betrothed’s bed. He was a legend once so I suppose I can understand why you might have been drawn to him. But if it’s power you covet, I hold so much more than him,” he purred.

  “He’s still alive?” I asked, grasping on to the fact that he’d spoken about Magnar in the present tense.

  Fabian p
ursed his lips like he was deciding whether or not to answer me. “For now. The Eliosons prove harder to catch than you, gorgeous. But we’ll catch up with them soon enough.”

  “Magnar will come for me,” I growled. “And he will tear this place apart before carving your black heart from your body.”

  “No doubt he will try. You are rather tempting bait for him after all and I shall be ready when he arrives.”

  A cold fear fell over me at his words. He was right; Magnar would come looking for me and all they had to do was dangle me before him to lead him into a trap. And as I highly doubted Fabian was looking to marry a seven foot warrior with a thing for killing Belvederes, it would equal his death. I had to escape from this monster at all costs. I wouldn’t allow Magnar to come to harm because of me.

  Fabian’s gaze dropped to the thin robe which wasn’t doing much to cover me up and a different kind of fear came for me. He transferred both of my hands into one of his, keeping them pinned above my head as he reached for the material which was falling open across my chest.

  “Please don’t,” I breathed. I was completely at his mercy and I wasn’t above begging if it would spare me from the desire I could see lighting his eyes.

  His fingers brushed against my skin as he caught one side of the robe between his thumb and forefinger. My heart thundered as I expected him to pull it open and I froze in horror but he slowly shifted it closed instead.

  His mouth lifted on one side as he looked back up at my face. “I’m not a complete animal you know. If I let you go, do you promise not to try and choke me with a shower hose?”

  “No shower hose,” I agreed icily. I just wanted his damn hands off of me.

  “Too easy,” he said, shaking his head in disappointment. “What if I let you buy your freedom with a kiss?”

  “I’d sooner cut my lips from my face,” I growled

  He leant closer to me, his breath brushing across my skin as I recoiled into the mattress.

  “Come on, slayer,” he breathed. “I promise you’ll enjoy it.”

  Fabian pressed his cold lips to mine and I froze, a mixture of shock and outrage momentarily fixing me in place. He seemed to take my horrified stillness as encouragement and released his grip on my wrists so that he could push his fingers through my hair and tug me closer.