Made of Scars

by Eden Wildblood

  There was nothing sexier.

  An orgasm ripped through her without warning and Wynter buried her face in the duvet beneath her in a bid to stop from crying out.

  She was then forced back to the here and now when she peered to her left and discovered Marcus still drinking from her vein, his frenzy more than evident now that he’d had another taste of her endorphin-laced blood.

  Shit. This could be bad. Really bad.

  Wynter internally chastised herself for letting her mind wander so far and cursed Marcus for not only his bite, but also his ability to rule her emotions through it.

  He had delivered her with so much pain she’d passed out, and all while she was trying her hardest to prove that she was loyal to him. He’d needed to hurt her so that he could test that loyalty, she knew, and just hoped he’d gotten what he’d came for.

  But now, there were bigger issues at hand. She understood all too well that to climax while a vampire fed meant almost certain death for the human being drained. She could already feel the affects of the blood loss and knew it wouldn’t be long until she was out cold again.

  When it’d happened before there had been tricks she could try, but not today.

  Wynter had nothing, and knew she wasn’t even remotely strong enough to try and fight him off. She was lying on her front, one arm strapped to her broken collarbone beneath her and the other stretched out to her side so she could feed the vampire lying against her pillow. Her legs felt numb and her arse so raw she wasn’t sure she could even walk, much less run.

  There was nothing she could do. No one she could scream to and beg for help. Nothing she could say to Marcus to calm his frenzy.

  All Wynter could hope was that he would come to his senses in time and stop before it was too late and he’d taken too much. But it was already close. The light behind her eyes was soon dimming, and she held on as long as she could.

  She cried out to Marcus and pleaded with him to stop before he killed her, but her screams seemed to fall on deaf ears. The last time this had happened she’d shattered his feeding frenzy by breaking his spell. By inciting the power she then had to annul their working contract and free herself from the spell the Priestess had put on her. That wouldn’t help this time.

  As a shudder ran down her spine, Wynter admitted defeat and closed her eyes. She was suddenly ready to go and could feel the death seeping into her bones. It was easier this time though, and she knew it was because her fight was gone. In spite of all her promises to herself to stay strong, Wynter realised she was the opposite. Nothing more than a useless human who had foolishly taken on the king of monsters and lost one time too many.

  Jakob was in her thoughts again and she reached for him in her mind, desperate to go to him. To see her soul mate one last time before she was gone forever.

  But then suddenly, the drinking stopped.

  She forced her eyes back open and found nothing there.

  Marcus hadn’t just stopped, but he’d also gone, and she turned her head to scan what little of the room she could see.

  That was when she saw them.

  The black creature from the beach was back. He seemed more human than before, though. Like the mist he was made up of was denser somehow. And he was stood holding Marcus up off the floor and against the wall by his throat.

  “Okay,” Marcus croaked, pushing him away, “okay!”

  “Get control of yourself or I will,” her strange protector replied in a gruff voice, and only let go when Marcus nodded in answer.

  He then glared at the creature like he was going to throttle him, and Wynter whimpered when his gaze fell on her. Marcus looked furious and she had no idea why. It wasn’t her fault. The other guy was right and it was him who needed to learn some bloody self-control. Not that she felt the need to tell him that right now. It could wait until he was calmer.

  He did a double take when he took her in, as though just realising the severity of the situation. Marcus seemed to sense her distress and the frail state he had left her in, and he immediately backed off.

  He then stormed out without looking back.

  Wynter let out another cry as she tried to climb up onto her knees with her free hand, but quickly failed thanks to her diminished strength and the loss of blood. “It’s all right,” the barely-there man told her as he took her hand and helped her up.

  Wynter felt better the moment they touched and she breathed a sigh of relief as he ran his hand over the cut on her wrist and somehow closed the deep, bruised wound Marcus had left her with. He had to be magical as well as mythical, or so she thought, and got her answer a second later when the black creature also reached up and unclipped the sling holding her right arm in place over her broken collarbone. She winced as her arm fell free.

  “What are you?” she asked, but he shushed her and ran his fingertips across the broken bone as though assessing the damage there. It was so strange, she felt him as though he were flesh and blood, and yet she could still see right through him. It was the oddest thing, but then things got even stranger when she suddenly realised that as he touched her, the bones mended. The deep, aching throb in her chest was gone and she let out a garbled cry.

  Wynter rolled her shoulder and felt no pain at all, and knew he had somehow healed her, just like he had the cut Marcus had left her with.

  “There we go,” he finally said, “all better.”

  Wynter stared into what she imagined was his black eyes and frowned. She couldn't even begin to envision what he was or why he had helped her, and so stared blankly at him for a moment before finally opening her mouth.

  “On the beach, you saved me from the alpha vampire,” she croaked and he nodded, “and just now?”

  “I stopped Marcus from taking your life,” he confirmed, “it’s my job after all. My name is Brodie and I’m your protector. Hired by Marcus to watch over you and keep you safe should anyone try and do lasting harm. Including him. I can show myself or become invisible at will, but I am with you always, Wynter.” He stroked her unruly hair and gave her what looked like a soft smile. “I see everything. Know everything.”

  Fear suddenly struck her and Wynter felt her eyes widen in shock. Had he seen her and Jakob? Had he witnessed their souls merging and so knew all about how the two of them were bonded forever? He had to have, but for some reason he hadn’t betrayed her and told Marcus all about her wrongdoings.

  That was a good sign, or so she hoped.

  “What are you?” she asked again with a frown.

  “A jinni,” Brodie said calmly before placing one of his black wispy hands over her heart. “I live within you. I see what you see. Feel what you feel.”

  “And my thoughts? My desires?”

  “I feel them too,” Brodie answered with a small bow, “but fear not, they are kept sacredly secret between you and I. A jinni would never betray their charge.”

  “Never?” she demanded and raised her eyebrow in question. He had to know what she meant and Brodie nodded again, which took a huge weight off her shoulders.

  “Your secrets are mine to protect. No matter who hired me.”

  Good. That was very good.

  Not once had Wynter considered Marcus having somehow put a spy inside her mind and body. Someone who had and would continue to snoop on every thought and feeling she had now that he had taken residence.

  It was a strange concept and one Wynter wasn’t all that comfortable with, but something told her there’d be no fighting it. She couldn't see him off, just like Marcus hadn’t been able to.

  Brodie was clearly more powerful than all of them, and someone not to be trifled with.

  Ten

  Jakob had tried two nights to get inside Slave under the radar, and nothing had worked. Marcus had thought of everything and no matter which window he tried or which stairwell he watched to seek out an opening, it never came. He started to despair, but knew he had to get inside and to her. His Wynter. It had been long enough. There was nothing else for it, and so he decided h
e’d go in the front door if he had to. He’d walk right up and ring the doorbell. Anything to get Marcus’s attention and find his way inside.

  Just as he was about to stalk up to the heavily guarded doors, a way in suddenly presented itself. An opening on the second floor caught his eye. Naught but a tiny window, perhaps a bathroom or kitchenette, but an opening just the same, and so Jakob willed his body to move. Against all human comprehension, his huge frame took flight amongst the shadows and became one with the air itself. Neither whole nor in pieces, he moved as one with the moonlight. It wasn’t easy for vampires to transform in such a way, but he’d been doing so for hundreds of years. Just another skill the assassin had perfected as part of his chosen career.

  He was inside the small gap a heartbeat later, and hugged the walls of the tiny room he found himself in on the other side, becoming nothing but a cool draught. A silent whisper. The two people entwined and writhing against one another within felt his presence and he saw one of them, a female human, shudder.

  “What’s wrong?” her male counterpart asked, coming to a slow stop between her thighs.

  “Nothing,” she replied as she urged him to continue, “I’m just cold.”

  “Then let me warm you up,” he teased.

  “And close the window,” she added with a nod, “you know we aren’t meant to open them.”

  Jakob was gone before he’d even obeyed his lover’s command, but knew the girl was right. And that her lover would act upon her warning. His way out was soon to be locked tight again. However, it didn’t matter. He would get what he’d come for and leave before anyone noticed—even if he had to fly her off the roof in order to do it.

  He reached the stairs a second later and found his way up to the top floor in silence.

  It was quiet. Too quiet. Where was Marcus? And what of his men? Jakob could sense their presence and could smell Wynter’s delicious scent upon the air, but she seemed cold. Isolated. Due diligence aside, Jak knew it was now or never. He had to go to her.

  The room—her cell—was locked but that didn’t stop him. Jakob’s nimble fingers made quick work of the lock and a second later he was inside. He stormed towards the bed, where a huddled figure lay curled beneath thin sheets, and placed his hand on her in haste, but it wasn’t Wynter. The woman turned over and peered up into his face in surprise, blinking away the sleep from her eyes.

  Her bright orange hair fell in waves behind her, and Jakob cursed.

  “Who are you?” she asked him meekly, and reached for his hand as he went to walk away. “Have you come to save us?”

  But Jakob wasn’t that easily fooled. He could see right through her façade and knew without a doubt that he was in the presence of the same woman he had seen throw a man up and down the room like a ragdoll. She might’ve been under her shroud at the time, but he could sense that the female lying in the bed before him was not human. She was wrapped in sheets that still smelled of Wynter, but the scent was fading.

  She hadn’t been in them for hours.

  That was when he noticed the vial of Wynter’s blood hanging from a pendant around the woman’s neck and scowled down at her.

  Shit. Marcus had gone with the same plan Jakob was intending to go with. He’d planted a vial of Wynter’s blood at the club and he had fallen for the ruse. He’d believed her to be there, even when he’d had nothing to go on but the scent of her essence, and yet, there he stood. Exposed and foiled in his attempt to save her.

  “Where is she?” he demanded, “what have you done with her?”

  The witch’s timid expression faded in an instant and a devious smile curled at her lips as she climbed up onto her knees and faced him.

  “What business is it of yours, vampire?” she asked, eyeing him curiously, “let me guess, you love her?” the Priestess added with an eye-roll.

  So, she didn’t actually know they'd merged? His Wynter was indeed more powerful than any of her captors had realised if she’d managed to keep their union hidden from them both, and Jakob was impressed.

  He never should’ve doubted her. Of course she would stay strong against Marcus and his oppressive means to rule her. And apparently even the Priestess and all her magical ability weren’t strong enough to make her cave either. Jakob had to fight the smile threatening to creep onto his face at the realisation.

  “No,” he lied, finding himself growing strangely used to the practice by now. “She and I made a deal. She put herself in the path of that vampire soldier so I could get away, but only in exchange for her freedom once I was able. I just came here to fulfil my end of the bargain.”

  “No, silly,” the Priestess countered and she gave a small giggle that Jakob might’ve considered playful on any other woman. But not her.

  He bristled and readied himself for what came next. “You came here to die…”

  Eleven

  Wynter slept for a while after the jinni had gone, and she woke to find Marcus lying beside her on the bed. He was propped up on one elbow and had evidently been watching her sleep, much to her irritation. She just wanted to be free of him now and wasn’t sure she could keep on pretending for much longer. Her mind began to race with potential escape plans and yet there was no clear strategy. No obvious way out. She felt her chest ache with the emptiness she knew was slowly consuming her and it was all she could do not to cry.

  “Your sadness is intoxicating, my sweet,” Marcus whispered before drawing in a lungful of the scent Wynter knew she could not mask or hide. He would always know her overriding emotion and she endeavoured to give nothing away via her expression or answer. In fact, she said nothing at all and Marcus grinned. “Aww not talking to me now?” he teased, “is it because I whipped you, or because I drank too much when you climaxed for me?”

  Climaxed for him? As if. Wynter wanted to bite back and tell him where to go, but she didn’t. She couldn't afford the backlash if she pissed him off now and so swallowed her retort.

  “Both,” she groaned in answer before turning over to her other side so she was facing away. Marcus simply let out a laugh and closed the gap between them, spooning Wynter from behind. He then ran his hand down over her backside and gave it a pat from atop the covers.

  “Well it appears you’ve miraculously healed. I assume you have your new friend Brodie to thank for it?”

  She didn’t answer. “This too,” he added as he slipped his hand up and over her once broken collarbone. The same one he had squeezed in a bid to force her submission before.

  It was too much. All of it.

  Wynter had taken all she could manage. Had more than enough of Marcus and his games.

  No longer would she stand for it.

  She jumped up out of bed and grabbed the closest set of real clothes she could find. She’d had it with the frilly nightdresses too and threw the one she’d been wearing to the ground without a care before sliding her legs into a pair of trousers and throwing on a chunky knit jumper that’d been beside them in the drawer.

  Wynter looked around the room for a clock or some kind of indication of the time, but there was nothing, and she realised she’d lost all comprehension of night and day while locked away and sleeping only when Marcus had exhausted her during his feeds. He had a watch on his wrist of course, but she wasn’t about to ask him for clarification. She simply took it upon herself that it was time to go to work, and climbed into her black heels.

  Wynter then headed for the doorway and was met with another of Marcus’s many obstacles. It was locked, of course.

  “Open the door,” she croaked without even looking back at her captor, who was still lying on the bed as though completely unperturbed by her reaction.

  “Where are you going?” he asked with a mirthful tone that irked her even more.

  “To work,” she snapped, resting her forehead against the still closed door.

  “No,” Marcus answered.

  “Then let me out so I can go and stretch my legs. Please, Marcus. I need some fresh air. Some time to myself.
You broke our deal when you murdered Warren. I should walk out of your life for good after that stunt but I haven’t, so the least you can do is let me have some space.”

  Wynter waited a beat and when she got no answer she pounded on the door with her fists until she finally heard it click open.

  Of course, that also meant Marcus was right behind her.

  He enveloped her and took her hands in his to stop her from hitting the door any more.

  “That’s enough,” he whispered in her ear, “if you want me to show you the world waiting for you outside these four walls all you have to do is behave. Can you do that, my sweet?”

  No, she thought, but forced her defiant side to take a back seat and instead nodded her head yes.

  Marcus pulled her to him and then pushed the door open to reveal nothing but emptiness beyond her room. Not the usual living area Wynter was used to, nor the wall partitioning off the rest of Marcus’s office. It was naught but a bare warehouse. Empty of all except a solitary desk and laptop atop it.

  She walked out into the open space and peered around in the darkness. An icy chill went down her spine when she saw a skyline ahead she didn’t recognise and she turned back to Marcus and peered up into his frosty blue eyes.

  “Where are we? And when did you move me?” she demanded, seeing red.

  “This is one of my as yet unused locations across the globe. I decided it was time I kept you hidden, Wynter. Away from the other managers and from Slave. I don’t want you working there any longer where they can taint you or come between us any more.”

  “So not only have you taken away my friends and my freedom, but now my choices too? I refuse, Marcus. Do you hear me? I refuse to accept this life,” Wynter bellowed as she stormed away towards the only exit she could find. One solitary green and white emergency light indicated the way, and even though she was terrified, Wynter went straight for it.