Forever Immortal
Page 5
“If she harms ye, son, I will cut her fucking head off and display it for the world tae see,” he growled. “This boy, the one ye changed, they grew up together?”
“Aye, they trained together, lived together, hunted together, and now he is one o’ mine. I changed him last night, and he is through the fever already. I used my blood tae speed the change so that she can see he is alive. Hunters take a vow tae destroy one another, but they’re closer than most. If she is able tae speak tae him, if she sees that he is still within his mind, she may switch easily. If not, I’ll let her ken that I will keep him alive and take him apart, piece by bloody piece until all that remains is his mind.”
“Three times, Cian,” he uttered as he rubbed his eyes and surveyed the room of our men. “Feed her yer blood three times, and then ye fuck her. She’s siren, ye doona assume what would work on another, works on the she-beast.”
Chapter 7
Isadora
Tears filled my eyes, dropping down my cheeks at the reality of what was happening. Jesse, my best fucking friend, one of the only people who had never cared that I housed a sleeping siren, the same boy I’d defended when he was so utterly defenseless as an abandoned toddler was dead. I’d failed to protect him, to keep him alive no matter the cost. It left a hole in my soul, one that I was doing my best to ignore so that the vampire released me. If he released me, I could bring back reinforcements and get Jesse out of here, even if it was only to bury him.
I teetered on the edge of the bed, my arms burning from the ropes that, no matter what I did, seemed to refuse to release me. I was standing on the tips of my toes, pulling against the rope with everything I had in me as I tried to manipulate it to release me as the door opened. Turning, I locked eyes with Cian, who smiled and closed the door behind him before leaning against it and staring at my naked body.
“Quite the precarious position is nae it?” His deep voice rumbled as I chewed my lip, pretending I was anywhere but here. I felt his power filling the room as he moved deeper into it, standing behind me as I faced the other side of the room. “Unfortunately fer ye, the rope is inescapable, and the more ye struggle, the more it tightens.”
His nose rubbed against my thigh as his hands wrapped around them as I tried to back up, off of the bed. His deep growl filled the room, sending sparks up my spine as he held me in place. I spun around, noting my mistake the moment his heated breath fanned against the delicate flesh of my apex. Those hands rested against my waist as he stared up at me with flecks of gold lighting his eyes from within.
I moved to step from the bed, but the moment I did, he lifted me, forcing my pussy to rest a hairsbreadth from his heated lips. Well, shite. I shook my head as I looked up, eyeing the rope that refused to leave the hook that it rested on. I peered down as I watched him licking his lips before that sinful tongue slid through my flesh and I bit my lip to keep from screaming as my core tightened with awareness.
“What the hell are you doing?” I demanded huskily, my voice a mix of pure lust and need.
“Rocking yer world, wee siren,” he chuckled huskily as he pushed against my flesh again, watching me as I watched him. My teeth bit into the flesh of my bottom lip until it became too much, too many sensations igniting with the simple motion, and I screamed as my thighs tightened against him. “Mmm, ye taste ready tae be fucked. Are ye ready, sweet girl?”
“No! Put me down,” I pleaded as I hung in the air, my flesh flush against his deadly mouth as my arms burned. “My arms are on fire!” I snapped and watched as he lifted his eyes, taking in the rope that had, in fact, tightened until my fingers were turning black from lack of oxygen to them.
He carefully set me back on the bed as he reached up, pulling the rope down as I sagged and whined as my arms ached from trying to get free from it. He effortlessly removed the rope and then rubbed feeling back into my wrists as I watched his large hands doing so.
“Cian, Cian MacCameron, the prince of the MacCameron clan,” I uttered. “You’re that Cian, aren’t you?”
“The monster that hunts the hunters and places them upon the pikes around their strongholds, aye, Isa,” he laughed darkly as he watched me shiver with his words. “I am that Cian MacCameron. I’m also the head of the largest pharmaceutical company in the world. Ye and yer hunters, ye think nae one is smart enough tae figure oot who is selling blood tae the smaller corporations that go against me fer market prices. I been watching ye fer months now, sweet lass. I ken what ye do when ye are off work, spending countless hours staring oot over the empty graves o’ yer people. Only they’re nae yours, are they? Ye remind yourself every night why ye are needed, why ye have tae fight us. How many of yer people are in that graveyard?”
“One,” I uttered as I looked up into his eyes. “My mother is there because she was raped and almost murdered by you and your people for what she was. She wasn’t like other sirens, nor did she lure men to their deaths. Yet she was left to be found on the steps outside the hunters’ stronghold. They saved me, her child, and took me in. I have spent my entire life hunting down monsters that prey on those who cannot fight back. I don’t care if you are the Pope reborn, I will not help you at the cost of the hunters who took me in. Do you know what happens to sirens that are left in the foster system, or any immortal left in one? We become fodder for those who wish to abuse us. I would have been a whore, used to bring men to their knees. Rich men buy sirens to fuck us and to make their enemies meet a gruesome ending. Sirens have only a few abilities that humans wish to use, our cunts, our lungs, or the ability to bring enemies to their knees with one of those two things. They saved me, trained me how to kill monsters, and raised me.”
“By teaching ye that what lies inside o’ ye is evil? Or by teaching ye that without them, you’d have been abused? It sounds tae me that they made ye fear what ye are, and that they played the hero in yer story. Guilt is a good emotion tae wield against the young ones. Flora was nae murdered by vampires. Those stunning green eyes ye have are the royal line of sirens, Isa. Isadora Kathrine Mihai was her mother, how do ye ken they knew what tae name her wee daughter? Someone in there kenned who she was, and way before ye were born. If they just happened upon her dying corpse, how do ye ken they knew what tae name her wee bairn?”
“You’re lying,” I snarled as I pushed him away from me.
“Flora Isadora MacPherson was the Queen o’ the Sirens. She loved a lad who captained a ship, and even though it was forbidden, she married him. He was the first mortal tae ever hold the title of King o’ the Sirens. I ken who she was, because she helped me many times before she wed the lad. Ye are born of a mortal man, and a queen of yer people, Isa. I ken exactly who ye are.”
“My mother died after she gave birth to me! I know, because they told me. They told me how she had been almost drained of all of her blood. How she had two rings on her thumb, hers and my fathers. I know because I have them!”
“How hard do ye ken it would be tae kill them both and raise the new princess of the sirens as a hunter? Ye ken how powerful ye can be if ye stopped drinking their fucking tonic that is poisoning ye, aye? Ye come from a bloodline that is purer than my own. Sirens are powerful creatures, once hunted tae be wielded against mortals and immortals because neither was immune. The only weakness a siren has is when she is carrying a bairn. Once she creates one, she will guard it with her very life tae ensure it reaches adulthood, when it can protect itself against men.”
“You need to stop lying to me. Tell me what you want from me, not my dead mother.”
“I want ye tae ride my fucking cock.”
His switch of topic was so fast my brain hiccupped as I blinked and opened my mouth to reply, only to close it as I sputtered. “No,” I ground out as I narrowed my eyes on him as he stepped closer.
“Yes,” he countered as he took another step closer.
“You need to stop, now,” I warned as I held my hands up, only to feel the cold
wall behind the globes of my ass cheeks.
“I’m hungry.”
“You should try fruit, it’s good for you,” I offered huskily.
“So is siren flesh.”
“Still bitter,” I swallowed as I watched him close the distance between us. When he got close, I ducked, slipping around him as I danced free of his hold. I kept walking backwards, staring at his full mouth that curved into a devilish grin before he vanished.
I spun around, searching the room for him and then paused as his lips pressed against my shoulder blade. “Oyo wee, Isa, ye ‘ave never hunted anything like me, have ye? Right now ye are wondering how ye couldn’t even sense me in the room. Or how the hunters will be able tae fight me,” he growled as he spun me around and picked me up, forcing me to wrap my legs around him as he walked us to the bed and sat on it, staring into my eyes. “They can nae fight us, nae anymore. I was fine tae let them take oot the weak ones, or those who hunted mortals gluttonously. Then they fucked with my bloodline, and me wee sister. They will die fer touching one o’ my siblings.”
“They don’t keep them alive,” I uttered hoarsely as I felt him growing hard beneath me. “They do not keep them for blood. I’ve hunted since I was old enough to hold a blade, and never once have we ever been told to bring in one alive.”
“Now who is lying?” he whispered as he wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me against him as our hearts thundered to the heady aphrodisiac of the blood that rushed through us. “I watched ye take in a young vampire two weeks ago. Ye and Jesse took him tae the research center and left him with a man wearing a ring with an emblem of a Falcon on it. Who was he?”
“I don’t know, above my pay grade. That wasn’t a vampire. That was a boy who had been bitten by a lycanthrope creature. He was gnawed on, and yet still breathing. He was different, as if he was somehow avoiding the change from human to wolf. Not vampire,” I swallowed hard as I watched his eyes narrowing as I whispered the truth.
“And the young woman that Jesse dropped off three days ago alone?”
“What?” I whispered thickly as I stared down at where his jeans rubbed against my opening.
“Jesse left ye home alone, sleeping. I know because I was inside yer bedroom, watching ye as I waited for him tae return. I could ‘ave taken ye then, but it wasn’t my purpose. Instead, I left ye there, sleeping in yer pretty blue nightgown as I hunted him down. He captured a young vampire, newly turned at best. He took her to that man again, and then slipped back into yer lousy little apartment, and I watched him, staring at ye as ye slept. Guilt oozed oot o’ his pores. So ye tell me, what would make yer best friend feel guilty enough tae watch ye sleep?”
“That isn’t true,” I challenged as I stared him down. “We don’t go out alone, ever. Hunters are always in pairs. Always, it is the first rule of hunting.”
“Yer wee baby blue nightgown has a thin layer o’ lace ye hand-sewed into the bottom tae add length. The sleeves are nae from the original, but ye are crafty as ye try tae make each measly paycheck they send ye stretch. Ye have millions of dollars hidden in accounts that ye mother left ye, and yet they have yet tae tell ye as much, is that nae curious tae ye?”
“Or they don’t know it because she died,” I growled as he opened his mouth to argue, and I did the only thing I could to make him stop talking. I kissed him, pushing my lips against his as my eyes widened and I pulled back quickly.
“Nae, continue,” he chuckled as he let his fingers trail over my side. “This entire time, ye have not asked fer clothes.”
“I’m a siren,” I shrugged. “I work best naked.”
“Ye are a siren, a bloody fucking virgin siren. How old are ye, Isa?”
“You seem to know everything about me, so why don’t you tell me?” I countered.
“I ken how old ye are, but I want tae know how old ye think ye are.”
“Twenty-four,” I said as I tried to pull away, only to have his hands tighten on my flesh.
“Did ye ken that sirens sleep fer five years after they escape their mother’s womb? I’m guessing ye are closer tae thirty, yet ye would nae remember the years ye slept. Did ye remember ever being smaller than Jesse? Ye were a lass, and he a boy, even a year younger, ye should ‘ave been tiny. Ye mother was delicate, a wee thing. She had silver hair, spun from the moon’s rays. Eyes of the greenest emeralds, and a dimple on her left cheek. Ye look just like her, only yer humanity shines where she had none. Nae until she found yer father, who captured her heart.”
“Mmm, does this story have a point?”
“I’m going tae take ye tae Jesse, but first, ye will feed from me.”
“I’m a siren, I’m good. I’m way good, no blood needed.”
“I wasn’t asking,” he hissed as he rolled us without warning, staring down at me as he pushed the massive erection against me. “You’re fucking beautiful.”
“No,” I whispered as I swallowed loudly. “I’m mildly passing or some shit. Stop looking at me like you’re going to eat me. It’s disturbing, and my eye still burns.”
He smirked as he leaned down, pressing his mouth against my ear. “Can ye feel me, woman?” he growled.
“It’s hard to miss,” I admitted, swallowing as my hands pressed against his chest.
“Not my cock,” he laughed as he lifted up, studying my face as I fought to remain calm.
“What then? Because I can’t think past that thing poking me,” I whispered huskily.
He pushed his mouth against mine, never deepening the kiss or even kissing me as I heard his fangs click into place. I shivered as I watched him, hating the idea of drinking his blood again. Last time, last time I hadn’t wanted to stop, and the naughty shit that played out in my head during it? So good…er, bad.
Something touched my lip, droplets of it, before he leaned over, kissing me with his blood-covered lips. I moaned as the heady aphrodisiac of it took hold, loosening the hold I’d maintained on my emotions. I brought my hands up, holding him to me as I groaned at the deliciousness of him as he deepened the kiss, allowing me to lie beneath him as he kissed me with an intensity that shocked and disturbed me.
The beating of his heart echoed in my ears, igniting a fire within me that sent heat rushing through me until my heart beat in sync with his, thundering in my ears as he ground his cock against the wetness he created between my thighs. I bit his lip, growling as I struggled to get more, but he pulled back, capturing my hands as he licked the racing pulse against my throat, pushing his fangs deep into it, pain mingling with pleasure as I pleaded for more.
I could hear every pull against my vein, every moan that escaped my throat as the sensation of floating took control as power erupted in the bedroom around us. Our hair rose as something seemed to click into place. His heart sped up, matching mine as I exploded against him, unable to stop it from happening with his fangs buried in my neck, and his heavy cock rubbing against my pussy. He pulled away, closing the wound before he rested his forehead against mine, staring into my soul.
“Do ye feel me, lass?” he uttered thickly, his fangs still bared as the thick lines that marked his change on the brink of happening slid from them and down his face.
“I don’t want to,” I whispered huskily, tears sliding from my eyes as I stared at him, unable to shake the intensity of how he felt against me. The sound of his heart as it raced with mine, the emotions that danced inside of me as I tried to piece together what he was doing to me.
“Let’s get ye showered and dressed. It’s time ye went home, before they notice ye are missing.”
“They already know,” I uttered.
“Nae, nae, we called fer ye,” he said as he stood up, fixing the large cock that pressed against his pants. “We ‘ave everything we need tae bring them down, we just chose not tae use it until now.”
“Then why do you need me?” I asked as I sat up, ignoring the fact t
hat his eyes heated as they took in the arousal of my flesh.
“Because I want my sister back alive, and if it means sending ye in tae get her, so be it. If ye fail, they die. Ye get one chance tae do it right, or I bring down hell on them and anyone else who stands in my way.”
Chapter 8
Dressed in someone else’s barely-there white shorts and a red camisole, I was chained to Cian, who yanked the chain every few minutes when I would pause to take in the underground city. No wonder we couldn’t find the hives; if the others looked like this one, we’d be walking into a slaughter—our own.
It wasn’t like anything I’d expected to see in the hive of vampires. Children played as groups, and those I assumed were their parents stood nearby talking. Men and women sat at long tables, laughing or joking until they noticed me chained to Cian, and then angry glares or hisses began. It probably didn’t help that I wiggled my brows as we passed, taking in their wide-owlet stares with pride. I’d earned a massive reputation on murdering their kind, and I prided myself on it, even though the reality was, I’d lost Jesse this time.
Which hurt in every way imaginable, and nothing could change that. We paused outside a locked door, and my chain was jerked again, but this time he didn’t stop until I was pressed against him. His fingers pinched my chin, forcing my stare to meet his.
“Inside this room is your best friend, Isa. He is nae a monster; he is the same man ye grew up with.”
“You killed my best friend,” I argued. “I don’t care what you say otherwise, Jesse died when you turned him into a monster, like you.”
“Ye can make up yer own wee mind then,” he laughed as he released me, moving to unlock the door.
My heart raced as it creaked loudly and I was pulled in behind Cian, to a room of darkness that was eerily silent. I could feel the taint of the undead, and the moment the lights turned on, my eyes settled on Jesse, who was sitting in a chair with his leg resting over the other one, just as he had done countless times as we’d watched movies or spoke of our plans for the future together, at home.