Something Familiar (The Vandran Legacy Book 2)

by Anna-Louise Dann

  She could feel the claws of her inner self writhing about, eager for release. Once whatever crap they had pumped into her wore off, whoever had caught her would feel every bit of her beast’s vengeance, until then she needed to try and find a way out of this place.

  She slowly sat up and took in the unflattering and quite frankly unhygienic surroundings; the room was small and the furniture was minimalistic. There was a small oak bedside table next to the single bed she was laying on, it had an old green-coloured lamp standing in the centre which looked like it had seen better days; the green tinted wallpaper was peeling away from the wall in places where the damp had soaked into it blackening the wall underneath; the musky smell of the room made her wrinkle her nose up in disgust.

  She sat up fully, swinging her legs to the floor. She pushed herself up, standing on shaking legs, giving herself a minute for her spinning head to get used to being upright. She walked to the door and tried the handle. Locked. She banged loudly on the door. “Let me out,” she croaked, her voice strained and her throat sore. “Will? Patrick? Anyone? Please.”

  The final words she’d heard before she passed out earlier, flashed through her mind.

  Dominus is back.

  Her fists slammed against the door, harder and more frantic as her panic built, her heart breaking at the thought she may have lost Dominic forever.

  If Dominus was back he would head straight for Clara, he wouldn’t stop until he got to her and once he found her pregnant and married to a familiar he would kill everyone as she watched before killing her and her unborn baby. She had read Heather’s journal, she knew what he was capable of.

  Tears of frustration and anguish filled her eyes and spilled over. This had all been a set up to get to them; how had they all been so blind?

  If only she could get out maybe she could stop him, maybe she could break through the magic that had taken him over and she could bring her Dominic back. She at least had to try. A crackling sound pulled her out of her wayward thoughts. She looked up to the corner of the room where the noise was coming from, freezing on the spot as she took in the fact that there was a camera pointed straight in her direction, a speaker next to it. The voice she heard next cemented her fears. Will.

  “Emmie my love, don’t you realise it’s useless trying to escape? You belong to me, and now Dominic is out of the picture, we can go back to being a happy family again,” he purred. Was Patrick with him? Maybe she could play to his softer side, she could use that to her advantage.

  “Will, I – is Patrick with you? Can I speak with him?”

  “Ha, stupid bitch! Patrick is dead. He did put up a good fight though, he served his purpose, he was a brilliant decoy, yes, he was, aren’t I clever, making that stupid warlock believe he was being double crossed by his most loyal servant? All I needed to do was get my people to manipulate Phil’s memories, getting inside that stupid bastard’s head was easy, the plan worked perfectly. That sap Patrick would never betray his great Master, but with the idea planted it is enough to make Dominic doubt even his most trusted allies. I thought this would be almost impossible to pull off, but your precious Dominic made it far too easy for me to trick him; it appears his inability to stay away from you has led to his demise and brought forth the deepest darkest part of his soul… Of course, I had help from some of Juliet’s followers within the Domini Bellatorum, they are still so very loyal to that conniving bitch, but they are useful, it’s amazing what a little spell can achieve. I’ve learned a lot of spells from the big book of magic I had them steal from right under Dominic’s nose, even the one that released Dominus after Phil was killed.” She could hear the sinister smirk in his voice. She couldn’t react even though inside she was terrified, she had to find out what he was planning.

  “What do you mean, Will? What spell?” she asked, surprised at how quickly he answered. She had thought she would have to at least turn on some charm to get him talking.

  “The spell that resurrected me, I was brought back by one of the original members of The Domini Bellatorum. Foolishly they thought I knew more about Juliet and her plans for her big brother and your family. Unfortunately, for them, they were wrong, I had just been another of Juliet’s many pawns in bringing down the Vandran bloodline, not that I would ever admit that to them of course. I had been dead for a few days, my rebirth awakened some magic I had inside of me all along, that’s what they said anyway.

  “You see my love, you don’t need the great Dominic anymore, I can be all the warlock you’ll ever need. I bet I can please you more than he can… remember how you used to scream my name as I made you come on my dick? I am hard just thinking about fucking that tight little pussy of yours. Will you let me, Emmie? Will you let me fuck you again and make you mine?”

  Was he for real? Bile rose into her throat and she swallowed it down; she couldn’t hide her disgust at his suggestion. The sick bastard started laughing hysterically at the look on her face.

  “Don’t like that idea? Oh, you will soon, trust me.”

  “Will where’s Hope?” She was trying to distract from the direction this conversation was going, the thought of him laying one hand on her made her want to vomit. She was unable to stop the wobble of her lip at what he was implying. Would he really force himself on her?

  “See here’s where we start to hit a wall in our little conversation, and it was going so well until now. You’re going to ask me about our daughter’s whereabouts to try and play me for a fool, you know exactly where she is and you’re going to tell me, so I can go and get her. Me, you and our daughter are going to be a family again.” What? They must have all got out.

  “She was in the mansion Wi—”

  A piercing screech suddenly penetrated her ear drums until she felt as if they were going burst from her head; the pain dragged her to the floor onto her knees as she held on to her ears in excruciating agony then, as quick as it started the noise stopped, immediately relieving the pressure in her head.

  “Stop bullshitting me, Emmie, or that will be mild to the pain you’ll feel. Where’s my fucking daughter?” he bellowed, his tone uneven, and his breathing ragged.

  “Maybe someone took her after I was drugged, I swear she was there with Heather. Please Will, I am not lying, I promise,” she sobbed.

  She had to make him believe she wanted him too; it had worked once before when she first found out about his involvement in everything and if giving in to him meant she could have a chance of getting out of here, then she would deal with the aftermath later on. Shaking herself mentally for what she was about to do, she wiped her face free from the tears and put on her best seductive smile looking up at the camera.

  “You know, I’ve missed you too, right? No one has ever made me feel the way you do, Will, and now I have seen how powerful you are, I want you all the more. I thought Dominic was right for me, but I was so wrong, he’s a nobody compared to you. You want to fuck me, well, I am right here.”

  Despite the shake of her voice she couldn’t believe how convincing she sounded. Her stomach churned as she awaited his response. Would he see straight through her?

  “I knew you would come around, you never could resist me. I have thought about nothing else, I have a friend of yours in the room next door to this one, Jake, I think his name is.”

  Shit, she had to get out of here.

  “He put up quite a fight, in fact his beast manged to kill a few of my men. Kate seems to be quite fond of him though, so I won’t kill him just yet as she wants to play with him a bit first. While she’s busy playing, I’ll come down and get reacquainted with my wife.”

  Fuck, it worked. Now what?

  Jake

  Kate circled him, hunger in her eyes as she scanned his naked body. He had seen that same hunger many times before as he fucked her, only now the thought of her all over him made his dick recoil. The ropes tying him to the chair cut into the flesh on his wrist as he tried to work free of them. The last few hours had been rough and didn’t look like it was
getting better any time soon, no matter what happened to him he just hoped Colt was back now and the others were OK, especially little Hope.

  How could Emmie have been so stupid? If she had just waited they could have come up with a proper plan; after seeing them drag Emmie away he had known it was a matter of time before Will and his men would come for Hope and the rest of them. He had to cause a distraction, a decoy so the others stood a chance of getting out.

  Giving in to the calling of his beast as it tore its way through Will’s men, the others had managed to sneak out through the kitchen carrying a sleeping Hope, he just prayed they had gotten to safety before Will had realised they were gone, it was more than likely considering the sloppy way Will was running his operation. The gate to the mansion had been left open as they left, so anyone could come in or out.

  The silence in the room was unnerving. Why wasn’t she speaking? Normally you couldn’t shut Kate up.

  “What do you want, Kate? Why are you doing this?” A small spark of emotion flashed in her eyes at his question but was replaced by a narrowing glare.

  “Oh Jake, if only you had looked at me the way you did that whore I caught you with, your suffering would be over in an instant.” Her fingernails drew a line down his chest; he glared up at her.

  “So, this is you being jealous. It’s a bit extreme, don’t you think? I told you that kiss meant nothing.” Her smirk told him she was finding this whole situation amusing, it was the same smirk she had when they fooled around with each other, only he definitely wasn’t up for playing her game.

  “Yeah, of course it didn’t. I saw your dick get hard as you put your tongue in her mouth and besides, I am over that now. I know what a real man’s dick feels like between my legs – Will knows how to please a woman, unlike you. Even though it started that way all of this isn’t me being jealous, you silly bear, this is just me following my true Master’s calling. Will is carrying on The Domini Bellatorum legacy, he really is something spectacular. After all this is over I will be praised and earn my rank; he might even take me as his companion, you know how much I have longed to be joined by the sacred bonding.”

  How had he not seen the madness in her before now? She had hidden it well, she was insane. Had she always been this way? Her eyes were glazed over and her pretty features were distorted and twisted into a sinister grin as she began circling him again, chanting in a language he didn’t understand. The sing-song tone of her voice sent chills down his spine; he knew this was just the beginning, he just prayed he would survive the beating he knew his body was going to take from the woman he deemed his rebound. This was his karma.

  A muscular topless man entered. Locking the door behind him without saying a word, he flexed his bulging biceps kissing each one before slamming his fist into Jake’s stomach, the connection winded him, more punches came then hard and fast, bones cracking with every connection. As he succumbed to the darkness his body beaten bloody and bruised one name remained planted firmly in his mind and he knew if he lived he would find her and make everything right.

  Sarah.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Colt

  Clara’s phone rang out again. He groaned; he was close to tipping over the edge, saying fuck it all and allowing his beast to break free, the smell of blood made the restless hound inside him want out. He fought against the claws ripping into his insides, it wasn’t the time, he had to try and keep his head but the fact that the mansion was in this state and there was no sign of Clara or the others wasn’t helping the control of his beast. Where the fuck was she? If she was hurt in any way he would lose it completely he knew it. God help anyone who stood in his way.

  The carnage inside the mansion was brutal, the stench of death coated the air, there were bodies torn apart and strewn all over the foyer. Whoever had done this was a strong familiar and by the looks of things they had been rather pissed off at these unsuspecting dickheads. Colt was certain there would be more bodies through the doors that led to the offices judging from the blood trails that looked like something or someone had dragged body parts through the entire downstairs area. He would check for survivors soon, maybe they could find out what had happened here, first he had to find Clara.

  After inspecting the foyer Joe and Terrance helped him carry Dominic’s heavy, unconscious body from the van. Stepping over the scattered body parts, they placed him on his black leather couch in his massive lounge. He was a dead weight, his feet hung over the seat’s edge, but at this point in time Dominic’s comfort was last on Colt’s priority list. Terrance was going to stand guard, watching for any signs of him waking up.

  The sedative would wear off shortly and they were going to have to deal with an irate four-hundred-year-old warlock, who was set on destroying his wife’s entire family before claiming her for himself. Great.

  His phone rang with a number he didn’t recognise, he answered it straight away. His shoulders sagged in relief when he heard his wife’s voice on the other end.

  “Colt, thank God, I left my phone in the rush to get out of there, it’s so good to hear your voice, baby.”

  “Hey beautiful, we’ve just got here you had me worried when I saw the state of the place. Where are you guys? Did Jake get you out of here?”

  “Colt, shit… Will took Emmie… Jake he – his beast fought with them and while they were distracted we got out with Hope and hid outside in the foliage at the back of the house until they had gone. Colt, we think they took him too. I am so sorry, baby.” That would explain the dismembered limbs; his nephew was ruthless when he turned into his beast, he had seen it first-hand.

  Fuck.

  “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for, beautiful, I am just relieved you and our little bump are safe. I need you to stay that way, Clara, wherever you all are I need you to stay there until I tell you it’s safe… LA was a set-up to get to Dominic and we foolishly walked straight into it. When Dominic killed Phil whatever spell he used unleashed something we have all been dreading. I don’t know how but I have a feeling it’s old Gaelic magic, and I don’t want you anywhere near. Promise me, beautiful, no matter what happens you don’t come, you and our baby are too precious.”

  “But Colt, if it’s Gaelic I can channel my ancestors’ magic, plus Emmie is my familiar. With our magic combined we could take down Will and all of his followers. Please Colt, you know I am making sense.” He could hear the stubbornness in her voice.

  “Clara, it’s not up for discussion, I won’t have you hurt. If Dominus gets hold of you we’re all in trouble, plus, we don’t even know where Will has taken them.”

  “I can’t just sit here while my sister is in danger, Colt, I’ll stay a safe distance away for now but if I get wind it’s going south not even the entire Domini Bellatorum will be able to stop me. Sorry Colt, but you should know by now when it comes to my family I would go through an army to save them whether you want me to or not.” He could hear her frustration with him rising; he knew he was fighting a losing battle.

  “I am not getting into an argument about this, baby, if you come I want you to make sure you and our child are not put in any unnecessary danger, you stay hidden until we need you, but you don’t come unless you’re called for.”

  “Fine, but don’t expect me to be happy about it, Colt,” she huffed, but he could sense the change in her mood, she knew he was right, but she would never admit it. Stubborn beautiful woman.

  “I love you, beautiful, more than life. Please don’t be angry with me… Can you ask Heather to come back to the mansion? I have something I need to discuss with her about this Dominic situation, she has connections to the Domini Bellatorum.”

  “I will. I love you too, Colt, please be careful.”

  The line disconnected after their goodbyes. He ran his hand through his hair, the events of the last 48 hours starting to catch up with him, but he wouldn’t rest until this was over. Jake and Emmie were depending on them to get them out of this alive.

  He walked around the lifele
ss corpses lying on the ground, nudging each one with his foot. He was right about there being more bodies in here, he thought, as he entered the office area, stopping in his tracks, recognising the figure lying face down on the floor. Patrick? From the looks of things, he was dead. He walked over. Kneeling down, he gripped his wrist searching for a pulse; there was one, but it was slight, he didn’t have much time.

  “JOE!” he bellowed. Joe appeared within seconds.

  “Shitting hell, Colt, you found Patrick. Is he still alive?”

  “He is but I don’t think he will be for long if we don’t help him, I am going to have to call Clara here, it’s dangerous but it’s the only chance we have of saving this sorry bastard’s life and finding out where Will took Jake and Emmie.”

  Colt watched the shock register in Joe’s face at the new information he had just landed on him.

  “Will has Amelia?”

  “Yeah man, at least that’s what Clara thinks. I’ll phone her again and get them to come back, I just hope Dominus can be reasoned with when he wakes up.”

  Dominus

  His head spun; the pain that radiated through his skull made him wince as he opened his eyes, taking in the dark wooden furnishing of his lounge. He was lying on his back in the most uncomfortable position; his long legs were too large for the leather seat he was on.

  “Dominic, you’re awake?” an unfamiliar female voice asked as he blinked, trying to focus on the feminine figure standing in the room with him.

  “Why does everyone insist on calling me Dominic?”

  He didn’t recognise the gruff sound his voice made as he spoke. He sat up slowly, rubbing his temples to try and relieve the ache there.

  “Who the hell are you, wench? Where is the one they were calling Colt? Find him! You will not address me again, if you want to take another breath.”