by K. Webster
Castilla
“Fuck you,” I snarl. “Fuck both of you.”
Laurent growls at my words, his face dropping until his lips brush against my neck. A shiver of fear rattles through my bones. Having his teeth so close to my neck terrifies me. I close my eyes, waiting for him to take a bite.
“Castilla,” Laurent murmurs, his lips caressing my neck in a way that sends a whirlwind of confusing emotions spinning inside me. “Oh, how I’ve missed you.”
He presses a gentle kiss to my pulsing vein before he pulls away. Beck approaches and I get a good look at him. He can’t be any more than sixteen or seventeen if he were human. I’ve learned not to go off human appearance when it comes to vampires. Some of the young ones are incredibly old and extremely powerful. Beck already confessed to being an ancient vampire. If he wanted to destroy me, he could do it in seconds. For some reason, he hasn’t.
“I’ll hold onto these until we finish our talk,” Beck says, plucking each of my ruby stakes from my grip. His hands are protected by leather gloves. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t feel too good on his undead hands. He stows the stakes inside his long, black coat. We’re once again bathed in darkness, which unnerves me.
“I have nothing to say to you,” I grind out, no longer fighting against Laurent’s hold considering I need to save my strength and it’s pointless since he’s so much stronger.
“Then you can just listen.”
“Let me go,” I order. “I won’t talk until I’m free.”
Beck waits what feels like an eternity before he answers. “Very well. Laurent, release her.”
Laurent inhales me but then lets go, stepping back into the darkness away from me. My heart is pounding hard inside my chest. I try my damnedest to slow it down so that I’m not tempting the two vampires in my presence.
Breathe, Casti. Breathe.
“We have a mutual agenda,” Beck says from somewhere to my left. “Perhaps we continue this conversation in privacy.”
“No,” I grit out. “And I can guarantee you our agendas vary vastly.”
Beck chuckles. “Feisty female. I like you.”
“Sorry, buddy, I can’t say the same.” I edge toward the door, keeping my movements slow. “What did you do to him? He seems better now.” Better, but still going to die by my hand and soon.
Mercy be thy way.
“I’ll tell you when we have privacy,” Beck says. “Take us to your apartment.”
“Absolutely not,” I growl.
“We’re not here to hurt you or Mercy.”
“Keep my daughter’s name out of your mouth,” I snap. “Speak now or don’t. I don’t care.”
Beck sighs, his footsteps drawing nearer. “Either take us there or I’ll be forced to carry you up there myself.”
Upstairs, I have other things I could kill them with.
“Fine,” I acquiesce. “Though—”
“She be but little, she is fierce,” Beck finishes. “A Shakespeare fan myself.”
“I was going to say, though if you make one wrong move, I’ll end both of you without thinking twice.”
Beck and Laurent both chuckle, putting me even more on edge. I’m used to hissing, pissed off killing machine vampires. Not this. Not talkative, agenda seeking ones. I admit, my curiosity is piqued.
I slowly make my way from the wall to the door into the building. It’s probably extremely stupid on my part, and Jude would kill me if he knew, but I need to see what Beck wants first. If he can help me with the pale-haired twins, I will take it. They’ve been terrorizing NYC for far too long.
As soon as I step inside, I peek over my shoulder at the vampires following me. Beck is much shorter than Laurent. Both are wearing black slacks, white button-down crisp dress shirts, and long coats. Each of them has on a pair of expensive looking leather shoes. It’s almost amusing how properly dressed they are. As though they’re ready to go to a gala rather than to my tiny apartment I share with a child and a bat.
I step into the stairwell and Laurent strides forward, prowling ahead as though hunting. I’m confused because it almost seems as though he’s trying to protect me, which is silly because he’s a freaking vampire.
When we reach my floor, he pushes through the door and holds it open for me. I’m forced to brush past him as I enter the hallway. Laurent’s palm finds my back as to guide me. A shiver trembles through me.
“Shall we fetch Mercy first?” Beck asks.
“I said—” I snap but then fall silent when I realize there’s a note on my door from Edna.
I know you said he wasn’t allowed to get her, but he told me he’d call the police if I didn’t allow him to take her home and watch over her until you got there. I tried to text you. I’m too old for prison. My sincerest apologies.
Terror consumes me and Laurent growls. No longer concerned about two hungry vampires at my back, I shove my way into my apartment, anger fueling me. Once again, Griffin sits in the window, waiting for me.
“About time—who the fuck are they?” Griffin demands, stalking my way.
Laurent steps in front of me, his body tensed for a fight.
“They’re my friends,” I snap. “I told you you’re not allowed to take Mercy.”
“She’s my goddamn daughter,” Griffin growls. “I can do whatever I want where it concerns her.”
Beck rushes forward with inhuman speed, clutching the front of Griffin’s shirt. His voice is low and seductive as he speaks to Griffin, his face inches from his. “You were just leaving. You never saw us. You’ll find someone else to bother tonight.”
Griffin nods, clearly consumed by Beck’s glamour ability. Without another word, Griffin walks out and closes the door behind him.
“Thanks,” I grumble and mean it. “Have a seat. I need to check on Mercy.”
I leave the vampires to sneak into Mercy’s room. She’s asleep, but her bat rustles around in his box. His wing is damaged beyond repair, so he’ll never fly again. The poor little thing—Dracula—relies on my daughter for food and water. Thank goodness she’s a whiz on her tablet and found all sorts of information online to help her care for her bat.
I’m just pressing a kiss to her forehead when I feel an imposing presence. It’s unnerving to see Laurent in my daughter’s room. His brows are furled as he takes in her sleeping body.
“Swear on your life you’ll never hurt her,” I whisper. “Right now.”
Laurent’s crimson eyes lock onto mine. “I swear it. I won’t hurt you either.”
His words, though probably a lie, wrap around my heart like a noose. I don’t like the way it warms me inside. Reminds me of a simpler, happier time when I was a girl. Before my world went to hell.
I walk right up to him, tilting my head up so I can see his eyes up close. His palm rises to my cheek and he delicately caresses my warm flesh with his cool hand.
“It’s hard seeing you again,” I admit, my voice barely audible.
“Likewise, little one.”
A tremor of—something—rumbles through me. I grip his wrist and pull him from my daughter’s room before closing the door behind us. Beck is sitting prim and proper in an armchair, an expectant look on his pale, boyish face.
“Speak,” I grumble, making my way over to the window seat. “I’m tired and want to go to bed. Let’s get this over with.”
Laurent doesn’t sit, but edges closer to me, his crimson eyes burning into me.
“My name is Beck Zargonian,” Beck says, running his fingers through his blond hair. “I am from The Pale Province.”
“The pale-haired twins are your family?”
“Weston and Wynona are my blood, yes,” Beck agrees. “I’ve been searching for them for nearly sixty years.”
“You had them,” I snap, a surge of anger bursting up inside of me. “Instead, you interrupted me and took him.” I thrust my thumb toward Laurent, who has prowled closer.
“You were going to kill them.” Beck shrugs. “I couldn’t let you do
that.”
“But they killed my mother and baby brother,” I hiss, my body trembling with fury. “They turned the man I adored into this.” Tears threaten as I meet Laurent’s gaze. “How is that the same agenda? I want them gone from this planet.”
“Which aligns with my agenda, I assure you,” Beck says. “I’ve been asked by their father, Marlon, to retrieve them. He thinks he can heal his children from the blood plague. Because of my obligation to my familial lineage, I must oblige.”
“They won’t go willingly through the realms,” I grumble. “They’re feral.”
“Feral indeed. Mad with disease. They’re unaware of what runs through them. With a concoction Marlon has created, I believe the injection could immobilize them long enough for Laurent and me to carry them back.” Beck leans back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. “They will be out of your hair and back where they belong.”
“They belong in Hell,” I snarl.
“We both know Hell can barely keep the gate closed. Our demon population on Earth is proof of that. No, the mad twins belong back with their family so that if they can’t treat them, they can end them according to The Pale Province’s royal authority.”
“So you want me to agree to help you capture and inject those bastards who tore my family from me?” I demand. “To give them a free pass?”
“I will be in your debt, darling,” Beck says. “I always pay my debts.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to make him agree to kill Laurent once it’s done as debt repayment, but one look at his intense features boring into me, and I know I can’t ask that. Not right now when I’m tired and stressed. One day, I’ll kill Laurent, but I’m not about to negotiate that into my deal with Beck.
“You healed Laurent,” I say, frowning. “Why don’t you just heal them too?”
“Laurent is still but a young vampire and he was born a human. His blood was much easier to cleanse. The twins are of fae descent, which requires more than I can give them.”
They deserve to die. In this realm—the one they stole so much from.
“Mommy?” a sweet voice says from the doorway.
I nearly choke on my tongue. “Baby, go back to sleep.”
She shakily steps forward and sways. Laurent, in a flash, scoops her in his arms. It all happens so quickly. Before I can stop him, he’s brought my daughter to Beck, lowering her into his arms.
“What are you doing?” I screech, storming over to them. “Let her go.”
“She won’t remember this,” Beck assures me. “Hello, sweet cherub.”
“Hello,” Mercy says, her voice soft and faraway. “Are you an angel?”
“No, Miss Mercy, I am not.” Beck grins at her, his fangs bared. “But you are.”
Mercy giggles and touches his pointy fang. I launch myself at him, but Laurent is suddenly behind me, locking me in his strong arms.
“Please don’t,” I beg. “You promised.”
“Ouch,” Mercy murmurs, a rivulet of blood running down her finger.
Beck licks the wound closed and then he smiles at her. “All better, darling.”
She curls into him, falling back asleep. My heart is hammering in my chest and I realize hot tears have been running down my cheeks.
“You bastard,” I choke out.
“She is very ill. I can taste it in her blood.” His brows furrow as he studies my sleeping child. “Her blood is tainted.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” I snap at him. “Laurent, let me go.”
Laurent’s palm finds my jaw and he angles my head to one side, running his nose along the column of my throat.
“Careful,” Beck warns. “You’re still young, Laurent.”
Despite having been a vampire for years, it’s clear that Beck only recently taught Laurent how to feed properly and control his urges.
“I’m not going to bite her,” Laurent growls, his lips against my flesh. “You’re safe with me, Castilla. I made a vow to you.”
His words warm me and I hate that. I hate what he’s become. I hate the terror I felt when he desperately tried to get into the trunk he forced me into not long after he turned.
I realize I’ve long stopped fighting him and am jelly in his grip. He’s holding me upright, his strong arm under my breasts keeping me pressed against his firm body.
“Do you hear the music?” he murmurs against my ear, making me shiver. “The strong cadence of your heart beating? Such a lovely sound.”
I’m unable to speak, but I give him a nod. I feel as though I’m under some sort of spell. I was glamoured in training but never in a real life case. It makes me wonder if that’s what is happening. Am I being made to be compliant?
An insistent tongue lashes against my skin, teasing over my carotid artery. I whimper because despite the fear coursing through me, it feels good. I like his tongue on me, which is all kinds of messed up. He suckles the flesh, making me gasp.
“Laurent,” Beck rumbles, his tone a warning. “You’re asking for trouble.”
“She tastes divine,” Laurent replies, his teeth nipping at the flesh but not drawing blood. “I want to drink from her and put my cock inside her.”
A moan tumbles from me. His erection is pressed against my backside and I can’t help but rub against it. I’m dizzied by his touch and his mouth.
“I’m going to fuck this beautiful creature,” Laurent murmurs, his hands roaming down my front to cup my aching pussy. “Claim her as mine.”
Beck sighs. “You’ve mastered glamouring. Time to release her, lad.”
“No,” Laurent growls, rubbing at my clit over my leather pants. “She’s mine.”
“If I have to get up off this sofa to come physically restrain you, I will. I’m stronger and older. Don’t test my patience.” Beck pauses. “Now, Laurent.”
He releases me with a snarl and I collapse to the floor. My mind feels foggy and confused. Everything still pulsates and throbs with need.
Beck slides Mercy over onto the couch and she doesn’t wake. He stands and then assists me to my feet. “I can help your child.”
I sober up quickly. “What? How?”
“Trust me. I can help her, but I need your help. Do we have a deal, darling?”
I’d do anything to help my daughter.
Anything.
Even if it means partnering up with Beck to capture the pale-haired twins.
“We have a deal,” I agree. “Now get out of my house.”
Beck grins and takes a bow. “We shall speak soon.”
My eyes latch onto Laurent’s, confused by the way my pulse quickens when my gaze falls to his mouth. Beck pats his chest and they finally leave. The moment the door closes behind them, I suck in a deep breath of air.
He can help Mercy.
Holy shit. Beck can help Mercy.
I burst into tears because it feels too good to be true.
Laurent
With each step away from her, I feel less and less in control of my thirst. I’d done well the past three months learning to control my urges, but it’s all been blown to bits by an encounter with Castilla.
My stepdaughter.
Last I remember of her, she looked just as her daughter does. Small, innocent, terrified. Protecting her from the impending doom had controlled my every thought and action that fateful day. I’d urged her into the Rune trunk my mother gave to me, knowing the infused magic would give her the protection she needed.
I knew, eventually, she may even need protection from me.
Weston and Wynona turned me into everything I feared. A vampire. A blood-thirsty mongrel. Growing up with a mother who never held back in telling me the truth about supernatural beings, I wasn’t at all surprised to see the vampires and knew exactly what they were after.
Blood.
The blood of children, according to Beck, is the tastiest and most pure. One of my earliest vampire memories is the scent of Castilla as she’d sobbed inside the trunk I locked her in. I’d been given
a tiny whiff of blood from a scratch or a scrape and it was maddening. For years and years I’ve thirsted for that particular taste but always come up short.
Until tonight.
She was no longer a child, but I smelled it again, though faintly veiled below a thin layer of skin. I’d craved—no, I ached to sink my teeth into her neck and suck her dry. Then, the more I inhaled and touched her, the more a different craving arose.
I wanted to bite her everywhere and then fuck her until she passed out from loss of blood.
Sick.
I’m sick.
Those bastards stole life from me and gave me this…animalistic heart where I starve for blood in its purest form. I didn’t realize how much they’d stolen from me until Beck saved me. I owe him everything. After months of his devotion and care, he healed me from the blood disease.
“Take my arm, Laurent,” Beck says, his voice calm despite the authority rumbling through it.
I want to race back upstairs and pin Castilla down. Shred her clothes and spread her legs. Shove my cock deep inside of her as I drink from the fat vein in her neck. I’m hard as stone in my pants, eager to take what’s mine.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
“Now.” Beck grips my bicep and then flashes us back to his stately castle-like home in upstate New York. “Feeling better?”
I glance around his den, my eyes landing on the cackling fire, and nod. “I can think clearly again.”
“Good. Let’s have a bite to eat and we’ll discuss what happened this evening.” He motions for me to follow him into the dining room. I make my way after the man who’s built like a teenage boy and then settle at one head of the table. “How do you feel about Castilla? No judgment. I can’t help you unless you tell me.”
Irritation washes over me. I’m not embarrassed, just confused. I don’t understand how I want her more than any living creature I’ve come in contact with thus far since turning into this monster.
“I want to drain her,” I rumble, “while I fuck her raw.”
He studies me for a long moment as two maids come in carrying silver-domed plates. They set down one in front of each of us, then remain standing nearby. Beck lifts the lid off his tray, moves the fortune cookie aside, and takes the white linen napkin. He tucks it into the top of his shirt, creating a bib of sorts. I do the same, my mouth watering for my meal.
