“Since my brother and I have never shared a woman, that’s not a question I can answer.” He shoved Draven again, but the man didn’t move an inch. A small smirk touched Crowe’s lips as he added, “Though now I’m going to assume yes and take every opportunity to torment him about it.”
I rolled my eyes at the siblings before I pointed at Draven’s sprawled form. “Are you able to carry him?”
Crowe snorted, shaking his head. “He’s a damn heavy bastard and dead weight at the moment. I’m not wasting my magic to haul his ass up the several flights of stairs to our room either.” Of course he wouldn’t. I didn’t share my bed, not for more than sex at least, yet I had two men in it at the moment, neither of whom I was going to be enjoying. I was not appreciating whatever joke was being played on me at the moment. But Draven had helped save my pet. He had fed me even when he could have left. I smoothed my hand across my arm where the skin had already begun to heal slightly. It wouldn’t go away fully until I bathed, but the damage wasn’t worsening, and that was due to him.
“Fine. He can sleep here for the moment. But this isn’t something that will happen again,” I warned, shoving to my feet so I could settle down at the table.
Crowe had brought a tray of food along with the juice he had tried to force on his brother, and he handed a sandwich to Sebastian before claiming one for himself. “I’ll be sleeping here too then.” His tone was mild as I snarled at him.
“My bed isn’t simply up for grabs.” I resisted the urge to throw something at him when he smirked, but I didn’t want to mess up my notes, and I wasn’t going to risk a book no matter how much the man infuriated me.
“I did help Sebastian,” Crowe taunted before the smirk fell from his face. “I won’t leave my brother here alone. We’re never alone.” The second part was low, more to himself than to me. Although it hadn’t been meant as a reassurance of his trust in me, it coiled inside my body. He wasn’t afraid to leave his brother with me, he just wouldn’t leave his brother at all.
“Sebastian.” I turned my gaze to my pet. He’d finished the food Crowe had provided for him and his head was nodding slightly as weariness pressed onto him. His eyes snapped open when I called his name, though, his shoulders straightening out of habit.
“Yes, mistress?” Even exhausted, he looked ready to jump from the bed if I told him I required something. I had no idea how this man had been overlooked by my brethren, but I wasn’t going to question my good fortune.
“Will you be comfortable if Crowe joins you and Draven on the bed?” My bed was large, made for pleasure. Orgies weren’t uncommon among my kind, and most had beds that would accommodate several partners if they felt the need. Although I owed the witches, Sebastian was mine, and his safety—including his mental well-being—were mine to protect. If he didn’t want the witches beside him then the man could sleep on my floor if he desired to be near his brother. Sebastian glanced at the large, empty space remaining on the bed beside him, then back at Crowe before he nodded.
“It’s fine.” His voice was slurred slightly as he fought the sleep his body so desperately needed.
My attention turned to Crowe, taking in the strain around his eyes and mouth as he glanced between Sebastian and Draven. For the briefest of moments, I thought I saw sorrow, even longing on his face as he looked at the empty space in the middle of the bed before his expression went blank again. He reached out and tugged off his brother’s shoes before removing his own, and then he slipped down under the blankets. He kept close to his twin, giving Sebastian plenty of room as he snuggled downwards, sighing as his head hit the pillow.
“Sleep,” I ordered them. “I’ll watch over you.” I angled myself so I could see the three of them from the corner of my eye, even as I returned to my work. A vampire watching over a human and two witches—who would have seen that coming?
Chapter Sixteen
Elsie
“Are you sure you want to join us?” I asked Sebastian, my eyes holding his. I had let the three men sleep for several hours, but now we were about to begin questioning—and killing—the servants who had hurt my pet. “It isn’t an order to follow, pet. It’s your choice.” I wasn’t going to force him to be there for this, even though I thought he should be. Vengeance was his to take. But I had no idea if he had killed before, let alone tortured, and it wasn’t something that was easy for certain humans. If he wanted to stay here within my rooms where he would be safe while I meted out this punishment for him, I wouldn’t hold it against him, but I wanted him there. I wanted to see him inflict the pain they all deserved. I wanted to see that fire inside him burn so hard and hot that it destroyed those who had dared to harm what was mine.
His blue eyes were hard, his jaw tight, when he nodded his assent. “I need this.” I could tell how much that admission had cost him, but this was only going to get harder.
“Have you killed before?” Crowe questioned bluntly, crossing his arms over his chest. Sebastian’s jaw flexed when he glanced at me.
“Not humans,” I surmised, understanding the look of guilt on his face before he turned away, thrusting his hands into his hair. “Vampires.”
“Well now, pretty boy is just full of surprises,” Draven commented with a chuckle, mimicking my emotions. I wouldn’t have thought Sebastian had killed before, he seemed too closed off to know what that felt like.
“If you’re waiting for me to punish you, pet, you’ll be waiting for an eternity.” He froze for a moment before glancing over his shoulder at me and I smiled. “I’m not going to judge what you’ve done before. I’ve killed my own kind in the past, Sebastian. I will kill other vampires again. I’m not asking you to tell me who or even explain why, just as I won’t share who I have killed.” I liked the fact that my pet had killed before, that he had known what it was like to feel blood on his hands. A shiver spread through me at that, and I wondered if he got a high from killing. If he was revved at the end, with adrenaline and energy to burn, or if he shut down, going icy and silent and just needing more until that ice finally shattered, leaving him bare and aching.
“How about torture?” Crowe studied Sebastian, cocking his head. “Any experience there? Will we need to worry about you vomiting or passing out?” Draven made a disgusted noise as he flipped his blade between his fingers, nearly bouncing on the balls of his feet. I had no doubt that both Draven and Crowe were professionals in this area. You didn’t get that high up in a prominent blood witch coven without having blood on your hands.
“Not on humans,” Sebastian ground out through gritted teeth. “Though with this set, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.” Sorrow mixed with fury, dancing in a violent stream across his features.
“Then I guess we’re all going,” Crowe muttered before turning his attention to me. “While I appreciate the dresses, Elsie, I think something else may be a bit more appropriate for a torture session.”
“You can always go naked,” Draven teased, his tongue pressing against his lip ring and sliding back and forth. “I’m sure that would be something to see.”
I shrugged, not embarrassed in the slightest. “I’ve tortured naked before. I find it soothing actually.” All three gaped at me, as if I had completely stolen their voices. “I also prefer to perform in loose, light colored clothing. It gives me more mobility to get in where I need to, and people are far more afraid when they can see their blood or the blood of their friends staining you. It’s not like I’m short on clothing.” I didn’t bother waiting for a response as I headed for my wardrobe, pursing my lips as I considered my options. I slipped out of the gown I wore, letting it pool at my feet, and ignored the choked sound behind me. Sebastian, if I had to take a guess. I tugged a sheer, white dress from the wardrobe and slipped it over my head. The straps were thin, the back nonexistent, and the fabric was thin enough to cling to my every curve. The neck dipped in a deep vee, exposing a large portion of my breasts, and the skirt was short, only coming to my knees rather than the floor-length gowns
I preferred. I stroked a hand down the fabric, enjoying the cool sensation against my skin, knowing it wouldn’t be cool for long when blood began to soak into it, decorating the material in a decadent, macabre pattern. I didn’t bother with shoes—bare feet were both more stable and more easily able to soak up the blood that would coat the ground before we were done.
I turned to face the others, combing my fingers through my hair so that the curls lay correctly as they tumbled down my back. Crowe swallowed hard, his eyes tracing the shadows he could see beneath the thin fabric, and a bright blush infused Sebastian’s cheeks as his eyes darted between me and the wall. “Elsie, I keep trying not to like you, then you do things like this,” Draven remarked, chuckling. He spun his blade in rapid circles, ignoring the knicks he received when it slipped and got too close to his fingers. I didn’t bother answering the witch. It didn’t matter if he liked or hated me. I was oath bound to him and would work with Draven until the magic decided I had sufficiently fulfilled my debt.
“There were six already dead when we transported them,” Crowe told me, magic beginning to crackle across his fingers. “One more was close, though the magic may have been strong enough to keep him alive. You did good work, Ash, especially without a weapon and being outnumbered to such a degree.” The compliment was given in such a direct and offhanded manner, it was clear he meant it.
Draven’s amusement fled, lightning crackling over his skin as he sank into himself, preparing for what we were about to do. “Crowe and I have used these cells before, so our tools are already within the walls.” I knew very little about a witch’s holding area, just that it was magically sealed, accessible only to those whose blood was keyed into the creation spell.
“You are offering free passage in and out for both my mistress and myself?” Sebastian demanded of the twins, his expression severe as he looked between them.
“Of course,” Crowe agreed, inclining his head. “This vengeance is yours, and we are oath bound with your mistress. The magic will not let us kill her.” What an odd little group we made, all with me at the center. I was bound to all three of them, and they were bound to me in return. Not all was equal, but none could kill the other without magical backlash. Even I couldn’t kill Sebastian without first breaking our bond, a move that would leave me weak. There was a reason vampires broke their bonds with their pets at mealtimes. The other vampires in the room would immediately converge on the pet, preventing them from killing their prior master while they were in such a weak state.
“We still need answers as well as blood,” I reminded Sebastian firmly. If six or seven were already dead, that left five or six if my quick count at the time had been correct.
“Our magic can help isolate those who’ll have the information we need,” Draven told me. “It’s a useful spell so we don’t have to take the time or energy to torture an entire coven. Also, they cannot see what we do, which means it’s easy to kill the ones who are worthless quickly and brutally to gain compliance.” A dark grin curved his lips as he stroked his thumb across his blade before reaching out to place a dot of blood first on myself, then on Sebastian. “If they have information we need, you’ll see them glow.” He told us, licking his thumb to remove the residual blood. I glanced between him and Crowe.
“You don’t need to do that to Crowe too?” It seemed silly to me that they’d each cast the spell and waste energy that way. Crowe snorted, but it was Sebastian who answered me, making the other man fall silent.
“They’re twins, they share the same blood, so they have access to the same information as the other.” He looked between a bristling Draven and Crowe, as if daring them to deny what he’d told me.
“We still need to talk about how you seem to know so much about witches, pet,” Draven snarled, and I hissed, baring my fangs.
“You will not call him that.” My words were guttural, my hands curling as my claws extended. “He is mine, not yours.” The oath magic wouldn’t let me kill Draven for his insults, but it would allow me to injure him, that was clear enough when he’d taken my fangs earlier. The man might enjoy pain, but everyone had their limit, and I would be sure to find it if he tested me.
Sebastian interrupted our stare down before either of us could challenge the other. “My mother was a blood witch,” he explained with a careless shrug. “I never showed power, so I was sent to the humans as I aged. My mother had high hopes that my powers were simply delayed, so from the cradle she never hid her magic from me. Add in my penchants for research…” He trailed off, nodding his head toward the piles of books waiting for us. “There is plenty I know about the witches.”
The twins shared a look full of eyebrow movements and twisted mouths, communicating silently. “If you are amenable,” Crowe began slowly, as if ensuring Draven was in agreement with him, “we may pick your brain later to see if you have any knowledge relating to our own research.” Excitement and curiosity burned in me at the mention of their studies.
“If my mistress allows it,” Sebastian replied stiffly. “For now, however, I think focusing on the task at hand is a bit more important than bickering.”
Crowe nodded coolly before raising his hands and sketching symbols in the air. “If you are ready then.” The portal opened before us, and Draven stepped through first. I held my head high as I walked through, ignoring the sensation of magic as it pricked into my skin like needles. Sebastian and Crowe were quick to follow, and the portal sealed behind us soundlessly. I took a moment, scanning the area where we had landed.
It was clear we weren’t actually inside of the castle, although the rough gray stone of the walls and the shape of the cells mirrored what I knew lay deep underneath the floors of my rooms. Groans, whimpers, and sobs drifted from the cells that were spread around the large, open room we were standing in, following the curve. I shifted to see behind me, realizing the area was completely circular, only broken apart by the cells themselves. No wonder it could only be entered via portal—there was no door, no hallway, no windows, nothing but gray stone and bars. Light filled the center of the space, though there was no source that I could see, but the cells were as dark as night, their only view that of this circle, the circle that was about to become a blood bath as our fun began.
All the tools of the torturer’s trade were displayed within the massive room. A large chair with shackles stood beside a set of manacles that dangled from the ceiling, allowing a victim to be strung up. Knives, saws, torches, whips, and more lay on tables angled throughout the room—close enough to taunt the prisoners in the cells with the chance of escape either through overpowering their jailors or through self-mutilation, but just a hairsbreadth out of reach no matter how they might strain for them.
“Well equipped,” I praised succinctly, smoothing my hand down my skirt as I finished my perusal of the room.
Draven chuckled darkly. “Why thank you. I’m glad it will suit your needs.” He drew a rune in the air, his eyes glowing red, before letting it fade away. “Those who hold information,” he murmured. Sebastian and I turned, glancing between cells. Two were now lit up brilliantly, showcasing the prisoners inside. One male, one female. I recognized the male as one Sebastian had called Clyde in his memories, and I knew my lips had peeled back to reveal my fangs. The female I couldn’t put a name to, though she had stood side by side with the one named Winifred. If my guess was correct, I’d assume that one was already dead from the deep wound Sebastian had inflicted upon her.
“Clyde first,” I ordered, pointing to the man. As the twins moved to open the magical locks on the door and haul the male to the manacles, I turned to whisper into Sebastian’s ear. “If it gets to be too much, pet, I will step in.”
Hard blue eyes met mine, full of heat and hate. “It won’t be too much.” With that, he strode toward our first victim, the promise of violence clear in his eyes.
Chapter Seventeen
Sebastian
As a rule, I didn’t let my anger get the better of me. When I did, that was whe
n people got hurt. Not humans, at least not before today. But vampires? Witches? I had been outnumbered today, never expecting so many to gang up on me at once—let alone so many humans. I hadn’t been prepared. I wasn’t the type to give in to my fury in the moment. I’d take the blows as they came, slip away, and let my prey forget what they had done. Let them forget the strokes of their lashes against my skin, the horror they had carved into my mind.
I hadn’t lied when I’d told Elsie I thought she was a monster. Just as I had thought the twins were monsters. They were vampires. Witches. They weren’t human, they shouldn’t even be real. They were the nightmares of the old world given form, given credence, given power, and it had been my job to take that away from them. My job to hunt them one by one, wiping another from existence as I sought any piece of information I could find. Killing them wasn’t enough, I needed something bigger, something more permanent, something that could wipe an entire coven or the castle itself off the map. I knew the answer had to be somewhere. It was why I had gotten myself assigned to Elsie’s wing in the first place. As the servant in charge of her wing, I would have had no trouble entering her chambers while she was away under the pretense of cleaning them. I would have had my chance to look through her books, her notes, and see what I could find.
When she had selected me as a pet and ordered me to research with her, I had been both furious and elated. Being her pet meant I couldn’t assassinate her the way I had others in the past, the magic would prevent me. It added another layer to my ordeal. I had free rein to find the answers I needed in the guise of doing her research, but I would need to find a way to break our bond without her permission. Unlike other humans, I knew a severed bond left a vampire weak, fragile. I had used that to my advantage on more than one occasion when a vampire had betrayed their pet and sent them to be a meal. The other vampires protected the bond breaker from the pet he had betrayed, but they didn’t bother to guard them from anyone else who might sneak in and take advantage of their weakened state. They assumed the knowledge was secret, and to many it probably was. But when I had found it, tested it, I had hoarded that knowledge and made sure I kept my ear to the ground in order to utilize it to my advantage.
Reign of Nightmares (Blood Throne Book 1) Page 12
