The Lost Daughter: Hells Hallow Book One
Page 10
Tanda steps away from the opening, a step closer to me, and I can’t help it when I reach my hand out and grip her forearm. I hold it out to study her skin, not seeing a single mark, nic, or scar dotting her skin.
“How?” I whisper. She pulls her arm back from my grip as my hands shake to hold her.
“Just the way it is,” she says.
Marigold yelps slightly, and we turn to face her only to see three members of my vampire territory with their noses shoved into the dirt.
“What are you doing?” I growl, stepping around Tanda. I kick one of the men with my booted foot. He lets out an undignified grunt as he flips over to his back. I place my boot against his throat. “You’re embarrassing me,” I grit, all too aware of the eyes watching us.
“Don’t you smell it?” he asks, turning his head to watch Tanda, his eyes zone in on her, unblinking as if he is in a trance.
Fuck, I hope that’s not what I look like.
“Can’t you feel it?” the female vampire asks as she dives her hands into the blood-soaked dirt, bringing a handful to her mouth and licking it. No doubt ingesting more dirt than blood, but she doesn’t care.
“She’s pure darkness,” the vampire under my boot whispers as he looks at her longingly.
“She’s a drug,” the female adds.
“Get up,” I growl, feeling my fangs on full display, and knowing my eyes have turned a deep shade of red. “Get out of here before I fucking stake you against a tree.”
The three vampires scramble to their feet, taking another longing look at the ground and then to Tanda before running back to Blood Circle. I’ll deal with them later, and I just might fucking stake them anyway.
“You’re not going to be safe now,” I turn and whisper to Tanda.
“I can more than handle myself,” she says, waving me off.
“A hungry vampire is a very dangerous thing, Tanda. They just threw themselves on the fucking ground to lick up bloody dirt,” I tell her, motioning to the ground.
She shrugs. “Seems like you need to talk to your vampires about table manners.”
“Tanda, this isn’t a fucking game,” I growl.
She reaches up and pats my cheek. “Sure, it is. Life is all a game, and frankly, I enjoy winning.” She runs her hand over my bottom lip, pulling it down slightly, and it takes every ounce of self-control I have not to grab her and sink my fangs into her. Then she fucks up my self-control by pushing her thumb into my fang and letting the blood drip down her thumb and coat my tongue.
I lose it. My brain fogs, clouding any rational thoughts. I reach out, gripping Tanda’s waist with one hand and hauling her into my chest. Grabbing her wrist tightly with my other hand, I suck deeply on her thumb. Sucking the blood from her veins, I feel my eyes roll back in my head, and my knees weaken. I fall to my knees, pulling her down with me as I suck harder, taking as much of her blood that I can get without sinking my fangs into her further. At least I have enough self-control to not attack her further, but I don’t have enough to not take what is offered.
I can barely hear a slight whimper, but it hardly registers as her power causes my system to go haywire. Her body is pressed to mine as I hold her close to me, and the only intelligible thought I have is a vision of her underneath me while I fuck her senseless and get high off her blood. I feel her hand wrap around my throat, heat starting to lick over my skin until it’s too much. I drop my hold of her, falling backward and trying to shake my head clear of the fog. She leans forward, pressing her lips to my ear and whispers, “my point.” She laughs, pressing her finger against my shoulder and lightly knocking me over.
I vaguely register her walking away, laughing, and leaving me to lie on the fucking ground. I lie there, allowing the high to pull me under. I feel every part of my body vibrating into oblivion. I chuckle to myself, feeling my lips curve into a sloppy fucking smile.
She got me, the witch fucking got me. And I couldn’t care less that she fucked me up. In fact, I would let her do it again… any time she wanted. I’m not sure how long I laid there in the dirt, but I finally manage to clear my head enough to sit up. The high starts to fade slightly and my senses begin to run in overdrive. I close my eyes, tilting my head back and taking a deep breath of air. My eyes snap open, my head whipping into the direction of the Forbidden Forest, and if I had a map, I could pinpoint her exact location.
I push myself up from the ground, and it takes everything in me to walk in the opposite direction. Even as I walk away from her, I can still feel her. I can feel her power coating every part of my body. I can still feel what it was like to have her pressed flush against me.
I would give anything to feel that again.
Truly, anything.
I walk towards my house on the other side of town, keeping my mind trained on Tanda’s whereabouts the entire time. She remains in the same area in the forest, and I’m willing to bet that area is her home. Someday I’m going to know what her home looks like. I’m going to know how her bed feels. And I’m going to know what it feels like to sink my fangs into her neck as I fuck her.
Because she’s mine.
Chapter Eleven
Tanda
I can’t help but laugh as I walk back to my cabin. The vampires are just too easy, and with any luck, Arius will be a little fucked up for a while longer. Honestly, I can’t help but mess with him; it’s like a compulsion to toy with him. Well, genuinely, I like to play with all of them — it’s been so long since I got to have any fun.
Well, if I’m honest, I’m not sure that I ever really got to have fun. With the Warren’s, it was all coloring inside the lines and playing by someone else’s rules. Then with Deimos, it was all lessons and training. Now it’s like I finally get to play the game I’ve been learning about my whole life; and to top it off, I got to throw the rule book out of the window and rewrite it.
As I walk through the woods towards my cabin, I think back to a time at the Warren’s coven when I did have fun. Michael, he was the only one there that was ever willing to bend a few rules. When we were little, just small children running through the halls of the coven’s main hall, we would hide from the elders. Avoiding the beginner lessons, and driving our headmasters crazy. I remember when I came into my first power, telekinesis. I used to move things around our classrooms and the teachers didn’t know it was me. We were still young and not supposed to have our powers just yet, let alone the kind of control I had.
Then we got older, and Michael remained my best friend, we still did everything together. And I do mean everything. It’s why I never wanted to say goodbye to him; I thought it would be too hard to leave him. It turned out the hardest part of leaving was the disappointment I saw in his eyes the moment he realized I was different, and there would be no fixing me. To this day, the way he looked at me, the fear in his face when he stepped back from me after all we had shared, that moment remains as the most painful moment of my life.
I step out of the treeline and into the opening where my cabin sits. Before crossing the barrier, I see a white envelope hanging from my front door. I squint my eyes at it, crossing over and walking towards my door. On the envelope is my name, scrawled across the front in a delicate, ornate gold script.
I tentatively reach out for it, plucking it off the door and flipping it open to pull out thick parchment paper. It’s an invitation to a Hells Hallow Territory Dinner party, black tie, for tonight.
Great. Just fucking great.
I knew stepping out into the spotlight would bring attention to me, but I was convinced the others would make attempts to sweep me under the rug, not pull me onto their stage. I don’t like feeling blindsided, and I don’t like it when other people start changing my fucking rules.
I guess that’s what happens when you start to play with people that never learned how to read the rule book in the first place. I growl, pushing my door open and stomping inside.
“I see you got the invitation,” I hear Jonathan call from the rafters.
“Yeah, how did it get on my door, by the way?” I ask as I shrug out of my coat and toss it to the back of the couch.
“They requested assistance,” Jonathan answers, and I raise one eyebrow at him.
“Do you assist everyone?” I question.
“I only assist who I deem worthy of my help, and I only chose to assist them because it affected you. I did not think you wanted anyone else to come snooping around your home, was I mistaken?”
“No, you were not. I just… ahh! They are not following the plan,” I huff, leaning against the back of the couch.
“You have not laid out your plans to them, how could you expect them to follow what they do not know?” he questions. Damn crow and his intelligence.
“They were just supposed to flounder for a while, I’m not ready for their actions yet,” I huff.
Upon hearing a huff from the fireplace, I turn around and see Hex curled up on top of Cerberus as he attempts to squeeze his massive body into the small cat bed. I smile over at them and then get an idea.
What better way to go to a dinner party then to show up with the devil’s own pet in tow. After all, no one is supposed to have control over the hound that guards Hell’s gates, no one but his master. As it is right now, though, I think his dog likes me a little bit better than he likes him. I don’t mind using that to my advantage, plus I like the dog. I honestly wouldn’t mind keeping him here.
“Alright, well, I guess I better get ready for this thing,” I grumble, pushing off the back of the couch I move towards the large master room that I have claimed as my own.
There is a full-length mirror just off the empty closet, but that’s not really an issue. I begin to conjure up regal dresses, shoes, and accessories, displaying them on my bed. I snap my fingers, and a dress appears on my body, but I scrunch my nose up at it. I need something that makes an appearance, but not something overly flashy, I’m still pretending to be kind of a good guy here. And nothing says evil like an over-the-top fancy dress.
I try on dress after dress, even throwing on a pants suit for good measure, and nothing is working. I flop down on my bed amidst the clothing and huff.
“Seems you could use a bit of a hand,” I hear a female’s voice at my window. Tipping my head, I see Mel, the owl, as she perches on the windowsill.
“Well, don’t just sit there, help me,” I plead.
“Not me, dear,” she cocks her head over her shoulder to look outside. I push up from the bed, moving to the window, and when I look out, I see Marigold standing just outside the barrier.
“I’ll be right down!” I call, and she gives me a small wave.
I rush down the stairs and out into the meadow towards where she stands on the other side of the barrier.
“You didn’t get shocked, did you?” I ask slightly concerned I may have hurt her.
“No, Darkling, I know better than to try and get too close to that house. Plus, I can hear the magic,” she chuckles, waving her hand to indicate the buzzing of the barrier.
“Right,” I say. Raising my hand, I whisper an incantation and open a small slit in the barrier, just enough for Marigold to step forward and then instantly lock it back into place.
“When I got the notice for the Territory Dinner, I did a little digging around. And by digging around, I mean, I sent a few ravens to spy on Javaraya and Kalayavan to see what they were up to.”
“And?” I press as we walk inside the cabin.
“They’re going to offer you a council seat; it’s your rightful place among them.”
“And they’re going to do it at the dinner so I can’t refuse, or fight them. I will have to graciously accept what they’re offering me and play nice,” I grumble, and Marigold nods. “Great,” I huff.
“So I came to make sure you’re dressed for the part; your mother always said the outfit doesn’t make the woman, the woman makes the outfit, but that black never hurt.” She winks, and I allow her to grab my hand and pull me towards my room.
She stands behind me, whispering words of magic and moving her hands rapidly. Just like my very own dark fairy godmother, she creates the perfect outfit — down to the pins in my hair.
“Wow,” I shudder out as I take in my appearance. “Are you sure this isn’t too much?” I ask, glancing over my shoulder at her.
She shakes her head. “It’s just enough,” she confirms.
Ernesh
“Is he okay?” I ask Ajal and motion towards Arius, who definitely looks fucked up again.
“He’s coming off another blood high,” Kalayavan says as he steps up to me.
We all turn and look at Arius, who looks hungover as fuck.
“How?” I ask.
“Apparently, there was a little incident at the barrier earlier today. It involved blood,” Ajal says.
“He’s going to be a problem, he looks like he’s been partying in Vegas snorting cocaine-laced blood off of a hooker’s ass for two weeks straight. He looks like shit,” I say as Arius leans against one of the large columns of the mayor’s mansion and scrubs a hand down his face groaning.
“I can fucking hear you,” he grumbles, turning to look at us. His eyes are bloodshot, his shirt is misbuttoned, and his hair is disheveled.
“Good. You look like shit,” I reiterate. “Maybe you should kick the blood habit,” I retort.
“I need it to live, you fuck.”
“Not witch blood, maybe that should just be for special occasions,” Ajal remarks.
Arius pushes off the column and stalks over to us. “You don’t get it, her blood is…” he trails off like he’s reminiscing about Tanda’s blood again.
“It’s…” Kalayavan presses.
“Fucking magic,” Arius sighs.
“We know,” I deadpan, and he rolls his eyes.
“Whatever, you wouldn’t understand,” he grumbles, before he perks up. His eyes begin to gain a light glow, and he frantically looks around the party. “What are you doing?” I growl because he looks like a fucking junkie trying to score another fix.
“She’s coming,” he whispers and takes a deep breath.
“Oh fuck,” Ajal murmurs, and I glance towards the street where the others are looking. I watch as the crowd parts, and she gracefully touches down on the sidewalk from her broom. The butler manning the gate takes her broom from her, and she smiles at him.
I take her in as she walks up towards the front door, and I have to actively not think about her as my dick twitches in my slacks.
She’s wearing a black leather jacket over a black, studded corset. Her dress is short in the front, stopping about mid-thigh and showing off her long legs. It’s longer in the back, flowing behind her in a sea of purple as she sashays up the main steps. She’s wearing black heels dotted with sharp studs. Her dark purple hair is pulled up out of her face, but done in intricate curls and the pins holding her hair are actually small daggers.
“Evening boys,” she greets, and Ajal punches Arius in the arm when he actually drools on himself. She smirks at him, reaching her hand out to cup his face. “How are you feeling, love?” she asks, but I hear humor in her voice instead of concern as she condescendingly pats his cheek.
“Fine,” he manages to croak out. I watch as he shakes his head and has to retract his fangs back into his gums.
“Shall we?” she asks, motioning to the main door.
“We shall,” I reply, offering her my arm. She smirks at me and places her hand into the crook of my elbow, and I guide her into the party.
She holds her head high, walking with power and grace as we enter the main hall. The people come to greet her, those of every status level, and she pays them all the same amount of attention.
A small child pulls on the hem of her dress, and I watch as she unhooks her hand from my arm, crouching down on her haunches to speak to the small girl on her level.
“Mommy says you’re a witch,” she whispers as if it’s a secret.
“That I am, and what are you?” she asks.
“I am so sorry, Miss. Morass; I will keep better track of her,” she apologizes. Tanda looks up at the mother with a soft smile.
“No need to be sorry, we were merely talking. Weren’t we?” she asks the child who vigorously nods her head.
It’s not that we don’t care about the other shifters, it’s just that they don’t hold the power we do. It’s why they do not hold seats at the council. We deal with them when we must, but other than that, we hardly bother. Most are not inherently evil, or known as villains — not like we are — but Hells Hallow still offers more sanctuary to their kind than the outside world. It’s why most stay here even after being dismissed and looked down on by most of the population.
“Here,” Tanda says, reaching up into her hair and pulling one of the small dagger-shaped hairpins from her intricate up-do and gently placing it into the small child’s hair.
“Thank you!” she gushes, turning to look up at her mother. “Look, Mommy, look what the nice witch gave me,” she cheers, reaching her fingers up to touch the pin.
“It’s lovely,” the mother responds. “Thank you,” she tells Tanda.
Tanda stands and gives the woman a brief nod before slipping her hand back into my arm, and I lead her around the party.
“That was nice,” I tell her.
“Can’t have them knowing the truth just yet,” she replies as she gives the crowd a sweet smile.
“You know what I think?” I ask.
“I know I don’t care what you think,” she says.
“I think you care about them more than you want to admit. I think that’s why you’re here; you want to save your home and all the people in it.”
“This isn’t my home, and I merely want to save my own life,” she huffs.
“Keep telling yourself that,” I chuckle softly as we step into the back yard that has been set up for the grand dinner.